I agree the iPhone hype is embarrassing, but it would be interesting to hear opinions on the models Apple is proposing for Home and Health data ( beyond the usual "you just cannot trust anything on a mobile” or “they give your data to the NSA")
On 19 Sep 2014, at 10:05, Yosem Companys <[email protected]> wrote: > Beware of Geeks Bearing Grifts > > by Gene Rochlin, professor emeritus, Energy & Resources Group, UC > Berkeley | 9/18/14 > > It seems as if the news media have become a wholly owned subsidiary of > the internet technology complex (ITC) these days. No matter which > seemingly outrageous new product or system is being put forth, it will > become ‘news’ in print and online, unpaid advertising that assumes > that all of us have little else to do but sit here and salivate over > the next great new development, however futuristic and socially > disruptive it is. > > Do I exaggerate? Over the past few days, Apple’s latest > products/development/ideas have gotten almost as much media space as > Ukraine or Ebola (although somewhat less than ISIS). And to a close > reader of hype, what, exactly, is being promoted? The ‘new’ iPhone, > which is somewhat larger than the original iPhone (among whose > attractions was its small size)? The one you bought last year is now > so five minutes ago. The miraculous web watch, for those with very > tiny fingers and the 20-20 eyesight of youth who don’t mind their > health as well as their location being monitored? The Apple Pay > system, which will let you trade your money and credits from your > account with those from someone else’s without their consent? Or, in > conjunction with the others in the ITC, the Cloud, which provides a > neat single warehouse for data theft? Not so widely noted is Apple’s > dropping its promotion of the iPod, the small appliance that started > it all, and which now seems to have been developed in order to do a > bait-and-switch to the iPhone. > > For those of us of a certain age, who disdain the label of ‘Luddite’ > but still see no particular personal advantage to joining Facebook or > Twitter, who prefer to protect our privacy and identity as much as > possible, and who believe that there is no such thing as a perfectly > secure internet site (although we hope some of our banks and all of > our military sites are more secure than Home Depot), the notion that > Apple Pay will make credit card payments obsolete is absolutely > horrid. One after the other, these newly promoted ‘capabilities’ will > not only stimulate sales, but will also ensure that the market never > saturates. > > And one more thing. Many of these new capabilities introduce new > insecurities, new modes of spam, new avenues for thefts of data and of > value ranging from credits to cash, and new possibilities for > blackmail, exposing us to a whole new generation of Internet grifters. > > Several common threads connect these ‘modernizing’ ideas, ranging from > planes without cockpits and cars without drivers to ApplePay (or its > equivalent). One is that they are always put forth in the spirit of > idealistic innovations for the benefit of everyone. Less publicly > mentioned is the admission that without continual innovation there is > no hope of continual (and sometimes outrageous) profits. They assume > that however impractical their widespread use may be within our > present social formations, societies will simply adapt and reform > themselves in the face of technological pressure. The social costs, of > course, are never mentioned, let alone taken into account. That there > are so few challenges reflects the degree to which the early successes > of the computer industry, ranging from home PCs to LANs to the > Internet, have softened up consumer resistance. Each new model, or > innovation, can then be easily and widely promoted, even cheered, with > complaints and interference only from a group who the industry can tag > as backward outsiders. > > It is interesting to note that this is often expressed as the triumph > of individuals over institutions, wrapped in a mantle of progress and > development. Some of it, admittedly, does promote efficiency and > social progress. But not all, and not everywhere. The creation of new > social and political risks without forethought is already stirring > demands for institutional control, a genuinely unfunded mandate. There > is also a redistribution of wealth and privilege, instantiated by > rapid obsolescence. More seriously, what I see being actively promoted > is the triumph of libertarianism over social coherence, the creation > of new social and political risks without giving them serious > analysis. Many of the newer developments being promised also have no > real benefits to the growing cadre of older folks, particularly those > without the education and technical skills to keep up, while > increasing their vulnerabilities in ways they cannot deal with as > individuals. Their interests are not only marginalized, but as far as > the press is concerned they are not important. No one is speaking up > for them effectively. Some of us should try. > > Added note: Michael Cabanatuan reports on SFGate on Sept. 16 that > because the use of services such as Uber and Lyft have cut deeply into > San Francisco taxi rides in the past few months, the number of regular > taxis on the street has sharply declined, nowhere more steeply than in > wheelchair-accessible ramp taxis. He further reports that because ride > services are not required to pick up people in wheelchairs, municipal > authorities are considering stepping in. And so it goes. > > http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2014/09/18/beware-of-geeks-bearing-grifts/ > -- > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of > list guidelines will get you moderated: > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, > change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at > [email protected]. -- Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at [email protected].
