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I Hear Wikipedia Also Uses This

15 December 2009 - 7:34am — Christopher Wright
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Help Desk, by Christopher B. Wright
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

What is this madness you ask? Last week Slashdot posted a story about a recently published patent application from Microsoft that involves determining prices based on how influential you are. In other words, the people least able to do anything about it get charged the most money for a product or service.

Amazing.

I can only assume Microsoft published this now as a very special Christmas present for me.

Comic Transcript

ALICE: ... and we can set that up for you for about four hundred dollars.

CUSTOMER: Four hundred dollars? My brother got it done for half that.

ALICE: As a Tier Four customer you're not eligible for our Notability Discount.

CUSTOMER: What?

ALICE: Based on a complex social networking algorithm we determine your level of influence in both your online and physical surroundings and assign you to a Tier. Your Tier determines whether or not your receive discounts on Ubersoft products and services. If your brother is getting this service for two hundred dollars he must be a Tier Three customer -- it's unusual for family members to be in different tiers but it does happen.

CUSTOMER: So you're saying that if I were more popular you would charge me less money.

ALICE: That's the general idea.

CUSTOMER: I feel like I'm back in High School.

ALiCE: A lot of our Tier Four customers say that.

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Comments

Saw This Coming

15 December 2009 - 5:44pm — Angie K

I thought you might be doing a comic somewhat along these lines...

credit where credit is due

16 December 2009 - 7:34am — 10_0_0_1 (not verified)

Well I have to echo a few of the comments on Slashdot, this is nothing new at all. It may not be fair but it is smart business and it would be easier to find a company that does not do it than list the ones that do. Part of why I will on occasion defend Microsoft is that they tend to get shot at more heavily than they deserve, is this tactic is unfair to us little guys but everyone does it and not just in the computer industry. Microsoft is just trying to do it in a consistent and way and being upfront and honest about it.

Er...

16 December 2009 - 7:38am — Christopher Wright

Sorry about the spam filter.

... I will defend Microsoft on occasion, and I have, even on this comic -- but "everyone does it" is not an excuse, and if you're going to try to patent it, in my opinion you're wearing a big sign that says "mock me" while you climb up on stage singing "mock me" to the tune of Queen playing "We Will (Mock You)."

no worries

16 December 2009 - 9:11am — 10_0_0_1 (not verified)

Delays in getting a comment posted are better than the site getting a spamflood, also I reworded that post a bit but messed op on cleanup edits so if it seems a bit off that is why.