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Isn't that kind of the point? I'm not anti-google/facebook in the least, and like to think that I'm knowingly trading some privacy in return for ad-supported s

Isn't that kind of the point? I'm not anti-google/facebook in the least, and like to think that I'm knowingly trading some privacy in return for ad-supported services that have value to me. But it's tough to think of any compelling arguments for why companies making billions shouldn't be required to a) provide some minimal level of care over the data they collect, and b) disclose what they're doing with all that data. How will that bring about a tech winter?

afpx 8y ago
What I mean is that it's become a major part of the US's economy. Globally, this industry probably generates 100s of billions of dollars, and those companies mostly spend their revenue on more software, more hardware, more research, more computer scientists, more computer engineers, etc. Indirectly, probably almost all of us here are partially paid from the ad-network-value-chain. And, what about all of the open source products that have been funded by these companies.
- schiffern 8y ago
  Sounds like a labor mis-allocation bubble. Bubbles burst. Furthermore bubbles should burst, for the health of the economy.
  - afpx 8y ago
    How is this a bubble? Unlike previous bubbles, the current technology surge is actually funded by real value, real demand, real revenues, and gigantic profits.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - schiffern 8y ago
      "Bubble" may be wishful thinking, but can you really argue that it's not "labor mis-allocation?" "The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks." By intentionally sewing economic irrationality (ie beyond how irrational humans are already), advertising destroys societal value. Here I use "irrational" in the sense of "making self-harming economic decisions."
  - Tsubasachan 8y ago
    I have been blocking advertising on my computers and phones for close to a decade now. I am ad-free. And yet the bubble persists. This industry is beyond mere logic.

afpx 8y ago

What I mean is that it's become a major part of the US's economy. Globally, this industry probably generates 100s of billions of dollars, and those companies mostly spend their revenue on more software, more hardware, more research, more computer scientists, more computer engineers, etc. Indirectly, probably almost all of us here are partially paid from the ad-network-value-chain. And, what about all of the open source products that have been funded by these companies.

schiffern 8y ago
Sounds like a labor mis-allocation bubble. Bubbles burst. Furthermore bubbles should burst, for the health of the economy.
- afpx 8y ago
  How is this a bubble? Unlike previous bubbles, the current technology surge is actually funded by real value, real demand, real revenues, and gigantic profits.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - schiffern 8y ago
    "Bubble" may be wishful thinking, but can you really argue that it's not "labor mis-allocation?" "The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks." By intentionally sewing economic irrationality (ie beyond how irrational humans are already), advertising destroys societal value. Here I use "irrational" in the sense of "making self-harming economic decisions."
- Tsubasachan 8y ago
  I have been blocking advertising on my computers and phones for close to a decade now. I am ad-free. And yet the bubble persists. This industry is beyond mere logic.