Gary Varga (2/27/2013)
Miles Neale (2/26/2013)
jay-h (2/26/2013)
DavidBrown-731687 (2/26/2013)
I resent the notion that, just because I may be more affluent than another person, I should be expected to pay more for everything I buy. I purchased a BMW a few years ago, but sold it when it became obvious that every time I took it in for service the charge was higher than I paid for comparable service on other cars I've owned. ...But that is NOT the situation here. NO ONE was charged more for the same service, they were offered (firstly) more expensive services. A very different situation. This, by the way, is quite different from BMW's habit of charging ridiculous prices for service (and locking down the cars so that independent service is not always possible).
It's more akin to your walking into a store in a quality suit, the salesman will probbably offer the higher quality goods first.
<snip />Statistics tell us that making a conclusion on one assumed fact is dangerous <snip />
Which statistic are you assuming is applicable here? 😉
Gaz,
The statement is in general. And in general, can we make a judgement about a person based on one fact. If they are using a Mac when the come to our site we do things differently. But consider that the user who came to our site may be a homeless person who has a one-time account at the local library that happens to use Mac's, yet because they are using a Mac we try to present them with more elegant options.
I am not saying that to do this is wrong or morally a challenge, only that making a decision based on one fact in evidence is not as reasonable as other alternatives. Another simple thought is that a criminal has to be at the place where the crime happened, and if a person was at the place at the time of the crime then they are guilty. That is making a decision or judgement based on a single fact. But if the true criminal was there along with seven witnesses, does that make them all eight guilty of the crime committed by one? Should we assume that they are all guilty? Or do we need more information to get to the point of knowing what went on.
Orbitz is really doing this. They see one fact, and give the user the options for the next step. That next step may be predicated by the available information along with a number of other paths to alternative decisions.
M.
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!