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Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

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Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#31

Post by isoprophlex »

It's been a while since I saw anyone post that Philip K Dick quote, from the book Ubik... it's about time I feel.

The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.” He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.”

“I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.” In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip. “You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug.

From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door. “I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out. Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.”

Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#32

Post by conaclos »

Sytten wrote: post #10

Software is weird because it is expected that should be free (as in beer) for most consumers while while being for profit and giving high salaries to its workers. I struggle to think of any other privately owned sector of the economy that works that way.

One of the problems I have with paid solutions is that they generally use open source softwares and don't contribute a dime to them once their paid solutions are generating cash.

Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#33

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

tuoret wrote: post #26
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken to buying CDs again. I still stream, but for artists I like I at least own the CD and might pick up some merch too because the reality is that only the big artists make a ton of money, or even any money at all.

CDs just feel so utterly pointless to me these days, since I can have the 100% identical content on a hard drive. Not trying to diss what you do, it's just a weird state of mind I entered once MP3 players and bluetooth speakers replaced CD players everywhere and I can't seem to shake it. Agree about the principle though, I try to buy merch at every gig I go to. Makes me feel slightly less bad about using Spotify.

If you want to do MP3, bandcamp has digital downloads and days when 100% of the proceeds go to the artists.

And I understand about the movement to digital - I typically rip the CDs as FLAC files and put them on a hard drive.

Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#35

Post by abirch »

RicoElectrico wrote: post #20
Sytten wrote: post #10

Software is weird because it is expected that should be free (as in beer) for most consumers while while being for profit and giving high salaries to its workers. I struggle to think of any other privately owned sector of the economy that works that way.

Comically high salaries are an aberration due to zero interest rates. SWEs should earn well, but not 3-4x as much as the median (and conversely, median salary should pay the rent, the housing market also being distorted by ZIRP).

Software is very scalable and can provide a lot of value. If you look at the revenue per SWE for Microsoft, Alphabet, Netflix, etc, then it's hard to compare them to the person whose job isn't scalable, to say a truck driver, nurse, or bartender.

Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#36

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

maccard wrote: post #19
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken to buying CDs again. I still stream, but for artists I like I at least own the CD and might pick up some merch too because the reality is that only the big artists make a ton of money, or even any money at all.

I’m in a hobby band, and Spotify is important but we’ve made absolutely nothing from it with a few thousand listens. 50 people buy our album digitally and we have enough to record another track.

That's good to know. Yeah, I think Spotify is great for discovering new bands, but if you want them to keep going you gotta chip in. We need more than just the same top 40 artists in our world.

Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#37

Post by crtasm »

catapart wrote: post #13
Sytten wrote: post #10

Software is weird because it is expected that should be free (as in beer) for most consumers while while being for profit and giving high salaries to its workers. I struggle to think of any other privately owned sector of the economy that works that way.

Music pretty squarely fits that bill. We used to beam it out over the air, now we transmit it through the internet, but everyone has always expected it to be free. And musicians are still expected to make a ton of money off of their music, if a lot of people like it.

Watch the sales scroll past on https://bandcamp.com/ - a lot of people want to support artists and own music they enjoy.

Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#39

Post by lores »

Sytten wrote: post #10

Software is weird because it is expected that should be free (as in beer) for most consumers while while being for profit and giving high salaries to its workers. I struggle to think of any other privately owned sector of the economy that works that way.

The Hitchiker's Guide already had a rant about useless jobs like telephone sanitisers and hairdressers. While I don't necessarily agree with hairdressers being useless, I feel like much of the economy is selling stuff no one really needs to solve problems no one really has in order to justify one's employment, and that share is increasing as automation scales the useful things with proportionately less effort. That's just the software section of it. Other sectors can bundle the useless into a product you need to buy as a whole, like cars or TVs, one-purpose software has no bundling.

Re: Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8/ month

#40

Post by arp242 »

littlestymaar wrote: post #4

The problem with VC-backed startups, is that you eventually run out of other people's money. And then you desperately need to find ways to monetize your product, hence the enshitification.

Except JSFiddle isn't a VC-backed startup, and basically just two or three people.
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