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> But new forms of centralization emerge, whether they arise in the form of bloated, draconian corporate software foisted on workers within a company, or as pub
by delbel 8y ago
> But new forms of centralization emerge, whether they arise in the form of bloated, draconian corporate software foisted on workers within a company, or as public products such as Google and Facebook, which have been gobbling up the open web and replacing it with means of control and manipulation. [1]
This reminds me of a book that came out in 1996 called Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway by Clifford Stoll. In it, he predicted, the internet will all turn into crap. At the time it was the most contrarian view point ever, I can't help to think I need to find a copy now in light of what facebook and mobile phones and their negative effect on society has done.
He wrote an amazing book called the Cuckoo's Egg before that, basically everyone in silicon valley has probably read and can relate to if you are from that era.
- nicklaf 8y ago> This reminds me of a book that came out in 1996 called Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway by Clifford Stoll. In it, he predicted, the internet will all turn into crap. At the time it was the most contrarian view point ever, I can't help to think I need to find a copy now in light of what facebook and mobile phones and their negative effect on society has done. Very interesting. The book certainly sounds like something I ought to read. In fact, perhaps while simultaneously reading David Gelernter's 1992 book, Mirror Worlds: or the Day Software Puts the Universe in a Shoebox...How It Will Happen and What It Will Mean, whose optimistic vision of an immersive virtual reality out of networked computers would make for a rather stark contrast!
- ataturk 8y agoDavid Brin was pretty on the mark with "Transparent Society" as well. Brin had more optimism than what came to be, but he nailed the "cameras everywhere" status quo where people whip out smart phones to capture footage of an event now. It's just that he also nailed the Orwellian side of it, too.
- KC8ZKF 8y agoI remember reading that book in 1996 and finding it incredibly elitist. His alternatives to the internet were visiting libraries, book stores, art film theaters, going to concerts, strolling through parks... But, he was living in Berkeley! The internet was a god send to most of the population who didn't live in the intellectual centers of world. Still is.