shovell.com

A worrying fact that is emerging with the dominant players of today is that in taking control of peoples time and online activity they create controlled walled gardens.   In these gardens the decisions of a few lofty people control and set agendas that other people have to play along to.

“It’s my playground so I can do what I want” they will say, they will also dress it up in very lofty language and reasoning that many will find it hard to argue against.

Now I am aware that this has always been the case but in this new emerging world on the internet the people making these decisions are accountable only to their shareholders and whilst they are making their gazillions no one is going to question them.

So what has made me vent in this way? Well a couple of things, firstly there was Apples decision not to support flash. N ow the fact they don’t want to support it is kinda fine except their decision means lots of cost to lots of people business or the decision not to let people who have chosen Apple as their hardware of choice access to their products and services.
What really galled about it wasn’t really the decision itself but more the diatribe from Steve Jobs that basically tried to assassinate flash completely so that everyone else would see it Apples way and therefore justify their decision.
Should they support flash? not my call but should others be able to if they wish to? absolutely, so justify your decision to yourself Mr Jobs and don’t try to dictate it for everyone else.

The second thing that has annoyed me really is Facebooks “Editorial” or “Ethical” Policy.
How is it that they can impose really strict controls over gaming companies on what they can post, how often they can post and how they can interact with their fans on the one hand,  Complete with the ability to remove the page at the merest hint of a complaint.  At the same time they allow the complete bile we have seen in relation to the awful and tragic events in Northumberland with even the Prime minister calling for its removal.

Please explain to me how talking to people who like gambling about gambling is unethical whilst glorifying the violence and murder carried out by a troubled man is ok!

This brings me back to the point of this rant, who makes these people qualified to make these decisions? and who has the ability to influence/moderate their controls?

Who watches the watchmen?

These people carry considerable influence and power over the places and content on which we spend the most time on the internet, which for more and more people is becoming a large proportion of their time.  It would be nice if decisions were made that were in the wider industry and public interest some time rather than in the interests of immediate shareholders and boardrooms and they come to accept the considerable responsibility that comes with their considerable power.