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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
“The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation” was enjoyable to read, even though it mostly doesn’t do what the title suggests it will do. As he did in the excellent “Chokepoint Capitalism”, Cory Doctorow presents an accessible introduction to how Big Tech became such a mess, and why it’s beyond saving.
In this book, Doctorow focuses on the idea of interoperability. Interoperability is one of the distinguishing aspects of computing: from a technical perspective, it's almost always possible to write a software product or service that can "plug in" to an existing software product or service. Consequently, switching costs between software providers should be very low.
But if that’s the case, why are we so often stuck paying exorbitant monthly subscription fees to use clunky, slow, bloated, buggy software? Why does the internet, as Tom Eastman once tweeted, consist mostly of “a group of five websites, each consisting of screenshots of text from the other four”?
As Doctorow describes throughout the book, Big Tech companies know they can’t block interoperability at a technical level, so they block it at a legal level instead. Laws such as section 1201 of the DMCA make it a felony to break “digital locks”, even for the purposes of modifying or repairing your own property. Doctorow argues that we can’t wait for the government to break up tech monopolies, which can take decades if it happens at all. Instead, the key to shrinking Big Tech is to protect interoperability.
Doctorow’s arguments are easy to follow, and he strikes a great balance between anger and hope – I’d expect nothing less from the writer who coined “enshittification”. The book claims to be a “shovel-ready” guide, but Doctorow’s suggestions for “how to make it happen” are not really things that “we” can do, unless we’re involved in legislation or drawing up government contracts with third-party tech vendors. He’s been in the field for a long time, and clearly knows what he’s talking about. But I’m left at the end not even knowing which people or organizations I should be bothering about this stuff, or how to get organized.
The closest he comes to suggesting any kind of direct action around “seizing the means of computation” is his suggestion to provide an “interoperator’s defense” for people who are facing legal action. He treats that as almost a throwaway idea, and maybe that’s because he doesn’t want to encourage people to do crimes, but there’s a rich vein of righteous noncompliance that he utterly fails to mine here. I was also occasionally frustrated when he would write something along the lines of “hang on, I’ll get to a solution in a second, but first let me describe two more problems.” I don’t mind when writers describe problems without offering solutions, but I do find it annoying when they claim to propose solutions which are actually just more problems. But he describes the problems so well that it’s still worth reading.
In this book, Doctorow focuses on the idea of interoperability. Interoperability is one of the distinguishing aspects of computing: from a technical perspective, it's almost always possible to write a software product or service that can "plug in" to an existing software product or service. Consequently, switching costs between software providers should be very low.
But if that’s the case, why are we so often stuck paying exorbitant monthly subscription fees to use clunky, slow, bloated, buggy software? Why does the internet, as Tom Eastman once tweeted, consist mostly of “a group of five websites, each consisting of screenshots of text from the other four”?
As Doctorow describes throughout the book, Big Tech companies know they can’t block interoperability at a technical level, so they block it at a legal level instead. Laws such as section 1201 of the DMCA make it a felony to break “digital locks”, even for the purposes of modifying or repairing your own property. Doctorow argues that we can’t wait for the government to break up tech monopolies, which can take decades if it happens at all. Instead, the key to shrinking Big Tech is to protect interoperability.
Doctorow’s arguments are easy to follow, and he strikes a great balance between anger and hope – I’d expect nothing less from the writer who coined “enshittification”. The book claims to be a “shovel-ready” guide, but Doctorow’s suggestions for “how to make it happen” are not really things that “we” can do, unless we’re involved in legislation or drawing up government contracts with third-party tech vendors. He’s been in the field for a long time, and clearly knows what he’s talking about. But I’m left at the end not even knowing which people or organizations I should be bothering about this stuff, or how to get organized.
The closest he comes to suggesting any kind of direct action around “seizing the means of computation” is his suggestion to provide an “interoperator’s defense” for people who are facing legal action. He treats that as almost a throwaway idea, and maybe that’s because he doesn’t want to encourage people to do crimes, but there’s a rich vein of righteous noncompliance that he utterly fails to mine here. I was also occasionally frustrated when he would write something along the lines of “hang on, I’ll get to a solution in a second, but first let me describe two more problems.” I don’t mind when writers describe problems without offering solutions, but I do find it annoying when they claim to propose solutions which are actually just more problems. But he describes the problems so well that it’s still worth reading.
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
What the author proposes about interoperability in the book sounds amazing and actually plausible that it would have the , what I find difficult to imagine is how we can find the political will to implement what is proposed :/
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced