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Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the "father" of the World Wide Web, has said what many are likely feeling: the centralisation of the network has gone too far and it's time to consider breaking up the behemoths that dominate it to the extent of locking out new players.
The Register has more here: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/11/01/tim_berners_lee_internet_giants/
The source, TBL's interview with Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-technology-www/father-of-web-says-tech-giants-may-have-to-be-split-up-idUSKCN1N63MV (don't follow the Register link which is wrong).
Excerpt:
“What naturally happens is you end up with one company dominating the field so through history there is no alternative to really coming in and breaking things up,” Berners-Lee, 63, said in an interview. “There is a danger of concentration.”
But he urged caution too, saying the speed of innovation in both technology and tastes could ultimately cut some of the biggest technology companies down to size.
“Before breaking them up, we should see whether they are not just disrupted by a small player beating them out of the market, but by the market shifting, by the interest going somewhere else,” Berners-Lee said.
I'm in violent agreement with TBL, at least on the point of overcentralisation, what about you? I'd be more aggressive than his caution, perhaps, as the barrier to entry seems higher to me than him, and market shifts can be blocked or delayed by counteracting marketing tactics by the incumbents...
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday November 02 2018, @06:11PM (2 children)
I'm reading this summary on a small website run by a handful of people as a labor of love. When it comes to serving scientific papers [nih.gov], it serves its purpose wonderfully. Until the big players start locking down TCP/IP -- which I'm not saying won't happen -- legitimately, what's the big deal about some large players controlling the experience for people who come to their sites? It's not as if you can't click away from the site.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:10PM
As George Carlin said: "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."
An equal voice for unequal minds means you can't just leave the masses to their own devices, especially when most people get their information through centralized sources, which have been captured by powerful, deep-pocketed, special-interest groups.
Either you curate information for the masses, or you diminish the influence of democratic systems (replacing them instead with capitalism).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:44PM
Instead of protecting the integrity of web (http/html), he thinks he's some kinda internet crusader. He's got a side project to compete with them big boys.