RasterWeb!
For those of you who don’t think that software patents are evil, or don’t know enough about the subject, check out This American Life #441: When Patents Attack!
You could extend it to all patents are evil but I’m mostly concerned with software patents, which are probably the number one thing stifling innovation in the technology industry.
If you want more audio content about patents, you can also check out TWiG #106.
Imagine a future where you rely on one company for your email, your calendar, your maps, your documents, your videos, your phone, your blog, your discussion groups, and, oh yeah, your searches and even your browser.
I was reminded that back in 2007 Danny Sullivan revived my Google-Free Fridays idea that I originally proposed in 2003.
Today, in the second half of 2011, the idea of going even one day without Google may seem insane for some people. The reliance that many have on one single company for so much of their Internet experience is, frankly, a bit frightening to me.
Don’t get me wrong, Google offers a lot of great services, and I use a number of them, but what would happen if they shut you out? It happened to Phil Wilson, and it’s happened to others as well. How much of your world would be affected if Google disabled your account?
Oddly enough, in the time between starting this post and finishing this post, Google launched a new initiative: Email Intervention. Obviously Gmail needs more users, and they want your help assimilating anyone who hasn’t yet become part of the Gmail Family. (I know the Email Intervention thing has a tinge of humor, but as all comedians know, behind every bit of humor is a bit of truth.)
I’m not saying Google is pure evil, because, well, they aren’t. In fact, the Data Liberation initiative should be applauded, and is something every web service should provide. I just hope there are other web services besides Google 5 years from now.
I happened to visit the Chrome Web Store using Firefox, and I was greeted with the following message:
Sorry, we don’t support your browser just yet. You’ll need Google Chrome to install apps, extensions and themes.
Wait… I was using Mozilla Firefox to visit the Chrome Web Store, so why am I posting this?
Because Google has given me hope. See, they said “we don’t support your browser just yet” and with that “just yet” part, I’m going to assume that they will support my browser at some point in the future.
I plan to revisit this post every few months to see if the status has changed.
I’ve had at least one person say “Hey Pete! I thought you didn’t like Google?” and if I can clarify, there are things about Google I don’t like, just as there are things about Apple I don’t like, and (many) things about Facebook I don’t like, and throughout my travels in the tech world, I’ve been lucky that I haven’t worked for any of these companies, so I can feel free to speak about the things I don’t like.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things about Google, and Apple, and Facebook that are good, but I try to be critical, and not give any company a free pass.
With that said, I am definitely a fan of Google+ so far, and as far as being better than Facebook? Well, in many ways it is better for me, while in some ways it still needs to catch up.
But as a maker, what company does more to help improve the world for makers? Phillip Torrone’s recent post had this to say:
I’m glad there’s an alternative for sharing and collaboration now with more features that seem to be interesting to makers. Historically Facebook hasn’t done much in the Maker community, I’ve tried to get them to participate in Maker Faire each year (and would still love to have them, there are a lot great ideas for Facebook + Maker Faire). While it would be impossible to be a fan of everything Google does, they’ve been part of Maker Faire many many times, they’re doing a Science Fair, they have a hacker space for employees, they’ve adopted Arduino for Android, lots of good OSS efforts and the tools they’re creating with more control and ownership seems to fit the maker mindset better – it does feel like they’re listening, I hope they keep it up.
Phillip sums it up pretty well. Google may not do everything right, and they may still do things I don’t agree with…. but at the end of the day, they’re probably doing a lot more for maker culture than Facebook is, and that counts for something in my book.
Dave is a cranky old man, and I say that in the nicest possible way, because really, I’m one too. Cranky old men like things the way they like them, and sometimes that means, the way they were before you damn kids came and messed everything up. And you did, really, you did.
Dave is not happy with the Mozilla folks and their Firefox browser.
Personally, I don’t think browsers are done or feature-complete yet. I say this because I’m dealing with developing web sites, with HTML5, with the <audio> and <video> tags, with codecs, with multiple computers/devices, etc. and it’s not perfect yet. Firefox 4 was a welcome upgrade from Firefox 3.x in my mind. Speed increases, Mozilla Sync, and a few other features were worth the small inconveniences I faced along the way. (Granted, I was running the beta for more than 6 months on one machine, so I wasn’t surprised by anything new.)
I’d admit that I am definitely a fan of Mozilla. I may even know a few people who still work there, but I’m not a Mozilla developer, or part of their marketing department, I’m just someone who wants to see them succeed.
And why do I want to see Mozilla succeed? If you notice the graphic above it says “We Believe in an Open Web” and while Apple and Google both have browsers, they’re both in a constant battle for mindshare and eyeballs, and ultimately are interested in making a profit. Mozilla is a non-profit organization that (and I hope I don’t sound naive) has an interest in keeping the web open and free. (I didn’t even mention Microsoft because they only make a browser for one single platform, and it’s a platform I don’t even use, except for testing.)
I’m a fan of freedom, and ultimately I believe that freedom (on the web) is better served by Mozilla than by Apple or Google. I fear the closing of that freedom, and think that supporting Mozilla may help prevent it.
And oh, the beauty of open source! If Dave really wants the keep using Firefox 3.x, there is nothing stopping him. It’s open source. The code is available. Hell, look at what the TenFourFox team is doing. You want Firefox 3.6 to live on forever? Start working on it, or hire some developers. This may not be entirely realistic, but it is completely possible.
I should note something here about Mozilla providing Firefox (software) for free versus Osbourne selling computers (hardware) for money. Maybe I’ll fill it in later.
Years ago when things were looking grim for the web, I always though some company would come out with a web browser that would do away with the ‘View Source’ command. I mean, sure, Chrome hides it, but Apple finally managed to get rid of it with Mobile Safari. Ugh, Mobile Safari… I wish I could run Firefox on an iOS device. This closing of the web concerns me.
I know all the cool kids abandoned Firefox, but to me, that’s like abandoning freedom, and I just can’t see doing that yet…