Tiago Vieira wrote: <snip> > ...I believe they (Mozilla, Google, and MS) > are going a bit more than just a browser... they are going to mash the > browser into the desktop environment... this is just the beginning.
Hi, Tiago >>> I think that's right, or one could even say they want to *replace* the desktop with the browser. And your comment set me thinking that we should not wander into that 'Web2' world blindly, dazzled by the 'gee whiz' services that Google and others proffer us in return for our lodging our data with them. I think we have to ask ourselves what do Google, MS, Facebook, My Space and others get out of spending all that money on storage for our data. Do they do it out of altruism? What they get is the opportunity to analyse it in order to see the patterns in our behaviour and relationships, so that they may make use of, and maybe sell, their analyses for their own ends and profit. Knowledge about us beyond the wildest dreams of early twentieth century market researchers! Privacy isn't just about keeping secret the few bits of information about yourself that you think matter -- what Google's 'Privacy Policy' refers to as 'personal information'. Focusing on 'name, date of birth, bank account details, and mother's maiden name' distracts us from other aspects of privacy. It's also an aspect of privacy that Google (and other folk who hold our data) have the right - as 'bailees' of our information - to examine it and analyse, so that they may discern, understand and predict the patterns of our lives better than we do ourselves. So I wonder whether we shouldn't think twice before we sign up to put our data in the hands of 'Web2 service providers'. (End of rant. You may have guessed that I'm not not a computer scientist, but a social scientist -- so I know what you can do with information about patterns of behaviour, which is why Web2 worries me!) Mac -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
