The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

[joe04]

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/2 ... e-resource

A new commodity spawns a lucrative, fast-growing industry, prompting antitrust regulators to step in to restrain those who control its flow. A century ago, the resource in question was oil. Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants that deal in data, the oil of the digital era. These titans—Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft—look unstoppable. They are the five most valuable listed firms in the world. Their profits are surging: they collectively racked up over $25bn in net profit in the first quarter of 2017. Amazon captures half of all dollars spent online in America. Google and Facebook accounted for almost all the revenue growth in digital advertising in America last year.

Wow, I knew the "Big 5" were big, but didn't realize this big.

One specific thought is this helps better put in perspective the increasingly aggressive anti-adblock stance of Google and Facebook (as Handyman posted yesterday here). They're trying to not only protect but keep growing their giant golden goose of online ads.

It was awfully smart of Google 10 years ago to make both their own Browser and Mobile OS, and Facebook has benefitted tremendously with the dramatic rise of Mobile. Even as an increasing number of Desktop users block ads, they're still making record profits.

[dark_moon]

This is no new news.
The problem is the most users doesnt care about that, or the own privacy. Because of that, companys get so much money with data and try to get more and more

[Latitude]

Do you want your privacy back?

Don't EVER connect to the Internet and move your house to the middle of the desert.

[Thehandyman1957]

Do you want your privacy back?

and move your house to the middle of the desert.

Well, I'm half way there, I got the desert thing worked out. Disconnecting my internet, HMmm,not quite there yet.

[joe04]

Anyone else read The Circle by Dave Eggers? (It's the novel the recent movie was based on.)

I recently read it and recommend it because it was good food-for-thought on this important topic of big data/privacy/etc. It covers other important related ideas, like social media eroding people's actual communication skills. The story itself is a bit far-fetched, but mostly because he assumes a Google-style monopoly, when present reality is the "Big 5" oligopoly covered in the original post.

And The Circle does include people wanting to protect traditional, pre-Internet levels of privacy and way of life, similar to "move to the desert and disconnect". (For me, such a move seems like an episode of some survivalist reality show; it's hard to conceive of daily life without the Internet and a highly-configured browser to access it

[Latitude]

Well, I'm half way there, I got the desert thing worked out. Disconnecting my internet, HMmm,not quite there yet.

Data mining is inevitable.

You know the end of this if I'm permitted to continue. A conspiracy thing.
Que sera sera. What would happen would happen.
"The one percent" would always win the game of life no matter or what.

Personally, I choose not to care too much about my privacy on the web. It would make us depressed for sure.
In the end, "they" eventually would know who are you and what have you done on the web.
Just give minimal information of you if you sign up/register in any Internet services.

[Latitude]

like social media eroding people's actual communication skills.

Yes. I experience this in real life.
Many people are busy with their gadgets. Especially the millennial generation.

Maybe, too much using social media would result shyer and more introverted people.

[joe04]

Yes. I experience this in real life.
Many people are busy with their gadgets. Especially the millennial generation.

Maybe, too much using social media would result shyer and more introverted people.

Some may become shyer, but others become more obtuse and pushy and insensitive. Whatever the result, all this time spent online does effect us in ways we're probably not entirely aware of.

And I agree with your other posts that it's not worth worrying much about privacy. Of course, like you and others on this forum, I've setup my browsers with a high level of 3rd party and other blocking which helps us to have a better level of privacy. Still, some "data exhaust" is unavoidable. I'm okay with my current level of privacy. (And grateful for this forum where I've learned quite a bit about privacy & security and what specifically to do about it in Pale Moon, uBO, etc.)

Off-topic:
I'm curious - who's the man in your profile pic? I like that pic

[Latitude]

Some may become shyer, but others become more obtuse and pushy and insensitive. Whatever the result, all this time spent online does effect us in ways we're probably not entirely aware of.

And I agree with your other posts that it's not worth worrying much about privacy. Of course, like you and others on this forum, I've setup my browsers with a high level of 3rd party and other blocking which helps us to have a better level of privacy. Still, some "data exhaust" is unavoidable. I'm okay with my current level of privacy. (And grateful for this forum where I've learned quite a bit about privacy & security and what specifically to do about it in Pale Moon, uBO, etc.)

Off-topic:
I'm curious - who's the man in your profile pic? I like that pic

Off-topic:
Thomas Carlyle. A great pose indeed.

1800-ish men are the real ones.

[joe04]

Off-topic:
Thomas Carlyle. A great pose indeed.

1800-ish men are the real ones.

