Re:Berkeley Neighborhood Computing (Score 1)

I am mindful of the contribution of pioneers to the promotion of their ideal; they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't believe in it, and see its value for others.

However, I am also mindful of the vast divisions that rend our society, and are reflected in the implementation of any technology. The notion of 'common carrier', once applied to telephones, in an effort to describe a simple means of exchanging information, is no longer applicable when the phone company is a conglomerate, seeking to promote its other divisions.

While individuals may not make money from latecomers, the companies that do business on the internet--and are transforming it structure--do.

Individualization, personalization--and their ilk--are just new ways to market. And the point-to-point nature of the internet is the natural culmination of the political economy of the twentieth century--and corporations are now flexing their muscles.