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> the free and fast flow of information enables decentralization, and would liberate us from all the old forms of political control. Of course, it turned out p

• shadowgovt 7y ago
  The fundamental flaw in the original thinking on this topic was that people saw the digital frontier as a new wild west of sorts, where old rules and established lines of power did not apply and a bold, adventurous spirit could carve out a new realm for themselves. The thinking wasn't wrong at all. It merely failed to extrapolate to what happened to the American wild west after the era of the gold rush. The vast, vast majority of humanity doesn't want to live in the wild west. And when given the option between a laissez-faire no rules world where those with better understanding of the natural rules triumph and a structured society, structure wins every time. Nobody is really forced to use Facebook. Or Twitter. Or Google. Or Amazon. But they are, all of them, vastly more convenient than the DIY alternatives which were the only option when the internet was young.
  • ethbro 7y ago
    The gold rush is a good metaphor. Few are willing to dash off into the wilderness for no good reason, but many are willing to do so for a chance at profit. The problem with profit potential is, after it becomes profit likelihood, the second, following wave is inevitably better capitalized. The only way to survive is to strike it big and then entrench hard enough that you can't be dislodged with any surfeit of competitor funding (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook). And then, congratulations, you've become what you used to hate.