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Today. I'm forced to buy and pay for Google's bundled AI crap even though I don't want it and never consented to it.

by jacquesm 2mo ago

WalterBright 2mo ago
No you weren't. Did Google threaten you with imprisonment?
- rmunn 2mo ago
  To bring some clarity to this, it seems people are talking about being "forced" in different ways. WalterBright is using the correct definition of "forced" that means "you must buy this thing or else I'll shoot you / throw you in jail / fine you for non-compliance". Which does apply to some transactions: for example, in America you are (since the passage of the so-called Obamacare bill, officially called the Affordable Health Care Act) forced to buy health insurance: if you don't, the government will impose financial penalties on you. (Many people have health insurance through their employer so they don't pay for it directly, but someone is being forced to pay for it). But other people are using "forced" in the colloquial sense: "I'm not offered the thing I want, I'm only offered the thing I want bundled with something I don't want", e.g. I just want a TV, but I can't buy just a TV, I'm only offered the choice between a TV bundled with advertising or nothing at all. Hobson's Choice isn't a pleasant situation to be in, but you're not forced to buy that TV; you had the choice to buy nothing at all. It's not the same concept as "buy this product or we will impose a penalty", such as how Americans are now forced to buy health insurance. WalterBright - to your question "when was the last time you were forced to buy something you don't want?", the correct answer would have been "March 2010", when many people were forced to buy health insurance that they didn't want. Which goes to show that although many parts of the American economy are a free market, health insurance is not. "Coincidentally", prices went up once there was a lot more truly forced demand. Huh. Who ever could have predicted that when you forced more people to buy a product, its producers would be able to raise prices? Wow, so completely unexpected a result... no economists at all would have predicted that... (Yes, Friedrich Hayek, I see you screaming into your pillow. It's okay, I'm being sarcastic).

Today. I'm forced to buy and pay for Google's bundled AI crap even though I don't want it and never consented to it.

WalterBright 2mo ago

No you weren't. Did Google threaten you with imprisonment?

rmunn 2mo ago
To bring some clarity to this, it seems people are talking about being "forced" in different ways. WalterBright is using the correct definition of "forced" that means "you must buy this thing or else I'll shoot you / throw you in jail / fine you for non-compliance". Which does apply to some transactions: for example, in America you are (since the passage of the so-called Obamacare bill, officially called the Affordable Health Care Act) forced to buy health insurance: if you don't, the government will impose financial penalties on you. (Many people have health insurance through their employer so they don't pay for it directly, but someone is being forced to pay for it). But other people are using "forced" in the colloquial sense: "I'm not offered the thing I want, I'm only offered the thing I want bundled with something I don't want", e.g. I just want a TV, but I can't buy just a TV, I'm only offered the choice between a TV bundled with advertising or nothing at all. Hobson's Choice isn't a pleasant situation to be in, but you're not forced to buy that TV; you had the choice to buy nothing at all. It's not the same concept as "buy this product or we will impose a penalty", such as how Americans are now forced to buy health insurance. WalterBright - to your question "when was the last time you were forced to buy something you don't want?", the correct answer would have been "March 2010", when many people were forced to buy health insurance that they didn't want. Which goes to show that although many parts of the American economy are a free market, health insurance is not. "Coincidentally", prices went up once there was a lot more truly forced demand. Huh. Who ever could have predicted that when you forced more people to buy a product, its producers would be able to raise prices? Wow, so completely unexpected a result... no economists at all would have predicted that... (Yes, Friedrich Hayek, I see you screaming into your pillow. It's okay, I'm being sarcastic).