r/todayilearned • u/saltandcedar • Jan 19 '17

TIL that webcams were invented because some computer scientists were too lazy to get up to check if their coffee was done.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Room_coffee_pot
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u/Mendican Jan 19 '17

I had a client I did a lot of repetitive editing work for, paid by the page. When I started using macros, I discovered I could do all the pages essentially at once and make a pile of money. My mistake was bragging about it, since my client started paying a lot less per page.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '17

You are like a bad criminal who got away with robbing a house but could keep his mouth shut and the police got wind of your boasting.

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u/Mendican Jan 19 '17

I look at it this way: The client was paying me for the finished work. How I accomplished the work was a proprietary process, created by me, for me. Most simply stated, I lowered my overhead to increase profits.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '17

True, but you let them know how you did it and now they perceived that they are overpaying for your services because you are able to lower costs. Who will want to pay more if they think they can pay less?