Post Ahkc371Co3AiIssWbQ by aral@mastodon.ar.al
(DIR) More posts by aral@mastodon.ar.al
(DIR) Post #Ahk7Xhd89Uulxeixpw by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T08:43:53Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Hello, I am new startup!I’m funded by venture capital and free to use.Please come and make me valuable by using me. Make my numbers go up!Once you do, I’ll have everything I need and I can do whatever I want with the time and effort you’ve put into making me successful.Not happy? Fuck you, I don’t need you anymore (network effects FTW, amirite?)… I’m laughing all the way to the bank.Goodbye!…Hello, I am a new startup…* * *When are we going to learn to say “no” at the start?
(DIR) Post #Ahk7zzgebvvg4VrXqS by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T08:49:00Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
A startup cannot enshittify if you don’t allow it to start up.Once it starts up, gains traction, and the network effects kick in, you lose the power to do anything about it.The only time you can kill a venture-capital funded startup is at the very beginning.The way you kill a startup is by not using its free services at the start.The correct answer to a venture-capital funded startup is always “no, thank you!”#startups #ventureCapital #VC #SiliconValley #BigTech
(DIR) Post #Ahk8OanoGgmW8JwIDo by imsnif@hachyderm.io
2024-05-10T08:53:22Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral This might be a bit of a weird take on this, but I think the most concrete thing most of us can do against this is use and encourage the use of ad-blockers.We can't compete at scale with this sort of money. Free services will always trump donation-based or paid services, because that's what we're used to as consumers.We *can* however try to make this industry totally not worth it for VCs to invest in. And this is where ad/tracking blockers at a massive scale come in.
(DIR) Post #Ahk8UKCCvKESMn5I2K by char@ioc.exchange
2024-05-10T08:54:26Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Seems that for the modern human being the concept "learn" it's getting complicated 🤦♀️
(DIR) Post #Ahk8YrSvAbZCi046bI by Kierkegaanks@beige.party
2024-05-10T08:55:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral
(DIR) Post #Ahk8jXyLz83hRBrYVE by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T08:57:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
If you want to understand how startups and venture capital work, go to 26:24 on the recording of my talk “Excuse Me, Your Unicorn Keeps Shitting In My Back Yard, Can He Please Not?” from 2016:https://ar.al/talks/#excuse-me-your-unicorn-keeps-shitting-in-my-back-yard-can-he-please-not#startups #ventureCapital #VC #SiliconValley #BigTech #enshittification #PeopleFarming #surveillance #capitalism #surveillanceCapitalism #video
(DIR) Post #Ahk926zYWRvNGEHGfw by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T09:00:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@imsnif Having made and maintained a tracker blocker for quite a few years, it’s a losing game.The surveillance capitalists control the browsers. You can only be as effective in policing them as they allow you to be (see what’s happening with Chrome, etc.)And it doesn’t even have to be free for this to apply. Venture-capital-funded is the core issue. Because with VC you’ve already sold your company,you’re just waiting for the sale to mature (the exit) – which it will do if you’re successful.
(DIR) Post #Ahk9H3pgYBpto3myUS by imsnif@hachyderm.io
2024-05-10T09:03:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral I've been told this - and I totally believe your superior experience - but honestly, I use firefox (and used Netscape before that) and have not seen an ad in twenty years. So I'm not sure what I'm doing differently.
(DIR) Post #Ahk9wcNmzzjKpnYaHo by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T09:10:46Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@imsnif It’s not just the ads; it’s the tracking. Sure the ads are the visible symptom. Many ad blockers (e.g., adblock plus) are actually part of the advertising industry and they unblock folks like Google for money (that’s their business model – see “acceptable ads”). And they usually don’t block trackers, opting for a cosmetic approach. (Assuming you use uBlock Origin, which is good.)These folks don’t limit themselves to tracking you on the web either. They buy data from brokers, etc.
(DIR) Post #AhkACWDxfDjUMqXerI by imsnif@hachyderm.io
2024-05-10T09:13:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Yeah, truth. And I am indeed a ublock user.Maybe a different solution is to just create colossal amounts of garbage data.
