i did not know about that, thanks so much!

Sorry to be the one but the privacy and freedom issue is independent of powertrain. Some earlier models before the automakers went upmarket with EVs were perfectly normal. Now the tablet-on-dash, telematics and other data collection has become pervasive in EVs but now it’s in full-force on ICE vehicles for quite some time. A Mach E and Colorado can both be, and have been, bricked by a bad OTA update.

Practicality though also will vary. If people were used to charging at home all the time, telling people that they have to visit a business to refuel every X days or Y miles would seem odd just because it’s quite different than people think is normal.

There’s no easy one-stop solution since it can vary widely.

I would look at subreddits (yuck, reddit!), or dedicated forums for your model if they exist, you’d probably be surprised what’s out there. (Example, there’s Piloteers (Honda Pilot), Kia-Forums (Kia), 4Runners and Toyota-4Runner, etc. But information may be scattered.

First objective is figuring out if it’s even on your vehicle or applicable. Older 3G radios are done since the networks that connected to them are gone now. My '16 Kia had no cellular radio. Maybe you have an SOS button or they advertise a phone app to control your vehicle remotely?

Edit: And if you can’t find specific model/year information for your vehicle, you can look for information for related vehicles and see if it’s relevant. Ex: Honda Passport, Pilot, Ridgeline sharing a lot of engineering.

in this case that’s Toyota specific and it means likely loss of phone calls on the go (but nothing else) even though the data can’t leave your vehicle anymore. It all depends on how they wire up the system. Maybe it’s easier, maybe it’s tied to something random.

The antennae only likely won’t reduce range enough. Check for an opt-out procedure prior to purchase since that’s easiest, then look for what fuse powers the connection (also easy), but worse case, lay eyes on the module itself and evaluate.

I’m sure it varies widely. In Toyota’s you can call in to disconnect (I did it while waiting for a tire pressure machine) but to do it physically you pull a single fuse and the trade off is losing the microphone.

Others have pulled the dash and disconnected antennae but it just reduces the range of the box since it’s a cellular radio like a phone.

In Toyota’s there’s a red sticker on the dash talking about it and how to opt-out. (or at least I’ve seen it in a rental and a new car - but it might also be yanked by dealer’s PDI)

Varies widely. In Toyota’s you call via the SOS button, have your VIN and they can do it. There are also other direct ways like pulling the Mayday fuse to disconnect the “Data Connection Module” (DCM) but that takes the microphone with it.

Some older vehicles that have 3G radios might not have been disconnected explicitly but are as good as dead because 3G as they knew it is gone.

It does not report via Android Auto since these vehicles have their own cellular radios, but not to say Google has its own metrics.

Your best bet is looking for a car/make-specific forum or subreddit and see if anyone’s asked the questions before while ignoring the “nothing to hide, you have a phone lol” clowns.

thcdenton’s just finding that comment from a mod amusing - or perhaps it’s meant to be ironic since “ur mom gay” maybe isn’t quite top “Sensible Chuckle” material

iTunes will probably be the toughest. I lean on iTunes for syncing files, media, local backups and if I had to ditch Windows tomorrow and decided Linux, I would set up iTunes in a Windows VM since I don’t think there’s any other workaround currently.

When you say “couch” my first thought is a recent-ish Celeron or Pentium Silver fanless laptop. Performance akin to a Core 2 Duo but no fan to get blocked sitting on the couch. Like the Latitude 3210(?)

Laptops that appeal to me are often bottom breathers so it’s one thing I miss from my old MB Air.

Not a direct answer but for a while I had iTunes Match as a companion service which could be an imperfect workaround to get your hands on 256 Kbps AAC versions. (if it matches, which can’t be manually done)

I bailed when it glitched on a couple songs and syncing broke for a while. Direct iTunes sync hasn’t let me down since but it was nice while it lasted and the Matched songs I had are still kicking.

Of course it requires using iTunes and paying for that $25 for a non-guaranteed quality boost.

I think the cats out of the bag already - I’ve seen a “coom dl” GUI and something CLI in the wild but not sure if they handle Kemono

Reminds me of Technology Connections:

“I like to do work on my computer. Not work on my computer. And that’s why I don’t use Linux! Yea, I went there!”

Semi-related but I remember the ancient days when the original iPod touch (not iPhone though) initially had paid OS upgrades - not too crazy for back then when the firmware was often done when the device shipped save for maybe a small patch or three. But there were also larger updates too but not too common.

And then I remember Steve getting up on stage proclaiming that Apple “has found a way!” to make it free.

[cries in seeing how people treat ROM maintainers]