Microsoft's Hipocracy

So today Microsoft, looking to take advantage of the controversy created by media pundits over Google's unified user policy, came out and said (paraphrasing here). "We understand why you're upset. We can offer Hotmail for your email, Bing for search, and Office 365, blah, blah, blah. And we won't serve you ads."

Seriously? This is a company that has, over the years,  ruthlessly stamped out competitors and made literally billions.. billions! of dollars by over charging us for software.

Google serves me ads... ok, I know that. I am free to click on them or not.. they are not overbearing, they do not make their products unpleasant to use.. it is simply how they pay for providing the services I use for free.

Microsoft is a company that is slowly but inexorably becoming irrelevant.. The OS, as we know it today is dying a slow death. As this process continues, Microsoft will have two choices, charge their users for the services they provide, or do something like... I don't know, maybe serve ads? They have to make money. Because that's why companies like Microsoft and Google exist.

There are two reasons why I won't use Microsoft products personally (professionally, I currently have no choice). One of the reasons is this type of behavior. Like scavengers swooping in to feed. Typical corporate bullshit. Their idea of ethics is what they can legally get away with. The other reason... we'll save for another post.

Respectfully submitted,
--sakamoto

The End of Don't be Evil?

What's all the fuss? Let me get this straight. Google is integrating my account across all it's services so as to view me as a single user across all properties. And this is bad? As a developer, it makes sense. As a user, my _free_ services take on a truly social dimension. This is a good thing.

If you read the pundits and bloggers trying to generate traffic you will read things like 'The end of Don't be Evil.' And that the 'real' reason is so that Google can serve more targeted ads. Let's think about this for a moment. I'm going to get served ads anyway. That's the price I pay for a _free_ service. So the ads are actually more relevant to me and my interest. Jesus, Mary, Francis, and Joseph! What the hell? Seriously, this is stupid.

The fuss is about professional journalists and privacy advocates trying to justify their existence.

Respectfully submitted,
-sakamoto

The Internet Should Be a Right

This post is in response to an article I read in the New Times entitled Internet Access Is Not a Human Right.

The author, Vinton G. Serf, makes some excellent points. And I'm not in total disagreement. In fact, I would say I agree with almost all of his points.

For instance, he asserts that the creators of technology have an obligation to society. This is something I feel strongly about and have given considerable thought. But that topic warrants an exclusive post, so I'll save those ramblings for later.

I think where I most disagree with Mr. Serf is his assertion that the Internet is just a tool. It certainly is, as is my brain and my opposable thumb. But they are also much more than that. Try taking either one of those away from me and we've got a problem.

Like every other system ever created, the Internet, in the beginning, was small, unsophisticated and perhaps even unimportant. Over time, it has grown in size, sophistication... and importance.

It's perhaps hard to imagine, but we're just getting warmed up here. The accomplishments the Internet has enabled thus far, are nothing compared to what we will see over the next 50 to 100 years.

Take a moment to extrapolate from what you see and know today and imagine where we will be in just another 50 years. The Internet is everywhere already, imagine how tightly it will be integrated into our lives over the next 50 years. If we could survive without it now, we will not be able to in 50 years.

To me, the Internet is much more than a collection of computers, wires and transport protocols. The Internet is like an infant whose brain is growing and evolving over time.

And like a child, rogue neurons are firing, new neurons are born, new pathways are created. Some neurons and pathways will succeed, solidify and we will come to accept and rely upon them. Some will die, others will mutate to survive. But like a biological life form, it is becoming an increasingly sophisticated system that we are all a part of. To put it another way, the Internet is becoming an extension of our species.

The Internet is our collective brain and access to it is or will be a necessity. By viewing it as a right, we acknowledge and prepare for that inevitability.

Respectfully submitted,

sakamoto

Another Year

So here we are with a new year staring us in the face and I just realized that I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions for the past two weeks.

It's not just a stupid tradition, it's good advice. When you think about it, New Year's resolutions have probably been around for as long as we've understood the cycle of the seasons.

Once a year, people across the globe take a moment to reflect on last year and how they can do it differently in the coming year.


So here goes....

• I want to quit smoking. I'm at the age and have been for a few years that I can feel it's effects. If I quit now, maybe I'll live long enough to make the resolution, 'Be a better grandfather to your grandchildren.'
• I want to spend less time programming and more time doing things like hanging out with my family and writing in this blog.

That's it! Pretty simple isn't it? To sum it up, I want to live a cleaner and more productive life. Something we can all work towards.

Maybe I'll tell you how it turns out....

Respectfully submitted,

sakamoto