Personally I'm thrilled when people use my product. I've never thought of the term user having a negative connotation when referring to software users. Is that really a vestige of hacker culture?
Dorsey's post gives me an uneasy feeling. Because everyone receiving the memo knows on some level that it's BS. It's couched in the terms of showing respect for users as people. But the subtext is simply that we need to act as if we respect the people using our product because they provide money.
The whole exalting of the customer in modern marketing speak is emblematic of a lack of respect for people as fellow human beings. It's kind of a perversion of the cliche "the customer is always right. Obviously the customer is not always right, that's why the frickin' expression exists! It's an acknowledgment of the asymmetry that exists in buyer/seller transactions. You're not supposed to believe it, just act like you do.
Dorsey's post gives me an uneasy feeling. Because everyone receiving the memo knows on some level that it's BS. It's couched in the terms of showing respect for users as people. But the subtext is simply that we need to act as if we respect the people using our product because they provide money.
The whole exalting of the customer in modern marketing speak is emblematic of a lack of respect for people as fellow human beings. It's kind of a perversion of the cliche "the customer is always right. Obviously the customer is not always right, that's why the frickin' expression exists! It's an acknowledgment of the asymmetry that exists in buyer/seller transactions. You're not supposed to believe it, just act like you do.