Should you give the scarcest things to the fastest coders?

Lately, I’ve been thinking about a warning I read over a decade ago. It was in the course registration system at Carnegie Mellon University, and it said this:Warning: No Automated RequestsPlease be responsible when accessing the registration system. Attempts to inundate the system with automated requests to register for a course will be logged and result in your being denied access until AFTER the entire registration period. CMU is a place where most students learn to code. But registering for courses is not supposed to be a high-stakes coding exam. I appreciated that the official policy did not give the best classes to the fastest coders.But here we are in 2026, and tons of businesses have effectively decided to give their scarcest resources to the fastest coders. First-come, first-served is a classic way to reward people who show up early. But online, it just rewards the best automation. People automate the buying of concert tickets, restaurant reservations, even the timeslots for…