Gizmodo has published this rant recently.
In MobileMag, I wrote about TV that can watch you, literally. The overall tone of that article is sadness, sure. But show me somebody who was pushed into a purchase of such "smart" TV, against his or her own will. TOS is present for that TV, I'm sure.
Let's have a look at a bigger picture. In a society built on consumerism, fees for authors writing about consumer products are paid by advertisers, it's a fact of life. Moreover, fees for that Gizmodo article are also come from the same source: advertisers, even if it's an ordinary rant against the same advertisers looking for better targeting this very rant's author.
Sure it looks and feels Orwellian. Arsoning of Megaupload smells of Fahreheit 451 very much. But if you don't like to divulge the remaining 5 percent of your privacy, just opt out. No need to start another senseless movement "Occupy the Google+". After all, biting the hand that feeds you never worked. Don't play idiot, and they won't be evil.
As one commenter has put it for that clueless author, "Grow the [censored] up!".
UPDATE. I've got quite a sizable response to this. New, simplified and unified Privacy Policy will be in place on March 1, 2012 at Google. It may help.
Google’s New Plan: Annoy You Into ComplianceIt goes on and on, a "rantus vulgatus". A simple answer to this is "Opt out!" A more elaborate answer would be: "Have you read that fine print? Opt out if you don't like any clause of TOS". Steve Jobs once famously quipped that "Americans don't read". I'm not so radical in my perceptions, but I'm pretty sure that overwhelmingly, Americans don't read TOS.
Google Plus users just got a pretty horrible new feature: search your name, and instead of finding out information about yourself, you're asked to provide it. Quite simply, Google doesn't want to give you information until you give it information. Guh.
As Drew Olanoff
Image via Wikipediaof The Next Web noted today, if you are using Google's new Search Plus your World (which is on by default) instead of giving you the results you are looking for, a Google vanity search now prompts you to fill out the remainder of your Google Plus profile. It's a clear example of Google prioritizing Plus over Search. It's essentially allowing a social network to hijack your Search screen until you feed it personal data. Your normal results appear below the nag, but when I tried this myself, the prompt took over the entire window of my 13" screen. Google is increasingly acting like an overbearing second grade teacher. If you don't share, you can't have any for yourself.
So what happens if you do try to "complete your profile?" Mine was nearly complete, at 85 percent. I filled out my university information and added a photo to my "scrapbook" (related: what the hell is my scrapbook and who can see it?) which were the only two missing fields in the "Update your profile" window. But that only took me to 95 percent. I tried editing my profile directly from within Google Plus itself, dutifully filling out each and every field, including the really intrusive stuff like my relationship status and "who are you looking for?" (I'm just looking for myself!)
I'm still only at 95 percent. I have no idea what I need to do to get to 100. Maybe it's some philosophical lesson that represents the fundamental loneliness of the human condition by never allowing you to reach completion. I have no idea.
In MobileMag, I wrote about TV that can watch you, literally. The overall tone of that article is sadness, sure. But show me somebody who was pushed into a purchase of such "smart" TV, against his or her own will. TOS is present for that TV, I'm sure.
Let's have a look at a bigger picture. In a society built on consumerism, fees for authors writing about consumer products are paid by advertisers, it's a fact of life. Moreover, fees for that Gizmodo article are also come from the same source: advertisers, even if it's an ordinary rant against the same advertisers looking for better targeting this very rant's author.
Sure it looks and feels Orwellian. Arsoning of Megaupload smells of Fahreheit 451 very much. But if you don't like to divulge the remaining 5 percent of your privacy, just opt out. No need to start another senseless movement "Occupy the Google+". After all, biting the hand that feeds you never worked. Don't play idiot, and they won't be evil.
As one commenter has put it for that clueless author, "Grow the [censored] up!".
UPDATE. I've got quite a sizable response to this. New, simplified and unified Privacy Policy will be in place on March 1, 2012 at Google. It may help.
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