Tyranny of the Marginal User: why software gets worse, not better, over time

Re:Tyranny of the Marginal User: why software gets worse, no... by petsfed on Thursday September 14, 2023 @01:15PM (#37511802)

There's also the issue of having a bunch of cash on hand to pay out. Plenty of companies do unlimited PTO or bar PTO roll-over, specifically to limit the liability of payouts.

Also, if the relationship is abusive and the abused spouse is beaten into a marriage, are they owed a refund upon divorce? Death? Incentivizing speedy marriages, as opposed to good matches, is unambiguously bad for individuals and society at large.

There's not really a way to do rent-seeking on matchmaking without breaking matchmaking, so maybe don't seek rent on the matching itself? Just let your revenue stream be advertising. It's fine.

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Re:Tyranny of the Marginal User: why software gets worse, no... by no_wizard on Thursday September 14, 2023 @02:14PM (#37512664)

Unlimited PTO is poorly worded and always felt like a scam to me

It’s not really unlimited and people tend to take less overall

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Re:Tyranny of the Marginal User: why software gets worse, no... by saint_fiasco on Thursday September 14, 2023 @02:47PM (#37513086)

> Plenty of companies do unlimited PTO or bar PTO roll-over

That's a good idea. In this hypothetical app, if a couple stays together for a couple of years they should forfeit the right to get their money back even if they later break up. This reduces the amount of cash the company has to keep, at the cost of merely promising years-long relationships instead of marriages.

> Incentivizing speedy marriages, as opposed to good matches, is unambiguously bad for individuals and society at large.

How is that unambiguous? It seems to me like an empirical question. Are people taking too many risks with their relationships, or too little? The answer is different for each person, or even for the same person at different stages of their life. Very ambiguous stuff.

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Re:Tyranny of the Marginal User: why software gets worse, no... by petsfed on Thursday September 14, 2023 @06:10PM (#37515496)

Time spent dating, or in a long-term relationship, prior to marriage is positively correlated with enduring marriage. That is, people who date each other for 3 years or more prior to marriage are 50% less likely to get a divorce than those who don't[0]. Thus, it pays societal dividends to encourage people to take their time and really get to know each other before getting married. Saying "the sooner you get married, the sooner you get your money back" or worse still "stay together without getting married for too long, and you risk not getting your money back" specifically discourages the behaviors that prevent domestic violence (including child abuse). What I believe we want is marriages that uplift their members, and minimize spousal abuse. Making people feel like they can't afford to not get married is the exact same phenomenon that drove up domestic violence during the COVID lockdowns[1].

If you're telling me that more abusive marriages is better for society, I don't think we have enough common ground to discuss this.

0. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/meet-catch-and-keep/...

1. https://www.ucdavis.edu/curiosity/news/covid-19-isolation-li...

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