4 ms·

> When people describe services where “the user is the product”, they’re generally referring to the fact that the primary business model of the company selling

> When people describe services where “the user is the product”, they’re generally referring to the fact that the primary business model of the company selling those services is to impinge on individual privacy by collecting extremely detailed information about those users and then selling that information to interested parties. It is that intimate detail that makes each user so valuable This is your personal definition that suits your argument. I'm not going to get into a debate about semantics.

haswell 2y ago
This phrase has been around since at least 2010 and has been popularized over the years by many big names in tech and media circles ranging from Tim O'Reilly and Bruce Schneier to Jake Tapper among many many others. In most cases, that coverage was just highlighting discussions already happening across various social spaces. And the concept behind this sentiment can be traced to earlier TV advertising days. Not my personal definition. [0][1][2][3][4][5] (there are dozens, if not hundreds more). I've never heard anyone use it to describe Apple's approach to ads or search agreements until this comment thread. I'm not excited about debating semantics, but there's a lot of conceptual weight attached to the phrase that can't be ignored here. - [0]: https://techland.time.com/2010/10/15/facebook-youre-not-the-customer-youre-the-product/ https://techland.time.com/2010/10/15/facebook-youre-not-the-... - [1]: https://x.com/timoreilly/status/22823381903 https://x.com/timoreilly/status/22823381903 - [2]: https://x.com/jaketapper/status/976473447374221313 https://x.com/jaketapper/status/976473447374221313 - [3]: https://bryanalexander.org/digital-literacy/you-are-the-product-one-interesting-source-for-the-meme/ https://bryanalexander.org/digital-literacy/you-are-the-prod... - [4]: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/ello-says-youre-not-a-product-but-you-are/380809/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/ello-... - [5]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvZYwaQlJsg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvZYwaQlJsg (1973)

haswell 2y ago

This phrase has been around since at least 2010 and has been popularized over the years by many big names in tech and media circles ranging from Tim O'Reilly and Bruce Schneier to Jake Tapper among many many others. In most cases, that coverage was just highlighting discussions already happening across various social spaces. And the concept behind this sentiment can be traced to earlier TV advertising days. Not my personal definition. [0][1][2][3][4][5] (there are dozens, if not hundreds more). I've never heard anyone use it to describe Apple's approach to ads or search agreements until this comment thread. I'm not excited about debating semantics, but there's a lot of conceptual weight attached to the phrase that can't be ignored here. - [0]: https://techland.time.com/2010/10/15/facebook-youre-not-the-customer-youre-the-product/ https://techland.time.com/2010/10/15/facebook-youre-not-the-... - [1]: https://x.com/timoreilly/status/22823381903 https://x.com/timoreilly/status/22823381903 - [2]: https://x.com/jaketapper/status/976473447374221313 https://x.com/jaketapper/status/976473447374221313 - [3]: https://bryanalexander.org/digital-literacy/you-are-the-product-one-interesting-source-for-the-meme/ https://bryanalexander.org/digital-literacy/you-are-the-prod... - [4]: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/ello-says-youre-not-a-product-but-you-are/380809/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/ello-... - [5]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvZYwaQlJsg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvZYwaQlJsg (1973)