[danuker]

> Choosing a financial services firm to manage one’s personal finances is a critical, long term decision.

This is not true for every industry. For example, a lot of mobile games are "freemium".

It might be worth offering free services to some people, in order to get them hooked. Maybe that way more end up signing up.

[salawat]

Ya know... I'm reminded that the only other industry that uses terms like 'users' and 'hooked' is drugs.

When did software and computing become drug dealing?

[doctor_eval]

That’s an old trope, but it’s not really true. My TV has a user guide, so does my fridge, my brush cutter and my soldering iron. And, while I wouldn’t say that “hooked” is a term used widely across the whole software industry - though obviously in this context it’s more common - nevertheless, it’s hardly a term we share exclusively with drug consumption.

In fact, without thinking about it much, I think the nearest similar industry may possibly be day-time TV.

[danuker]

If you ask me, it's when smartphones started outnumbering PCs. There is almost no software freedom on smartphones.

[kevinh]

Hook/hooked aren't limited to drugs and software. Books, shows, songs, news articles, etc. all have hooks. They just don't use the term user because the mode of interaction is different.