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Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

theatlantic.com

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Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#11

Post by saurik »

pbiggar wrote: post #9
saurik wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This article's claim (even stated in the title) is not that Instagram should have charged, but that users should demand to pay. The article is not written for Instagram: it is written for users. > Truly, the only way to get around the privacy problems inherent in advertising-supported social networks is to pay for services that we value. It's amazing what power we gain in becoming paying customers instead of the prod…

But then: > Here's an alternative version of what Instagram could have done

<- ...were users to like paying for such things or even demand to do so (which they aren't, hence why this article was written at all, but this is a cool universe in which we could live: imagine it!)...

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#12

Post by saurik »

zalew wrote: post #10
saurik wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This article's claim (even stated in the title) is not that Instagram should have charged, but that users should demand to pay. The article is not written for Instagram: it is written for users. > Truly, the only way to get around the privacy problems inherent in advertising-supported social networks is to pay for services that we value. It's amazing what power we gain in becoming paying customers instead of the prod…

> users should demand to pay People have a hard time paying for parking space, yet some claim those same people should demand paying for the ability to upload a small file to the internet. I don't think anybody outside of the tech bubble treats such advice seriously.

... so because the attempt is futile, you are saying we should pretend he didn't say it, and interpret the rest of his article in that light?

FWIW, I have a friend in the planning division of the city I live in, and just a few days ago we were having a discussion about the issues with parking.

http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/1932...

People certainly can and do make arguments that people should demand to pay for parking, as to do anything else causes even worse problems.

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#13

Post by zalew »

saurik wrote: post #12
zalew wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> users should demand to pay People have a hard time paying for parking space, yet some claim those same people should demand paying for the ability to upload a small file to the internet. I don't think anybody outside of the tech bubble treats such advice seriously.

... so because the attempt is futile, you are saying we should pretend he didn't say it, and interpret the rest of his article in that light? FWIW, I have a friend in the planning division of the city I live in, and just a few days ago we were having a discussion about the issues with parking. http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/1932... People certainly can and do make arguments that people should…

I was curious if somebody will bring this title to the table as I've found this book some time ago on Goodreads, but frankly, 800p about this subject is a TLDR for me.

My point was, while I think people should be comfortable paying for services, claiming they should demand to pay instead of getting it free is a bit absurd. It's not like there are no paid more feature-rich alternatives for uploading photos, or that web users just don't pay for online; it's just that Instagram, Twitter & co wouldn't grow to those numbers if they were a paid service. Prove me wrong, but I also got the feeling Pinboard users are there for the statement, not because they believe bookmarking links is worth $10.

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#15

Post by graue »

I think this is actually an argument for open protocols. If Google put this clause in the terms of service for Gmail, you could switch to Yahoo! Mail, or you could switch to Fastmail.fm, or whatever else. But when it's a proprietary social network, you can't switch (in practice), because all your friends and followees are on Instagram - not the other thing that you switch to.

When services interoperate using open, decentralized protocols, competitive pressure helps keep a lot of the ugly stuff out of their Terms of Service. We all win. But with Instagram, or Twitter, or Facebook, one company has a complete monopoly on a particular combination of (functionality + approximation of social graph). Competition is locked out, and only regulation can prevent the company from doing whatever they want.

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#16

Post by bksenior »

Steko wrote: post #8
bksenior wrote: post #5

This make a wildly naive assumption that paying for a product somehow makes it less likely that they will monetize your likeness. The truth is large companies with any swath of investors are expected to grow, thats how money is made. This means that there will need to be constant new revenue streams added on. TLDR: Paying for any app just delays the inevitable monetization of content as the company is forced to expan…

Agreed with a caveat: People could prefer services that have some sort of contractual agreement for perpetuity to never do anything creepy with your stuff. Those services would by definition have to have some sort of paid angle or make due with dumb ads. Now most people don't care but it's possible someone could, in DDG fashion, try and leverage the "don't be creepy" angle.

Perpetuity is a funny word when it comes to the law. In hindsight site it always seems to be a synonym for convenient.

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#17

Post by rgbrenner »

sounds wrote: post #4

The Atlantic is being deliberately misleading here. Pay for Software? I think they should have said, "Why You Should Pay for Internet Service." That is, unless there's a way for you to download Instagram's entire service as a package and install it on your own infrastructure (not likely), you aren't ever going to pay them for "software." If you pay them, it will be a subscription to their service. I think the real cu…

Google was not even close to being the first to give away services. Hotmail and Yahoo mail were around before Google even existed. And that's just the first two that came to mind.

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#18

Post by X-Istence »

graue wrote: post #15

I think this is actually an argument for open protocols. If Google put this clause in the terms of service for Gmail, you could switch to Yahoo! Mail, or you could switch to Fastmail.fm, or whatever else. But when it's a proprietary social network, you can't switch (in practice), because all your friends and followees are on Instagram - not the other thing that you switch to. When services interoperate using open, de…

No I couldn't switch, unfortunately my username is at gmail.com, I don't get to chose to change providers and keep that same address.

You can forward it you say, sure I can, but at that point Google still gets to use my information as it pleases.

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#19

Post by simula67 »

graue wrote: post #15

I think this is actually an argument for open protocols. If Google put this clause in the terms of service for Gmail, you could switch to Yahoo! Mail, or you could switch to Fastmail.fm, or whatever else. But when it's a proprietary social network, you can't switch (in practice), because all your friends and followees are on Instagram - not the other thing that you switch to. When services interoperate using open, de…

Just to play devil's advocate, open protocols, standards etc are hard to arrive at when there are competing business interests [1][2].

Also centralized systems make for less complexity. For example, despite having a standard for almost all major programming languages like C,C++ et al, if you want to compile your program using multiple compilers you have to put in some hours.

[1]http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ch17s02.html

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_wars

Re: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

#20

Post by lazerwalker »

X-Istence wrote: post #18
graue wrote: post #15

I think this is actually an argument for open protocols. If Google put this clause in the terms of service for Gmail, you could switch to Yahoo! Mail, or you could switch to Fastmail.fm, or whatever else. But when it's a proprietary social network, you can't switch (in practice), because all your friends and followees are on Instagram - not the other thing that you switch to. When services interoperate using open, de…

No I couldn't switch, unfortunately my username is at gmail.com, I don't get to chose to change providers and keep that same address. You can forward it you say, sure I can, but at that point Google still gets to use my information as it pleases.

That's an argument for custom domains: if your email address is [yourname]@[yourdomain].com, it's easy to switch from Google Apps to a different provider.

Finding a way to make that a viable option for non-techies is, sadly, an exercise left for the reader.

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