Comment by benjaminjosephw | Hacker News Reader

Comment by benjaminjosephw | Hacker News Reader

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benjaminjosephw

Wow, I thought you were about to object to the generalization of an end-usr denigrating HN perspective!

Okay, even if it is "entitled" to expect something for nothing, it's dishonest not to be clear and upfront about the costs. In fact, if you think the entitlement is misplaced then it's really a failure of the service providers in educating the users rather than a failure of the users themselves.

If you don't agree, it would suggest that you think the average user should be able to read the world the way you do and understand the subtext of "free" services without having to spell it out. Would you be suggesting then that it's okay to take advantage of people who don't understand this the way you do?

I find it hard to believe in this day and age that people don’t understand the basic business model of these services.

People in technology have a far greater understanding of the depth, breadth and potential consequences of selling data and attention to advertising platforms than the average user. Even then, we still don't necessarily know exactly how normative technology can be. That's like taking payment in the form of a blank cheque and calling it "free".

The business model might be clear enough, but the cost and consequences are not.

Most people are not aware of the extent that their identities and activity is tracked across the web.

Well, I don’t find it that much easier to believe just because you assert the opposite.

Have a chat with people who aren't into computers and the internet. A huge percentage of them don't understand any of this (and don't even understand why they should understand).

Well, do they not understand, or are they indifferent? I suspect that many of us here confuse the latter for the former.

A large percentage of the people I've talked to about this simply don't understand. Worse, many _think_ they understand.

Then (and please try to take this respectfully) you are out of touch. Many (most?) users don’t even know the services are collecting information at all.

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