Archive for the Capitalism Category

“Recurring Revenue”:  Inserting A Tentacle Into Every Pocket (August 29, 2022)

Posted in Capitalism, Our Future? on August 29, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The word for our time.”

J          “It is a four letter word.”

. . .

K          “The business plan is to insert every tentacle into every pocket forever.”

J          “Remote start for a car strikes me as an acceptable bourgeois indulgence, but for the auto companies to demand a monthly charge for the service is underhanded and over the top.  Imagine if the credit card company botched the person’s payment for the recurring monthly power window fee and also the recurring monthly door lock fee.  A driver may be imprisoned in the vehicle.”

K          “Remember the song ‘M.T.A.’ performed by the Kingston Trio that told the tale of a rider on the MTA who did not have an extra nickel to pay the fare and was condemned to continue riding the subway in perpetuity.  Poor Chuck’s wife had to toss his lunch to him through the window.”

J          “Imagine flying down the highway and the red light erupts to inform the driver that the fee for brake service is in arrears and the braking system no longer functions.”

. . .

K          “In the early days of the Internet, those who mined and secured general internet addresses made a small fortune.  For instance, the person who first mined and secured www.pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.com made a tidy sum selling it.  Now websites are leased with the original holder retaining ownership and charging monthly rent.  It is legal and it is ethical, yet it is reflective of a desire to keep a tentacle in every pocket.  The lessee could develop the site as part of a brand and then lose the site for failure to make a monthly payment.”    

J          “Will the public resist?”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Brake service monthly fee in arrears

Will we ever return?