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But what if I want a faster horse?

rakhim.exotext.com

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Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#591

Post by DrFalkyn »

tehjoker wrote: post #494
amrocha wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn’t explain why japanese manufacturers who used to make sports cars in the 90s don’t anymore. It’s a mixture of enthusiasm and conspicuous consumption. Most enthusiasts love 90s japanese cars, but the average person sees an old mazda and recoils. But put an old ferrari in front of anyone and they have a completely different reaction.

Didn't the US put in a trade agreement that crushed the Japanese economy by overvaluing its currency?

The Plaza Accord was 1985. And it wasn’t just between the US and Japan. iIf included France, Germany and the UK.

The Japanese economy continued to grow until the mid 1990s. I think the real culprit was low birth rate in the prior 20 years did not train the next generation of productive workers. China, South Korea most of Europe face similar issues

Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#592

Post by toss1 »

JohnMakin wrote: post #544
toss1 wrote: post #510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> search is very important - to the point where effective search was one of the main focuses of the company's development. THIS is what I really do not get. Of course N=[small_numbers_somewhat_selective], but I have never encountered anyone who wanted anything other than good search. I have only ever heard complaints about the messy Amazon-style searches. In decades I have NEVER heard or seen a written comment about…

I suspect, this is just my personal opinion, doesn’t reflect any of my former or current employers opinions, the Amazon makes a lot of money based on ad revenue. I don’t think there’s a lot of evidence that they’re killing it on the online retail front. there have been many e-commerce players that have come in to the gap there and specialize in these “niche” products or services that deliver fast as Amazon and it isn…

Interesting insight; thanks!

That would make sense as to why they insist on making search worse — keep you in the doom loop to show more promoted products and collect more pennies from the promotion, even if you end up going and purchasing somewhere else. Same Prime subscriptions, as long as they keep you coming back just enough to keep re-subscribing, they collect $130 or whatever per year.

I had noticed a while ago I was using Amazon in a way analogous to 'showrooming'. When Amazon came on the scene, people would look in the brick&mortar stores to see what goods they liked, then buy cheaper on Amazon. I had now unconsciously started using Amazon to do a broad survey search before purchasing somewhere else. OFC, when their search tool really enshittified, haven't been there much.

Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#593

Post by abustamam »

nonameiguess wrote: post #475
abustamam wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I'm weird because I pay for Netflix/HBO for no ads, but I'm on the ad supported tier for Peacock and Hulu. I guess it's just what I'm used to (I don't expect to see ads on Netflix, but I do expect to see them on Hulu)

I'm on the ad-free tier for Peacock and have honestly considered downgrading because most of what I watch there is live sports, and they have natural breaks in play that the linear broadcast fills with ads, whereas Peacock on the ad-free tier fills with extremely irritating repeating elevator music. It's bad enough that I'd rather see the ads.

Wow that is really irritating! I used to get peacock for free with Xfinity until I fired them, but I still watched (nin-live) shows so I kept the cheapest tier. Interestingly enough, when I watch on my TV they forget to show me ads or something.

Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#594

Post by abustamam »

feoren wrote: post #314
abustamam wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I'm weird because I pay for Netflix/HBO for no ads, but I'm on the ad supported tier for Peacock and Hulu. I guess it's just what I'm used to (I don't expect to see ads on Netflix, but I do expect to see them on Hulu)

Is there a price point where you'd switch between the two tiers for those services? I mean, I guess if they were literally the same cost.

Good question. I think it's really just status quo. I got Peacock for free thru Xfinity and it was ad supported, but when I left Xfinity I just kept the same tier. Same with Hulu; my wife had ad Hulu before we got married and when we merged finances I had to reason to upgrade. But Netflix/HBO with ads just seems weird to me.

Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#595

Post by abustamam »

Suppafly wrote: post #383
abustamam wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's pretty much Rocket Money https://www.rocketmoney.com/

Does it actually work?

I only use it for keeping an eye on my budget, I don't really trust automated systems to cancel things for me. But it does let me know what to cancel manually.

Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#597

Post by margalabargala »

senbrow wrote: post #535
3minus1 wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't think bad Product Manager's is a good explanation for the UI. Any big company like Netflix is going to heavily A/B test any and every change to the UI. They will only ever add things that boost metrics like engagement. You may not like the UI; it may annoy you, but you should have some appreciation for the fact that they are using sophisticated techniques to optimize for what they care about.

Why should I appreciate a company's exploitative and extractive experimentation on its customers? The cost of maximizing "value" for the company to the nth degree degrades the customer experience once it exceeds a certain threshold. It's greedy tunnel vision that makes the world worse for everyone in the long term.

For real, what the parent is suggesting is like appreciating that the burglar who robbed me cared enough about stealing from me to spend a week parked on my street learning my schedule.

Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#599

Post by mejutoco »

Arainach wrote: post #286
_kush wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Porsche is easy to replace only if you bought it as just another fast car. If you bought it for the design, the legacy, or what the brand means to you, it’s not so easy. Netflix has their content as their moat. Even if someone today builds a better version of what Netflix used to be, it wouldn't matter. They won’t have the rights and licenses to the shows and movies. That’s what keeps people from switching. Porsche h…

>Netflix has their content as their moat. Only Netflix-produced shows apply here. Before Netflix started producing content they had *no moat*. That's the big problem with media streaming - the content owners have all the leverage. Any profit you make they can see and simply increase licensing costs to transfer to them. If you don't want to pay they can (and will, and have done) start their own competitor since the te…

Funny enough, when netflix was shipping physical dvds they could have any ip they wanted.

Re: But what if I want a faster horse?

#600

Post by erikerikson »

cess11 wrote: post #428
20after4 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Propaganda?

How did you arrive at this proposal? Is the Mona Lisa propaganda because she isn't holding a branded flask with snake oil?

GP responded to a comment about broadcasts, not paintings. I think the GP wasn't so far off. If you are not selling products you are still presenting viewpoints, experiences, and ideas.
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