I don't see this as a technical solution to a social problem. I see this as a technical tool to help with a social solution to a social problem. Specifically, finding a way to communicate the opportunity cost of a meeting, which is a social solution to the social problem, because I don't need this app to do it, but it could help.
> finding a way to communicate the opportunity cost of a meeting ... I don't need this app to do it, but it could help.
The terminal UI is one thing. From my personal experience, displaying the running cost of meetings in my Zoom camera would always be a bad idea. It's an optional feature of this program so it doesn't detract away from the entire idea, just saying that from my experience, managers already know that meetings cost money so displaying the cost of the meeting is pointless, you need to instead argue why your manager is wrong that the cost of the meeting is worth it.
Oh, I agree, I think it comes off as passive aggressive and wouldn't use it. But I also still don't see it as a technical solution to a social problem, which is what we see with the way certain tech giants are trying to handle content moderation.
I just ask up front whether we can accomplish the same thing without a meeting, and if we can, I just say no to the meeting. If I'm actually necessary, then it'll get done one way or another without the meeting. If I'm not, then it's most likely not my battle to fight. (Substitute "We" for "I" if I'm the manager or a mentor or tech lead or something.)
There are unfortunately a lot of people who are put in a bad situation by bosses despite having multiple people explaining the time is a waste. Including them.
So a little bit of passive aggression when someone is in that situation might help them fight out of it and give them a little breathing room. And the reality is that many jobs like that, if the manager reacts badly, it might actually be a relief for the person to finally move on to another job.
Unfortunately, the kind of place where such indirections are expected to work is the kind of place where feedback about meetings won’t be allowed (it is like this for a reason, maybe a top level prefers it, and _that_ is what needs addressing, IMHO)
