commit: 28b8d209c9b1b08f0e17d3c6ebd417148148da73
parent dd93ee72132a900e791ed5cc85e2e7f9a92d8400
Author: Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com>
Date: Sat, 8 May 2021 11:29:27 -1000
Clarify that this is not a budget airline
Diffstat:
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/content/blog/Try-not-to-make-unlikable-software.md b/content/blog/Try-not-to-make-unlikable-software.md
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ reasonable is that the same feature is re-purposed for shoving advertising into
face a few minutes later. In fact, it spends more time on ads than on safety. A
software engineer sat down and deliberately wrote a "feature" (or anti-feature?)
which they had to have known that the user would not have wanted. The airplane
-manufacturer demanded it at the *expense* of the user.[^1]
+manufacturer demanded it at the *expense* of the user.[^1][^2]
[^1]: A savy reader could (correctly) extrapolate this to infer my position on advertising in general.
+[^2]: They also got on the PA later on to try and convince passengers to sign up for their airline-themed credit card. This isn't even a budget airline.
I have had many opportunities throughout my career to make similar
anti-features, and I have encountered many other examples of this behavior in
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ this kind of thing is *everywhere*.
I find this behavior to be incredibly disrespectful to the user. When I am that
user who is being disrespected, I will generally stop using that software, and
-stop supporting any businesses who chose to be disrespectful.[^2] For my part as
+stop supporting any businesses who chose to be disrespectful.[^3] For my part as
a programmer, I *do* respect the user, I find satisfaction in making software
which makes their lives better, and I always have and always will push back
against anyone who demands that I subvert that ethos for their wallet's sake.
@@ -43,4 +44,4 @@ You should always aim to make the user's experience more pleasant, not more
unpleasant. We should just be nice to people. That's it: please be nice to
people. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.
-[^2]: Though, to be entirely fair, it is somewhat difficult to "stop using" the mandatory ad viewing session I am being subjected to on this airplane. I could put in earplugs and gouge out my eyes, perhaps. Yes, that seems like a proportionate response.
+[^3]: Though, to be entirely fair, it is somewhat difficult to "stop using" the mandatory ad viewing session I am being subjected to on this airplane. I could put in earplugs and gouge out my eyes, perhaps. Yes, that seems like a proportionate response.
