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I've been wondering more and more lately if the fight surrounding net neutrality is really going to get us the desired outcome given trends in computing as a wh

I've been wondering more and more lately if the fight surrounding net neutrality is really going to get us the desired outcome given trends in computing as a whole. The online experience is getting more and more centralized into fewer and fewer platforms. Additionally, more and more of the tasks we associate with "general purpose" computing devices are getting bundled up into locked-down app platforms or even into task-specific appliances. With the proliferation of 5G, I suspect we will start seeing a lot of these "appliances" come with their own, built-in-to-the-payment-model cellular modems. These platforms are increasingly hostile to freely running software from outside their locked-down ecosystems. I guess the question I'm trying to ask is: How much will net neutrality matter if we're headed towards a world where all of the clients connecting to the net cannot freely run whatever software the users want?

LastMuel 6y ago
In a world structured like that, it sounds like there would be good business opportunity in developing software and services that run on a general computing device.
- ngngngng 6y ago
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  - LastMuel 6y ago
    Something like what? I was simply stating that when the market closes in on options, competition tends to pop up to meet the needs of the customers that don't want to be boxed in.
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  Yes, but it would not be anywhere near as lucrative as selling a prepackaged turnkey “good-enough” solution to the masses - where the profits from the vendor lock-in allow you to mount a solid marketing campaign to drive sales and eventual regulatory-capture, allowing you to act in an anti-competitive manner. We, the geeks, may value open-platforms, but observe that it’s Google, Apple, Samsung and Amazon that effectively control consumer home-automation and smart appliances - and they sure as heck aren’t interested in making their platforms open and interoperable. (I’m speaking as a Nest customer who got screwed-over by Google closing Nest’s open API - that was a blatant anti-competitive move).

LastMuel 6y ago

In a world structured like that, it sounds like there would be good business opportunity in developing software and services that run on a general computing device.

ngngngng 6y ago
.
- LastMuel 6y ago
  Something like what? I was simply stating that when the market closes in on options, competition tends to pop up to meet the needs of the customers that don't want to be boxed in.
DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
Yes, but it would not be anywhere near as lucrative as selling a prepackaged turnkey “good-enough” solution to the masses - where the profits from the vendor lock-in allow you to mount a solid marketing campaign to drive sales and eventual regulatory-capture, allowing you to act in an anti-competitive manner. We, the geeks, may value open-platforms, but observe that it’s Google, Apple, Samsung and Amazon that effectively control consumer home-automation and smart appliances - and they sure as heck aren’t interested in making their platforms open and interoperable. (I’m speaking as a Nest customer who got screwed-over by Google closing Nest’s open API - that was a blatant anti-competitive move).