using discord is morally lazy
using discord is morally lazy !unfinished article warning! Discord, to me, represents the worst of so-called "late stage capitalism" meshed with the worst of our ever bloated and unmaintainable modern computer landscape. It comforts people with the idea that using enormous amounts of computing resource is free. It bases expectations on the ethical code of bloodthirsty hyper-capitalists. Grow the platform. Capture the users. We'll figure out how to make money later. Discord is a US startup based in Silicon Valley. They have a downtown office, 500+ employees, and a venture capital based operating budget. They don't delete data. They don't have a reliable income scheme. So then, how exactly does Discord work? They take money. From investors. Discord has been raising money from investors for 8 years. They have raised nearly a billion dollars. This money is not free. These investors expect a return. So, Discord must become profitable. How much could it cost to run? A service with: - infinite data + attachment retention - free unlimited signups - no messaging limit - server size limits of 100-250k - 850 million send messages per day <h3>Not my server</h3> Discords concept of "servers" tarnishes the actual meaning of the word "server." A server is, generally speaking, a piece of compute that operates some software that serves users in some way. Each server is isolated from each other server, and they may run a mariad of difference pieces of software. They may be based in different countries. <h3>Wait, how do we make money again?</h3> Discord is not a financially feasible company. Let us examine some very conservative projected operating costs: - 500 SF employees * $150,000/year - 50000sqft SF office space - 15 billion messages per month * 12 * 830 bytes per message on average <h3>Unsustainable Computing</h3> I would argue that moreso than any other piece of infrastructure used by people, Discord has the highest potential to harm the world, and our perception of our place within it. unfinished.
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last updated 1993-02-18