1. Who rules us?
Google changed its rules on what kind of behaviour it regards as “spam” and, of course, the impact on some companies will be pretty negative. The behaviour it is targeting is so-called “parasite SEO”, where a publisher allows a third party to create content for part of its website in return for a large amount of money. Typically, this might be a subdomain or subsection which has a lot of affiliate content, or a store, or something like that.
The example which everyone knows about is Forbes Marketplace, but there are many others. This move by Google is likely to destroy the companies that have built businesses on offering this as a service, as well as impacting publisher revenues.
But here’s the thing: I have heard none of the people who routinely decry antitrust action as “destroying companies” complain about Google doing the same thing using its market power. Maybe they believe Google has “earned” the right to decide which companies live or die. And sure, you can argue that this is ultimately to the benefit of consumers – but so is antitrust action.
The difference: one of the “destroyers” is an elected government. The other is an unelected company. Which do you think should set the rules about which companies live or die?
2. Google’s deliberate evasion of antitrust law
I don’t think many people will be all that surprised by this New York Times report on how Google deliberately set out to destroy evidence which might show abusive conduct. What is more surprising is the number of people I have seen saying “everyone does this, it’s no big deal”. As if multiple companies engaging in dubious conduct makes it right.
3. Bluesky: No, it’s really not a federated system
You might have seen something about Bluesky. It has been in the news primarily because it has seen enormous growth from people wanting a Twitter-like experience that isn’t (1) owned by Elon Musk, and (2) a nest of racism, Trump idiots, crypto weirdos, and billionaires who think they own the world.
But… despite the promise, as things stand Bluesky is not federated. There’s no realistic way to run your own server, to move off Bluesky’s main one, or anything like that. What the controllers of Bluesky want to happen is what happens. The promise is that one day you will be able to, but there’s a great technical analysis of why, realistically, this might not be possible for a long time – or even potentially ever.
Does it matter? To many of the people moving from Twitter to Bluesky, probably not. But it’s worth bearing in mind: unless a service is genuinely federated, what happened to Twitter could easily happen again.
4. The lesson of HarmonyOS
The US, as I’m sure you know, has a few rules around what can be exported to China. When Google cut off support to Huawei for Android, it went out on its own and created HarmonyOS, which is not just for phones but also tablets and laptops. It’s now up to nearly 100,000 apps and if I were a betting man, I would put money on it being the future direction of Chinese technology.
There’s a lesson here for Europe, particularly in light of Trump’s election. Currently, all the foundational tech which we use every day is based on US technology (you can argue about ARM). But if that’s the case, then with an isolationist president, how long before that’s not used as a way of controlling and threatening other countries? What happened to China could happen to anyone.
5. Every accusation is a confession
One of the things which should have been obvious to everyone all along was that whatever the American right and their tech billionaire supports complained about was just flagging what they wanted to do. Remember the so-called “Twitter files” and how Musk complained about “collaboration” between the government and company? It was always nonsense: but it was just flagging what he wanted to do. And lo and behold…
6. The end of the App Store Era can’t come soon enough
Monopolistic app stores still have their defenders, but they are become thinner on the ground. Jason Snell makes a fantastic case that the correct model which Apple should pursue is more like the Mac than the current iOS, but I think it is probably too late for Apple to voluntarily do it. The profits are too good, the degree of control it gives them over the market too great, for them to willingly give it away.
7. Notarisation is not complete protection
However, notarisation – which Jason talks about in his post – can be exploited. And surprise surprise, it has been on the Mac! North Korean hackers have basically managed to create legitamitely-signed malware which steals money from Macs, and, of course because it’s notarised users are much more likely to trust it. Of course, it’s better than nothing, but the best starting point is always to protect yourself, rather than relying on a third party to do it for you.
8. WaPo has fallen
Not content with losing 250,000 subscribers after Jeff Bezos forced the Washington Post to align with his desire to lick Trump’s arse, Bezos and his henchcritter Will Lewis – one of the most hated men in British journalism – want to “fix” the paper. This, of course, means turning into a billionaire’s mouthpiece. Having seen the fun that Musk has had with Twitter, Bezos clearly wants his own megaphone.
9. Luddism, monks, and robots
If you haven’t read Becky Chambers’ two “monk and robot” novellas, you really should. They are probably the best example of the solarpunk genre I’ve read, and just lovely, gentle storytelling. This post looks at their relationship to Luddism, a part of history which gets a bad rep mainly because the wrong people won that battle.
10. Things I did not realise, part 342
The reason that all movies end with a disclaimer about similarities between the film and people living or dead isn’t just legal caution.