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>(By the way, if significant portions of your userbase are capable of becoming addicted to your product, consider that it may not be fully ethical to produce it

by foxit 12y ago

>(By the way, if significant portions of your userbase are capable of becoming addicted to your product, consider that it may not be fully ethical to produce it.) Well, there goes the gaming industry.

jamesjyu 12y ago
Exactly. Would this also apply to products like Uber? I use it all the time, and can't imagine life without it. Am I addicted to it? Is it an unethical company because people love to use it and it provides value to their lives?
- minimaxir 12y ago
  It's only unethical if a) Uber has a monopoly and b) they charge a surplus (i.e. price-fixing) due to said monopoly. Uber doesn't have a monopoly in ride-sharing, and Twitter doesn't have a monopoly in microblogging.
- teacup50 12y ago
  "Addiction is the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors." Would you say you have an addiction to Uber?
  - riboflavin 12y ago
    I chose the word "addiction" pretty specifically - does it enrich the user's life? Uber does. (And you probably don't have a desire to use Uber for hours every day). Social gaming (someone mentioned below) does, to a point, and then it's engineered to go way, way beyond that point. It's complicated of course - and there's a spectrum - but I think a bad sign is if your architecture is intended to hack the reward systems of your customers.
- hnriot 12y ago
  "I use it all the time" - you might find it more economical to buy a car. I fail to see how anyone could be addicted to something as basic as transport. It's like saying you're addicted to using BART or MUNI.
deleted 12y ago
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teacup50 12y ago
> Well, there goes the gaming industry. I think you mean the micro-transaction social gaming industry. If you re-read what you quoted (emphasis mine): "By the way, if significant portions of your userbase are capable of becoming addicted to your product, consider that it may not be fully ethical to produce it."
the_watcher 12y ago
And Google. And Facebook. And Reddit (and the entire Internet).

by foxit 12y ago

jamesjyu 12y ago

Exactly. Would this also apply to products like Uber? I use it all the time, and can't imagine life without it. Am I addicted to it? Is it an unethical company because people love to use it and it provides value to their lives?

minimaxir 12y ago
It's only unethical if a) Uber has a monopoly and b) they charge a surplus (i.e. price-fixing) due to said monopoly. Uber doesn't have a monopoly in ride-sharing, and Twitter doesn't have a monopoly in microblogging.
teacup50 12y ago
"Addiction is the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors." Would you say you have an addiction to Uber?
- riboflavin 12y ago
  I chose the word "addiction" pretty specifically - does it enrich the user's life? Uber does. (And you probably don't have a desire to use Uber for hours every day). Social gaming (someone mentioned below) does, to a point, and then it's engineered to go way, way beyond that point. It's complicated of course - and there's a spectrum - but I think a bad sign is if your architecture is intended to hack the reward systems of your customers.
hnriot 12y ago
"I use it all the time" - you might find it more economical to buy a car. I fail to see how anyone could be addicted to something as basic as transport. It's like saying you're addicted to using BART or MUNI.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

teacup50 12y ago

> Well, there goes the gaming industry. I think you mean the micro-transaction social gaming industry. If you re-read what you quoted (emphasis mine): "By the way, if significant portions of your userbase are capable of becoming addicted to your product, consider that it may not be fully ethical to produce it."

the_watcher 12y ago

And Google. And Facebook. And Reddit (and the entire Internet).