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The Internet as One Giant Con

posted by LaminatorX on Tuesday February 10 2015, @08:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the everything-is-awesome dept.

Gordon Shure writes:

Veteran author and longtime Silicon Valley resident Andrew Keen has stepped up his criticisms of the Internet. Describing the net as a platform that has devolved from its initial ideals and promise into a vehicle of monopolistic, manipulative and exploitative practices, a Guardian article summarizes views now gaining traction. By using Amazon, Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber or any other online giant, are we striking a Faustian pact, behind which lays a mass of suffering, surveillance and ruthless harvesting?

Keen supports his arguments by mentioning that even online businesses that cite individual collaboration, those of the 'sharing' economy, are mere cynical fronts for firms already valued in the billions. As money has been sucked out of retail, transportation, photography, research and other industries into the coffers of new Internet giants, the net result has been losses of jobs and the compromise of working conditions. As for the Internet's much-touted 'individual empowerment', Keen counters with the rise of mob mentality - “Rather than creating more democracy, it’s empowering the rule of the mob. Rather than encouraging tolerance, it’s unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome on the network". Keen's book - The Internet is not the Answer - is, a touch ironically, available on Amazon.

 
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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 11 2015, @04:04AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 11 2015, @04:04AM (#143436)

    The utopian internet was about decentralization, but it isn't living up to that, instead it is enabling more concentration of wealth and power.

    When literally anything and everything can be bought, of course it will all be bought by those who are able to. The solution is for money to no longer be the most powerful force known to man.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 11 2015, @02:56PM

    by khallow (3766) on Wednesday February 11 2015, @02:56PM (#143601) Journal

    The solution is for money to no longer be the most powerful force known to man.

    There will always be trading of power and the ability to make things happen. By making the medium of exchange something other than money, just means you won't be a part of it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:53AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:53AM (#143982)

      By making the medium of exchange something other than money, just means you won't be a part of it.

      The fact that it is money means 99.9% of people can't be part of it already.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 12 2015, @03:15PM

        by khallow (3766) on Thursday February 12 2015, @03:15PM (#144158) Journal

        The fact that it is money means 99.9% of people can't be part of it already.

        I disagree, of course. You can obtain money. And 99.9% of people is a lot of people, should they decide to pool their money for something.