This kind of “journalism” that drips with judgement in every sentence makes Wired look like a cheap tabloid.
i can’t imagine what you were expecting
I don't see why we shouldn't judge marketers harshly, in general, and these folks in particular seem particularly unctuous.
From WP:
Rent-seeking is an attempt to obtain economic rent (i.e., the portion of income paid to a factor of production in excess of what is needed to keep it employed in its current use) by manipulating the social or political environment in which economic activities occur, rather than by creating new wealth. Rent-seeking implies extraction of uncompensated value from others without making any contribution to productivity.
Drop-shippers don't manipulate the social or political environment, and the value they provide is the same as any retailer. They just don't take on as much risk or physically handle the goods. It's a sales and marketing business only, and margins are both more volatile and slimmer on average as a result.
To quote from "Office Space":
> Bob: So, what would you say you do here?
> Tom: Well look, I already told you! I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?
Just like Tom, dropshippers are redundant at best and harmfully interfering at worst.
Yes, because that didn't exist before. And what's with the wiki links to the commonly-understood terms? Condescending much?
Additionally, HN is not built on very good software. On higher-quality fora, like Lobsters [3], hyperlinks can be embedded directly into paragraphs and do not disrupt the flow of text. HN is a backwards and primitive site in comparison.
Imagine if the regulars were willing to tackle ideas like the concept that the USA itself is a tax haven [4]! No way would people be able to talk about that. So we must take it slowly and carefully introduce folks to these ideas.
Edit: [5] just broke within the hour. Here's a story of an American expat engaging in bad conduct abroad. I didn't even have to go searching for this; it showed up on Imgur while I was trying to forget the fact that I am being downvoted, yet again, for being a leftist with facts.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_imperialism
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_military_company
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_financial_centre
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_as_a_tax_haven
[5] https://twitter.com/JackHHazlewood/status/125618349776240640...