Post #1385019

2022-12-19 19:24 UTC

@robin @cdub @danbri 1. I'm not exactly sure what you're proposing. My main pushback is to "someone has to be doing the centralising." It's abstract social and economic (and maybe system) dynamics that drive centralization. If Google someone decided to stop pursuing centralized solutions, someone would step in and rebuild their empire. That's pretty much the argument in Tim Wu's book The Master Switch https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/194417/the-master-switch-by-tim-wu/

Replies (2)

@michaelchampion@indieweb.social 2022-12-19 19:27

@robin @cdub @danbri 2. Wu argues (quoting from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/books/review/Leonhardt-t.html) 'History shows a typical progression of information technologies,” he writes, “from somebody’s hobby to somebody’s industry; from jury-rigged contraption to slick production marvel; from a freely accessible channel to one strictly controlled by a single corporation or cartel — from open to closed system.” Eventually, entrepreneurs or regulators smash apart the closed system, and the cycle begins anew.'

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@robin@mastodon.social 2022-12-19 21:26

@michaelchampion @cdub @danbri I haven't proposed anything yet — I'm only explaining the position that we have a problem and need to take it seriously. I think that looking at search dominance as a natural outcome of unavoidable dynamics is too much of a "crime, boy, I don't know" take for my taste — especially when there's a clear mechanism supporting it that's right there! I also don't think Wu's point is "and therefore, do nothing about it."

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