"The telegram companies and the old-school telcos were virtually monopolies; customers had nowhere to turn, if they wanted private communications. Bing and Yahoo Mail are just a click away."
The idea that bing and yahoo mail aren't consuming your personal data in order to show you more ads, or wouldn't cooperate with the government if asked, I find to be laughable.
True. On the other hand, with things like i2p, encrypted connections between private servers, and the ubiquity of cheap hosting services, individuals do have the option of easily establishing their own secure communication channels.
I doubt it will erode Google's market share or traffic much (or at all), but only because the average computer user is neither informed nor interested in privacy and security.
But it's still not a good idea to over-centralize the internet in principle. My own Google usage has fallen off a lot lately just for the sake of not relying on a single service for too much.
"I doubt it will erode Google's market share or traffic much (or at all), but only because the average computer user is neither informed nor interested in privacy and security."
AT&T's behavior seems to have had no effect on iPhone enthusiasm. When I've asked people about having to use AT&T to use their iPhone, it seems a total non-issue. They simply don't care if a company was engaged in illegal spying, they want what they want.
It reminded me of when there was much more railing against software patent, and Amazon grabbed on for one-click shopping. There was some noise, but Amazon's cheaper prices soon won the day.
The Dead Kennedy's had it right: Give me convenience or give me death.
The idea that bing and yahoo mail aren't consuming your personal data in order to show you more ads, or wouldn't cooperate with the government if asked, I find to be laughable.