51–60 of 90 posts
I assume FOMO means ”fear of missing out” in this context, but the article never actually spells it out.
> I was surprised to hear how much FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) my friends were experiencing.
I had also forgotten what FOMO stood for but thankfully the article defined it above the first page fold.
The other side of FOMO is appearing as the US transitions to a shortage economy, like the former Soviet Union. It used to be that if something was popular, more of it would be made, and then the price would go down. Now, if something is popular, the seller is likely to restrict the supply to push the price and margins up. Buy now, while you still can. Cars. Houses. AWS S3 space. Meta's VR headgear. Meat. Most of the…
Things like cars -- and especially houses -- are in a different category than some random piece of hardware or a bit of server space, though. With limited exceptions, no one is making more land. So there's a hard limit on the supply of cars and houses, at least until we manage to cover Mars in shopping malls and billboards.
There is a regulatory limit, sure, but the literal parking lots - not garages, lots - visible from my downtown apartment begs to differ that we are anywhere close to a hard limit on the supply of houses.
The other side of FOMO is appearing as the US transitions to a shortage economy, like the former Soviet Union. It used to be that if something was popular, more of it would be made, and then the price would go down. Now, if something is popular, the seller is likely to restrict the supply to push the price and margins up. Buy now, while you still can. Cars. Houses. AWS S3 space. Meta's VR headgear. Meat. Most of the…
Things like cars -- and especially houses -- are in a different category than some random piece of hardware or a bit of server space, though. With limited exceptions, no one is making more land. So there's a hard limit on the supply of cars and houses, at least until we manage to cover Mars in shopping malls and billboards.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I swear the acronym BOGO appeared ex nihilo three years ago. I’d literally never seen it before then and was very confused about what it meant, and still am convinced it’s an acronym that a marketing firm invented to sound hip. (buy one get one for anyone out of the loop)
Merriam-Webster is reporting that the first attested usage of BOGO was from 1983, but I had never encountered the term until last night when my wife used it in conversation! It confused me so much she had to finally say "buy one..." Then I got to explain bogo as a prefix in computing and chess before picking nits like "shouldn't it be BOGOF" (typical HN commentor that I am)?
I've never seen it as just BOGO though.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is not much that is more annoying than an author assuming the reader knows the acronyms that they want to use. This particular case isn't as bad as others, but especially when getting into any sort of technical conversation it's wildly frustrating to see multiple acronyms used with no indication of what they stand for. Then you go to look it up and there's like 29 results that fit the acronym, half of them bein…
My dictionary has a definition of FOMO which is more nuanced than just spelling out an acronym, and it has a pronunciation which is not just the letters said one at a time. So in this case I think spelling out the acronym is neither necessary (as articles typically needn’t define moderately well known words) nor sufficient (as the term’s meaning is more than just the expansion of the acronym).
The other side of FOMO is appearing as the US transitions to a shortage economy, like the former Soviet Union. It used to be that if something was popular, more of it would be made, and then the price would go down. Now, if something is popular, the seller is likely to restrict the supply to push the price and margins up. Buy now, while you still can. Cars. Houses. AWS S3 space. Meta's VR headgear. Meat. Most of the…
Meat is interesting... when I read this at first I was taken aback, thinking that while there might be 1-3 years lag in producers responding to demand, surely meat is nearly a pure commodity without market power being involved? Then I remembered slaughterhouses: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/blog/2021/12/10/rec...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is not much that is more annoying than an author assuming the reader knows the acronyms that they want to use. This particular case isn't as bad as others, but especially when getting into any sort of technical conversation it's wildly frustrating to see multiple acronyms used with no indication of what they stand for. Then you go to look it up and there's like 29 results that fit the acronym, half of them bein…
This isn't even a technical or business acronym, it's a common colloquial. It's used in mainstream television advertisements like the FOMOH ads by the NHL (fear of missing out on hockey). FOMO is probably as well-known as other acronyms that aren't explained every time they come up: IRS, LGBT, DMV, MLB, NYC, etc. And, really, if you don't know it, you just do this: CTRL+T define:FOMO ENTER I mean, we're already in a…
IRS & DMV are very US-specific (I do happen to know what they mean, but I'd venture many non-Americans wouldn't). I have no idea what MLB means...
(looked it up - if it's referring to baseball, well then, again, somewhat US-centric. Though I am surprised I've never heard it called that, vs, say, NBA, which long ago gained international recognition.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Things like cars -- and especially houses -- are in a different category than some random piece of hardware or a bit of server space, though. With limited exceptions, no one is making more land. So there's a hard limit on the supply of cars and houses, at least until we manage to cover Mars in shopping malls and billboards.
The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.
And a relatively flat population. "Peak baby" was years ago. Most of the developed world is below replacement birth rate.
It's not even a matter of policy or politics or us vs. them...it's gonna happen, like gravity happens.
It makes sense to be prepared.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meat is interesting... when I read this at first I was taken aback, thinking that while there might be 1-3 years lag in producers responding to demand, surely meat is nearly a pure commodity without market power being involved? Then I remembered slaughterhouses: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/blog/2021/12/10/rec...
"Comparing the fourth quarter of 2021 to the same quarter in 2020, that same firm increased the price of beef so much—by more than 35%—that they made record profits while actually selling less beef than before."
Data analytics and JIT often leads to an invisible cost to the lower class.
I remember the days where my parents would go to the meat store and make some random thing off schedule. I remember when I was starting my career and would be able to make do with the 'use it now' discounted meats.
Now, not nearly so much.
The problem with these improvements is twofold:
- They impact impoverished people, which are more likely to be dependent on such discounted items.
- They 'hide' inflation cost.