<story><title>The Essential Philip K. Dick</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/books/best-philip-k-dick-novels.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nonrandomstring</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s a bit in Ubik that stays in my mind. Joe Chip gets into an
argument with his apartment door that refuses to open for him because
he owes it money. I kinda got that the door was an autonomous
money-making agent that held him hostage - a conversation reminiscent
of that between Doolittle and the Bomb in Dark Star. It made me see
the ridiculous side and ultimate absurdity of micropayments leading to
world where a dollar value is put on everything so that every silly
little thing becomes a coin operated nuisance whose actual function is
replaced by squeezing a few more micro-credits out of you.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>pavlov</author><text>They call that &amp;quot;web3&amp;quot; nowadays, but you&amp;#x27;re supposed to enjoy it because you can buy shares in the specific door that won&amp;#x27;t open for you and they might triple in value while you&amp;#x27;re locked in.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Essential Philip K. Dick</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/books/best-philip-k-dick-novels.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nonrandomstring</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s a bit in Ubik that stays in my mind. Joe Chip gets into an
argument with his apartment door that refuses to open for him because
he owes it money. I kinda got that the door was an autonomous
money-making agent that held him hostage - a conversation reminiscent
of that between Doolittle and the Bomb in Dark Star. It made me see
the ridiculous side and ultimate absurdity of micropayments leading to
world where a dollar value is put on everything so that every silly
little thing becomes a coin operated nuisance whose actual function is
replaced by squeezing a few more micro-credits out of you.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>2Gkashmiri</author><text>Years ago I read about cloud computing as getting a free vacation but being charged for each sand particle you touch, small on its own but it gets too ridiculous after some time</text></comment>