5 ms·

The very fact that so many people happily use DuckDuckGo instead of Google is proof enough that Google isn't an essential utility. The same story is true for al

The very fact that so many people happily use DuckDuckGo instead of Google is proof enough that Google isn't an essential utility. The same story is true for all the rest: I'm sure you know people who have left Facebook completely behind without any ill effects--in fact, everyone I know who has left FB has heartily recommended it to anyone who will listen. No stretch of the imagination is going to put these websites on the same footing as gas, water, and electric.

lifeisstillgood 8y ago
plenty of people have septic tanks and even generate their own electricity - but that does not mean the 98% of users do not see the sewer company as essential. What google does is privatise a public good (our markup and usage of internet) - that seems a strong case for regulation irrespective of the very small amount of competition It is also worth remembering that gas and electric companies also were seen as "not essential" for a long time, as many people managed the old way - there just came a tipping point where the value and convenience (and economic / social benefits) were so great the old ways died out and suddenly a significant proportion of society was dependent. Humans have lived without electrical supplies for many years just as we managed without search engines - but at some point it was "better" for everyone to have electricity, and so everyone got it and we don't want to go back. US military doctrine of "shock and awe" talks about "bombing people back to the stone age" by destroying electricity and water supplies- when really they mean bombing people back to the early victorian era. But from the vantage point of a man sitting on the loo using a electrically powered internet device, 1840s and the neolithic don't seem very far apart.
- antidesitter 8y ago
  > What google does is privatise a public good (our markup and usage of internet) Please don’t throw around terms incorrectly. That’s not what “public good” means: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good

lifeisstillgood 8y ago

plenty of people have septic tanks and even generate their own electricity - but that does not mean the 98% of users do not see the sewer company as essential. What google does is privatise a public good (our markup and usage of internet) - that seems a strong case for regulation irrespective of the very small amount of competition It is also worth remembering that gas and electric companies also were seen as "not essential" for a long time, as many people managed the old way - there just came a tipping point where the value and convenience (and economic / social benefits) were so great the old ways died out and suddenly a significant proportion of society was dependent. Humans have lived without electrical supplies for many years just as we managed without search engines - but at some point it was "better" for everyone to have electricity, and so everyone got it and we don't want to go back. US military doctrine of "shock and awe" talks about "bombing people back to the stone age" by destroying electricity and water supplies- when really they mean bombing people back to the early victorian era. But from the vantage point of a man sitting on the loo using a electrically powered internet device, 1840s and the neolithic don't seem very far apart.

antidesitter 8y ago
> What google does is privatise a public good (our markup and usage of internet) Please don’t throw around terms incorrectly. That’s not what “public good” means: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good