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by bogdan 2052 days ago
> I think offering something for free and unlimited for 10 years and suddenly charging for it seems like bait and switch.

Wouldn't it be 'bait and switch' if they did that after less time, say 1 year? 10 years is more than reasonable. And if you disagree, that's fine, but I'm curious to hear what number of years would you consider reasonable then? I'm not excited about the news either but I think it's _fair_.
1 comments
somethingwitty1 2052 days ago
I'm not sure more time makes it better. The logic here is that they baited you for so long that it suddenly became fair?

Apply that logic to other situations and it doesn't make sense. I get that `you` may be ok with this, but it doesn't change what it is.

Regardless of whether we individually feel what is happening is 'fair', we should be able to acknowledge why someone is upset and that this is indeed a bait & switch. Customers were offered unlimited backup and storage of the photos they took. Customers used said service with that expectation, while competitors to it went out of business, and now, they are forced to pay for continued service. That is a bait & switch.

The moment we have to start saying, "well, they should have known better" or "how did you expect this to be free forever" puts us into victim blaming territory. Just because someone could have been aware of a bait & switch/scam, doesn't make that practice not a bait & switch/scam.

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bogdan 2052 days ago
> Customers were offered unlimited backup and storage of the photos they took. Customers used said service with that expectation

'unlimited backup and storage of the photos' was the market pitch, whether people read the TOS is another thing. I can see why some people would feel unhappy with this and I can't blame anyone for that but on the other hand I wish we would stop taking these vague market statements at face value. 'free', 'unlimited' and 'forever' can never go together in a capitalist market. And I'll abruptly stop here because I would derail into things like law and ethics which, I think, are out of my scope.

> while competitors to it went out of business

This is honestly a tragedy that happens all across the industry at the moment.

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therealx 2052 days ago
It also means the market is opening back up. The code of projects gone by still exists, and it's not the worlds biggest effort to make a photo app.
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