4 ms·
Probably not. I love the technology, but the feudal model is completely insane. It's worse than iOS-- at least iOS devices won't arbitrarily record you and upl
by api 14y ago
Probably not.
I love the technology, but the feudal model is completely insane. It's worse than iOS-- at least iOS devices won't arbitrarily record you and upload it to a single large company with a EULA agreement authorizing them to do with it whatever they please. Every Google Glass wearer is a spy that might be uploading everything they see and hear to be... data mined by advertisers? shared with governments? stolen by hackers and used for blackmail? It's so insane the mind reels. I can't believe anyone is even thinking about using this platform.
Oh, I'm sure Google will "promise" not to do anything "evil" with this platform. But always remember two things: (1) corporate policies can shift at the whim of the board and the shareholders, especially if the board's makeup changes, and (2) governments can compel corporations to cooperate, both by legal means and extra-legal/para-legal threats and incentives. Finally: nothing is completely secure against malicious hackers.
It's an alarming trend. Each new form factor that has departed from the PC has brought with it an order of magnitude ratcheting up of feudal control and reduction in user control: PDAs, smart phones, tablets, and now this, which is off-the-charts insane.
I'm astounded that Google is getting away with it, honestly. Microsoft would never have been permitted to even contemplate something like what Google and Apple have done without wailing and gnashing of teeth.
I really think we need a term for this stuff: feudal computing. It's a total 180-degree turn away from everything the PC and Internet revolutions stood for.
I predict that Glass will fail because of this, not the technology, and I really hope it does. If it succeeds in its present form it's a dangerous harbinger of things to come. Say goodbye to general purpose computation for the masses.
- Evbn 14y agoYou shouldn't make predictions based on an extreme minority opinion. Even RMS knows how to separate morality from probability.
- api 14y agoPerhaps. I'm just astounded it's a minority opinion. It seems like the whole "freedom" concept that undergirded the PC and Internet revolutions has been absolutely forgotten. Again I ask: what would people have said if Microsoft had proposed a new OS revision that monitored everything you did and uploaded it to MS, permitted only MS to have administrative rights, and permitted only software approved by MS to execute? I'm just amazed at how all you have to do is change the name of the company and change the form factor of the machine and people don't see it anymore. Are people that concrete-bound? I'm not even a FOSS zealot. I don't think everything should be free, especially not free-as-in-beer. I actually wonder if the free-as-in-beer mentality is part of why we're seeing this-- there is no other way to make money since people will not pay for a plain OS or software anymore. Everything has to be paid for, so things have to be monetized differently... like by taking away all privacy and control and selling the user to advertisers and governments.