Modern Monopolies: Looking the Wrong Way
December 2, 2010
Far be it from me, an addled goose, pushing 70, living in rural Kentucky to disagree with super-poobahs. You can point your browser thing at “Should We Be Afraid of Apple, Google and Facebook?” and get a damning indictment and a rousing cheer for big business.
Neither the guru nor the professor are looking at the issue in the light of day. I am. Here’s the scoop. Familiarize yourself with Jacques Ellul, a dude of little or no interest to gurus or professors today. Dude Ellul was a Catholic priest, a Marxist, and generally pragmatic about technology and its alleged benefits.
His writings about technology are not what attract clicks on Reddit or Digg. There’s no Facebook page for Le bluff technologique. Paris: Hachette, 1988. Not too many tweets either.
Dude Ellul’s view is that technology triggers a chain of events. Some events have unexpected consequences. The really bad consequences get fixed by applying more technology. There you have it.
The company’s that the guru and the professor impugn cannot help themselves. The context in which each operates rewards their actions in many ways. Technology is now an end in itself.
Forget Skynet and other crazy robot-alien fantasies. The world is plugged in. Paraphrasing another professor who was mostly wrong is plugged in and ungovernable.
For search and content this means, in my opinion:
- Consumers cannot discern or filter content. Whatever is out there is okay for most folks. Think a different type of serfdom.
- Political entities lack the tools to operate in any other way than tactical response. A plan is almost guaranteed to go off the rails but you can “manage” with Pivotal Tracker, not share context.
- Companies are like hapless sharks who can never rest.
There are what look like monopolies. Monopolies are an illusion. We have an environment produced by technology and those who would use it for instrumental purposes.
Dude Ellul is more right than the guru and the professor in my opinion. I am glad I am old. Dude Ellul is probably glad he has leveled up.
Stephen E Arnold, December 2, 2010
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2 Responses to “Modern Monopolies: Looking the Wrong Way”
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As long as we get our bread and circus….
There will always be serfs, that’s just the nature of life. Today’s serfs think they have more of a say but that may be a variation of Keyser Soze’s words: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”.
“May you live in interesting times” ( ancient chinese curse )