This was a promotion with Sapporo when Microsoft launched Windows 95.
mick
joined 1 year ago
For the money. From 1986 to 2003, there were 9 stock splits and MS handed out stock options to almost all employees. Many employees who started there in the early 90s are now multimillionaires.
Ah, so what would the Internet look like if it were built by altruistic, honest people. Sadly, I must be really jaded an cynical because that’s so hard for me to envision.
Commercial interests were always exploiting resources within their spheres of influence, even before the Internet. As technology improved and new pathways emerged, they ran full speed ahead.
Your example of a news site that didn’t push their algorithms never existed. Even pre-Internet, when news was printed, every newspaper had a certain slant. In New York City—back in the 70s—there were four major papers, NY Times, Wall St Journal, NY Post, Daily News. They all had their biases.
But the one thing they couldn’t do was collect user data. Ads were static and we had a choice to either read or ignore it.
As I’m typing and doing this brain dump—it’s 1:18am, why am I not asleep—I’ve come to realize that the thing I hate most about the current state of the Internet is the vast collection of user data how companies are mining and exploiting it. If we could stop it, I would be fine with most everything else.
That’s hard to answer without qualifying “commercial interests”. I think of banking and other financial institutions as commercial interests, and I like having control of my finances online. I don’t have to wait until the end of the month to see credit card charges (charge notifications that pop up on my phone are nearly instantaneous). I don’t have to make a phone call to my broker to place a stock order.
A lot of people disparage Amazon, but I like the convenience. No more driving to two or three stores to find what I need.
Other commercial interests like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X—yeah, they can disappear and I wouldn’t miss them.
Glad you got it to work eventually. I never liked smart bulbs. I use smart switches instead (Meross works really well with HomeKit). Set the lamp’s on/off switch to the on position and plug it into the smart switch. The smart switch can be connected to HomeKit anywhere in the house. You can set it up in the kitchen, then move it to your daughter’s room.