Andreas, <div><br></div><div>Thanks for the quick reply. Having 3 big providers isn't ideal to those of us who value decentralization, but 3 big providers who let you download your mail to your computer and who you can switch from at the drop of a hat (esp if those providers catch forwarded mail) still feels a lot better than facebook's inflexible, promiscuously data-sharing walled garden. I think having the option to export and the option to switch without losing contact with people would mean a lot to some of us. </div>
<div><br>~lilly</div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 6:17 PM, Andreas Schiffler <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:aschiffler@ferzkopp.net">aschiffler@ferzkopp.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Lilly, <br>
<br>
Yes - but such an ecosystem has to be created first.<br>
<br>
For one thing, one could argue that email is not really an ecosystem
anymore ... as per some statistics
(<a href="http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/metrics/email-statistics.htm" target="_blank">http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/metrics/email-statistics.htm</a>) a
lot of people pump their mail through one of the 3 large webmail
providers (Microsoft, Yahoo and Google) which are actively used as ad
platforms. But more importantly, the impact of "huge providers" which
is the option of choice for "everyone else", is exactly what
Diaspora-style projects are trying to mitigate. <br>
<br>
This leaves us with two options, both of which cost the user some
money: a) running your own server which is relatively inconvenient
because of a lack of easy to use devices for such purposes (of course
you can operate a server simply by running a "server" program on any
PC/Mac, configuring your firewall/router and leaving it on 24/7) or b)
paying for hosting. The second option is possible but today technically
challenging and still relatively more costly than just getting a
$4.99/month PHP hosting account from GoDaddy-type providers.<br><font color="#888888">
<br>
--Andreas</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
On 5/22/10 5:51 PM, Lilly Irani wrote:
<blockquote type="cite">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"><br>
One needs affordable, reliable infrastructure support for a user run
"cloud" which is even today quite difficult to come by: <br>
- internet connected smart-devices like the iPhone are locked down and
generally not powerful enough to run a VM<br>
- PCs are seldom designed to be operated as 24/7 connected devices from
a power, noise and security point of view<br>
- internet providers forbid personal hosting in their usage policies or
slow p2p-type traffic when detected<br>
- professional hosting that would be capable of running such VMs is too
expensive and difficult to use for the average user<br>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>Can't diaspora run in an ecosystem the way email does? Some
people running their own servers, others paying for hosting and running
their own seeds, and then some huge, interoperable providers like gmail
and hotmail for everyone else?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<div>
<div><br>
On 5/21/10 2:21 PM, Sam Dwyer wrote:
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>This may prove of interest:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><i>Why Diaspora Will Fail</i></div>
<div><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/05/21/diaspora-social-network-fail-kickstarter-facebook" target="_blank">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/05/21/diaspora-social-network-fail-kickstarter-facebook</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<br>
<div>
<div>On May 21, 2010, at 6:44 AM, Jon Ippolito wrote:</div>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word"><br>
<div>
<div>On May 14, 2010, at 8:00 AM, <a href="mailto:idc-request@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc-request@mailman.thing.net</a>
wrote:</div>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"><span style="font-family:Eurostile">From:
Andreas Schiffler:<br>
<br>
I wanted to post a quick link that would allow anyone who is fed-up with<span> </span><br>
Facebook's continuing path of commercializing the social graphs of its<span> </span><br>
users to fund the development of an open source distributed replacement:<br>
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr" target="_blank">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr</a><br>
<br>
Seems like a worthy goal and technically feasible (although I admit that<span> </span><br>
I won't be donating, since I don't have a use for such a service).</span></blockquote>
</div>
Thanks, Andreas. I contributed, not because I have a use for Facebook,
but because I have an interest in seeing it die. More background at
"Your guide to the Facebook revolt of 2010":
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a href="http://www.nmdnet.org/2010/05/18/your-guide-to-the-facebook-revolt-of-2010/" target="_blank">http://www.nmdnet.org/2010/05/18/your-guide-to-the-facebook-revolt-of-2010/</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Best,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>jon</div>
<div>
<div>______________________________</div>
<div>Still Water--what networks need to thrive.</div>
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<div><br>
</div>
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<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
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University of California, Irvine<br>
<a href="http://www.ics.uci.edu/%7Elirani/" target="_blank">http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lirani/</a><br>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div></div></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Lilly Irani<br>University of California, Irvine<br><a href="http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lirani/">http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lirani/</a><br>
</div>