Technology creates fiefdoms where rentiers extract value from the rest of us. But I’m not losing hope

You don’t have the option of having a phone with decent specs and replaceable parts

For now it is indeed an issue. It may get better as EU imposes easily replaceable batteries for instance.

You have to have really good knowledge in tech to have private services that are on par with what the big companies offer

Well yes, because technology is complicated by nature. BigTech inject billions in making stuff simple and UX pleasant precisely to attract layman customers. Privacy-focused tech companies have less money, put a lot of effort in privacy tech, and are less mature UX-wise than classic bigTech. Customers also want more privacy, but have a hard time paying for anything. At some point the customer has to come to terms with coherence. Vote with your wallet.

You have to put up with annoying compatibility issues if you install a custom ROM on your android phone

No you don’t necessarily. LineageOS works perfectly on my Oneplus 6T.

You cannot escape apps preventing you from using them if you root your device

Yes you can. Magisk Root + Universal SafetyNet Fix v2.4.0-MOD_1.2 (by kdrag0n, modded by Displax) + editing the deny list properly.

Cars are becoming SaaS bullcrap

Use public transport when possible. Rent cars when really not possible. Problem solved.

Everything is going for a subscription model in general

I understand it’s frustrating. At the same time we either expect a constant stream of updates, or everything-IT requires regular updating if only for security purposes. Companies have employees to pay. Do you work for free?

You will own nothing and you will be happy

Strangely your post makes me think of the SciFi book written by Alain Damasio - Les Furtifs. 😬

Not sure that it has been translated in English...

3. I'm guessing that Google apps would be problematic. Except those apps, I didn't have any compatibility issues, on Custom ROMs. Especially GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, LineageOS, and /e/OS.

4. On a different user, I installed banking app that would usually prevent you from using it. No problems to use the app whatsoever.

Graphene OS does a great job of protecting your privacy. Although, since it doesn't rely on google services, unless you want to sandbox some, most of the time you don't get push notifications. Which isn't that bad.

And in terms of actually owning things, instead of relying on subscriptions services, that's what Web3/NFTs are trying to solve. Despite the fact that everyone loves to shit on them, and they're in their infancy, their utility far exceeds overpriced pictures. Right now you have to indefinitely subscribe to Netflix or Prime to access movies and shows you've already paid for, but if you bought an NFT of the movie, no one could gate keep that media from you. Musicians could cheaply disburse their songs to people and not be price gouged by Spotify, and any digital asset you bought would truly be yours, including video games and their skins/weapons/pets/etc, with the ability to resell those as you saw fit. As well, there would be an incentive for the studios that create this media to make them into NFTs, because unlike with physical copies, they would make a cut of every single sale that happens. So, they'd make money on the initial sale, and then a cut of you selling to a friend, your friend selling to someone else, ect.

What I think it, ultimately, comes down to is people getting, too, complacent and just accepting any ToS that's thrown in their face, because they can be dozens of pages long, and we just want to use the service right then and there.

It was outlawed out of concerns it would make us less productive

digital anything was never a thing you owned. it's a thing you lease.

if you want to own things buy physical copies.

no idea what you are on about the phone. I buy moto phones for like $150 unlocked and they are great.

Depending on your situation, most of your issues can be avoided by not owning a smartphone. It's extreme (by today's standards, at least), but it does work. I ditched my smartphone back in 2017 for a cheap flip phone. I can find spare parts on eBay easily. My car is older, so there is no SaaS crap in it. If I need to keep in touch with someone, we can use SMS, call each other or meet in real life. I use a Linux laptop for banking/browsing the web and I keep a physical GPS in my car in case of emergency.

and I agree with you. Privacy is pretty much gone already.

Dunno, I don't use shitty apps that aren't available in F-Droid and I'm all the better for it.