I sympathize with some feelings the author is trying to communicate, but the cynical and sarcastic style really detract from the authors points in my view.

I don't think this article communicates any new ideas; to me the style is the unique aspect of it that makes it worth reading. If you personally don't like the style, there are many other articles portraying the same sentiment in a more agreeable style.

the cynical and sarcastic style was my favorite part

Sorry to be a little insulting, but I don't believe you feel sympathy with the author if the cynicism/sarcasm put you off. That's the point.

If a firm has that kind of pricing power of course they will use it. Competition is the only thing that restrains this. Most firms don't have this kind of pricing power at all, if Safeway marked up all their groceries to my maximum willingness to pay I would of course just go to Kroger or the local co-op or a restaurant for dinner.

Algorithmic pricing is price-fixing through the back door. Krogers and Safeway both have masses of data about you, and can use it to reduce any price differential.

I'm surprised this page doesn't mention the automotive thermostat which uses the same principle to control the flow of coolant between the engine block and radiator in an ICE vehicle.

Perhaps you would consider adding that information? That's would be an interesting addition!

The "See Also" has "Wax thermostatic element" [0] which seems focused on automotive applications, so perhaps it was there and grew large-enough that it got split off.

> Its principal application is in automotive thermostats used in the engine cooling system.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_thermostatic_element

Seems as though it's been filed under a different page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_thermostatic_element

They were also used for cold-start idle air control in at least some cars before throttle-by-wire.

Can folks responding to this comment claiming that they see PayPal a lot provide some details? Country, industry, sector, something. I'm in the US and I basically never see it on e commerce checkout flows any more (and good riddance IMO).

I'm in the UK and I use it a few times a month.

Generally I would use it on smaller / unfamiliar websites; I may be more hesitant about entering my credit card numbers but also it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag.

I also use it exclusively for eBay purchases.

Agreed but only if I can't use Apple/Google card. So my usage is way down.

I run an online store selling e-stuff. I offer Stripe by default, and a 'use PayPal' link on the side.

It accounts for about 20% of my sales. I was about to write 'overwhelmingly Europeans' and I thought I better check. Nope.

    Row Labels      Count of Country
    ----------      ----------------
    United States   54
    Germany         12
    Australia       10
    United Kingdom  7
    Netherlands     7

I don't see it as much as before but recently I had issues with paying z.ai with my card and the only payment alternative they have is PayPal. PayPal now requires an account with a verified phone number just to process your payment, so it's strictly a no-go for me.

I am guessing the millions of people they have on-boarded in the last decades are what makes the business worth something.

It is still common on small e-commerce sites. The ones at high risk of being hacked where you don't want them to have your card details.

Yeah this is my primary use case for using PayPal. I use it on e-commerce sites for first purchase or if it's unlikely I'm going to buy anything from the same site again.

In European online shopping it's very common for everything thats not ment for only one country.

Within Switzerland there is zero need for PayPal do you don't see it as much, but if you ship to Germany or Italy things start to get more complicated.