[iDC] Replacing Facebook

Sun May 23 01:40:05 UTC 2010

Andreas,

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.

~lilly

On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 6:17 PM, Andreas Schiffler
<aschiffler at ferzkopp.net>wrote:

>  Lilly,
>
> Yes - but such an ecosystem has to be created first.
>
> For one thing, one could argue that email is not really an ecosystem
> anymore ... as per some statistics (
> http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/metrics/email-statistics.htm) 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.
>
> 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.
>
> --Andreas
>
>
> On 5/22/10 5:51 PM, Lilly Irani wrote:
>
>
>> One needs affordable, reliable infrastructure support for a user run
>> "cloud" which is even today quite difficult to come by:
>> - internet connected smart-devices like the iPhone are locked down and
>> generally not powerful enough to run a VM
>> - PCs are seldom designed to be operated as 24/7 connected devices from a
>> power, noise and security point of view
>> - internet providers forbid personal hosting in their usage policies or
>> slow p2p-type traffic when detected
>> - professional hosting that would be capable of running such VMs is too
>> expensive and difficult to use for the average user
>>
>>  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?
>
>
>
>>
>> On 5/21/10 2:21 PM, Sam Dwyer wrote:
>>
>> This may prove of interest:
>>
>>  *Why Diaspora Will Fail*
>>
>> http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/05/21/diaspora-social-network-fail-kickstarter-facebook
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  On May 21, 2010, at 6:44 AM, Jon Ippolito wrote:
>>
>>
>>  On May 14, 2010, at 8:00 AM, idc-request at mailman.thing.net wrote:
>>
>> From: Andreas Schiffler:
>>
>> I wanted to post a quick link that would allow anyone who is fed-up with
>> Facebook's continuing path of commercializing the social graphs of its
>> users to fund the development of an open source distributed replacement:
>>
>> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr
>>
>> Seems like a worthy goal and technically feasible (although I admit that
>> I won't be donating, since I don't have a use for such a service).
>>
>>  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":
>>
>>
>> http://www.nmdnet.org/2010/05/18/your-guide-to-the-facebook-revolt-of-2010/
>>
>>  Best,
>>
>>  jon
>>  ______________________________
>> Still Water--what networks need to thrive.
>> http://still-water.net/
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Lilly Irani
> University of California, Irvine
> http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lirani/ <http://www.ics.uci.edu/%7Elirani/>
>
>
>

-- 
Lilly Irani
University of California, Irvine
http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lirani/
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