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Is this really HN-worthy? It’s basically just a tweet from a guy saying he doesn’t like something. I don’t like it either but there’s nothing thoughtful or thou

Is this really HN-worthy? It’s basically just a tweet from a guy saying he doesn’t like something. I don’t like it either but there’s nothing thoughtful or thought provoking in this particular post.

inglor_cz 3y ago
I think it is worthwhile to consider the ramifications. We are used to surge pricing in some sectors. What if it comes to some other, traditional sectors. Should there be surge pricing in, IDK, healthcare? It certainly feels dystopic, but it is worth discussing in detail. I am not sure if I can think of all the consequences myself. I agree that the original post is neither well thought out nor particularly well written, though.
- mattmaroon 3y ago
  Yeah and I mean, no shade, the guy wasn’t trying to write a New Yorker article. Nothing wrong with saying “I don’t like X” on the internet. Just doesn’t seem like an HN story but I guess that’s what voting is for.
- rolph 3y ago
  interesting branch, lets also consider surge insurance, or surge law enforcement
  - inglor_cz 3y ago
    "surge law enforcement" In the immediate aftermath of the 2002 floods in Prague, a lot of police and even soldiers were deployed to the flooded areas to prevent looting. I think this was a sort-of surge law enforcement. The problem was anticipated and prevented, though at some extra cost.
    - rolph 3y ago
      the price could be set for regional differences such as response time, response duration, staffing numbers, of course unitary demands [swat;riot] would have a pricing scale as well.
      - inglor_cz 3y ago
        Well, there was a notorious situation in Ancient Rome where a private fire service would respond to fires and the owner of the fire service would bargain with the owner of the house. If the house owner was willing to sell him the house for a low price, the firefighters would be allowed to extinguish the fire. Otherwise, no. I don't think modern societies would tolerate that, but it is interesting to contemplate the idea that something like "surge pricing" was used in times when people didn't know what "zero" or "America" was.
- Ekaros 3y ago
  I wonder if surge-pricing would work in SaaS startups. Charge more for actions done in regular work hours and less on weekends and holidays.
  - randomdata 3y ago
    In general, probably not. Ideally all of the actions would take place during regular work hours so that you don't have weekend support costs. If you cannot keep up with compute during regular hours, then perhaps you would find some benefit in seeing some of the load distributed to weekend hours.
- randomdata 3y ago
  > Should there be surge pricing in, IDK, healthcare? There are no "shoulds" in life – if you want to offer healthcare services under a surge model, go nuts – but it is unlikely that surge pricing would be beneficial in healthcare. Surge pricing meant to incentivize shifting some activity to another time of day. Routine healthcare needs are generally already scheduled by appointment to ensure appropriate distribution. As such, there are no surges. Unexpected healthcare needs may encounter surges, but as they are not expected, a higher price doesn't alter incentives. Nobody wants to have unexpected healthcare needs in the first place. They aren't thinking "You know, a hospital visit is cheaper at 11AM. That's when I'll choose to break my arm!" Without that, you don't gain anything with surge pricing. But someone thinking "You know, lunch is cheaper at 11AM. That's when I'm going to start eating lunch!" is quite realistic and beneficial to the restaurant. And, indeed, surge pricing is nothing new for restaurants for exactly that reason. Of course, traditionally, they have called it "happy hour" rather than "surge pricing", but the idea is the same.
  - fragmede 3y ago
    if we define surge pricing as being incentivized to shift activity to another time, then arguably it's already there for Americans. If I call 911 and take an ambulance to the ER, it's gonna cost me way more out of pocket just to get there even before I see a doctor. If I schedule an appointment and see my PCP in a couple of weeks, all I pay is there deductible. So I'm incentivized not to go to the ER for some minor thing that can wait until I can get to the cheaper urgent care in the morning, or my PCP in a week or two. The math for happy hour looks like a similar thing, but it's not, because alcohol. drunk people do dumb things and one of those things is not leave and spend money and be entertaining, among other things.
    - randomdata 3y ago
      A tool's purpose not define the tool.
cglong 3y ago
I think the topic is News relevant to Hackers, but I agree this link isn't the best representation of it. I think something like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39526455 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39526455 would be better for reporting on this.
- mattmaroon 3y ago
  Yes, exactly.

