7 ms·

i don't know. surprisingly enough, when it comes to difficult moral questions, i don't have all the answers.

• mikeash 14y ago
  Well, I'd suggest that the fact that they were financially able to carry out this operation suggests that they provide enough value to others for it to be a net gain. Money doesn't necessarily indicate value, of course, but it's a decent first approximation, especially for a business like theirs.
  • deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  • evhr 14y ago
    with that essential caveat, this is a very good point. My backup drive died in the midst of this crisis, and I specifically chose to use backblaze instead of buying a new drive. Obviously, it's not a 1-to-1 tradeoff in terms of functionality, but it was close enough for this data that I felt like I was better off paying them monthly than paying an inflated drive price upfront; they were drive farming for me by proxy.