zaterdag 28 januari 2006

Google in China

A lot has been said already about Google launching a filtered version of their search engine in China. I guess there's just no easy answer to the question of whether this is 'good' or 'bad'. Dave Taylor makes an interesting comparison:

"This has played out again and again over the years. Remember shareholders boycotting companies that did business in South Africa? But didn't it turn out that those very companies and their enlightened human rights policies really helped eliminate apartheid?"

So, with hindsight, do we feel it has been 'good' or 'bad' that those companies did business in South Africa, although it was not their mission to eliminate apartheid...?

Google in China

Er is al veel gezegd en geschreven over Google's lancering van een gefilterde zoekmachine in China. Er is kennelijk geen makkelijk en eenduidig antwoord op de vraag of dit een 'goede' of 'slechte' beslissing is. Dave Taylor maakt een interessante vergelijking:

"This has played out again and again over the years. Remember shareholders boycotting companies that did business in South Africa? But didn't it turn out that those very companies and their enlightened human rights policies really helped eliminate apartheid?"

Dus, achteraf bekeken, is het goed of slecht geweest dat deze bedijven zaken deden in Zuid-Afrika, ook al was het niet hun missie om apartheid de wereld uit te helpen?

dinsdag 24 januari 2006

Really online

I've stated before that I do not think we should make a distinction between real and virtual, or online and offline lives. It's all the same, even more so for a younger generation.

"I find very compelling the idea that we [are] beginning to see a generation that has not grown up with the idea of the internet as a separate "cyberspace", but instead experiences it as an aspect of the environment in which they live; another channel alongside "real space", only with different characteristics." The internet has invaded our social space to a point that we can no longer tell the difference between those relationships it infects and those it does not. The six degrees that used to separate us, for instance, has dropped to 4.6 thanks to digital technology. We no longer use terms like "pen pal" or "acquaintance," instead just calling everyone a "friend" whether we talk to them daily in person or monthly over instant messenger."

Echt online

Ik heb al eens eerder gezegd dat ik niet denk dat we een onderscheid moeten maken tussen echt en virtueel, of online en offline 'leven'. Het is allemaal hetzelfde, en dat geldt des te meer voor jongere generaties.

"I find very compelling the idea that we [are] beginning to see a generation that has not grown up with the idea of the internet as a separate "cyberspace", but instead experiences it as an aspect of the environment in which they live; another channel alongside "real space", only with different characteristics." The internet has invaded our social space to a point that we can no longer tell the difference between those relationships it infects and those it does not. The six degrees that used to separate us, for instance, has dropped to 4.6 thanks to digital technology. We no longer use terms like "pen pal" or "acquaintance," instead just calling everyone a "friend" whether we talk to them daily in person or monthly over instant messenger."

zondag 15 januari 2006

The year of I

Joel sums up the key questions that need to be anwered before we can really take advantage of the net.

"So what can we look forward to? Well, we'll have to face a number of important challenges to ramp up, the most fundamental of which is of course Identity, and I'm concerned that immediately following is that of an even more loosely defined term that everyone has differing opinions on: Trust. These aren't new thoughts, smart people have been trying this message for years and it's still true, and it's still in need of help. How do you trust someone you only interact with digitally? What do you need to learn about them to understand who they are and form a relationship? When does the group decide versus an individual? Are there realizeable technology solutions here (standards and protocols)? Which social and behavioral patterns need to grow and adapt?"

Het jaar van ik en wij

Joel geeft een opsomming van belangrijke vragen die beantwoord dienen te worden voordat we echt ons voordeel kunnen doen met het internet. Het lijkt allemaal hard te gaan, maar we staan in veel opzichten nog zo aan het begin...

"So what can we look forward to? Well, we'll have to face a number of important challenges to ramp up, the most fundamental of which is of course Identity, and I'm concerned that immediately following is that of an even more loosely defined term that everyone has differing opinions on: Trust. These aren't new thoughts, smart people have been trying this message for years and it's still true, and it's still in need of help. How do you trust someone you only interact with digitally? What do you need to learn about them to understand who they are and form a relationship? When does the group decide versus an individual? Are there realizeable technology solutions here (standards and protocols)? Which social and behavioral patterns need to grow and adapt?"

Economic rationale for open source model

John Mark Walker has written a good article in which he tries to explain the economic reasons for the existence of the open source model. As opposed to a more 'idealistic' view. Also read Nicholas Carr's response and that of Matt Assay.

"I have shown how the internet has driven software prices into the dirt, created an environment conducive to open source collaboration, and provided the infrastructure for that collaboration to actually take place. I have also shown how cheap commodity software markets are necessary for open source development and how open source is not viable in less mature software markets without the necessary economy of scale. When viewing open source development from this perspective, some things become clear that perhaps were not before."