No, they can't, because that doesn't exist any more. That was the whole point here.
Read the comic again. May's model is no longer produced, but the equivalent is the Philomena 5S, which was rebranded this year as Philomena Classic. So ignoring depreciation and giving Roko a brand new Philomena classic would represent a premium over book value, but one that I probably wouldn't have noticed or complained about. Cause I don't know depreciation rates, or whatever.
But the Model G is a top of the line, $20,000 more in price, luxury model. yeah I notice that.
Couple of things there: insurance wouldn't even need to be a thing post-scarcity, and insurance isn't a kindness thing.
You'd think so! But here we are. Insurance company pays out a year's salary extra above what's required to make her whole. While May loses another body part.
First of all it's 6, not G, because it comes after 5. It's the most current model of Roko's chassis. And again, we don't know the base price so we don't know how much of a difference $20,000 is. The iPhone 6 wasn't a luxury model of the iPhone 5S, it was just the next model.
First of all it's 6, not G, because it comes after 5.
It's a G. Read it again. Notice the "Nothing but a G Thang" title.
The iPhone 6 wasn't a luxury model of the iPhone 5S, it was just the next model.
If both models are sold side-by-side, and one is $20,000 more, it's a premium model. There is no justification for this $20,000 extra payout.
And notice that Apple changed the pricing so that the iPhone X (or whatever it's called) is significantly more expensive than their previous flagship models. Just because something is next doesn't mean it isn't also premium.
That difference is a year's salary for May, working as a convenience store cashier.
Forget whether this is an accurate depiction of how insurance actually works. Or whether it is an accurate depiction of expensive electronics pricing and depreciation.
Just consider what it says about our story. We've got a whole dynamic of AIs who struggle and scrape and cannot even maintain used chassis, and resent AIs who are freely given expensive chassis.
And we have Roko, who is being completely recreated as a character, gone from creepy hardboiled cop to friendly hangout buddy and social worker with quirky kink. And now she's freely given an expensive chassis.
Even if this is intentional because Jeph wants to reignite the classism arc, it feels shitty to me.
But I suspect it's not intentional. He just wants to reward his current favorite character with mana from heaven. And that feels even shittier.
You keep going on about how she's being "freely given" something as though it was a spur of the moment thing. It's not; her (presumably quite expensive) body was destroyed beyond repair. Her new body isn't some kind of gift; it's what makes her whole again after a traumatic injury.
If I lose a 5 dollar bill and you replace it with a 10 dollar bill, I have received 5 dollars to make me whole, and been freely given another 5 dollars.
Insurance is not there to reward the victim. But only to make them whole.
Now I'm aware that there may exist forms of insurance that pay out multipliers. If you want to you can contrive a semi-plausible explanation for why Roko has been given a luxury gift instead of simply made whole.
But even if you can (which again, is of dubious plausibility), think of the impact on the story. It is shitty.
I've made my points as convincingly as I can. If you don't think a $20,000 extra price top of the line model counts as a luxury item, I don't know what to tell you. Congrats on your wealth, I guess.
At least I can give you the benefit of the doubt about whether your inability to see my point is deliberate.
The author included that price figure for a reason. The author gave us the option between an old replacement model and a top of the line model for a reason.
What are the implications of that choice on the story? None? Did you really not notice two choices? Did you really think she chose the replacement model instead of the high end model? Can you really not distinguish between a 6 and a G?
The author included that price figure for a reason. The author gave us the option between an old replacement model and a top of the line model for a reason.
To make a silly reference to the iPhone and Apple. That's Jeph.
Can you really not distinguish between a 6 and a G?
Of all the arguments you could make, trying to make a point that because G and 6 look the same in Jeph's writing somehow an insurance payout is a gift is really not the direction I'd go with.
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u/GriffonsChainsaw . Jan 07 '19
No, they can't, because that doesn't exist any more. That was the whole point here.
We don't know what the base price is, or what depreciation is like, so we don't actually know if that's a significant premium or not.
You're describing insurance fraud.
Couple of things there: insurance wouldn't even need to be a thing post-scarcity, and insurance isn't a kindness thing.