Lying as a UX Strategy

I watched LTT looking into how many USB devices a computer can handle [VIDEO 26:02] and mentioned how unpowered hubs technically violate the USB spec. The spec only allows for 100mA of current which might prevent things like RGB mice from working. So instead of dealing with angry customers who probably don’t care about USB-IF certification, they instead make the hubs that pretend to be powered instead. This is mostly fine until a device draws too much current and the host cuts off the connection.

Technology lying for the benefit of the user is more common than you’d expect and I wrote about how that’s the case in web development, like how browsers lie [VIDEO: 15:06] about style settings in JavaScript to prevent tracking. There are other things this might apply to like:

• Spotify music shuffling not actually being random because people complained about it, though in the 9 years they’ve written that people still do.
• Video games lie to players [VIDEO 17:15] to make them more fun.

I guess this applies to lying in general, but specifically to technology which we like for it’s determinality and it’s strict adherence to rules though it might come at the expense of usability. Would be interesting if there was a “how to lie with computers” course which elaborates on this.