And let's not get into the cost of server and hosting, which have never been so low.
And let's not get into the cost of server and hosting, which have never been so low.
Now I disagree with using gentrification to describe that, and I don’t totally agree with the authors point anyway, but I think that is what he’s trying to say.
I do agree that using a loaded and buzzy term like 'gentrification' makes the article a bit of a misfire.
Honestly, the most worrying though to me is Google. #1 search engine, #1 browser, #1 email provider, #1 mobile platform, #1 online video platform. The concern is with all those places domination google can dictate de-facto standards or push standards that they want.
Gone are the days that one person or small team could keep up and maintain all the standards for a "modern browser". Microsoft even gave up.
Google did the same thing starting with Safari's WebKit.
I work in a new building now, but I walk past the former store most days of the week. Through the wall of glass I could see people engage in their activities under the glow of a cliche Edison lightbulb arrangement. I would walk past and see the adjustments of aprons, the exchanges of cash and mugs of coffee, the hats and t-shirts hanging off slabs of wood pinned to the walls, and the sacks of coffee beans stored on top.
A dark and empty room sits behind the facade of LEDs that now occupy the glass. Advertisement.
I think you are conflating gentrification with access. My city has more people and a better public transportation system now. More people have access to the sidewalk in front of my old office where you could once purchase a decent cup of coffee. But what used to be a store, a small seedling of human existence, is now just a wall to display ads on.
From a producer's perspective, though? It's a disaster! There's a huge pressure to shape content in a specific way, to post it to specific sites. Even something as simple as sharing a non-image or a non-video file with somebody is a lot harder now than it was a few years back. File hosting sites are going dark left and right, cloud storage services are shuttering direct file access capabilities, the new types of devices have limited options for simple file management, and so on and so on.
Comparing the wide Internet to a neighborhood with fixed space constraints is a rocky analogy to begin with. The foundation of a new city would be more appropriate, starting with a small population of intrepid explorers in a wild uncharted wilderness and growing to a massive commercial behemoth...
All of this made the web worse, not better. "Gentrification" as it relates to neighbourhoods at least means access to better amenities. When it comes to the Web, Wikipedia offers "amenities" in the way of easily accessible, extensively cited information. Most websites on the other hand gatekeep content via email signups ("get my free ebook!"), and the content itself is basically lead gen for what ever product they're pushing.