4 ms·

I really don’t get the hills people choose to die on these days. Do you want a successful business? Ok, then follow the rules, cover your ass, and do what you

by xwdv 6y ago

I really don’t get the hills people choose to die on these days. Do you want a successful business? Ok, then follow the rules, cover your ass, and do what you need to do to get your business going, even if it’s not always the ideal situation for you. But no, I guess lashing out explosively and torpedoing everything because you’re not treated like the big players when you’re still a little guy is more satisfying, if less profitable.

spzb 6y ago
It’s done wonders for Hey in free publicity. Not that that could possibly be a reason for making a big fuss about it.
- rubenfonseca 6y ago
  This, 1000 times. The best PR stunt they could ever dream.
- lvh 6y ago
  They didn't build this website.
  - spzb 6y ago
    Did I suggest they did?
Hamuko 6y ago
>Ok, then follow the rules It'd help if there were consistent rules that were equally enforced.
alexashka 6y ago
Nobody is dying. It's precisely because everyone's so deeply cynical and feeling so powerless, that these rent seeking practices continue to flourish. The way out is not to try and carve out a little niche for yourself and hope they don't come for you next. You can if you're a selfish coward but know that people don't respect selfish cowards and unless you want to live alone or with a few other cowards who agree to cling to each other for miserly comfort, it is a losing strategy. The way out is also not to cause anarchy because 'everything is fucked anyway'. This PR tsunami is actually one of the best weapons against monopolies, because they signal to policy makers that they can make a career out of working for a cause that the public deeply cares about. The big corps know this and try to avoid PR problems but it seems like Apple has gotten real bold as of late and I look forward to seeing what comes of this.
lifty 6y ago
He took a principled stand and risked he’s whole business and I appreciate that. If apple would enforce the same rules for everyone I think people would give them some slack. But as it stands, they don’t.
lvh 6y ago
1) They /did/ follow the rules. 2) This site is not built by the people who built Hey. 3) The rules are being asymmetrically applied. Why should people be OK with Apple bullying all the companies they think they can get away with bullying?
yowlingcat 6y ago
> Do you want a successful business? Ok, then follow the rules, cover your ass, and do what you need to do to get your business going, even if it’s not always the ideal situation for you. Not to pick on your bio too much, but I'm wondering if you may be having difficulty understanding the situation as a self described "ethically challenged software engineer working for a major tech company". But, you'll never get a new business off the ground successfully if you "follow the rules, cover your ass, ..." because the incumbents you are competing with are already doing that. As I've ranted about before, running a startup is about taking calculated risks. You need to fight these fights if you think they have a high positive expected value. As sibling commentators explained, you do not always do this for altruistic reasons -- picking fights with a Goliath when you're a David is easy free PR for you. Now granted, this kind of easy, free PR might be a drop in the bucket if you're a BigCo. And on the other hand, the expected risk might be high enough that the tradeoff really doesn't work out in your favor in that situation! But that is because the strategy for handling this kind of a setback is really not fungible from running a startup to running a BigCo.

by xwdv 6y ago

spzb 6y ago

It’s done wonders for Hey in free publicity. Not that that could possibly be a reason for making a big fuss about it.

rubenfonseca 6y ago
This, 1000 times. The best PR stunt they could ever dream.
lvh 6y ago
They didn't build this website.
- spzb 6y ago
  Did I suggest they did?

Hamuko 6y ago

>Ok, then follow the rules It'd help if there were consistent rules that were equally enforced.

alexashka 6y ago

Nobody is dying. It's precisely because everyone's so deeply cynical and feeling so powerless, that these rent seeking practices continue to flourish. The way out is not to try and carve out a little niche for yourself and hope they don't come for you next. You can if you're a selfish coward but know that people don't respect selfish cowards and unless you want to live alone or with a few other cowards who agree to cling to each other for miserly comfort, it is a losing strategy. The way out is also not to cause anarchy because 'everything is fucked anyway'. This PR tsunami is actually one of the best weapons against monopolies, because they signal to policy makers that they can make a career out of working for a cause that the public deeply cares about. The big corps know this and try to avoid PR problems but it seems like Apple has gotten real bold as of late and I look forward to seeing what comes of this.

lifty 6y ago

He took a principled stand and risked he’s whole business and I appreciate that. If apple would enforce the same rules for everyone I think people would give them some slack. But as it stands, they don’t.

lvh 6y ago

1) They /did/ follow the rules. 2) This site is not built by the people who built Hey. 3) The rules are being asymmetrically applied. Why should people be OK with Apple bullying all the companies they think they can get away with bullying?

yowlingcat 6y ago

> Do you want a successful business? Ok, then follow the rules, cover your ass, and do what you need to do to get your business going, even if it’s not always the ideal situation for you. Not to pick on your bio too much, but I'm wondering if you may be having difficulty understanding the situation as a self described "ethically challenged software engineer working for a major tech company". But, you'll never get a new business off the ground successfully if you "follow the rules, cover your ass, ..." because the incumbents you are competing with are already doing that. As I've ranted about before, running a startup is about taking calculated risks. You need to fight these fights if you think they have a high positive expected value. As sibling commentators explained, you do not always do this for altruistic reasons -- picking fights with a Goliath when you're a David is easy free PR for you. Now granted, this kind of easy, free PR might be a drop in the bucket if you're a BigCo. And on the other hand, the expected risk might be high enough that the tradeoff really doesn't work out in your favor in that situation! But that is because the strategy for handling this kind of a setback is really not fungible from running a startup to running a BigCo.