(DIR) Post #AhkAP3l8o4x9ql2cwy by Walrus@toot.wales
2024-05-10T09:15:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral @imsnif Is it possible to poison them with fake data, instead?
(DIR) Post #AhkAbPXpdRS0tIhoYK by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T09:18:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Walrus @imsnif You’re up against trillion-dollar budgets. The best approaches, in my opinion are:1. Regulate them (hard, because institutional corruption – revolving doors, lobbying, etc.)2. Create – decentralised, free and open, etc. – alternatives (see Small Tech: https://small-tech.org/about/#small-technology and Small Web: https://ar.al/2020/08/07/what-is-the-small-web/)
(DIR) Post #AhkAwYXTOF8YrpcXVQ by Walrus@toot.wales
2024-05-10T09:22:00Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral @imsnif Pity. I just made upSearchEnginePoisoningSystem IsSplendid as a name for the app to do it.
(DIR) Post #AhkC4VKfIOrTC1z3AW by petpet@social.tchncs.de
2024-05-10T09:34:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Very good video, sadly enough still nothing has changed.
(DIR) Post #AhkCaLq87kwl1Ft3Gy by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T09:40:25Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@petpet Thanks. And yes, it’s clear that nothing is going to change unless we make viable alternatives and people start using them. Not easy to do with zero funding but some of us trying. Statistically speaking, though, we don’t exist.
(DIR) Post #AhkCn1fKRVKmDMsWYq by db0@hachyderm.io
2024-05-10T09:42:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Great talk! I thoroughly agree with your take on startups, but I'm curious what is the alternative when someone comes from the working class with no capital and has an idea for an online service which has the potential to sustain them. What other structures can we use to fund some initiatives, because, speaking as someone who's been working on FOSS for the past year, donations don't cut it.
(DIR) Post #AhkDYkdB52ndHZd5WK by petpet@social.tchncs.de
2024-05-10T09:51:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral I agree, but then we also need legal certainty and law enforcement, and politicians who also understand digitalisation and its consequences, which unfortunately I only see to a very limited extent at the moment
(DIR) Post #AhkDfh6oZc0MO0npPk by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T09:52:32Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@db0 I hear you.This is why must fund things for the common good from the commons. But we’re not. Not really. Not as we should be. (We’re in the same boat with Small Technology Foundation as we build the Small Web with zero EU funding.)This is what I told the EU parliament a few years ago. It hasn’t made a difference as far as I can tell:https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/
(DIR) Post #AhkDmeKBK9n1mHN5aS by petpet@social.tchncs.de
2024-05-10T09:52:31Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Its a bit like with the climate crisis, such huge problems can not be solved individially
(DIR) Post #AhkDmfHNm392jt4MrY by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T09:53:28Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@petpet Indeed.
(DIR) Post #AhkElffExRQXb5Jp7g by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T10:04:49Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@petpet Yep. Institutional corruption – lobbying and revolving doors – make it nigh on impossible to regulate effectively. That, and the EU Commission’s “single market über alles” framing.I had a go at them a few years ago but it was just a drop in the bucket: https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/
(DIR) Post #AhkExB7wJt2IMZEJLU by db0@hachyderm.io
2024-05-10T10:06:53Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral OK effectively sadly no actual solutions yet outside of the startup play :( While criticism of the current system is important, I feel it's largely toothless if valid solutions outside it don't exist.I wonder if something like the startup play, but incubated by non-profit orgs would work. Basically what NLNet is doing but without being as task-oriented and more of a long-term incubation until profitability. (I've already read your post about your NLNet troubles btw)
(DIR) Post #AhkFVuKSlZKQOseDHE by teknomunk@apogee.polaris-1.work
2024-05-10T10:12:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral @petpet Don't forget regulatory capture, where the companies you are trying to reign in fill the government agency using that revolving door and use it to create a government-backed monopoly for themselves and effecively make competing against them illegal.
(DIR) Post #AhkG84rE4PN63eAmpM by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T10:20:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@bob Oh, yeah, Mastodon gGmbH already laid out the red carpet to surveillance capitalists / people farmers. That ship has sailed.
