Social
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Tech Goes to Washington
Facebook, Google, and Twitter testified before a Senate committee: it provided evidence of how tech prefers power over decentralization, even if it means regulation
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Antitrust Philosophy, Two More Follow-Ups, Spectacles Inventory — and Mea Culpas
A discussion of the differences between antitrust and more general regulation, and why acquisitions are the most problematic issue. Then, Spectacles inventory is building up, which calls for a mea culpa by me.
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Why Facebook Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Buy tbh
Facebook is acquiring tbh, another burgeoning social network; regulators erred in allowing the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions, but there is no better place to start enforcing the law than now.
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The End of AOL Instant Messenger, Innovation Versus Interoperability, Portability > Interoperability
AOL Instant Messenger is dead, and there is a new debate as to whether interoperability killed it. The answer is almost certainly no, but that doesn’t necessarily mean interoperability is a bad thing…or is it?
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Trustworthy Networking
The problems Facebook are facing today are the result of running into the future without considering unintended consequences, much like Microsoft and the Internet. There are clear solutions for the ad problem, but the filter bubble issue is much more fraught.
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Google Ends ‘First Click Free’, Google Subscription Services, Facebook’s Publisher-Friendly Offering
Google is announcing publisher-friendly changes, particularly the end of ‘First Click Free’. However, they still want to control the consumer, unlike Facebook, which is taking a much more publisher-friendly stance. That, though, doesn’t mean it is better.
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Uber in London: A Correction, Books and Blogs Revisited, More Aggregators
A comment on Twitter 280, and a correction on Uber in London. Then, why blogs are better than books (in some cases), and a whole list of aggregators not covered in Defining Aggregators.
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Defining Aggregators
Building on Aggregation Theory, this provides a precise definition of the characteristics of aggregators, and a classification system based on suppliers. Plus, how to think about aggregator regulation.
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Toys ‘R’ Us Goes Bankrupt; Debt, the Internet, Forests and Trees; Twitter: The Good and the Bad
Toys ‘R’ Us went bankrupt because of debt, not e-commerce; that said, debt was a problem because private equity didn’t consider e-commerce. Then, Twitter gives good news and bad news.
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The GDPR and Facebook and Google, Intelligent Tracking Prevention, Data Portability and Social Graphs
The GDPR will hurt Google and Facebook; it will hurt their competitors far more, which means the position of the two biggest digital ad companies will actually be strengthened. Then, why data portability won’t help build the next social network.