From de4a742620b9b5168cb2ffc78dd844e3f7c40b1a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Rohan Kumar Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2022 22:24:11 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] Use elements --- content/posts/keeping-platforms-open.md | 2 +- content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md | 2 +- 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/posts/keeping-platforms-open.md b/content/posts/keeping-platforms-open.md index 0ec44f9..be66cc0 100644 --- a/content/posts/keeping-platforms-open.md +++ b/content/posts/keeping-platforms-open.md @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ These three approaches overlap: they frequently feature platform monoculture and ### Forced migration -When one vendor controls all parts of a service (e.g., both a client and server), it has the means to create what I call a **boxed platform:** a subset of a larger open platform that can evolve at its own pace, without concern for compatibility or interoperability. +When one vendor controls all parts of a service (e.g., both a client and server), it has the means to create what I call a boxed platform: a subset of a larger open platform that can evolve at its own pace, without concern for compatibility or interoperability. Controlling both the server and client allows a vendor to update the client and server without worrying about breaking compatibility with other clients/servers in the larger network. It could update the client to point users to a server that uses a completely different, closed protocol. This is what happened to many XMPP users in the early 2000s. diff --git a/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md b/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md index 015710c..08bbfc2 100644 --- a/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md +++ b/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md @@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ In a WhatsApp world, people who want to keep in touch must abide by the followin User domestication ------------------ -WhatsApp rose by trapping previously-free beings in their corral and changing their habits to create dependence on masters. Over time, this made it difficult or impossible to return to their previous lifestyle. That process should sound familiar: it's eerily similar to the domestication of animals. I call this type of vendor lock-in **user domestication:** the removal of user autonomy to trap users into serving vendors. +WhatsApp rose by trapping previously-free beings in their corral and changing their habits to create dependence on masters. Over time, this made it difficult or impossible to return to their previous lifestyle. That process should sound familiar: it's eerily similar to the domestication of animals. I call this type of vendor lock-in user domestication: the removal of user autonomy to trap users into serving vendors. I chose this metaphor because animal domestication is a gradual process that isn't always deliberate, and typically revolves around one group becoming dependent upon another. For example: there's evidence that domestication of dogs began with socialization, resulting in not-entirely-artificial selection promoting genes that resulted in more friendliness with and dependence upon humans.[^1]