_different_username@lemmy.worldtoAsklemmy@lemmy.ml•Old timers, help me find a game?English
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2 months agoIs this it?
Is this it?
Because crystallography and solid state chemistry is the foundation of every modern convenience?
But it’s also beautiful. If they’ve never heard of Bravais-Friedel-Donnay-Harker, then you can’t really blame them for not knowing.
Same here. I’ve come to the conclusion that, if I was unwilling to accept anyone that wasn’t of the calibre of Carl Sagan to fill his shoes, I was probably going to wait a long time. I think Degrasse Tyson’s advocacy for black scientists is admirable, as is his willingness to promote religious reconciliation. These weren’t areas of focus for Sagan, but that’s ok. They can be different people, even imperfect people, and maybe that’s good.
I’d also like to point out that the underlying model may well be unsustainable in the way that it is offered at the start. Who benefits when a for-profit company operates at a loss? We, the customers, do. We get low prices and customer-friendly practices that are genuinely enjoyable. That business can’t operate in that way indefinitely, as the early investors are not funding it as an act of charity.
Eventually, the bill comes due. The shareholders have funded the company on the premise that, after losing lots of money on customer acquisition, it can restructure and monetize those customers and recoup their investment, hopefully with a lucrative return when they decide to capitalize their holdings and find a new company with which to repeat the process.
There is absolutely no reason not to enjoy the perks of the early stage of the customer acquisition process; the shareholders are subsidizing your product at no cost to you. But we shouldn’t be surprised when the shareholders stop subsidizing and start squeezing their formerly pampered customers in the hopes of getting their money back (and more, of course).
This doesn’t excuse unethical or abusive practices, but it does mean that, even without them, the experience of those early days probably wasn’t going to last forever.