On Sat, 2021-12-18 at 17:02 +0000, Andrew C Aitchison via mailop wrote: > On Sat, 18 Dec 2021, yuv via mailop wrote: > > > > When you're one company controlling both backend and all frontend > > > > This is the undesirable feature of centralization, I think we can > > all > > agree on that. But what are the desirable features of > > centralization, > > and can they be breaken out and applied to a decentralized world? > > Care to continue? > > Desired (by many service providers): > Captive market - content consumers cannot access the same > content from another provider. > Ability to make money from content consumers (advertising). > > Many of us find these feature *un*desirable, the second at least in > its > current form, but those so inclined can take advantage ... >
The difference between desired and desirable is that anything can be desirable by one or more participants, but the desirable features are those win-win features that are systemically desirable. A captive market is definitely undesirable, except for the entity holding it captive. Few entities would not like to own a captive market. Few entities would like to be the captive. The ability to make money is definitely desirable, the quesition with money is not what, it is how. I am happy to pay for utility. I will do everything I can not to pay for products or services that would be useless if there was note the artificially created demand. Note that anti-abuse services would be useless if there were no spammers, so those two group that are seemingly fighting a whack-a-mole game with the DKIM/DMARC alphabet soup are actually allies at the expense of everone else. A captive market is certainly an opportunity to make money, and if the market dictator is sufficiently benevolent, the market turns out to be a pleasant walled garden with acceptable service. However, a competitive market should, in theory, achieve better outcomes at lower cost through the creativity and innovation spurred by competition. But even competition has its limits and too much competition, too many standards, too many RFCs, is what made internet email such an unwieldy beast. -- Yuval Levy, JD, MBA, CFA Ontario-licensed lawyer _______________________________________________ mailop mailing list mailop@mailop.org https://list.mailop.org/listinfo/mailop
