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What a horrid glimpse in the future. I hope we won't get there and we all collectively fight back with our wallets.
by tartoran 7mo ago
What a horrid glimpse in the future. I hope we won't get there and we all collectively fight back with our wallets.
- Tade0 7mo agoI'm worried that the present is actually living off a line of credit that will be spent/closed soon.
- ryandrake 7mo agoIt's going to get much worse. We're soon going to have enough data and compute (and are losing enough online privacy) to allow every company to apply personalized pricing down to the individual. My local restaurant is going to know that I am willing to buy a burger for at most $4.57 and my neighbor is only willing to pay $2.91 for it, and they will have the ability to charge us individually. Every business is going to soak each of us us to the maximum extent that the data says they can.
- symfoniq 7mo agoWho would voluntarily do business with a company that does this? Not me.
- ryandrake 7mo agoEventually, when all of them do this (and they will be effectively forced to in order to remain competitive), then we will not have a choice.
- nvch 7mo agoI will make burgers myself. I take this approach with many things and services without great suppliers anyway. And I don't care if it's suboptimal because, in the long run, I'll have better skills and be protected from exactly this trend.
- weikju 7mo agoBut the supermarkets will do it too
- nineteen999 7mo agoThe prices are literally marked on the shelves.
- amanaplanacanal 7mo agoToday, yes. I can imagine a future where that sticker is replaced with an electronic display, and facial rec shows you an individualized price.
- nineteen999 7mo agoYou don't think customers are going to figure that out by talking to each other and comparing prices on the spot? Do you ever talk to other humans IRL?
- thunderfork 7mo agoEveryone who uses Uber is voluntarily doing business with a company that does this. When was the last time you took an Uber?
- fcarraldo 7mo agoDo you use Uber, Lyft, or Doordash? What about airlines? https://fortune.com/2025/07/16/delta-moves-toward-eliminating-set-prices-in-favor-of-ai-that-determines-how-much-you-personally-will-pay-for-a-ticket/ https://fortune.com/2025/07/16/delta-moves-toward-eliminatin... What about Staples or Home Depot? https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323777204578189391813881534 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323777204578189...
- cheschire 7mo agoThen your neighbor can charge you up to $1.65 to buy a burger on your behalf and you still get it cheaper.
- fcarraldo 7mo agoHow can you compete when the algorithms are custom, individualized, and private? How would you even know that you should?
- cheschire 7mo agoNot competition, but more like an opportunity for a startup to build a solution that fits in the new gap. A marketplace for people to sell their discounts.
- falkensmaize 7mo agoI think there’s a pretty good argument to be made that this is discriminatory. Certainly it’s not something I would tolerate as a consumer. I suspect there will be heavy pressure to regulate this practice out of existence if it catches on.
- gmerc 7mo agowho is going to stop them? the consumer protection bureau?
- captainbland 7mo agoDepends what the political attitudes are where you live. The EU is unlikely to let it fly for example.