You're a moron to think this is about scamming someone. The smart engineer realized he can offer a louder option but didn't want to disturb the preset settings the customer is used to. If anything, not only is the engineer smart but empathetic towards how troublesome learning a new tool is like. Let me tell you it is not a problem that the volume is not standardized. Instead, it is nice to know that the customer can choose options he is familiar with AND now has a setting to go louder. Of course the much smarter way is to make the dial more analog input than a digital input. However, the digital dial will not move as easily when bumped. Trade-offs were made. For aesthetics and function. Yes I know some music nerds who like the dial more than a touch button.

Now don't get me started with how they can sell it however they want. If it is louder than the product it is comparing against and the buyer likes it then it is not a scam, it was a fair trade.

Yes it is possible to look at this image with different what-ifs, and from what I see, you are only looking at the what-if where the "smart engineer" is not even acting as an engineer but rather a con artist. If we were to take the meme more literally then the what-if I have explained above is more true to the intentions of the characters in it than your narrow interpretation.

/EndRant