Keep in mind that when you describe a country, you are usually describing the government, the system of rule, and thus the ruling class. Sure it's not your ruling class, but it is a ruling class. So you still can't trust them.
Then there's evidence of interference with politics as their ruling class tries to bring your country down to advance themselves. Thus making your local ruling class even worse.
There's now more product competitors now. Also is this a sign that parts shortages are easing?
Gas hot water heaters tend to be a lot more efficient than gas cooktops. The flat bottom of most pots and pans means a lot of heat will escape up the sides, but hot water heaters can be designed with this in mind. On pots, I have one that basically has heatsink fins on the bottom to better capture the gas heat, but this is far from typical.
Environmental issues aside, gas is also a pain for installation. Solid pipes are more difficult to route, and leaks are, of course, dangerous. Electricity is dangerous, but it is easier to contain. It doesn't leak into the air, and because it's a closed loop, we can measure if it isn't all returning and shut it off (RCD/GFCI). It also has flexible cables. The downside is that, heat pumps require more maintenance. They're a vaguely complicated mechanical system, as many fluid systems are.
Deaths are sad, if we consider that people can be brainwashed and it isn't entirely their fault, it's a tragedy.
That said, this is... Evolution in action. I don't just mean darwin awards dumb, but more specifically that technologies (social or physical) are actually a part of Evolution, not aside from it. That also means that dealing with misinformation is actually becoming a part of evolution, literally for survival. Or if not critical thinking, then what group you attach yourself to, aka what network you trust. Which in some ways, is actually not all that different from before modern technologies.
Rubicons especially
Taking example numbers from the article, but not explicitly stated, it kind of sounds like 15 floors, about 60m tall, is the point in which density starts to sacrifice ecological concerns too much.
According to a 2015 study commissioned by the CTBUH, the whole life emissions of both energy use and materials for a 120m concrete and steel structure are nearly five times higher than those of its 60m equivalent.
That's still tall enough for many things, so I guess the rest should be handled by a bit more space use and better mass transit.
I personally use the original amazfit bip. Cannot be newthough, I sourced mine from aliexpress, and even there they are ex-demo and stuff. Heart rate sensor isn't amazing but I don't know if that's maybe my hairy arm. The main reason I got it, can be used with gadget bridge, for best privacy
Edit: worth noting that I had to flash it with English firmware, which did mean I had to use the official app originally