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Metabook

metabook.fyi

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Re: Metabook

#31

Post by yreg »

mvid wrote: post #19
imglorp wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question about socially ethical investing. Is one truly making a statement and helping Evilcorp by buying stock? Or is it more of a zero sum game where it's going to the market price with or without you; might as well make more money there and use the winnings somewhere more socially responsible?

Yes, buying (and in turning raising the price of) stock does help the corporation

Specifically it lets them dillute and raise money at higher valuation, it makes the board happy with the current management and it lets them distribute employee shares at lower costs.

Re: Metabook

#32

Post by yodsanklai »

cunidev wrote: post #7
arketyp wrote: post #3

>We don't need to keep living inside screens — especially ones controlled by Mark. We don't need to accept Facebook's domination of the digital world. Right! No body is forcing you. Ironically, these kinds of anxious reactions are symptoms of the very same pathological gregariousness that is the problem with social media in the first place.

> Right! No body is forcing you Kind of. Workplaces, schools, academic environments definitely force the usage of some tool over another, or spending more or less time on screens. I am thankful that my new university uses BigBlueButton and hybrid teaching, since I spent the past two years on Microsoft Teams.

> Workplaces, schools, academic environments definitely force the usage of some tool over another, or spending more or less time on screens.

But who's to blame?

I have the feeling that people are blaming the wrong people. Corporations are amoral entities whose mission is to maximize profit. If this doesn't bring social value or has obvious negative externalities, we should blame the politicians who set the rules, and vote for someone else.

Re: Metabook

#33

Post by zmmmmm »

nabla9 wrote: post #20

Of all big tech companies Fb is - the least innovative, - has the worst corporate governance, - purest advertising company, - The CEO is not good but has dominant share of votes. Facebook is relevant only because they spend their way out of trouble and buy competition. The US and EU regulators are going to remove that tactics. Good luck getting EU approval for any new Whatsapp, Instagram acquisition. There is no clea…

> the least innovative

While I'm not a Facebook fan, there are some counterpoints:

- they have singlehandedly saved the VR industry by going all in on cordless / standalone VR which has increased the accessible market by at least an order of magnitude.

- almost the entire world are using React and Pytorch as de facto standards / defaults now

I don't know how you would measure these against outputs from other tech companies but it is clear to me that a bunch of innovation is happening inside Facebook (whether you like it or not of course is another thing).

Re: Metabook

#34

Post by verisimi »

arketyp wrote: post #3

>We don't need to keep living inside screens — especially ones controlled by Mark. We don't need to accept Facebook's domination of the digital world. Right! No body is forcing you. Ironically, these kinds of anxious reactions are symptoms of the very same pathological gregariousness that is the problem with social media in the first place.

We are absolutely being forced. Perhaps you didn't realise, but lots of kids were on Google Classroom, Zoom, etc last year during lockdown.

This metaverse BS aims to be an even more contained aggregation of all this. If you watch the presentation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9vWShsmE20), its meant to include all aspects of one's life.

Talk about lock in!

Re: Metabook

#35

Post by throwawaycities »

arketyp wrote: post #3

>We don't need to keep living inside screens — especially ones controlled by Mark. We don't need to accept Facebook's domination of the digital world. Right! No body is forcing you. Ironically, these kinds of anxious reactions are symptoms of the very same pathological gregariousness that is the problem with social media in the first place.

> Ironically, these kinds of anxious reactions are symptoms of the very same pathological gregariousness that is the problem with social media in the first place.

Ironically, these kinds of anxious reactions are symptoms of the very same pathological gregariousness that is the problem with hackernews in the first place.

Re: Metabook

#36

Post by dgb23 »

yodsanklai wrote: post #32
cunidev wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Right! No body is forcing you Kind of. Workplaces, schools, academic environments definitely force the usage of some tool over another, or spending more or less time on screens. I am thankful that my new university uses BigBlueButton and hybrid teaching, since I spent the past two years on Microsoft Teams.

> Workplaces, schools, academic environments definitely force the usage of some tool over another, or spending more or less time on screens. But who's to blame? I have the feeling that people are blaming the wrong people. Corporations are amoral entities whose mission is to maximize profit. If this doesn't bring social value or has obvious negative externalities, we should blame the politicians who set the rules, and…

Are you saying that corporations are exempt from moral responsibility?

Re: Metabook

#37

Post by nabla9 »

zmmmmm wrote: post #33
nabla9 wrote: post #20

Of all big tech companies Fb is - the least innovative, - has the worst corporate governance, - purest advertising company, - The CEO is not good but has dominant share of votes. Facebook is relevant only because they spend their way out of trouble and buy competition. The US and EU regulators are going to remove that tactics. Good luck getting EU approval for any new Whatsapp, Instagram acquisition. There is no clea…

> the least innovative While I'm not a Facebook fan, there are some counterpoints: - they have singlehandedly saved the VR industry by going all in on cordless / standalone VR which has increased the accessible market by at least an order of magnitude. - almost the entire world are using React and Pytorch as de facto standards / defaults now I don't know how you would measure these against outputs from other tech com…

First is example of buying innovation from outside. Fb acquisition did not add innovation to Oculus. It was just throwing money to get into business.

Second is not their business innovation. It's open source. They do also good research.

Re: Metabook

#38

Post by Smithalicious »

This undifferentiated torrent of anger is diluting the message. I am not naive so I also expect the zuckerverse to be a laughingstock at best and very sinister at worst, but let them actually build it first. By being so critical before it even exist you are only sending the message "we will hate it irrespective of what it actually is because we hold a grudge".

Furthermore I think the "metaberg is a nefarious spy" messaging should be separated from the "living in VR is toxic even in concept" messaging, because I believe the former but explicitly not the latter, and I want to be able to be critical about the implementation of this while still being excited about the concept (and hoping it can be implemented humanely on top of open protocols)

Re: Metabook

#39

Post by mathnmusic »

Smithalicious wrote: post #38

This undifferentiated torrent of anger is diluting the message. I am not naive so I also expect the zuckerverse to be a laughingstock at best and very sinister at worst, but let them actually build it first . By being so critical before it even exist you are only sending the message "we will hate it irrespective of what it actually is because we hold a grudge". Furthermore I think the "metaberg is a nefarious spy" me…

The question is simple: Are they building it with end-to-end encryption? If not, it deserves all the criticism. Security/privacy has to be part of the design and cannot be bolted on post-facto.

Re: Metabook

#40

Post by nabla9 »

yodsanklai wrote: post #26
nabla9 wrote: post #20

Of all big tech companies Fb is - the least innovative, - has the worst corporate governance, - purest advertising company, - The CEO is not good but has dominant share of votes. Facebook is relevant only because they spend their way out of trouble and buy competition. The US and EU regulators are going to remove that tactics. Good luck getting EU approval for any new Whatsapp, Instagram acquisition. There is no clea…

> The CEO is not good According to what? FB has had a tremendous growth.

Network externality in social networks creates a situation where success is almost automatic once you cross certain threshold. FB did the initial growth well, then it has been mostly coasting and buying and shutting down competition using their market power.
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