I think the point was they are quickly fading into obscurity, the new IE ads that are everywhere and Windows 8 are signs of their losing grip on the pc market. Where people would usually buy a laptop running windows they buy a tablet running a simple to use OS, and that scares Microsoft quite a lot.

They all use open source technology (Apache, OpenGL, etc.). They build upon others work to succeed, using other people's tools to create your unique vision isn't something to be frowned upon.

I think we should celebrate both the business and research side of science and technology. Gates and other such as Larry Ellison should be applauded for how their products helped society, the computer you're using was made possible by Gates and the web server slashdot uses was made possible by Ellison. But, too often history is told by the victors, as is the case here. Teaching people about Tesla is great but I think we also need to delve deeper in the past to Newton and Hooke. http://www.scienceandyou.org/articles/ess_14.shtml

Facebook isn't just about status updates. They have a whole robust API they use to interact with apps and other websites. It hosts music, events, photos, videos, app data, along with tons of user data with timeline. You can share anything from a cat video to a milestone of you losing weight. Serving up all that data in quick and well-presented manner to millions of people around the world is very difficult.

At least they outright tell you they will kill you or screw you over.

I volunteered at Maker Faire this year, and it was a really fun experience. I helped a guy in the craft area but what I really took away from the experience was how nice and helpful everyone was. I was able to go take a break to see seminar or the faire if I wanted to, and they even let my friends help out even thought they signed up late. I love the friendly and intelligent culture of the event, I learned a lot about robotics chasis from exhibitors and some helped me with my tee shirt cannon bot idea. Overall I think Maker Faire is a great event that far surpasses any other convention I've been to.

I don't think google makes any advertising money off the scanned books, and they are also within fair use laws. I think what Google did was legal but angered publishers because they thought they were missing out on royalty money.

Based of the SOPA and PIPA controversies, it isn't much better elsewhere either. The Patriot Act really shows how unfettered communication can be.

I honestly forgot about Diaspora until I saw it on Reddit a few weeks ago. It is predominately a techie thing and may never catch on main stream due to its technical and open source nature. Non-tech people won't see its advantages and may see its open source nature as inviting "hackers".