inglor_cz 3y ago

I think it is worthwhile to consider the ramifications. We are used to surge pricing in some sectors. What if it comes to some other, traditional sectors. Should there be surge pricing in, IDK, healthcare? It certainly feels dystopic, but it is worth discussing in detail. I am not sure if I can think of all the consequences myself. I agree that the original post is neither well thought out nor particularly well written, though.

mattmaroon 3y ago
Yeah and I mean, no shade, the guy wasn’t trying to write a New Yorker article. Nothing wrong with saying “I don’t like X” on the internet. Just doesn’t seem like an HN story but I guess that’s what voting is for.
rolph 3y ago
interesting branch, lets also consider surge insurance, or surge law enforcement
- inglor_cz 3y ago
  "surge law enforcement" In the immediate aftermath of the 2002 floods in Prague, a lot of police and even soldiers were deployed to the flooded areas to prevent looting. I think this was a sort-of surge law enforcement. The problem was anticipated and prevented, though at some extra cost.
  - rolph 3y ago
    the price could be set for regional differences such as response time, response duration, staffing numbers, of course unitary demands [swat;riot] would have a pricing scale as well.
    - inglor_cz 3y ago
      Well, there was a notorious situation in Ancient Rome where a private fire service would respond to fires and the owner of the fire service would bargain with the owner of the house. If the house owner was willing to sell him the house for a low price, the firefighters would be allowed to extinguish the fire. Otherwise, no. I don't think modern societies would tolerate that, but it is interesting to contemplate the idea that something like "surge pricing" was used in times when people didn't know what "zero" or "America" was.
Ekaros 3y ago
I wonder if surge-pricing would work in SaaS startups. Charge more for actions done in regular work hours and less on weekends and holidays.
- randomdata 3y ago
  In general, probably not. Ideally all of the actions would take place during regular work hours so that you don't have weekend support costs. If you cannot keep up with compute during regular hours, then perhaps you would find some benefit in seeing some of the load distributed to weekend hours.
randomdata 3y ago
> Should there be surge pricing in, IDK, healthcare? There are no "shoulds" in life – if you want to offer healthcare services under a surge model, go nuts – but it is unlikely that surge pricing would be beneficial in healthcare. Surge pricing meant to incentivize shifting some activity to another time of day. Routine healthcare needs are generally already scheduled by appointment to ensure appropriate distribution. As such, there are no surges. Unexpected healthcare needs may encounter surges, but as they are not expected, a higher price doesn't alter incentives. Nobody wants to have unexpected healthcare needs in the first place. They aren't thinking "You know, a hospital visit is cheaper at 11AM. That's when I'll choose to break my arm!" Without that, you don't gain anything with surge pricing. But someone thinking "You know, lunch is cheaper at 11AM. That's when I'm going to start eating lunch!" is quite realistic and beneficial to the restaurant. And, indeed, surge pricing is nothing new for restaurants for exactly that reason. Of course, traditionally, they have called it "happy hour" rather than "surge pricing", but the idea is the same.
- fragmede 3y ago
  if we define surge pricing as being incentivized to shift activity to another time, then arguably it's already there for Americans. If I call 911 and take an ambulance to the ER, it's gonna cost me way more out of pocket just to get there even before I see a doctor. If I schedule an appointment and see my PCP in a couple of weeks, all I pay is there deductible. So I'm incentivized not to go to the ER for some minor thing that can wait until I can get to the cheaper urgent care in the morning, or my PCP in a week or two. The math for happy hour looks like a similar thing, but it's not, because alcohol. drunk people do dumb things and one of those things is not leave and spend money and be entertaining, among other things.
  - randomdata 3y ago
    A tool's purpose not define the tool.

cglong 3y ago

I think the topic is News relevant to Hackers, but I agree this link isn't the best representation of it. I think something like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39526455 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39526455 would be better for reporting on this.

mattmaroon 3y ago
Yes, exactly.