It's a flawed argument.
2/ some are not (netflix) and are still profitable Conclusion/ Every thing should be not free. It make no logical sense. But obviously the dude has an agenda. Why some may afford to be paid service why other cannot.
Facebook, Twiter, googl, reddit, all can only survive if people create content for them (a Facebook post, a twit, a search request and subsequent link selection).
The second they charge 1 cent they're dead. Even without charging they risk to be killed anytime (as Myspace taught us) if people start to massively switch to other platform.
While if you actually create content (netflix and the like, even newspapers ) you may charge for that. (*His newspaper rant is irrelevant. Newspaper struggled since the invention of TV and lived on Ads far more than on subscription for years.) Nice read anyway.
1/ major internet player (Facebook,Googl) are free
Its more than this though. He has no idea how much "free" he's actually gotten without realizing it. Even if you don't consider ios free, the very software that made osx in the first place was bsd based. Windows used some BSD utilities like telnet and nslookup in their software. There are peering groups throughout the internet who offer "free" or at the very least very cheap bandwidth so that the pipes aren't overrun. Most of the internet is run by guys who decide this stuff through a chat at a bar.
In fact, do you know that at one time there was one guy, who ran almost the entire thing. Was he Elon Musk? Was he Steve Jobs? Was he Bill Gates? No, his name was Jon Postel. He could have controlled the entire internet, directed everyone to a crappy ass internet advertising space, and ruined the entire thing. Instead, he gleefully fought against non-free internet agents like Network Solutions who favor short term profits over long term communication stability.
The people who don't want a free internet have nothing to contribute to a free society. I can happily live without them spewing buy me bullshit in my face.(His newspaper rant is irrelevant. Newspaper struggled since the invention of TV and lived on Ads far more than on subscription for years.)
(His newspaper rant is irrelevant. Newspaper struggled since the invention of TV and lived on Ads far more than on subscription for years.)
I haven't read Lanier's new book yet, but I should. He talks about this sort of thing a lot, although I'm not sure about his conclusions. Asymco did a study where they concluded that Google makes $6.50/year from every Google user. That's what you, as a gmail account or Youtube viewer, are worth to them. Kinda makes me wonder if they'd take $5/month to disappear me from their external tracking.
Of course this doesn't cover all the data but you can do that for free in a way: https://www.google.com/settings/ads?hl=en&sig=ACi0TCiuFOXYstR7LshKbeHhZBGPZMQVZC-GavWkNeLnVBw7i4Ry4hhtIkT-5MLkDVGeLquaJCm1wyuo-LN_A1SRowpug_K4wv_l96dWFa1VX9__l14YeWtcXcBxgkXELa3fTDO4oZ96E4DzC4kxApvhbBgJ0cxA6LFDWUMYdJgw6y_a9A9okp8 On your android phone you can disable it under settings > Account > Google > ads
I've got a lot of that turned off, but I'm talking basic things: I don't mind Google knowing my location as long as it's between Google and me, for example. And I'd like to be able to tell Google "no, just assume I'm opting out of all campaigns, thanks" and I'd be willing to give them money for that.