I was a shut in before it was cool...
The Shut-In Economy
11–20 of 348 posts
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#12I'm curious as to what's going to happen when this group starts having babies. Time to write a business plan I guess.
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#13> “We’re trying to remove the taboo and the guilt that you should have to do it,” says Alfred’s CEO every time i use one of these services i feel a bit guilty. twofold; guilty that i have someone literally serving me, and that i'm too lazy to do it myself. i still use them occasionally though. laundry every 2 weeks because i don't have in-unit, and occasional food delivery when i'm feeling especially lazy - i try to…
This isn't criticism, just curiosity: do you feel guilty when you pay someone to cut your hair or dispose of your garbage (assuming the latter service isn't included in your housing... that varies, of course).
Those are both things that would have been done by servants in the past, but that most people still have done today rather than doing themselves.
One advantage of having a buzz cut is that it's easy to cut my own hair, but when I had another hair style I didn't feel guilty about getting it cut. I hated that it consumed my time, but that's another thing.
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#14> They released a study monitoring the social behavior of 169 people making their first forays online. The web-surfers started talking less with family and friends ...
Does that factor in the amount of communication happening online via messengers, chats or just Facebook comments on someone's live events? It seems that at least portion of this communication has shifted online, not got supplanted by online.
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#15Shaming introverts. Nothing like hitting someone who can't fight back.
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#16I'm curious as to what's going to happen when this group starts having babies. Time to write a business plan I guess.
Hmm... it seems to me that childcare is another of the "formerly done by servants" things that people have never stopped outsourcing to others.
That's not saying there's not an opportunity there. Daycare operations still seem to be mostly "artisanal", or at least operating on a fairly small scale. The big problem you're going to face is that people are incredibly protective of their children (and rightly so... those who aren't haven't left their genes behind :-)). Food is pretty personal, but most people will think nothing of stopping into a strange restaurant and eating the food, but they would never drop off their kids at a random storefront.
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#17It seems the obvious unserved need here is a way to outsource the actual work. Maybe I can create a business model around sending someone to your job to act as your proxy.
InstaLackey.com and ImposterPool.com are both available...
* I have to admit that I just spent five minutes struggling with the urge to build a MVP instead of hitting "Add Comment."
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#18Anyone else having trouble with Medium articles this week --- menu items transparently displaying over the article? (Android/"internet" app)
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#19An interesting article, but I wonder about the parts about social class. They argue that "social class can be defined by the chores you don’t do" and that "luxuries usually afforded to one-percenters now stretch to the urban upper-middle class". Presumably these people are still working jobs to pay for their lifestyle (perhaps spending their freed up time working), and one person's job is another person's chore. Is the difference is that tech workers tend to enjoy their jobs?
Re: The Shut-In Economy
#20>So here’s the big question. What does she, or you, or any of us do with all this time we’re buying? Binge on Netflix shows? Go for a run? Van Ekert’s answer: “It’s more to dedicate more time to working.”
Meh. It's specialization. It's been happening since everyone figured out Og makes better clubs than everyone else and he'll make you one if you give him food. Most of the people reading this site have a skill that brings in $50+ per hour. Why not pay someone to clean your bathroom and use that time for working?