3 ms·

Facebook really is exactly the same kind of monopoly as AT&T. You could see the network and even data related to it as the last mile. Technologies like blockch

by tomaha 9y ago

Facebook really is exactly the same kind of monopoly as AT&T. You could see the network and even data related to it as the last mile. Technologies like blockchain could make this possible and give the user back control over their own data and network instead of giving it into the hand of one company.

AnthonyMouse 9y ago
> Facebook really is exactly the same kind of monopoly as AT&T. Ma Bell was really two monopolies -- long distance and last mile. Facebook is equivalent to the long distance monopoly, but that's the easy one. Federation and interoperability dissolves it. The last mile is sticky because building a last mile network is very capital intensive and the cost is predominantly per mile rather than per user, so having two networks that each serve half as many users doubles the cost per user, which is very inefficient and creates a natural monopoly. There is no equivalent to that with Facebook.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Ma Bell was really two monopolies -- long distance and last mile. ...and end-user hardware. Ma Bell was the Spanish Inquisition sketch of monopolies.
- tomaha 9y ago
  The problem is with social networks that the network itself is the valuable basis. It doesn't really matter if we compare it to last mile or long distance. It's all about how much coverage you have. If you don't have enough you can't play the game. Even if you get momentum you will be crushed by a full coverage network like Facebook if they can't buy you (see Snap). So giving everyone coverage would solve this problem hence the comparison to AT&T.
dustingetz 9y ago
Facebook does not benefit from liberating data. Blockchain users do, the public ledger is what gives blockchain value. There is no good reason to run social on blockchain, it reduces surface area to profit and there's nothing forcing it to stay.

3 ms·

Facebook really is exactly the same kind of monopoly as AT&T. You could see the network and even data related to it as the last mile. Technologies like blockch

by tomaha 9y ago

AnthonyMouse 9y ago
> Facebook really is exactly the same kind of monopoly as AT&T. Ma Bell was really two monopolies -- long distance and last mile. Facebook is equivalent to the long distance monopoly, but that's the easy one. Federation and interoperability dissolves it. The last mile is sticky because building a last mile network is very capital intensive and the cost is predominantly per mile rather than per user, so having two networks that each serve half as many users doubles the cost per user, which is very inefficient and creates a natural monopoly. There is no equivalent to that with Facebook.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Ma Bell was really two monopolies -- long distance and last mile. ...and end-user hardware. Ma Bell was the Spanish Inquisition sketch of monopolies.
- tomaha 9y ago
  The problem is with social networks that the network itself is the valuable basis. It doesn't really matter if we compare it to last mile or long distance. It's all about how much coverage you have. If you don't have enough you can't play the game. Even if you get momentum you will be crushed by a full coverage network like Facebook if they can't buy you (see Snap). So giving everyone coverage would solve this problem hence the comparison to AT&T.
dustingetz 9y ago
Facebook does not benefit from liberating data. Blockchain users do, the public ledger is what gives blockchain value. There is no good reason to run social on blockchain, it reduces surface area to profit and there's nothing forcing it to stay.