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"Try it out for free!" Demands a google account, as if my personal info is somehow worthless.
by terminalbraid 2y ago
"Try it out for free!"
Demands a google account, as if my personal info is somehow worthless.
- Salgat 2y agoYou're welcome to make a throwaway gmail account if you want "truly free". And don't try to argue that your time still has value, because then that means nothing is truly free.
- gregjw 2y agoConsidering infra costs, it kind of is worthless, they aren't about to start selling advertising on their AI tool. I'd assume the reason they have auth is so they don't get botted and it absolutely bricks their servers.
- terminalbraid 2y agoI don't disagree with you. It should not be billed as "free" without qualification. It should read "free with google account".
- LoganDark 2y agoContrary to the downvotes on the above comment I see absolutely zero issue with wanting to be informed of this in advance. I would've made this exact same comment if I had run into it myself.
- Kiro 2y agoIt clearly says "Sign up with Google" before you're prompted with anything. Saying it on the landing page itself as an asterisk next to "free" would just feel stupid, like those overly cautious warning labels, and if anything make me think less of the service.
- LoganDark 2y ago> It clearly says "Sign up with Google" After you click the button to try it...
- Kiro 2y agoSo where do you draw the line? Maybe it even needs to be included in the post submission title? It's just ridiculous. Anyone thinking this is a problem needs to get their priorities straight.
- LoganDark 2y ago> So where do you draw the line? Maybe it even needs to be included in the post submission title? It's just ridiculous. Anyone thinking this is a problem needs to get their priorities straight. ... I have the same thing for articles where I click on the submission title and there's a paywall. I want to know about the wall before I get there so that I'll know it's not worth the effort. Usually this is achieved by looking in the comments for an archive link so in that case I don't care about there not being a warning in the submission title because the comments allow me to enjoy the content anyway. In this case there's no need for a warning in the submission title because I go to the website and I get a neat idea, that's fine, no wall yet. There's a button to try it and that's where the warning should be that a Google account is required. Your argument is what's ridiculous. See my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42407232 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42407232
- kfajdsl 2y agoYou would be informed of it when you click on the button and see that it requires a Google account...
- LoganDark 2y agoOnce I click the button I've already decided. If I am surprised by something after I click that would have impacted my decision to click it in the first place, I get very upset for being tricked like that. As an example: I recently bought a piece of software for my new Mac that I had good experience with some years ago, only to find that it's not compatible with the newer models. Upon contacting support about it, this is a known issue with a whole support article written about it. However, it wasn't mentioned anywhere on the landing page or buy pages. They're working on a beta that will warn you (still after you've already installed the software) if it's not compatible with your machine, but again... if I had known this I would not have purchased in the first place. I feel tricked, and upset. This is the same type of feeling.
- perks_12 2y agoThe page wants access to your name, email, language settings and profile picture. Language setting and profile picture aside, you would need to surrender that information anyway for billing purposes.
- KMnO4 2y agoThe usage of "free" is almost always used when referring to something that can be obtained/used without exchanging money. Google is not requiring you to pay for an account. Even if they were, you could still complain that this is not "free without an active internet subscription", or "free without owning a device that can connect to the internet", or "free without taking up 5 minutes of my time".
- Vampiero 2y ago... You can also sign up with email.
- me_bx 2y agoActually, no. The UI is misleading. It asks you to first sign up with Google. Then it lets you sign in with your gmail address.
- Kiro 2y agoIt's like saying an apple someone gives you is not "free" but "free with the condition of using your muscles to pick up the apple". While technically true it's not something anyone would reasonably expect to be labeled that way.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- whtsthmttrmn 2y agoThen I suppose nothing is free and the word should be removed from all language since this sort of hair splitting can be applied to everything lol
- preommr 2y agoIt should read "free with google account, electricity, computer and/or all other equipment needed to interface with a website, and last but not least, the user's time."
- yazzku 2y agoCaptcha?
- mcosta 2y agoHow much does it cost?
- mnau 2y agoJust make a new Google account. It's not like you have to fill correct info and you can make two accounts with same phone number (at least I could ~1 year ago).
- plipt 2y agoI appreciate you sharing this. However are you not concerned that Google might flag your accounts as being somehow fraudulent? And then get locked out of your digital identity? Maybe I am too reliant on my gmail account.
- whtsthmttrmn 2y ago> Maybe I am too reliant on my gmail account. Ding ding ding!
- mnau 2y agoNot really. They have official help topic as well as UI to switch accounts: Sign in to multiple accounts at once. I literally have same phone number at both, so it would be easiest thing in the world to add verification for uniqueness of the phone number. It's not like I am making tens or even thousands of accounts or doing anything nefarious with them. Just having my "official" account and "throwaway" account. Can google ban happy ban me? Sure, if that happens, it happens. I lost access to my email before (small national provider from days before the internet was big, it just stopped working one day). But that can happen anyway, but I don't see any policy that would suggest that (at least nothing in first page of google suggest that).
- Kiro 2y agoFor the vast majority of sites with Google login it is indeed worthless. I implement it because I want to give people an easy login option and because customers want it. I couldn't care less about your personal info.
- mrtksn 2y agoIMHO this unjustified negativity, it's asking you to sign with your Google account which gives them very basic info about you which is very reasonable considering that they are going to give you a computationally intensive demo. It's a common practice against abuse, it's not asking you to install a tracking software or anything.
- takinox2 2y agothe person who developed just mentioned how its for cost minimisation purposes. know about the things before you mindlessly bring someone down.
- terminalbraid 2y agoI know exactly what it's for and if you read all my comments before you mindlessly try to bring someone down, my complaint isn't with needing an account, it's saying you can use this for "free" unqualified. Not even "free with account". It's "free with and only with a google account".
- Cheer2171 2y agoIt is pretty obvious that you're an alternate account of the developer.
- drusepth 2y agoTechnically, they also demand you have a computer, internet access, and enough education to be able to read. I'd also still call it "free" though.