41–50 of 114 posts
That's the least rational thing I've ever seen. Look at what happened to Bell. Forced corporate breakups are the dumbest thing possible.
What would be a better way to deal with monopolies? Surely the breakup of Bell is better than if they were allowed to continue as a monopoly right?
There is a very simple alternative to Facebook: don’t use Facebook. That’s the competition. There is nothing quite the same but there are lots of other things to do online.
I don't see how breaking up Facebook changes the fact that companies are financially incentivized to track and sell as much information on their customers as possible. Whether a monopoly or a collection of small companies, people follow incentives.
I don't see how breaking up Facebook changes the fact that companies are financially incentivized to track and sell as much information on their customers as possible. Whether a monopoly or a collection of small companies, people follow incentives.
Agreed, I wish governments would ban something like diamonds in wedding rings instead. Like Facebook, we don't need diamonds to survive. Diamonds have been a the cause of much conflict in Africa.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What would be a better way to deal with monopolies? Surely the breakup of Bell is better than if they were allowed to continue as a monopoly right?
Not at all, actually! Ever heard of Verizon, AT&T, and Centurylink? All of them came from the Bell breakup. Bell used to do things that were cool as fuck ; post-breakup, prices rose for everyone, and innovation stopped really happening. Monopolies aren't inherently bad - especially not ones like Bell, where they're beneficial to everyone.
Any citations for this? The rise of MCI cut my phone bills by more than half in the 80's. Bell was killing us with 3 figure/month residential phone bills. And, I pay 10x less now per month in non inflation adjusted dollars than I did in 1986.
Out of state calls back then were commonly double digit cents per minute. Now they are typically 1 cent per minute or even less.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What would be a better way to deal with monopolies? Surely the breakup of Bell is better than if they were allowed to continue as a monopoly right?
Not at all, actually! Ever heard of Verizon, AT&T, and Centurylink? All of them came from the Bell breakup. Bell used to do things that were cool as fuck ; post-breakup, prices rose for everyone, and innovation stopped really happening. Monopolies aren't inherently bad - especially not ones like Bell, where they're beneficial to everyone.
Prices for long-distance calls fell.
There is a very simple alternative to Facebook: don’t use Facebook. That’s the competition. There is nothing quite the same but there are lots of other things to do online.
There is a strong draw for many of us. It's the only reasonable way I have to see pictures and updates from my family that's pretty far flung across the world. Convincing all my kids, grandkids, siblings, cousins, in laws, nieces, nephews, etc to move away from FB isn't really practical. I do use FB mostly read only, but there isn't really a way for me to leave.
Facebook is already dying. Why even bother?