[GekkePrutser]

True but internet wasn't as ubiquitous then as it is now. Most laptops didn't have WiFi and sometimes not even Ethernet. In many cases they still had a modem.

Also there was much more scrutiny in those days. I think Windows phoning home in those days would have been a huge thing. Similar to the resistance to the TPM which eventually made it in (but in a more watered-down version which didn't have so many privacy and vendor-lock-in concerns as the original proposal).

Of course now all companies are doubling down on all of this. The TPM on steroids now exists as Apple's T2 (and built into M1) chip, Intel's ME, and Windows systems are getting next-gen lock-down crap with Pluton now.

I feel like when we protest for privacy, even a major win is just slowing down the other forces, not stopping them.