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But there wasn't that much bad stuff to ignore in the past - because it wasn't that bad. Google did not have that much influence or power, so their bad tendenci
by typon 6y ago
But there wasn't that much bad stuff to ignore in the past - because it wasn't that bad. Google did not have that much influence or power, so their bad tendencies (assuming they have been the same throughout their lifetime) were just benign. There is no point in holding up a big magnifying glass on underdogs - things can't go horribly wrong. But it is completely justified to hold the powerful accountable, and that's what people are doing now.
- pembrook 6y agoBut I think this further proves the point. Google had already grown a search monopoly 15 years ago while everybody was still fawning over them and thinking they were going to give us all free internet via flying balloons and self driving cars. We just assumed they would use their powers for good and not evil, because we were judging them overly optimistically. We ignored the bad. Now that they've been cemented as a dominant incumbent, we've seen the other side and judge them with a hyper-critical eye. We've forgotten the frustrations of life under the old guard. We take Google for granted, and ignore the good when discussing them now. Of course, Google has always been both a useful product and dangerous given its power. Rationally, we knew all of this was true 15 years ago. But emotionally, we were unable to correctly evaluate the risk.