The Sunday New York Times had a long and thoughtful article about how "Silicon Valley Is Not Your Friend."

The author's primary argument is that, whatever idealistic goals of trust and community may have accompanied the creation of computers and, in particular, "social" media, they have been overwhelmed by lust for money and power or, at best, pressure for income and "monetization."

My reaction to it is somewhat equivocal. At the least, I think the author overstates his case (it was in the opinion section, so being opinionated is allowed). I'm post the link because I think many of you will find it interesting, even if you don't manage to get all the way through it.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...ur-Friend.html

Seattle > Washington State, and Austin Texas are 2 places working on stealing their thunder.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/17/sili...o-seattle.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/11/aust...on-valley.html

i did not read the whole article.
but:
did anybody ever imply that silicon valley (or social media) was our friend?
the author seems to be talking about google, and how it was all for the good of the internet community in the beginning...
how naive is all that?

i'll give him/her that much:
most IT businesses like to draw the altruistic card regularly and with much flourish.
but i never thought anybody believed it.


(and now that i enabled javascript to see the silly animation, even more naive!!!)

Over the last fifteen years or so, "Silcon Valley" implemented "George Orwell's 1984 at its very worst," then kept right on going. Today, your cell phone (and the telephone switch ...) eavesdrops on your every word, and the camera in your computer might surreptitiously film, both inside "the sanctity of your own home" and without your knowledge. E-mails and other communications have none of the privacy that you know to expect (by law ...) from their physical counterparts. Computers know what you look like and what you sound like, and (within 7 feet) exactly where you are ... where your children are ... and whether right-now they are "home alone."

All of this "happy little cloud horse-sh*t" will change. It's only a question of exactly what will change it. Will we be smart enough to do it ourselves, before it's too late?