21–30 of 243 posts
Even though it's obviously a land grab... no one other than massive corporations is capable or willing to provide this. I don't like it either, but that's how corporatocracy works. Might as well fight against gravity.
How does that even work? Why would the telecoms agree to pay the bill on behalf of Facebook? Surely there must be some money from Facebook back to the telecom, to make it worthwhile for them.
Edit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Zero
http://telecoms.com/opinion/0-facebook-com-means-zero-money-...
It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Of course it's a land grab. The same way Google Fiber is trying grab North American broadband.
It's not in the same way at all. Google Fiber is real internet; 'free internet basics' are an attempt to turn the internet into a walled garden.
Minus the things their ToS forbids. Only recently they started allowing you to host game servers, for Minecraft, for example.
Their Fiber team heavily opposes Net Neutrality, too. Sadly.
> Though the programme is promoted by Facebook, its costs are borne by the mobile-telecoms operators it works with. How does that even work? Why would the telecoms agree to pay the bill on behalf of Facebook? Surely there must be some money from Facebook back to the telecom, to make it worthwhile for them. Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Zero http://telecoms.com/opinion/0-facebook-com-means-zero-money-..…
Free internet program from the late 90's: "1000 hours free! Sign on today!" :)
Personally, I believe Zuckerberg is sincere in wanting to connect everyone in the world with each other. However, I believe he is also sincere in thinking that Facebook is the best and perhaps only platform by which this is possible. In this he is sincerely mistaken. I feel sure he doesn't think of it as a land grab, even privately. But he is looking from the inside out. If he wants to be seen as the Great Connector,…
>I feel sure he doesn't think of it as a land grab, even privately.
why?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not in the same way at all. Google Fiber is real internet; 'free internet basics' are an attempt to turn the internet into a walled garden.
> Google Fiber is real internet Minus the things their ToS forbids. Only recently they started allowing you to host game servers, for Minecraft, for example. Their Fiber team heavily opposes Net Neutrality, too. Sadly.
Basically no residential ISP in the US i'm aware of allows server hosting. Certainly no major ones :)
The content creators need to be separate from the content distributers. This way there is lower incentive for either to perform manipulative actions. With Facebook providing the content and the service at a low price (free in this case) they are setting up a model where the poor are funneled into there definition of applicable content. Sure some people upgrade, it is there argument, but at what cost. If Facebook real…
The content creators need to be separate from the content distributers. This way there is lower incentive for either to perform manipulative actions. With Facebook providing the content and the service at a low price (free in this case) they are setting up a model where the poor are funneled into there definition of applicable content. Sure some people upgrade, it is there argument, but at what cost. If Facebook real…
Personally, I believe Zuckerberg is sincere in wanting to connect everyone in the world with each other. However, I believe he is also sincere in thinking that Facebook is the best and perhaps only platform by which this is possible. In this he is sincerely mistaken. I feel sure he doesn't think of it as a land grab, even privately. But he is looking from the inside out. If he wants to be seen as the Great Connector,…
It's much more likely that Zuckerberg realizes his company is overvalued, and that he needs to acquire a massive amount of users to make up for that gap.
Subsidizing a walled-garden version of the Internet where users can only use Facebook in developing countries makes strategic sense for the company.
Facebook doesn't care about "free internet", they care about building their business, and this "free basics" program makes that patently obvious. I don't blame them or necessarily think it's a bad thing , but the propaganda associated with it is ridiculous.