Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to use WhatsApp

Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by virgilp on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @02:02AM (#16104180)

I feel like what he did at the end was the right thing to do (talk to Indian people, figure out a way to monetize it), but the initial antics are childish and distasteful. Those are real people man, not toys... don't play with them.

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Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by theon144 on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @03:38AM (#16104527)

>Then I got curious. Would these users tweet anything that I asked them? [...] And it worked!

>That was super hilarious. I was literally rolling on the floor laughing. TAIWAN NUMBER ONE! COMPETITORS NUMBER NINE!

Hahaha, people in dire financial situations who have to use my service are doing what I tell them to! Ain't that just hilarious?

Distasteful, really.

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Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by abhirag on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @05:59AM (#16105145)

HN is not a hive-mind, stop trying to make it one and get off your high horse. The Facebook messages didn't seem like they were from people who thought they were entitled to anything, I saw two people trying to ask him politely, with sir and please, and others trying hard to spell weird app names.

People were using the trial feature browserling provided on its main page and not breaking any terms and conditions while doing so, so not freeloaders. Browserling is entitled to blocking these users or limiting the trial feature and the Facebook messages were from the time when they were not trying to monetize by asking for $0.10

I know sweeping generalizations about a group of people most certainly less fortunate than you are easy and you definitely are entitled to your opinion but don't try and label it as something "HN thinks".

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Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by StavrosK on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @06:19AM (#16105249)

Because it doesn't look like they were freeloaders, they tried to use a service, did what the author asked, and didn't pay 10 cents because they couldn't pay it, as Stripe doesn't work for many people in India, as the blog post says. The author's response is no way to treat people, users or not.

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Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by XnoiVeX on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @09:05AM (#16106193)

Aren't we all freeloading HN btw :-)

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Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by 2020-3030 on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @12:36PM (#16107962)

Writing posts seems more like freeworking to me so the value of reading what others write gets balanced by the opportunity costs of contributing.

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Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by netsharc on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @02:06AM (#16104191)

Hear hear. Also that click-baity title. I guess I'm old because reading it I thought what a little brat. Or is the term brogrammer?

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Re:Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to u... by diamondo25 on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @04:16AM (#16104698)

    "Brogrammer" is a slang term for a stereotypically masculine programmer. The word is a portmanteau of bro and programmer.

I'd say he's more of a scriptkiddy/skid, as i feel he is not capable to handle the opportunity. Heck, he could even become that programmer from Black Mirror S04E01!

Toying around with your customers, blegh. People were desperate, couldnt he see?

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