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Really? Is this so hard? The argument in a nutshell: technology is wonderful but the initial promise of "web 2.0" has encouraged corporate greed and unethical b

Really? Is this so hard? The argument in a nutshell: technology is wonderful but the initial promise of "web 2.0" has encouraged corporate greed and unethical behavior instead of empowering users as many of us had hoped. Specific recent cases of this phenomenon were cited in support of the argument. Help yourself to some rants here: http://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/classic/classicrants/classicrants.html http://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/classic/classicrants/classi...

Groxx 15y ago
So they're arguing against a straw-man? They're extremely naive if actually believe that money wasn't a goal for others while they had un-sustainably idealized hopes. And they're forgetting the history of all technology. Bow and arrows - great for hunting! Great for war! Atomic energy - great for power! Great for powerful explosions! Electric lights - great for reading at night! Great for keeping people working through the night! Factories - great for improving everyone's quality of life! Great for reducing large portions of the population to near slavery to their jobs! It's "guns don't kill people, people kill people" all over again. You're a fool if you think something won't be corrupted by some, and equally foolish if you think everyone is corrupted. And if Wikipedia, Khan Academy, and 4chan aren't "web-2.0 social-empowerment", I'm not sure what is.
- cageface 15y ago
  Congratulations! You've now presented a counter-argument.
  - Groxx 15y ago
    Sweet! That was easy. Look out, Internet, here I come! I'm sure some of you out there are wrong IMO, and you must be told! Maybe I'm just more irked than I should be at people who have rose-tinted glasses on (and they certainly do. to what degree is debatable, I'll leave it at that here). But I've encountered a number of people who seem not to, and they typically have incredible drive to mold the world into what they want, and rejoice in the changes they've lived through. They're almost universally fascinating, happy, energetic people. But maybe their glasses are in fact too blue(?)-tinted. Still, I'd choose that over growing bitter and immobile.
    - cageface 15y ago
      FWIW I agree that "web 2.0" has brought a lot of good along with the bad. I'd be very sad if rd.io, gmail, boomkat and netflix went away.

Groxx 15y ago

So they're arguing against a straw-man? They're extremely naive if actually believe that money wasn't a goal for others while they had un-sustainably idealized hopes. And they're forgetting the history of all technology. Bow and arrows - great for hunting! Great for war! Atomic energy - great for power! Great for powerful explosions! Electric lights - great for reading at night! Great for keeping people working through the night! Factories - great for improving everyone's quality of life! Great for reducing large portions of the population to near slavery to their jobs! It's "guns don't kill people, people kill people" all over again. You're a fool if you think something won't be corrupted by some, and equally foolish if you think everyone is corrupted. And if Wikipedia, Khan Academy, and 4chan aren't "web-2.0 social-empowerment", I'm not sure what is.

cageface 15y ago
Congratulations! You've now presented a counter-argument.
- Groxx 15y ago
  Sweet! That was easy. Look out, Internet, here I come! I'm sure some of you out there are wrong IMO, and you must be told! Maybe I'm just more irked than I should be at people who have rose-tinted glasses on (and they certainly do. to what degree is debatable, I'll leave it at that here). But I've encountered a number of people who seem not to, and they typically have incredible drive to mold the world into what they want, and rejoice in the changes they've lived through. They're almost universally fascinating, happy, energetic people. But maybe their glasses are in fact too blue(?)-tinted. Still, I'd choose that over growing bitter and immobile.
  - cageface 15y ago
    FWIW I agree that "web 2.0" has brought a lot of good along with the bad. I'd be very sad if rd.io, gmail, boomkat and netflix went away.