7 ms·

You're entirely missing the point of the comment if you think it's about games. It's about digital goods.

pdonis 5y ago
I can't think of any "digital good" where there is a risk of losing access in this way that isn't recreational in a similar way to games. So my comments would apply equally well to any such goods.
- josephcsible 5y ago
  Two that immediately come to mind are online textbooks and Adobe Creative Cloud.
  - pdonis 5y ago
    Hm. I agree online textbooks are different because you're not just paying for the textbook, you're also paying a school tuition, and the school isn't going to refund your tuition just because the textbook provider made a mistake. I asked another poster just upthread about the software (such as Creative Cloud) case.
    - conradludgate 5y ago
      You can buy text books outside of school. Let's say I buy some OReilly or Manning e-books, and then they take them away from me. Whereas the physical copy for just a little bit extra remains mine for as long as the copy stays readable (centuries if given care)
- endisneigh 5y ago
  You're on a forum called "Hacker News" and you can't think of a single digital good that's not recreational? In any case the biggest examples would be software.
  - pdonis 5y ago
    Are there any examples of software providers revoking access in this way? (I personally have no experience with such things because I will never use or pay for software that is provided in this way.)
    - southerntofu 5y ago
      With service providers (eg. Google/Facebook) it happens every day to thousands of people, and there's little to no recourse although there was usually no financial transaction to begin with. With software you setup on your computer, i'm not aware of any instance, BUT subscription models (eg. Adobe) are really recent and not so long ago software vendors did not have the means to disable software remotely on your machine, because it was usually not (always) connected to the network, and because software that didn't need it didn't make useless network connections. I bet in a few years we'll have plenty of documented instances.
- boring_twenties 5y ago
  Kindle books?
  - pdonis 5y ago
    Those are recreation. (Except for edge cases like online textbooks, which another poster just upthread mentioned.)

I can't think of any "digital good" where there is a risk of losing access in this way that isn't recreational in a similar way to games. So my comments would apply equally well to any such goods.

josephcsible 5y ago
Two that immediately come to mind are online textbooks and Adobe Creative Cloud.
- pdonis 5y ago
  Hm. I agree online textbooks are different because you're not just paying for the textbook, you're also paying a school tuition, and the school isn't going to refund your tuition just because the textbook provider made a mistake. I asked another poster just upthread about the software (such as Creative Cloud) case.
  - conradludgate 5y ago
    You can buy text books outside of school. Let's say I buy some OReilly or Manning e-books, and then they take them away from me. Whereas the physical copy for just a little bit extra remains mine for as long as the copy stays readable (centuries if given care)
endisneigh 5y ago
You're on a forum called "Hacker News" and you can't think of a single digital good that's not recreational? In any case the biggest examples would be software.
- pdonis 5y ago
  Are there any examples of software providers revoking access in this way? (I personally have no experience with such things because I will never use or pay for software that is provided in this way.)
  - southerntofu 5y ago
    With service providers (eg. Google/Facebook) it happens every day to thousands of people, and there's little to no recourse although there was usually no financial transaction to begin with. With software you setup on your computer, i'm not aware of any instance, BUT subscription models (eg. Adobe) are really recent and not so long ago software vendors did not have the means to disable software remotely on your machine, because it was usually not (always) connected to the network, and because software that didn't need it didn't make useless network connections. I bet in a few years we'll have plenty of documented instances.
boring_twenties 5y ago
Kindle books?
- pdonis 5y ago
  Those are recreation. (Except for edge cases like online textbooks, which another poster just upthread mentioned.)