News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly. Parent comment

Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by zepto on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:27PM (#26229261)
I’m fine with calling them ‘monopoly rents’.

Then we can have a meaningful conversation about what to do about them, if that’s indeed what they are.

Tax-like, is not the same as Tax. Even saying ‘tax like’ would be better.

It’s still a dishonest politicization to call them taxes.

If we call App Store fees ‘taxes’, why don’t we also call healthcare premiums, or bank charges, ‘taxes’?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by pydry on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:36PM (#26229408)
And monopoly rents, being not impossible but still difficult to avoid are a lot like _____ ?

It seems more honest than dishonest to me.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by zepto on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:45PM (#26229528)
Yes that would be honest.

But it’s not what they are doing. They are not saying it’s ‘a lot like’ a tax, the way you are. They are saying it is a tax.

What they are doing is dishonest.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by dragonwriter on Monday February 22, 2021 @03:46PM (#26230358)
It's called a metaphor; most people learn about them in primary school, I believe, certainly before getting out of grade school.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by zepto on Monday February 22, 2021 @04:07PM (#26230637)
One of the things we learn later, is that metaphors can be used dishonestly.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by pydry on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @07:15AM (#26236417)
Still don't understand why this is an example of a dishonestly used metaphor.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by pessimizer on Monday February 22, 2021 @04:14PM (#26230723)
But not in this case, since you think "tax-like" is better.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by zepto on Monday February 22, 2021 @04:24PM (#26230838)
You think tax-like is also dishonest?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:It’s time to free ourselves from ‘Big Tech’ monopoly by emteycz on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:42PM (#26229493)
Will police come arrest me if I don't pay? No? Then it's not a tax. I was never ever stressed out because of a company's fees - I simply cancelled the service. I can't do that with taxes. Comparing these absolutely different experiences totally seems dishonest.
[ Parent | on HN ]