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You can already buy that service, there are probably dozens of startups that exist or have tried and failed and some established names in certain areas. It migh
by Jach 9y ago
You can already buy that service, there are probably dozens of startups that exist or have tried and failed and some established names in certain areas. It might even be a perk in some housing complexes. I think Google even offered/offers it as a work perk.
Let those who want a service pay for one, and those who don't not. Let's have a mixed free economy, not a centrally planned one with a bias.
- amelius 9y agoA central aspect of a market to function is transparency. With a service contract, there is more transparency, since you know exactly what the service will cost. Not so with products. Also, let me ask: would you recommend the government to look for a service contract for their fridges/lighting/washing machines? Or would you recommend them to look into buying this equipment? What would be different for companies and consumers?
- Jach 9y agoYou know what the service costs, until the contract is up (or the contract can no longer be honored), and unless you do a cost calculation you won't know if you're being gouged. Some people don't care about potential gouging if the price seems fair to them though. I would recommend all entities making purchasing decisions to do so based on some form of economic analysis (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_economics). The choice of a service contract vs anything else (which may involve other contracts, or may involve purchasing nothing) is the result of the analysis, not some broad sweeping bias. I also wouldn't mind seeing a prediction market for tracking how accurate analysis results tend to be.