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> how come everything with an app is so much more expensive? After ton of investment investors are finally looking for returns now. And consumers have decided
by geodel 3y ago
> how come everything with an app is so much more expensive?
After ton of investment investors are finally looking for returns now. And consumers have decided convenience reigns supreme. Right from the SAAS products to daily breakfast customers there is lot of premium on convenience.
- Terr_ 3y ago> After ton of investment investors are finally looking for returns now. We need a quippy phrase for this, but unfortunately "Pump and Dump" is already taken for a kind of stock-market manipulation. Instead, I would like to coin/nominate "Tease and Squeeze". First consumers are teased by the idea that the disruptive new service has invented a magic new secret to low prices and great value... But after the company as achieved some kind of market strangehold, those consumers are squeezed with price-hikes and quality-drops as the investors--who bankrolled the early predatory pricing [0]--try to recoup their investment plus additional profit. [0] Note that the term "Predatory Pricing" usually refers to artificially low prices to destroy competitors, although I can totally understand why some may assume it means preying on customers with high prices.
- rainbowzootsuit 3y agoI've been hearing of scams labeled "pig butchering" — fatten the pig and then slaughter it. The euphemism is pretty close.
- CaptainZapp 3y agoWhat's wrong with enshittification[0]? Granted, Tease and Squeeze has a nicer ring. Then again, the enshittification neologism became standard langue in no time and is understood by everybody. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
- gruez 3y agoIt's arguably less descriptive. "enshittification" only really says "things getting worse", whereas "Tease and Squeeze" describes the whole cycle.
- Dylan16807 3y agoThe original definition of enshittification is a platform that squeezes the users then squeezes the suppliers. But at this point I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to mean.
- Terr_ 3y agoI did consider the term when writing my post, but they only partially overlap. First, the issue of intent and overall history. Tease and Squeeze implies it was the plan all along, but an "enshittified" product doesn't have to be that way. For example, a company could have been successful without any "Tease"--no predatory pricing or monopolistic behavior--and then taken a nosedive later when the founder retired and sold it to a new owner, meaning it's Squeeze-only. Second, "Squeeze" doesn't require a quality-drop, it can include purely a price-hike, but "enshittified" products almost always mean a drop in quality, regardless of whether prices rise or not.
- lupire 3y agoIt's called "dumping and monopolization" and is ancient and standard antitrust (illegal) and VC (highly rewarded) technique.
- ufmace 3y ago> "Tease and Squeeze" I for one like it