Off-topic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle
Carlyle developed a painful stomach ailment, possibly gastric ulcers,[10] that remained throughout his life and likely contributed to his reputation as a crotchety, argumentative, somewhat disagreeable personality. His prose style, famously cranky and occasionally savage, helped cement an air of irascibility.[11]

I can't imagine living with pain like that.

[Latitude]

Off-topic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle
Carlyle developed a painful stomach ailment, possibly gastric ulcers,[10] that remained throughout his life and likely contributed to his reputation as a crotchety, argumentative, somewhat disagreeable personality. His prose style, famously cranky and occasionally savage, helped cement an air of irascibility.[11]

I can't imagine living with pain like that.

Off-topic:
Look at his eyes. So empty.
A thousand yards stare.

A consequence of living in this world. Meaningless and senseless world.

[joe04]

Off-topic:
Getting way off topic here, but I'm curious: do you prefer Nietsche or Camus?

[joe04]

Another article relating to this topic:
https://www.wired.com/2017/06/apple-siri-ai/

Apple’s fellow tech giants have been talking about machine learning and artificial intelligence lately. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon have all been loudly claiming to be the best friend of developers who want to build with AI for some time. They and a slew of startups have released a plethora of tools aimed at making it easier to create new apps and services using the technology.

Just last month, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai talked about the importance of the need to “democratize” AI at his own developer conference, for example. The company has made helping companies build with machine learning the cornerstone of its attempt to win a larger share of the cloud computing market. Microsoft uses the same buzzphrase for its own suite of machine learning tools, including the chatbot-building kit it debuted last year.

Why the enthusiasm to help developers build with AI? Because tech industry history shows that platforms are the path to riches. Today’s tech giants see AI as the next great platform, which makes the race to democratize it at least as much about the bottom line as the common good.

Microsoft became the giant it is today because Windows was the place developers went to reach PC users; Apple is the world’s most valuable tech company because the iOS app store made the iPhone into a smash hit. The reasoning goes that if you can make your phones, operating system, or cloud the best place to build smart new software that leverages AI, more users and revenue will follow.

[d3v14n7]

nVIDIA was missed off the original list.
If you wanna see something scary, look at their general AI page.
...and they're all actually ONE, when you realise how they all came to be fabricated.

I'll use MS as one example:-
IBM was first, formed of UK war tech - denied that it existed by the UK for security reasons.
Intel got the UK chip tech, given to them 7 years after it was denied for UK using an excuse that it didn't work.
Of course, this is all sold to the UK public as bureaucratic blunders - which we expect.
It's intentional.
MS' success was assured by being piggy-backed onto IBM.
MS wasn't an OS company; they were heavily linked to Apple.
They bought one; "QADOS".
They renamed it and, bang! Microsoft was on the map.
Stuff like DirectX and much else has been bought from original developers to ensure success in certain fields.
It's all trending and analytics.
It really has all been engineered from a forecasting point of view and has nothing necessarily to do with tech itself, save the end goal.
Even in the early days, all MS was doing was paying for surveys of early tech trends.
The gaming trap of Windows came about when Bill noticed id's D00M.
Gabe Newell was employed by MS to port D00M to Windows to ensure it would be a primary gaming platform.
Gabe went on to form Valve.

nVIDIA was no better.
Similarly planned for success from the outset.
They vacuumed up all the talent from defunct firms.
They didn't have a good product until they got the Rendition boys on board, after Micron bought the fab for non-graphics use.
Then they could kill 3dfx - and subsequently vacuumed up 3dfx' hard-sell boys to take them into the future.
(Soon after, I remember nV's attitude becoming as crappy and bullish as 3dfx' had previously been.)
It all gets a bit cyclical once you factor in sgi origins of a couple of these as well.

ps. You may want to check out the funding source for a lot of very familiar IT successes.
Sorry? What religion was that, Don?
Which university?
...Nice seal!
What's that affiliation?
But, what do the letters on that seal mean?
...and to whom is it attributed?
Ever heard of livery companies? ("all your base are belong to us")
Perhaps you've heard of the metaphorical "Umbrella Corp." (interesting name. Wonder what it could imply?)
You know the logo - now, squint your eyes!
Oh?! "Hello", Tim@CERN, Vint and Bill!

You've been set up.
'nuff said.

[codeM02]

like social media eroding people's actual communication skills.

Yes. I experience this in real life.
Many people are busy with their gadgets. Especially the millennial generation.

Maybe, too much using social media would result shyer and more introverted people.

Indeed! I met a few people who are very active on social media yet are introvert in person.

[John connor]

Forget about companies and their profits. Bitcoin surpassed the price of gold a few weeks back. It truly is worth more than oil. Yet I still can't grasp how in the world a hash is worth so much hard currency to this day.