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That's a false dichotomy though. I'd prefer a notification like: > We have registered an account called "Tetha" for "tetha@coyote.acme.org" on amazingservice.a

by tetha 8y ago

That's a false dichotomy though. I'd prefer a notification like: > We have registered an account called "Tetha" for "tetha@coyote.acme.org" on amazingservice.acme.org. > If this wasn't you, click <this link> to delete the account. > If you're interested in the services you can receive on a free account, click <this link>, and for further service options click <that link>. That's short and to the point.

fauigerzigerk 8y ago
>That's a false dichotomy though. Now I feel misunderstood. I thought it was a perfectly good straw man argument, not just a measly false dichotomy. always_good's complaint was about an embarrassingly fake personal tone coming from a complete stranger representing a corporation. S/he didn't complain about a lack of brutal honesty regarding an obviously deceptive business model. In any event, it's a joke. I agree with both of you. You don't have to be glaringly dishonest either in tone or in the way in which you structure your business model.
- tetha 8y ago
  Ok, you just made me laugh. That comment just triggered work mode too hard, and at the moment, any point but a hard, way too specific, and nasty to refute point is void at work. It's been a rough week.
tripzilch 8y ago
Or if you want to be a bit more original/quirky, you can do: "Hi! This is the server[0] at XXY! (...)". I remember getting emails like this from automated web-mailer services in the late 90s/early 00s. If in those days you would have made your server sent out personalised messages masquerading as an actual live human being, people would be quite upset and felt betrayed. That was not done. In fact, people mistook now-obviously form-generated letters for being human-written a lot more often (because the tech was new). Adding onto that confusion by being deliberately surreptitious was something done only by spammers and other vermin, maybe the occasional pranking of friends, but that was it. In my eyes it never quite became globally acceptable, either. Some consumer cultures are more okay with it than others. I just learned what other features I need to check to suspect a computer instead of a human. If they turn out to have been trying to mislead me, I'll adjust my opinion of them accordingly. It's perfectly possible to have an automated message not be all stiff and robotic, even putting a smile on the recipients' face, without actively trying to impersonate a human. [0] with the assumption these notifications are sent to a tech audience that understands what a server is, adapt as needed

by tetha 8y ago

fauigerzigerk 8y ago

>That's a false dichotomy though. Now I feel misunderstood. I thought it was a perfectly good straw man argument, not just a measly false dichotomy. always_good's complaint was about an embarrassingly fake personal tone coming from a complete stranger representing a corporation. S/he didn't complain about a lack of brutal honesty regarding an obviously deceptive business model. In any event, it's a joke. I agree with both of you. You don't have to be glaringly dishonest either in tone or in the way in which you structure your business model.

tetha 8y ago
Ok, you just made me laugh. That comment just triggered work mode too hard, and at the moment, any point but a hard, way too specific, and nasty to refute point is void at work. It's been a rough week.

tripzilch 8y ago

Or if you want to be a bit more original/quirky, you can do: "Hi! This is the server[0] at XXY! (...)". I remember getting emails like this from automated web-mailer services in the late 90s/early 00s. If in those days you would have made your server sent out personalised messages masquerading as an actual live human being, people would be quite upset and felt betrayed. That was not done. In fact, people mistook now-obviously form-generated letters for being human-written a lot more often (because the tech was new). Adding onto that confusion by being deliberately surreptitious was something done only by spammers and other vermin, maybe the occasional pranking of friends, but that was it. In my eyes it never quite became globally acceptable, either. Some consumer cultures are more okay with it than others. I just learned what other features I need to check to suspect a computer instead of a human. If they turn out to have been trying to mislead me, I'll adjust my opinion of them accordingly. It's perfectly possible to have an automated message not be all stiff and robotic, even putting a smile on the recipients' face, without actively trying to impersonate a human. [0] with the assumption these notifications are sent to a tech audience that understands what a server is, adapt as needed