This is completely off topic but I'm shocked that zdnet autoplayed a video with audio on after I opened the page and scrolled down a little. Incredible that we still have websites whose primary purpose isn't playing audio automatically play audio. There's no way this doesn't annoy a vast majority of users.
This phenomenon terrifies me greatly - how large organisations can be ignorant of the basics of their purpose. I believe it is one and the same mechanism of collective incompetence, which can affect both a media company, a school, or a government. It's as if the humanity, under any system, were bound to create inhospitable conditions for one another.
Companies are not “ignorant of the basics of their purpose”. The basics of their purpose is to make money and increase value for shareholders. There is nothing in their core purpose that benefits you as a user or that says they shouldn't annoy you.
