Google doesn't exist. There are only people who work under an umbrella termed "Google". Those people do not agree with each others on everything. So, Yes, we can work with some of them. After all, wasn't Snowden 'The NSA' !?
We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
71–80 of 185 posts
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#72At least Google cares for the web because of the revenue it gets from the Google search engine. Google wants everything to be a web app, while Facebook wants everything to be a Facebook app, and Microsoft wants everything to be a dot.net app.
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#73[deleted]
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#74The worst part is that if you're employed, it's probably a job requirement to use at least one of these surveillance capitalism platforms. Most people I know in tech have to be on Slack. Most people I know in advertising and PR have to be on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For some jobs, like journalism, even the "troops on the ground" are required to post and tweet. Even for jobs without the social media taint, a…
I like Slack, our team communication has never been better, I like Facebook (messenger) because it's a common platform for all my acquaintances. Are we forced to share anything (really) personal though?
Air conditioners using Freon cooled far more quickly than air conditioners using modern hydrofluorocarbons.
Leaded gas burns better than unleaded (this is why aviation gasoline is still leaded).
In both of those cases, we recognized that it was okay to accept a modest loss in efficiency in order to eliminate some pretty massive externalities. I think the same principle applies here. Yes, your team communication may have never been better prior to Slack. But is the marginal improvement in communication for you worth the externality of Slack, Facebook, Google, etc. harvesting all of our personal data and making it available to those who do not have our best interests in mind? I maintain that it is not. The world, as a whole, would be better off without Slack, Facebook and Google, even if some individual users would be worse off.
EDIT: changed "aviation fuel" to read "aviation gasoline"
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like Slack, our team communication has never been better, I like Facebook (messenger) because it's a common platform for all my acquaintances. Are we forced to share anything (really) personal though?
Air conditioners using Freon cooled far more quickly than air conditioners using modern hydrofluorocarbons. Leaded gas burns better than unleaded (this is why aviation gasoline is still leaded). In both of those cases, we recognized that it was okay to accept a modest loss in efficiency in order to eliminate some pretty massive externalities. I think the same principle applies here. Yes, your team communication may h…
> this is why aviation fuel is still leaded
Just in case anyone is alarmed, only Avgas is leaded. That's used in ICE / piston engines, generally installed on private aircraft and small regional airliners up to 10 seats or so. It is hoped that alternatives to leaded Avgas will be approved in 2018 or soon thereafter.
The vast, vast majority of passenger-kilometres flown each day use Avtur ( kerosene ) which is not leaded.
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Air conditioners using Freon cooled far more quickly than air conditioners using modern hydrofluorocarbons. Leaded gas burns better than unleaded (this is why aviation gasoline is still leaded). In both of those cases, we recognized that it was okay to accept a modest loss in efficiency in order to eliminate some pretty massive externalities. I think the same principle applies here. Yes, your team communication may h…
> this is why aviation fuel is still leaded Just in case anyone is alarmed, only Avgas is leaded. That's used in ICE / piston engines, generally installed on private aircraft and small regional airliners up to 10 seats or so. It is hoped that alternatives to leaded Avgas will be approved in 2018 or soon thereafter. The vast, vast majority of passenger-kilometres flown each day use Avtur ( kerosene ) which is not lead…
That's a very good point, and I've updated my comment to clarify that aviation gasoline is leaded, instead aviation fuel.
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#77The web wasn't stolen we gave it to them. You didn't have to sign up for Facebook. You don't have to sign up for googles services. Look how people like RMS use the web .
If everyone "browsed" the web RMS way there would be no web.
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, so I'm fairly sure it still comes with the FB bs..
By BS I mean the inane feeds of other peoples lives.
I cacn't imagine the problem with Facebook being the things my loved ones care about rather than the aggressive data collection of the ad agency itself
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#79While I agree with the gist of the article, I have a problem conflating Google and Facebook in the same evil bag.
Facebook is the evilest of evil, not only for the reasons stated, but also because information entered into Facebook never comes out. You have to have an account on FB to see anything on the platform. That is contrary to everything the Web ever stood for.
Since I don't have a Facebook account, most of my friends don't either, and I will prevent my kids from having one for as long as humanely possible, I'm not sure what kind of benefit it provides. (I'm aware that 25% of all of humanity is on Facebook so they must find something in it. I just don't know what it is, and would rather not find out.)
But, to me, Google is quite different. Not only is Google Search is unparalleled, it's also quite open. Yes, Google constantly tries to have you "login" and turn on search history, etc., but one can still use Google Search completely anonymously. That's not a detail, that is a very important feature of Google Search.
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Now about fighting back, what about starving the beast with adblock? Everyone concerned by any of this should not only use adblock but heavily promote it to everyone. That's probably not the complete solution but it's obviously part of it.
Re: We didn’t lose control of the Web – it was stolen
#80I've been thinking of closing my Facebook account, but I'd lose contact with so many friends and family. They don't use email or any kind of instant messenger any more, and nobody makes phone calls any more. If you're not on Facebook you might as well not exist.
Never had a FB account. I'm very much alive.