[snarf21]

Some of this "I can do it for free" stuff gives me the vibes of people who monitor gas prices every day. Only to drive 10 miles out of their way to save $0.30 a gallon filing their 15 gallon tank ($4.50 savings - $2.00 gas used - $X for time). They probably also buy an overpriced drink/snack for a net negative value proposition even if time is free.

Some of these things are the feeling of "getting a deal" or "screwing the system" and people can spend their time in whatever way brings them joy. I don't want to be a "markdown editor app developer" or whatever and would rather work on more creative endeavors. In the end, we give our time to get money and then trade our money for time but time is our only limited resource.

[somenameforme]

I'm one of those guys you speak of, that would do that fully knowingly. The point is principle. If I feel I'm being exploited, then I will refuse to deal with something/somebody even if it's in my own short term best interest. It's not really screwing the system so much as screwing people trying to screw me, and I find the satisfaction that gives me as being worth substantially more than whatever I might lose in money. For a less self motivated reason, if all of society behaved like this - the world would also be a much better place.

More generally, I don't view time as some resource to be used to achieve some ultimate goal. In the end the only goal we're going to achieve is death. So in the interim I'd rather do actions that give me satisfaction rather than those that give me money, because in the end - the point of that money is to bring satisfaction anyhow, so I'm just cutting out the middle man.

[tired-turtle]

These parties aren’t screwing you. They’re offering a service at a price. You pay for convenience. You may not value your time, but most do. That’s why certain gas stations command a higher price.

[idiotsecant]

'screwing the people who want to screw you' is a losing game. You're spending time you could spend doing something positive doing something that just arouses negative emotion.

[timtas]

If you’re paying more to get it cheaper, then prima facie, you were not being exploited. You were being offered convenience.

[bko]

Weekend projects are fun and a great way to experiment with new technologies. AI is this new technology and most engineer should be familiar with how useful it is and it's limitations.

Sure, if you hate coding it's prob not worth it. But I don't see it as an expense. In fact I value it so I would even not go as far as to deem a failure as a loss.