Re: [tlug] MS vs Google

[dave@example.com]

Edward Middleton <emiddleton@example.com> writes:

> Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:

>> What Google is doing is data mining, and selling what they find out to
>> both sides of the market (ie, more accurate search results for users,
>> and marketing info to vendors).
>>
>> This may be more scary than Echelon, and more scary even than Jedgar
>> Hoover's famous files.  But then again, it may not.
>
>> ...It's the correlations that only Google will have access to.
>
> And we all know Google can do no evil[1] but they seem conflicted about
> others doing evil[2] ;)

One concern is that the "We do no evil" mindset inevitably leads to "If
we do it, then by definition it isn't really evil". "We're going amass
great power, but we'll only use it for good, honest. Just look at our
motto!" Of course this idea was already a cliche back when Shakespeare
wrote Macbeth (IIRC that was Macbeth's motto as well)

As an example, there was recently a bit of a brouhaha around the Google
CEO's thoughts on the concept of privacy.

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/google-ceo-eric-schmidt-dismisses-privacy


Dave