I purchased a shovel at the local hardware store a couple of years ago. It was a seemingly simple transaction in which I used hard-earned currency minted by the U.S. government, for which I had exchanged my labor. I handed that currency to this vendor, at a price it demanded, and I received my shovel.
I transported that shovel home and used it for various tasks and challenges in my yard. I even loaned it to a neighbor a few times for the sake of community.
Periodically, the folks from the "hardware store" come by my home and rummage about in my garage. They have sanded over and remodeled that shovel a few times over the last few years. They claim that their efforts will make this a better shovel. They are sometimes all about the "new and improved."
I am usually surprised when these remodels occur. The "hardware store" people simple let themselves into my garage as and when they wish. To them, somehow, the value exchange that I perceived as purchasing a shovel is somehow more of a lease. They perceive this to be their shovel and that I am mere licensee, possessor, or chaperone.
To be honest, I am sure there have been some shovel remodels that I never even noticed. To me, the real point is whether that tool will dig a hole or not. I am not interested in the paint job, decals, or even warning labels. As an aside, when did we reach a point where a shovel needed a warning label?
Recently, however, the "hardware store" folks came in the night and apparently renovated my (or "their") shovel yet again. I noticed because they changed the locks on my garage when they left. Not only was the shovel different, but I could not get it out of the garage. I had to use another tool to research how to get past their proprietary locks.
They were no longer satisfied with their periodic forays into my home, but felt compelled to lock me out of it in the process. When I tried to enter my garage, their new locks asked me to "log in" with their company so that they could track my use of both the garage and the shovel. Their vision was that I would "sign in" with their security as a protection.
No, I soon learned that I did not have to either have or create a "hardware store" account to gain access to my own garage. The Internet taught me that I could simply use the old-fashioned override of Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and then select "sign out" to avoid their presumptuous intrusion into my space.
Yes, the shovel allegory is false. Actually, I purchased a software and use it on a computer. The company that wrote it pushes their updates and amendments into that software at their will, on their schedule, and with their demands and requirements. There is no request for permission or opportunity to decline. In this one-way relationship, they are entitled to both my money and their unilateral control of my purchase.
The model is deeply intriguing. It is amazing that the seller is reaching into my home to alter my purchase. It is worse, however, when they purport to require my acquiescence to their invasion and change the locks on my doors. That said, I am certain that I agreed to this relationship somewhere in the litany that was followed by that initial "Accept" click that completed the initial lease agreement.
Somehow that does not forestall the sting of wasting time researching and deploying the "Ctrl-Alt-Delete" alternative. And I am reminded of the old adage that if you are not the customer, you are the product. Time and again, people have said that the distinction is if something is "free," like social media. But in this instance, I both paid for the product and am still apparently the product.