(DIR) Post #AhkGzEsFYkcGTI091U by jamesmarshall@sfba.social
2024-05-10T10:29:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral what's the best community-run Stack Overflow alternative to migrate to? If there's none, who wants to start one? Here's a list of open source software to run such a forum:https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2267/are-there-any-clones-alternatives-for-running-a-stack-exchange-style-qa-site
(DIR) Post #AhkHqPqTUzDRqXWmUi by alberto_cottica@mastodon.green
2024-05-10T10:39:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral I think I have learned.
(DIR) Post #AhkJpNmrriNV58TYLg by bigTanuki@social.linux.pizza
2024-05-10T11:01:26Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@aral there is no free tier in corporate solutions, there is only bait.
(DIR) Post #AhkN7rkPVnST4qpbfM by petpet@social.tchncs.de
2024-05-10T11:35:02Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@teknomunk @aral I see your point but if we want to maintain democracy and finish the crisis we have to close that revolving door and protest for some principles:1.) Public Money- Public code2.) No force to use digital on user side3.) What is illegal offline is illegal online and needs enforcement4.) No gatekeeping at public services through companies (e.g. in case of IDs - no data to companies)5.) No administration based on proprietary software or OS systems.
(DIR) Post #AhkN7sWybEJ3VTYOMi by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T11:38:25Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@petpet @teknomunk Yes to all of the above :)
(DIR) Post #AhkOprpcf0aw29oZDE by airwhale@mastodon.social
2024-05-10T11:57:37Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Venture capital? More like Vulture capital in most cases…
(DIR) Post #AhkSnHFw4n85pm8v68 by hi_mayank@hachyderm.io
2024-05-10T12:41:57Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral this talk is excellent! you really have a way of telling an engaging story
(DIR) Post #AhkV3YcJUpdQDgV5vM by metaning@mastodon.social
2024-05-10T13:07:20Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Competition law with a broad fundamental regulation that no product, or service may be connected to any other product or service, including aspects of a “single” product (e.g. cellphone hardware and software), unless that connection is made via an openly documented, freely implementable, functionally swappable methodology.Every startup grift at its core relies on the work you put in startng to use the thing, being trapped and non-transferrable behind switch costs.
(DIR) Post #AhkWRZBR8puYsfwQwC by greenWhale@dice.camp
2024-05-10T13:22:46Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral very interesting indeed. Will share that. 👍/j Was expecting more disrespect to the CCC though, which is quite a let down. /J
(DIR) Post #Ahkc371Co3AiIssWbQ by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T14:25:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@hi_mayank Thank you. I can only hope they make a difference. Doesn’t always feel like it.💕
(DIR) Post #Ahkc6W3IBjDIoSTfeK by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-10T14:26:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@airwhale That’s insulting to vultures :)
(DIR) Post #AhkcHteCnkdhB6AbZ2 by airwhale@mastodon.social
2024-05-10T14:28:21Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Fair point.
(DIR) Post #AhklNWciDU9V5xELJo by acsawdey@fosstodon.org
2024-05-10T16:10:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral
(DIR) Post #Ahkss4k0dDdLHA9rPc by toplesstopics@eldritch.cafe
2024-05-10T17:34:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral and then, watch as we magically fall in line with all the other mainstream platforms on what we ban and don't ban, for instance, start banning female-only nipples as "sexually explicit nudity" while content subtly advocating for violence against women is front-paged to millions!
(DIR) Post #Ahkt14spTKF6K6Zmd6 by juglugs@mastodon.social
2024-05-10T17:35:44Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral I read that thinking YOU were a startup... 🤣
(DIR) Post #AhktTo3j6SCMXeN8Nc by andemann@snabelen.no
2024-05-10T17:40:52Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral roughly about the same time we realize we will have to pay for the Services we use
(DIR) Post #Ahl4ADoWjj7E7h7udM by balterwenjamin42@mastodon.social
2024-05-10T19:40:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Spot on. Problem is: Some of these companies enshittify even after you and the others PAID them for the software, without it being based on VC and with an actually viable business model for the company. Serif/Affinity and Reasons Studios being a few of the latest (common denominator is turning to subscription models). The last few years has made me highly skeptical of almost any software company.
(DIR) Post #Ahm2gm72kFEt0z8sWO by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-05-11T06:58:53Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@juglugs *shudders* :)