4 ms·

"I trust Google and FB, and I would like them to decide what is true or not for me instead of deciding myself"

puranjay 6y ago
Amazes me how people are okay with giving these massive corporations so much power and control over our lives - voluntarily. Most would be rightfully horrified if Walmart or Citibank was to decide what you get to watch or not tomorrow. But somehow, if Alphabet or Apple does it, it's all okay. The tech world in general needs to wake up about the overreaching power and influence tech companies have on our lives.
- tomxor 6y ago
  I can only imagine it's because what seems obvious to us is really not noticeable to 99% of people. You have to remember we are in a little bubble of our own for better or worse, most of HN readers principles are generally aligned against this kind of centralisation and we highlight and amplify anything we see that matches; I'm guessing your average FB user is more focused on the value proposition of these services they are consuming and wont give the corporations behind them much of a thought until it hits big news.
  - puranjay 6y ago
    Much of it depends on the way people interact with businesses. Big Banks are bad because people can literally see overdraft fees and all sorts of surcharges being tacked onto their accounts, often in shady ways. Big Oil is bad because they literally pollute the environment and routinely spill millions of gallons of oil in the ocean. In contrast, for the average person, Google is just the free little search engine that shows you all the answers and also gives you the free phone software. Whatever egregious privacy violations they do are wrapped up in a layer of abstraction that, if you don't get technology, can be hard to grasp. The next generation is smarter though. They understand technology fundamentally and know that there's no such thing as "free".
- Nasrudith 6y ago
  That dumb meme about "big tech controlling your mind" ironically seems to be doing a far better job of what it accuses others. It has made people /unlearn/ how the internet and private property work. Even with more egregious examples of moral wrong and stupidity like shutting down child molestation survivor support groups or just bad decisions like buying up Tumblr and trying to sanitize it weren't like but accepted as fundamentally how it works when it is their servers. There is no viable alternative to stop them from setting their rules. Even if they die there is nothing stopping them from taking their ball and going home.

Amazes me how people are okay with giving these massive corporations so much power and control over our lives - voluntarily. Most would be rightfully horrified if Walmart or Citibank was to decide what you get to watch or not tomorrow. But somehow, if Alphabet or Apple does it, it's all okay. The tech world in general needs to wake up about the overreaching power and influence tech companies have on our lives.

tomxor 6y ago
I can only imagine it's because what seems obvious to us is really not noticeable to 99% of people. You have to remember we are in a little bubble of our own for better or worse, most of HN readers principles are generally aligned against this kind of centralisation and we highlight and amplify anything we see that matches; I'm guessing your average FB user is more focused on the value proposition of these services they are consuming and wont give the corporations behind them much of a thought until it hits big news.
- puranjay 6y ago
  Much of it depends on the way people interact with businesses. Big Banks are bad because people can literally see overdraft fees and all sorts of surcharges being tacked onto their accounts, often in shady ways. Big Oil is bad because they literally pollute the environment and routinely spill millions of gallons of oil in the ocean. In contrast, for the average person, Google is just the free little search engine that shows you all the answers and also gives you the free phone software. Whatever egregious privacy violations they do are wrapped up in a layer of abstraction that, if you don't get technology, can be hard to grasp. The next generation is smarter though. They understand technology fundamentally and know that there's no such thing as "free".
Nasrudith 6y ago
That dumb meme about "big tech controlling your mind" ironically seems to be doing a far better job of what it accuses others. It has made people /unlearn/ how the internet and private property work. Even with more egregious examples of moral wrong and stupidity like shutting down child molestation survivor support groups or just bad decisions like buying up Tumblr and trying to sanitize it weren't like but accepted as fundamentally how it works when it is their servers. There is no viable alternative to stop them from setting their rules. Even if they die there is nothing stopping them from taking their ball and going home.