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If you have already sorted the world between people you want to take calls from and people you don't, why wouldn't you just block the people you don't want inst

If you have already sorted the world between people you want to take calls from and people you don't, why wouldn't you just block the people you don't want instead of charging them money?

dotancohen 2y ago
Because there's a middle ground of people who we have not yet categorized. I don't know every phone number my doctor might call me from.
- anonzzzies 2y ago
  My doctor, bank, eh well everyone, will text or email me if they cannot reach me. I haven't answered a number I don't recognize for the past 10 years; life is excellent.
- bawolff 2y ago
  And you think your doctor would be willing to pay for the privledge of talking to you?
xnx 2y ago
My attention is valuable. I should be able to sell it on my terms.
- vinceguidry 2y ago
  No way to vet the quality of your offering makes a both-ways attention economy fundamentally unworkable in a Western society. If you were really prepared to be an 'attention worker', then you could go work at a click farm or content moderation firm or the like, one of the fastest growing markets in the developing world. Best I can offer you is an in-game bonus for watching an ad.
- bawolff 2y ago
  Is it though? Like it might be valuable to you, but i doubt its valuable to anyone else in a phone call situation and both parties need to find value to make a sale. Like if you are interested in the convo then you should be paying the other person as you are getting value from the convo. What's the situation where you don't care about the convo but for the right price you could care, and the other party also thinks that price is reasonable? Like maybe if someone is trying to recruit you i guess, but the situations where that is true seem very few and far between (and we already have a system for that, where traditionally someone offers to buy you a meal in exchange for listening)
  - lozf 2y ago
    > Is it though? Marketers seem to think so, or they wouldn't waste their time calling.
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    > What's the situation where you don't care about the convo but for the right price you could care, and the other party also thinks that price is reasonable? Minimally targeted advertising.
    - bawolff 2y ago
      Why would the other party think the price would be reasonable? Like the entire point of minimally targeted ads is to spray and prey. Like if you assume a CPM of $2, that means $0.002 per phone call. Would you really find that acceptable? If the answer is no, then you aren't really accepting payment,you are just blocking people with extra steps. No different than if you said you will accept a phone call for a billion dollars. You aren't really accepting something for payment if you set a price that nobody will pay.
- kspacewalk2 2y ago
  No one's buying your attention on your terms. They're only exchanging it for the online services you want to use. No attention, no services, better up your subscriptions budget or make do without. (Sorry if I'm being blunt, attention economy participants can't be so they'd sugar coat it to such a degree that you might miss the point).

If you have already sorted the world between people you want to take calls from and people you don't, why wouldn't you just block the people you don't want instead of charging them money?

dotancohen 2y ago

Because there's a middle ground of people who we have not yet categorized. I don't know every phone number my doctor might call me from.

anonzzzies 2y ago
My doctor, bank, eh well everyone, will text or email me if they cannot reach me. I haven't answered a number I don't recognize for the past 10 years; life is excellent.
bawolff 2y ago
And you think your doctor would be willing to pay for the privledge of talking to you?

xnx 2y ago

My attention is valuable. I should be able to sell it on my terms.

vinceguidry 2y ago
No way to vet the quality of your offering makes a both-ways attention economy fundamentally unworkable in a Western society. If you were really prepared to be an 'attention worker', then you could go work at a click farm or content moderation firm or the like, one of the fastest growing markets in the developing world. Best I can offer you is an in-game bonus for watching an ad.
bawolff 2y ago
Is it though? Like it might be valuable to you, but i doubt its valuable to anyone else in a phone call situation and both parties need to find value to make a sale. Like if you are interested in the convo then you should be paying the other person as you are getting value from the convo. What's the situation where you don't care about the convo but for the right price you could care, and the other party also thinks that price is reasonable? Like maybe if someone is trying to recruit you i guess, but the situations where that is true seem very few and far between (and we already have a system for that, where traditionally someone offers to buy you a meal in exchange for listening)
- lozf 2y ago
  > Is it though? Marketers seem to think so, or they wouldn't waste their time calling.
- ethbr1 2y ago
  > What's the situation where you don't care about the convo but for the right price you could care, and the other party also thinks that price is reasonable? Minimally targeted advertising.
  - bawolff 2y ago
    Why would the other party think the price would be reasonable? Like the entire point of minimally targeted ads is to spray and prey. Like if you assume a CPM of $2, that means $0.002 per phone call. Would you really find that acceptable? If the answer is no, then you aren't really accepting payment,you are just blocking people with extra steps. No different than if you said you will accept a phone call for a billion dollars. You aren't really accepting something for payment if you set a price that nobody will pay.
kspacewalk2 2y ago
No one's buying your attention on your terms. They're only exchanging it for the online services you want to use. No attention, no services, better up your subscriptions budget or make do without. (Sorry if I'm being blunt, attention economy participants can't be so they'd sugar coat it to such a degree that you might miss the point).