Don’t blame tech, blame the bait-and-switch business model of loss leading products.

Uber never made money because they chose to undercut prices of all competitors and bleed them out.

I’d argue that newer streaming companies (those founded by studios, such as Disney +) did the same thing by roping in customers before jacking up prices.

It may be the “fault” of capitalism, but consider it was capitalism that birthed streaming in the first place. In the long term, the expectation would be a better solution will surface in reference to streaming.. the same way streaming was a solution to cable. Thus is the business cycle.

So basically,

1. Banks will repossess vehicles to try and minimise losses
2. Banks will not be able to sell those repossessed vehicles, resulting in losses
3. Banks may become insolvent as they are unable to liquidate the vehicles
4. Government steps in to bail them out

New vehicle prices are not in line with their actual value, so banks are making loans that aren’t covered by the collateral. This is shit management by the banking industry. If it’s impossible to get an auto loan then vehicle prices will eventually fall as supply stacks up. Banks are feeding this cycle by being unrealistic in these loan assessments.

I hate stuff like this because screen grabs during meetings or lectures is my favorite way to take notes.

My tastes have definitely changed.

I’m old and I’m busy. I don’t have time for fetch quests that are uninspired time sinks. I don’t have time to play through a game with janky mechanics just for a few bright spots. I don’t have time to farm repetitive shit just so I can do X thing.

I’ve found that most AAA games care more about the time you spend playing rather than whether the game is fun or not. Diablo IVs rapid fall from grace is a prime example of this. This will not stop; it is the end point of the business model. A fun game that people sink 40 hours into and drop is much less profitable than a mid-game that demands a perpetual 10 hours per week.

Others have already hit on it, but my best gaming experiences in recent years have been games that I didn’t buy on release and only found through online word of mouth and hype.

I’m just tired man.

I played D2 religiously for years. Definitely have 2k hours across multiple platforms.

The crash that game had in 2023 with the Lightfall expansion destroyed it. The prior expansion was peak, and it really felt like they took all that goodwill and shat on it.

There’s a ton of other stuff at Bungie that went wrong and contributed, but Lightfall is the easiest thing to point to. The missed revenue projections from that release started a chain of bad decisions that really crippled the game.

Even though Final Shape was amazing and reviewed very well, they couldn’t come back from the 2023 shit storm. Especially when new and better games became available to play.

This is a great example of why completely de-regulated markets don’t work. It’s the government’s job to ensure that consumers have choices and prevent both regional and outright monopolies.

Provision of choice allows consumers to vote with their wallets unless firms collude to fix prices.

Either way, this is the fault of government regulators.

I do believe market economies are still the most efficient means of managing resources, but there have to be guardrails. Free Market implies that consumers are free to choose, but that choice shouldn’t come down to Option A or Nothing.

Slow down your thinking and consider this: why would any practical person fully develop something without getting market feedback and understanding demand?

This is by the book “Preto-typing”. You can frame it as lying, but the reality is Apple had faith that all of the “faked” features in the demonstration would be fully developed before launch.

IBM did something similar before voice-to-text existed. They faked the technology during market research and discovered that people didn’t enjoy speaking to their computer as much as initially thought. It showed them that they could better invest that money elsewhere.

It would make zero sense and be a foolish use of capital to fully develop a product that complex and expensive without understanding market preferences.

This is a non-story, rage-bait headline.

We send each other a squirrel emoji via text

Not to be contrarian, I know this is an ever growing problem, but is it really doing any good to continue phrasing the issue like this?

It’s starting to sound like those cults who predict the end of the world every 10 years.

Let the data speak for itself. Show the models and the projected results. I truly believe that we are in a dire position, but the current method of communication is not working.

Also, I don’t believe the feedback mechanisms are ever emphasised enough. Climate change isn’t linear and global temperatures will increase exponentially, even if our rate of emissions increases linearly over time. Warmer air holds more water vapor and melting permafrost releases additional greenhouse gases, both exacerbating the greenhouse effect.

My take is that Excel is great for people to throw together quick and efficient tools for their own use. The problem is when these get distributed and then everyone uses something that has no version control or QA/QC.

I see this a lot because an engineer gets annoyed with IT or existing software restrictions and learns enough VBA to be dangerous. (Spoiler, it me.)

Feel like I have the same argument at work everyday. Some things just take a definitive time. 20 cooks won’t make a cake faster. Cooking that cake at 1000 degrees won’t make it faster. It will take the time it takes.

I literally got my Masters degree because I got pissed off at work 2 years ago.

Anyone that bought when rates were still 2-3% isn’t selling unless they’re being forced. Why would they, considering their real interest rate is negative at this point.

This is a non-headline because it’s reporting on something that was expected to happen when interest rates rose.

That being said, this does suck for those who have yet to purchase their first home. Property investors buying with cash have no incentive to stop buying. This is where government should step in and regulate. Those conversations should be headlining instead.

Value is subjective, and some people value convenience more than the cost of delivery.

I regularly talk to myself when I drive to and from work. Obviously, I drive in alone.

It’s not a self conversation, it’s more like verbalizing my own thought processes. It helps me work through problems and make decisions.

I would love if they would just roll out an iMessage app to android. Ideally free.

I could realistically see them roll out an apple subscription pack to android eventually. Give users a way to access Apple Music, Fitness, etc. May even allow android users make use of Apple Watch.

I’m not an Apple fan boy, but this seems like a decent compromise from a business perspective. This meets a need and I don’t think there’s a decent enough argument that it would cannibalize iPhone sales (flagship models anyway)

Yeah you’re not wrong.

I feel like I can’t get ahead. Always running. Hell, I even do well for myself, good job and income. There’s always “just one more [X]”. And then we die.

Everything like this just means now I have to spend more of my billable hours fighting through automated bullshit.

It looks like savings on paper, but the true cost is hidden when every other employee now spends more of their time not doing their actual job.

I encourage everyone to read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

Excellent book that covers this topic with examples ranging from successful businessmen to why most professional Canadian Hockey players are born around the same time of year.