were we ever free of walled gardens?
Reading through the documents released by the U.S. Judiciary Committee, I’m struck by how early we lost the war on walled gardens. I take a deeper dive and see where it all went wrong
Month: July 2020
Apple’s Troublesome (Trial) Cancel Culture
Apple is behaving badly when it comes to how it bamboozles users into signing up for its services Music and TV+. It’s another example of what I call a “technopoly” — abusing its position in the ecosystem to change the rules when it applies to its own products and services.
Directory of note-taking apps
Roam has shaken up a once dull market. But what else is out there? For the first time in more than a decade I dust off the once-popular ‘directory’ series of blogposts to try to draw up a rudimentary directory of apps and services that offer something similar to Roam Research. It’s tough, partly because Roam is so excellent but also because it’s hard to know where to draw the line. Here’s a stab
Google, browsers and the illusion of choice
It’s Google’s world, which means we’re always leaking data to them. Some of us assiduously search for other options. But it’s not easy. Two reasons: We don’t have a firm grasp of the size of the elephant we’re confronting, and secondly, we don’t really understand what we’re doing when we’re online. What data are we … Read more
Workplace surveillance, from Russia with love
(Part 3 of a series on post-covid remote working. Part 2 here) Ok, so you’ve decided to install some workplace surveillance software, despite all the good reasons why you shouldn’t. Do you know exactly what you’re letting yourself in for? A basic question: Who, exactly, are these companies? Let’s take a look at one: StaffCop — … Read more