The problem is that, IMO, centralization of the internet is simply the natural course. Especially when people seem to care so little. Centralization is cheaper, easier to monetize, easier to control, easier to update and upgrade. That's why people prefer Discord to IRC, that's why people prefer Slack to SMTP or Jabber, that's why for many people these days the distinction between git and GitHub is blurry.
I suspect that if you broke those companies up you'd only win in the short term,
then it would consolidate again. You'd need a constant pressure to prevent this
situation and given that the USA would be in the best position to do that I'm
not holding by breath.
The internet started decentralized because there was no money to make and we
were still figuring things out. As soon as it became mainstream it started to
coalesce and we're just now reaching the final stage of this evolution. Even
here on HN you have threads full of people coming up with excuses for why they
won't run Firefox, and that's a community that should understand the implication
of those things. Good luck convincing the internet population at large.
Are there statistics on the browser usage on HN? Just for a good laugh.
I suspect that if you broke those companies up you'd only win in the short term, then it would consolidate again. You'd need a constant pressure to prevent this situation and given that the USA would be in the best position to do that I'm not holding by breath.
The internet started decentralized because there was no money to make and we were still figuring things out. As soon as it became mainstream it started to coalesce and we're just now reaching the final stage of this evolution. Even here on HN you have threads full of people coming up with excuses for why they won't run Firefox, and that's a community that should understand the implication of those things. Good luck convincing the internet population at large.
Are there statistics on the browser usage on HN? Just for a good laugh.