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Not showing the price was not "my problem". It was the sign of a product packed with traps, footguns and all kind of things that would go wrong and the blame go

by aljgz 5mo ago

Not showing the price was not "my problem". It was the sign of a product packed with traps, footguns and all kind of things that would go wrong and the blame goes to the user. No thank you

zsoltkacsandi 5mo ago
> It was the sign of a product packed with traps, footguns and all kind of things that would go wrong and the blame goes to the user. I spent 5 years optimizing spendings on AWS at various companies. Yes, it does come with traps and footguns. On the other hand if you know what are you doing, there are plenty of tools to optimize your spendings with RIs, saving plans, auto-scaling, etc, and spend less than the list prices. Based on my experience AWS for the companies that can afford to pay surprise bills out of pocket if something goes wrong.
- epistasis 5mo ago
  Everything you describe is reinforcing the point of the person you are responding to.
  - zsoltkacsandi 5mo ago
    Yes, and exactly that is why I started my first comment with this: "I agree with you at some degree". I agree with him/her, just shared my more nuanced take, based on my experience coming from my past workplaces.
mlhpdx 5mo ago
I’m not sure I understand. AWS has detailed pricing information for each service. I’ve never felt surprised by pricing. Cost has been surprising, but that happens when usage is surprising in my experience.
- Capricorn2481 5mo ago
  In completely unrelated pages to where you setup resources, yes. Ec2 pricing is in a random doc disconnected from the AWS console. They absolutely could to you a base price on the ec2 setup page, but they don't. And I have been absolutely surprised by pricing. Services that do almost nothing could cost more than your ec2.
  - mlhpdx 5mo ago
    Not unrelated pages. All AWS pricing is and has been for a very long time posted on predictable pages alongside the service marketing and documentation. The console is the console. I, for one, don’t want to see pricing in the console or in cloudformation or CDK documentation — because if in one then in all, right?
  - nemothekid 5mo ago
    Respectfully, I think this is more of a use case where you aren't the target audience for a service like AWS. I've been working with AWS for nearly 10 years. Many people I know, both small and large, just don't even use the console. If I need to figure out how much a project costs I use the AWS pricing calculator. Having an ec2 pricing on the pricing page is meaningless once you spend any meaningful amount of time in AWS. Once you add discounts and reserved instances, that number is going to be inaccurate anyways. If you just need a VPS provider, there are better, less complex options. I find these complaints kind of like stepping into an F1 car and complaining that the F1 car is deceiving you because theres no fuel gauge.
    - Capricorn2481 5mo ago
      I'm a contractor, so my deployment complexity is whatever my current client's complexity is. > If you just need a VPS provider, there are better, less complex options. I find these complaints kind of like stepping into an F1 car and complaining that the F1 car is deceiving you because theres no fuel gauge That's fine if you feel that way. The article and following discussion is clearly about the smaller audience, and I think you're underestimating how far up these little problems stack and scale. If a couple grand is a rounding error to you, that's great. Most businesses fall firmly in the place where that would be a problem. I think there is a value add for large companies on AWS, but for smaller ones, I don't particularly feel like AWS is an F1 car, more like a self driving Tesla that locks you inside when it's on fire. And I find the cavalier attitude that these companies aren't important enough to add the distinction to be exhausting. AWS is being pushed on everyone.

by aljgz 5mo ago

Not showing the price was not "my problem". It was the sign of a product packed with traps, footguns and all kind of things that would go wrong and the blame goes to the user. No thank you

zsoltkacsandi 5mo ago

> It was the sign of a product packed with traps, footguns and all kind of things that would go wrong and the blame goes to the user. I spent 5 years optimizing spendings on AWS at various companies. Yes, it does come with traps and footguns. On the other hand if you know what are you doing, there are plenty of tools to optimize your spendings with RIs, saving plans, auto-scaling, etc, and spend less than the list prices. Based on my experience AWS for the companies that can afford to pay surprise bills out of pocket if something goes wrong.

epistasis 5mo ago
Everything you describe is reinforcing the point of the person you are responding to.
- zsoltkacsandi 5mo ago
  Yes, and exactly that is why I started my first comment with this: "I agree with you at some degree". I agree with him/her, just shared my more nuanced take, based on my experience coming from my past workplaces.

mlhpdx 5mo ago

I’m not sure I understand. AWS has detailed pricing information for each service. I’ve never felt surprised by pricing. Cost has been surprising, but that happens when usage is surprising in my experience.

Capricorn2481 5mo ago
In completely unrelated pages to where you setup resources, yes. Ec2 pricing is in a random doc disconnected from the AWS console. They absolutely could to you a base price on the ec2 setup page, but they don't. And I have been absolutely surprised by pricing. Services that do almost nothing could cost more than your ec2.
- mlhpdx 5mo ago
  Not unrelated pages. All AWS pricing is and has been for a very long time posted on predictable pages alongside the service marketing and documentation. The console is the console. I, for one, don’t want to see pricing in the console or in cloudformation or CDK documentation — because if in one then in all, right?
- nemothekid 5mo ago
  Respectfully, I think this is more of a use case where you aren't the target audience for a service like AWS. I've been working with AWS for nearly 10 years. Many people I know, both small and large, just don't even use the console. If I need to figure out how much a project costs I use the AWS pricing calculator. Having an ec2 pricing on the pricing page is meaningless once you spend any meaningful amount of time in AWS. Once you add discounts and reserved instances, that number is going to be inaccurate anyways. If you just need a VPS provider, there are better, less complex options. I find these complaints kind of like stepping into an F1 car and complaining that the F1 car is deceiving you because theres no fuel gauge.
  - Capricorn2481 5mo ago
    I'm a contractor, so my deployment complexity is whatever my current client's complexity is. > If you just need a VPS provider, there are better, less complex options. I find these complaints kind of like stepping into an F1 car and complaining that the F1 car is deceiving you because theres no fuel gauge That's fine if you feel that way. The article and following discussion is clearly about the smaller audience, and I think you're underestimating how far up these little problems stack and scale. If a couple grand is a rounding error to you, that's great. Most businesses fall firmly in the place where that would be a problem. I think there is a value add for large companies on AWS, but for smaller ones, I don't particularly feel like AWS is an F1 car, more like a self driving Tesla that locks you inside when it's on fire. And I find the cavalier attitude that these companies aren't important enough to add the distinction to be exhausting. AWS is being pushed on everyone.