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Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

sam.odio.com

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Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#51

Post by zacharycohn »

sequoia wrote: post #12
nhangen wrote: post #6

Yeah, it's cool, but also nefarious, charity or not.

Not really... I don't think that the people who put money on the card have any claim to determine how the money is used. It's like giving a gift, once you give it you don't get to control it anymore, and they are giving a gift to an anonymous recipient. If they want to control how the money is spent... perhaps don't put it on a publicly accessible debit card? ;)

No, I think it is stealing/nefarious. They gave money to the Card so it could be used at Starbucks. If someone else uses that money NOT at Starbucks, it's against the intention of the project and not what the money was given for.

I understand that it's not necessarily an unexpected consequence, but that doesn't make it okay.

Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#52

Post by bluelu »

carbonica wrote: post #17
mrcharles wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume they bought physical gift cards in store.

Close - they bought one gift card, and then used Starbucks' website to transfer the money from Jonathan's card to their own.

So they hacked his account and stole money. I guess that's illegal... and will put you in front of a judge.

Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#53

Post by gegegege »

Udo wrote: post #20

So essentially you're proud of stealing huge amounts of money from a fund set up by people for a specific purpose, and then you channel this money to suit your own needs while claiming moral superiority ? You know, even if the money you stole for "the little children OMG think of the children" really reaches the intended recipients, which it probably won't if this is a typical 3rd world development fund, you still be…

It was stated that this was a social experiment. Given the fact that everyone knew what would happen, I hardly think this constitutes abuse. Diverting the money to a more worthy (in his view) cause, as some people were using it to buy food for the homeless, should have been an expected outcome.

Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#54

Post by sliverstorm »

sequoia wrote: post #12
nhangen wrote: post #6

Yeah, it's cool, but also nefarious, charity or not.

Not really... I don't think that the people who put money on the card have any claim to determine how the money is used. It's like giving a gift, once you give it you don't get to control it anymore, and they are giving a gift to an anonymous recipient. If they want to control how the money is spent... perhaps don't put it on a publicly accessible debit card? ;)

So you would argue that if money given to a charity for 3rd world hunger makes a beeline for the operator's pockets, that's perfectly O.K.? Because it's practically the same thing, this just isn't official.

Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#55

Post by woof »

carbonica wrote: post #17
mrcharles wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume they bought physical gift cards in store.

Close - they bought one gift card, and then used Starbucks' website to transfer the money from Jonathan's card to their own.

And how did he get the Card Security Code (PIN)?

Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#57

Post by Udo »

gegegege wrote: post #53
Udo wrote: post #20

So essentially you're proud of stealing huge amounts of money from a fund set up by people for a specific purpose, and then you channel this money to suit your own needs while claiming moral superiority ? You know, even if the money you stole for "the little children OMG think of the children" really reaches the intended recipients, which it probably won't if this is a typical 3rd world development fund, you still be…

It was stated that this was a social experiment. Given the fact that everyone knew what would happen, I hardly think this constitutes abuse. Diverting the money to a more worthy (in his view) cause, as some people were using it to buy food for the homeless, should have been an expected outcome.

Yes, this is a social experiment. And as such I find this guy's moral code - as revealed by the experiment - severely lacking.

Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#59

Post by lotharbot »

What I find most interesting about this is Sam's comments in the previous thread:

1) Claimed that a large purchase was him buying food for two homeless guys: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2857712

Sam, is this true? Did you actually buy food for some homeless guys (and then later decide on this strategy), or was this cover for your experiment?

2) in response to a comment about the card being ripe for abuse, he said the balance seemed to be holding at a low and steady value, and "That would imply that the card is currently being used as intended." http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2858511

Interesting, then, that he's most definitely not using the card as intended. An "edgy/controversial twist" for sure.

Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad

#60

Post by flocial »

I feel sorry for the moron who thinks he's making a statement with this. The card was a brilliant social experiment regardless of critics claiming it a stealth marketing campaign. People who participated felt good giving whether someone was free-riding. However, this just leaves a bad aftertaste. You ruin it for everyone then pretend it's okay by "donating" money that isn't even yours and killing the experiment then brag about the ordeal. Kudos to you. Bravo indeed.

Having said that I'm not at all surprised by the outcome just didn't expect something like this. Now I'm sure some yuppie wannabe is going to try and score an iPad for themselves.

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