I mean, I've talked about how the great advance of the iPhone was to put a store in our pocket. And I've felt that, at least since we've put our computers on a network essentially 24/7, that we lost control of them. They're ecosystems supporting different, competing programs now, some waring with the OS, some in mutual symbiosis, but all scraping a living in an ecosystem, passively waring with each other.

I think the BMG rootkit from 2005 is one of the clearest examples and it didn't even use a network. You put in media. The media [trivially but importantly] rewrote a portion of your OS. And that media was ostensibly just music! (The Night mp3s Became Sentient...)

I still believe both -- that are computers are biomes for software growth and that their seeding is powered through making our private spaces into public stores -- though I have to admit I didn't comprehend fully in 2008 how phones would become not a but the storefront (fronts?) for us all just over a decade later.

But the commercials still surprise me. Here's one that I received recently upon opening Amazon Music. (I'm a Prime subscriber and get Prime streaming, though I'm also bought into the ecosystem (see?) fully enough that most of my albums are purchased on Amazon, as that means I know I can stream those purchases without worrying if they're in the Prime library this month.)

Looks at how unrelated the items are that come together to make that advertisement. The most galling is that there's no obvious synergy above and beyond simply flexing what they know about you without you ever opting in for sharing it.

  1. That I'm listening to Amazon Music.
  2. That I'm using it on a Lenovo.
  3. That these two things somehow mean I'm more likely to take a deal that's been offered before when I'm not on a Lenovo?

Nothing crazy sensitive there, but... why? Why pretend this is special deal? Why would this combination of facts make me more susceptible to the marketing? "I know I've been holding off on getting a subscription before, but if you're doing it because I like ThinkPads, well, let's make a deal!"

Look, I still think we should give up on most of this privacy stuff. Kids in 50 years will be scared when everyone doesn't know their exact location and what they're buying and will expect that information to be shared passively, without any action on their part. 

For most of us, the VAST majority of us, nobody will ever care about our specifics. Even our most secret thoughts don't make for a hill of beans (unless you're Bush's and competitors) to the companies. Unless someone is looking to have a beef (Hormel?) with a group and actively oppress them (a real consideration, as the last few years have shown us), who cares? You can tease out the NFL teams I follow, what sorts of novels I enjoy, my political persuasion, when I'm likely to buy a car... but so what? Most companies have zero reason to make any of that more actionable than targeting (read "spend more on presenting") a few extra commercials towards me.

It's really seeing how badly companies bungle the information they have that confounds me and gives me some comfort. It's clear many, and by many I mean "most", have no clue what they're doing.

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