Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

Anti-interoperability, vendor lock-in, and high switching costs (with Cory Doctorow)

Dec 7, 2022

53:42

Creator website

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Introduction

2min

The Role of Large Tech Companies in Our Lives

4min

The Unfollow Everything Problem Is Coming to a Head

4min

The Legality of Modifying Facebook Terms of Service

4min

Guerrilla Warfare and the Court's Business

3min

Facebook Shouldn't Be the Arbiter of Cambridge Analytica Situations

4min

How to Model the Behavior of Companies

2min

Google Is Not Trying to Maximize Profit

2min

Google's Market Cap Gap

3min

10.

The Importance of Principle in Interop

3min

11.

How to Reduce the Cost of Switching to Facebook

6min

12.

Blockchain: A Solution for Social Media Lock-In

2min

13.

The Importance of Trust in the Blockchain

2min

14.

The Future of Blockchain

5min

15.

How to Break Up a Tech Company

3min

16.

The History of IBM's Breakup

4min

17.

What Are Your Non-Work Related Hobbies?

2min

Read the full transcript here.

What is interoperability? What counts as "unauthorized" access to computers or parts of computers? If the rendered design of a web page is copyrighted, then does blocking ads on that page count as copyright infringement by creating a derivative product? Does Facebook really want what's best for its users? Is Google evil? Could blockchain-based solutions provide much-needed privacy or interoperability? Why doesn't the U.S. government (for example) fight harder to prevent vendor lock-in when buying goods and services? Which tech companies, if any, should be broken up?

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist, and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently Radicalized and Walkaway, science fiction for adults; Chokepoint Capitalism, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; In Real Life, a graphic novel; and the picture book Poesy the Monster Slayer. His latest novel is Attack Surface, a standalone adult sequel to Little Brother. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Staff