Back in November, I published an article for EFF about HP's latest printer-ink ripoff: after offering its customers a free-ink-for-life plan, it unilaterally switched them all to a $1/month-for-life plan.
I advocate on a lot of issues related to tech policy and 99% of the time, I'm trying to get people to care about complex technical issues before they become crises - but people can't see the danger until it's too late.
Printer ink is the exception.
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@pluralistic Perhaps the problem is a lack of transparency? Customers should know it's not really "free ink for life" but "free ink for a while but hey, maybe we just decide to screw you over at some point." - You're buying a call option on the company's behavior.
Most services are like this. Like AWS = We give you a server, but hey, maybe not anymore if we feel it's opportune." - A call option on your own reputation.
