Choosing to be a name or a number

1.) I really should do the responsible thing and send in the warranty card. It's a company I've done business with before, and one that--significantly--has not spammed me since, either in the email or snail-mail sense. But overriding the "training" other companies have given me over the years (via unwanted catalogs, "special offers", newsletters, etc.) takes more conscious thought that it should. Sad, that.

2.) Yes, it sounds whiny and "entitled," but I can't help but notice that Tumblr still requires its existing bloggers to click through to another login page (compared with Blogger, which does not), because its landing page is All About signing up new users.

I wouldn't even argue that all customers are created equal (because of the variance of needs/wants vs. the ability to meet them), much less that a first-time customer and repeat customer should be treated identically. Rarely can you determine how service varies from customer to customer. But when a company can't (or chooses not to) distinguish between new and repeat customers, it says a fair amount about the business model (in the case of established firms) or the greenness of its judgment (in the case of newer ones).

Granted, it's usually cheaper in the short run to be a number, and there are probably plenty of times that it's appropriate. Being a name requires interaction on your part, after all. But it is always a choice.