Can companies be „not evil“

We all know that Googles motto is "Don't be evil". They claim that although they are admittedly out to make money, there are moral barriers they won’t break.

That’s fine and dandy, but… 

  • Pagerank is obviously a very powerful tool when it comes to actually affect peoples minds (People rarely scroll to the 3rd page of results. Put information you want to keep out of peoples minds there, instead on page 1, and no one will bother.)
  • They are capable gathering a slew of personal information without us noticing. Who knows, if at some point in time, someone gets tempted ?
  • Monopoly: Already a majority of internet users only use google. If it would be gone right now, I would be sorely handicapped. What if they suddenly charge money, or use this for political leverage ? 

The list of concerns could be made longer and longer. So, there is a definite danger, despite what Google claims.

Continue reading…
24. Juli 2005 thinking Keine Kommentare zu Can companies be „not evil“

Right & Wrong & Legal

In the recent months, those who bothered to look noticed that there is a growing chasm between what is legal, and what people perceive as „right“.

„Normal“ people are more and more clashing with brand and intellectual property laws. The european community passes laws and regulations that are hard to understand to non-politicians, the way money is traded on public markets is highly arcane to those who aren’t part of that market (ie: Most of the people without large amounts of money). 

The growing fiscal problems of the governments often forces them to do unpopular things, which get even more unpopular when they don’t work immediately. 

And then there’s always the thing that governments like to please „key groups“, which aren’t necessarily the majority of the population, nor are their measures in any way making sense to the average citizen (ie: Me). 

Weeks like this one make me think if I’m still living in the right place.

8. Juni 2005 thinking Keine Kommentare zu Right & Wrong & Legal

Boo Hoo

From dot​.com to catastrophe…

I’ve been digging out old books again, to re-read them. This is one out of my „real life“ collection. Boo​.com was supposed the leading fashion store in the internet. They got millions of funding, big brands as supporters… 

… and failed. Horribly. 

This is their story. And a good one too. It keeps making me wishing that I had discovered my meagre talents in programming 5 years earlier. I could have busted a million by now then too!

9. Mai 2005 reading Keine Kommentare zu Boo Hoo