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Are we the baddies?

(geohot.github.io)
692 points AndrewSwift | 3 comments | | HN request time: 1.029s | source
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ggm ◴[] No.44478235[source]
For some people, paying the premium to jump the queue is the point. What they didn't forsee is what happens when everyone has wound up paying the premium, and the queue is now with you again. This is mostly Australian frequent flyers, when it was a high barrier to entry it conferred advantages and now Fly in Fly out work has commoditised club status, there is next to no boarding advantage, and no points flight availability.

So yes. Status seeking, and differential price seeking probably is a-social as a pattern when it's weaponised against the consumer.

That said, I hated Uber, they actually offered to underwrite people breaking the law to get foot in the door (how that didn't get them excluded as a corporate scofflaw is beyond me) and they continue to export all the profits offshore, but taxi services had become shit and now we have got used to Uber and I just don't worry about surge pricing. I got boiled slowly.

My fellow Australians all feel a bit shit about the introduction of tipping in paywave and food service. That's unaustralian. We have legally enforced minimum wages and penalty rates. Turn that feature off.

The European push to mandate included luggage in flight is seeing a fair bit of trolling. So there are still true believers who think needing clean underwear is weak.

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surgical_fire ◴[] No.44479393[source]
> For some people, paying the premium to jump the queue is the point. What they didn't forsee is what happens when everyone has wound up paying the premium, and the queue is now with you again

There's a freedom that comes with not caring and just accepting I am last in the line. I don't pay the premium and I can sit and relax in the lobby while the sheep that paid wait in line. Only when the queue is nearly depleted it is my turn.

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1. nosianu ◴[] No.44479419[source]
Though, that too only works if it is not adopted by the majority :)

The actual strategy is not that you are last, but that you choose to be part of the smallest group.

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2. surgical_fire ◴[] No.44480226[source]
That's true. It's almost like the prisoners dillema.

I think that in a world with no priority queueing, I would still not care about the only queue and show up at the gate at the last possible time.

Problems would arise if everyone behaved like me. You would have everyone showing last minute and chaos would be the result.

I wonder how the system would adapt to that.

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3. BenjiWiebe ◴[] No.44481515[source]
The thing is, not everyone is like you. So it would work better than the pathological case, at least.