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Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

expatsoftware.com

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Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#41
post #39
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate this reply a bit more, though it's worth noting that this approach doesn't really scale all that well. As you add customers, you'll eventually be stretched thin as you try to cater to different needs (assuming that's your goal—it might not be!). Assuming you eventually bring on other technical folks, I'd argue that you'd want to prevent this same language and mentality from persisting as a part of compan…

>I appreciate this reply a bit more, though it's worth noting that this approach doesn't really scale all that well. That's OK for personal businesses. Not everything needs to be a billion dollar company.

Right, hence my third paragraph:

> But again, your goal might only be to reach a certain size and live comfortably. If so, then you're probably fine. I suppose my qualm was more with the image conveyed by your language more than anything else.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AWS pricing is crazy complicated. I gave a presentation on this a few years ago ( https://speakerdeck.com/jpsingleton/aws-pricing ). It may be a bit out of date by now but I could update it and write it up as a blog post if people are interested?

I'd love to read an update if you're willing to put the time into it.

OK, I'll add it to the list and might combine it with some thoughts on vendor lock-in.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#43
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, but consider the support lag you get for most products, and the person from whom you receive a reply to your email (and their ability to actually do anything about your issue). So yeah, you might have to wait until the next day for a reply. But that reply will be to say that your issue has been fixed (by the guy who built the product) and that no further action is required on your part. People seem to like that.…

I appreciate this reply a bit more, though it's worth noting that this approach doesn't really scale all that well. As you add customers, you'll eventually be stretched thin as you try to cater to different needs (assuming that's your goal—it might not be!). Assuming you eventually bring on other technical folks, I'd argue that you'd want to prevent this same language and mentality from persisting as a part of compan…

From the homepage:

> We're the sort of enterprise that is often termed a "lifestyle business" by people who feel that a software company should involve Venture Capital, sixty hour weeks, and "disrupting things". I'm sure we'd be doing all sorts of that if we were in the Bay Area, but we're not.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#44
post #35
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not telling you are wrong, but do you really need support if product just works?

Do I ever know if I will or won't need support? The conditions predicating the technical success of this tool aren't immutable.

You can make a guess that you're unlikely to ever need URGENT support for a logging tool. Let the dude go rock climbing!

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#45
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate this reply a bit more, though it's worth noting that this approach doesn't really scale all that well. As you add customers, you'll eventually be stretched thin as you try to cater to different needs (assuming that's your goal—it might not be!). Assuming you eventually bring on other technical folks, I'd argue that you'd want to prevent this same language and mentality from persisting as a part of compan…

From the homepage: > We're the sort of enterprise that is often termed a "lifestyle business" by people who feel that a software company should involve Venture Capital, sixty hour weeks, and "disrupting things". I'm sure we'd be doing all sorts of that if we were in the Bay Area, but we're not.

That answers my implied question sufficiently. Thanks!

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#46

As a recently new customer to AWS. This service sounds really useful. Quite possibly one of the best pricing pages[1] I've seen in a while too. [1] https://www.s3stat.com/Pricing.aspx

If I'd had the forethought to build up a sock puppet HN account before writing the article, this is the comment I'd use it to write.

Thanks for that. Now I have two sites getting pummeled at once.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#47

As a recently new customer to AWS. This service sounds really useful. Quite possibly one of the best pricing pages[1] I've seen in a while too. [1] https://www.s3stat.com/Pricing.aspx

It's a hilarious page, but I wouldn't call it "informatively" good, you can't easily eyeball the difference between the plans in the way the good ol' pricing grid would show.

I found it easy to eyeball, but it might depend on your monitor size? My monitor is big so the whole page was visible at once when I opened it.

* Less than 200,000 hits per day - $10 / month

* Less than 5 Million hits per day - $50 / month

* Over 5 Million hits per day - $300 / month

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That hope did indeed exist, but it faded after a month or two when the first big accounts started to sign up. If you dig around enough you can find a version of that silly pricetag graphic on the server from when I hoped to cover those server expenses for $1/month. But you're right. Sense prevailed, and I eventually started charging money in exchange for goods and services.

I'm not sure the word 'hope' means what you think it means. Or, for that matter, that "need some help to cover our expenses" does. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that "we're not really making money, we just need some help to cover our expenses" is good marketing, and I guess it's not a new technique. I'll have to remember to be more skeptical.

Try to remember to be more pleasant as well.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#50
post #28

Tangent: > I’d much prefer to keep those minutes for things like blowing off work for the day to go rock climbing because it’s sunny and I can do that because I run my own company. The less time I have to spend dealing with these customers, the better. This doesn't really instill confidence in the level of post-purchase support I'd get if I were to buy in. I can easily empathize with the mentality and can even apprec…

I was a user of S3Stat once. I emailed in about a problem about 4 years ago. Still no reply. I'm not upset at all as it was dirt cheap. But support is not a priority.
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