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> Whenever you go to buy your daily bread, or get a haircut, you do not need to stick to the same vendor, or sign a contract with them, or otherwise care about

> Whenever you go to buy your daily bread, or get a haircut, you do not need to stick to the same vendor, or sign a contract with them, or otherwise care about ongoing relationship. You can, if you want, but you do not have to, and that's despite the vendor very much wanting you to. The relationship exists, but it's managed for you, centrally, by your local regulator - making purchases O(1) with respect to number of vendors. Whether you shop at one place or a thousand, the overhead is the same. This seems to miss out on the difference between commodity and non-commodity goods and services. LWN, or the channels I watch on YT, or the people I support on Patreon, are not commodity services. They are not interchangeable in any real sense.

TeMPOraL 3y ago
> This seems to miss out on the difference between commodity and non-commodity goods and services. It doesn't, it applies to non-commodities too. Wanting a particular good or service != wanting an ongoing relationship with a vendor. Even with YouTube producers, when I like some particular ones and support them on Patreon, that still doesn't mean I necessarily want a generic relationship with them as a vendor/brand - I may be interested in their channel, and everything they do around it, but that doesn't mean I want to hear about their other channel, or know about other unrelated businesses they run. That doesn't also mean I never want such relationship either. I don't want it by default, and I want to control how far I go, not be tricked or dragged into what I do not want.
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
  The problem is that you're mixing two things: > Whenever you go to buy your daily bread, or get a haircut, you do not need to stick to the same vendor This is absolutely not possible with non-commodities. If you want that YT producer's stuff, you have to go to them. You cannot switch to another "vendor". > or sign a contract with them, or otherwise care about ongoing relationship Well, that's certainly true, but I'm not sure what it really means given that you cannot switch suppliers.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    What you say applies in the limit. A lot of stuff is only sort-of non-commodity, i.e. you could always do without, and eventually substitute by something entirely different. However, my point is focused more on the relationship aspect. Even with a 100% unique, non-commodity creator, to whom I have to go to get my content fix, there's a difference between two scenarios: - I come if and when I want, consume content and/or support them in exchange for specific content, or as generic patronage - but otherwise, they do not force themselves into my mental space. - Like above, except I get spammed by the creator, especially with marketing material outside of what I care about; I have to remember to manage recurring payments 'lest I'll be unknowingly spending money on things I don't want; subjecting myself to the above is a de-facto condition to access the content I want. The ideal non-commodity recurring relation for me is almost purely transactional - I pay and get what I want in exchange, and nothing more, and otherwise can safely forget the vendor exists.

TeMPOraL 3y ago

> This seems to miss out on the difference between commodity and non-commodity goods and services. It doesn't, it applies to non-commodities too. Wanting a particular good or service != wanting an ongoing relationship with a vendor. Even with YouTube producers, when I like some particular ones and support them on Patreon, that still doesn't mean I necessarily want a generic relationship with them as a vendor/brand - I may be interested in their channel, and everything they do around it, but that doesn't mean I want to hear about their other channel, or know about other unrelated businesses they run. That doesn't also mean I never want such relationship either. I don't want it by default, and I want to control how far I go, not be tricked or dragged into what I do not want.

PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
The problem is that you're mixing two things: > Whenever you go to buy your daily bread, or get a haircut, you do not need to stick to the same vendor This is absolutely not possible with non-commodities. If you want that YT producer's stuff, you have to go to them. You cannot switch to another "vendor". > or sign a contract with them, or otherwise care about ongoing relationship Well, that's certainly true, but I'm not sure what it really means given that you cannot switch suppliers.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  What you say applies in the limit. A lot of stuff is only sort-of non-commodity, i.e. you could always do without, and eventually substitute by something entirely different. However, my point is focused more on the relationship aspect. Even with a 100% unique, non-commodity creator, to whom I have to go to get my content fix, there's a difference between two scenarios: - I come if and when I want, consume content and/or support them in exchange for specific content, or as generic patronage - but otherwise, they do not force themselves into my mental space. - Like above, except I get spammed by the creator, especially with marketing material outside of what I care about; I have to remember to manage recurring payments 'lest I'll be unknowingly spending money on things I don't want; subjecting myself to the above is a de-facto condition to access the content I want. The ideal non-commodity recurring relation for me is almost purely transactional - I pay and get what I want in exchange, and nothing more, and otherwise can safely forget the vendor exists.