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Regarding Facebook tracking non-users Mark Zuckerberg said "This kind of data collection is fundamental to how the internet works."

I'm not a networking expert but I know enough to be able to confidently say that nothing at all about this data collection is fundamental to how the Internet works. I guess he was using Silicon Valley speak where "the internet" means "huge corporations who make most of their money by selling ads and illegally collecting as much data as possible".
peter hessler @openbsd
peter hessler @openbsd 3 months ago
@eribloodlust i am a networking expert, and i can assure you that advertising is not fundamental in any way shape or form.

The fundamental pieces are some physical cables, and protocols (IP, BGP, DNS). Advertising /may/ pay for some things, but hasn't paid a dime for the cables, IP, or BGP.
Aaron A. Glenn
Aaron A. Glenn 3 months ago
@phessler @eribloodlust

let me put my "devils advocate" hat for a moment and say many submarine cables have been paid for by advertising dollars. a similar argument can be made for the current pricing & ubiquity of 100G switching gear -- "hyperscale" datacenters are because of FB & Google. which are ad companies.
River
River 3 months ago
@aag
Don't be the devil's advocate
@phessler
Aaron A. Glenn
Aaron A. Glenn 3 months ago
@eribloodlust I only play the part occasionally.
Gert Sønderby
Gert Sønderby 3 months ago
@aag @eribloodlust This is not a heresy trial. And pay attention to who you're representing.
Aaron A. Glenn
Aaron A. Glenn 3 months ago
@gsonderby @eribloodlust I used the phrase "devils advocate" not in the original catholic canonization sense, but in the more modern sense of "I agree with your position, but here is some information that is contradictory to it"

I'm quite comfortable representing clear & easily explained facts.
River
River 3 months ago
@aag @gsonderby

woah thanks for mansplaining devils advocacy woman brain too small to understand
Hyp☀️li🌷e Pet🌸van (he/him)
Hyp☀️li🌷e Pet🌸van (he/him) 3 months ago
Maybe, but do we fundamentally needed the *extra* cable and the *extra* bandwidth switches?
Aaron A. Glenn
Aaron A. Glenn 3 months ago
@hypolite @eribloodlust

no. not at all, imo.
Rain 🚱
Rain 🚱 3 months ago
@hypolite @eribloodlust @aag no, and if we did, we should keep in mind that all the ads and tracking just inflated network traffic, so maybe we would not have needed more bandwidth if there wasn't so much bloat put up by ad companies
(and incompetent web developers)
Matthew Graybosch
Matthew Graybosch 3 months ago
@eribloodlust I'd say he's a college dropout and thus doesn't know a damn thing about how the internet actually works, but I'm a college dropout as well and I *do* understand. So what's his excuse, besides being outrageously rich?
Hyp☀️li🌷e Pet🌸van (he/him)
Hyp☀️li🌷e Pet🌸van (he/him) 3 months ago
Vested interest in redefining how the Internet actually works when defending his unethical business model?
Matthew Graybosch
Matthew Graybosch 3 months ago
@hypolite @eribloodlust

I'd call that a motive, not an excuse. :)
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