Re:Amazon LightSail: Simple Virtual Private Servers on AWS
by paulrosenzweig on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @12:58PM
(#13072949)
I think it comes down to them seeing themselves as a utility. You wouldn't want to be prompted for payment confirmation every time you plug something into an outlet, but this does mean that you'll have a huge unexpected charge if you accidentally leave on the air conditioner when you go on vacation.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Amazon LightSail: Simple Virtual Private Servers on AWS
by drabiega on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @01:21PM
(#13073192)
I think part of the reason that utilities can get away with this is the fact that the maximum bill you are likely to run up is generally 2x-3x your normal bill. This doesn't well for Amazon because your actual bill can be orders of magnitude larger than what you expect.
Re:Amazon LightSail: Simple Virtual Private Servers on AWS
by khuey on Thursday December 01, 2016 @01:16AM
(#13077571)
And every now and then a utility bill makes the news because someone's water line sprung a leak and they used $5000 worth of water in a month.
Re:Amazon LightSail: Simple Virtual Private Servers on AWS
by harshreality on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @04:58PM
(#13075095)
What's the quote? Something like, "At some point a quantitative difference becomes a qualitative difference."
Re:Amazon LightSail: Simple Virtual Private Servers on AWS
by rz2k on Thursday December 01, 2016 @01:29PM
(#13081987)
I know two people near my parents who've ended up with $30,000+ water bills for a single month.
Re:Amazon LightSail: Simple Virtual Private Servers on AWS
by blhack on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @01:32PM
(#13073301)
I'm sure they see it that way. The problem here is that they aren't a utility unless the utility was also selling air conditioners and microwaves, and those air conditioners and microwaves had a button that said "Charge met 10x my normal bill this month" on them.