Apple and Facebook Go Uncool

Lately Facebook and Apple have both been getting huge backlash for their respective user-unfriendly policies. I'm here to tell you why in a very simple metaphor. It has to do with waves and surfing.

Someone once told me that technology is like waves on the beach. They have their own impetus, and will come rolling into shore inevitably. Inventors of technology are surfers. They don't invent the waves, they surf on them. If they're skilled, they will understand the way the wave moves, how big it is, and how fast it is moving; they can take that information, internalize it, and ride the wave to the top. A talented inventor will be able to do tricks, show off, and ride it in, while capturing the attention of everyone on the beach. A less talented person is either tossed and turned in the surf if they've gone too far into the technology without understanding it, or will have the wave pass underneath them if they don't make a strong enough effort to get into the technology.

What Do You Yell At The Top?

And as the inventor is on the wave, they have the choice of making a loud statement. That statement is unfortunately too often, "I invented this wave!", which is, of course, ludicrous.

They can be the surfer that has the wave ride under them, but as they reach the crest, they can declare, "I patent this wave", and then yell at any surfers who try and ride that wave.

Or, if the inventor / surfer is really clever, they will yell out something like, "Cowabunga!" or "Surf's Up!" and express both the joy of the positive possibilities of the wave, as well as announcing the wave's arrival for other surfers who may not have noticed it yet. We inventors and entrepreneurs ought to strive to be like this surfer.

Apple and Facebook: From Hero to Villain

Now Apple and Facebook, and others like them, assume they invent the waves. Certainly, I'm all for patenting new types of surfboards, and naming new tricks. But when I read some of the patents nowadays, I see things that are so obviously prior art that I can't imagine what buffoonery goes on in the Patent Office. The iPhone's interface is revolutionary in that it was the first to market natural touch interactions successfully. But the ideas and framework for these are documented in countless science fiction movies and television shows. Facebook is just the latest in a long chain of social networking sites, going backwards including MySpace, Friendster, 6Degrees, and others. They stole the status message concept from the success of Twitter. What's really new?

Worse, Apple is cordoning off the beach. "Oh, no, you can't surf that way" cries Apple to Adobe, for Adobe's iPhone developer tool. That's the equivalent of a Walmart telling Nike how to make its shoes that it will be selling in its stores.

And Facebook is selling footage of beach-goers to production studios, without explicit opt-in consent or a share of royalties. That's what's going on now with Facebook's privacy issues. Imagine if UPS could open up your mail, read all of your personal items, unless you specifically told UPS it's not okay? Why are we even having this discussion? Simple, because industry doesn't regulate itself and the government is about a decade behind on understanding there's even a need to regulate things like privacy and copyright online. (And that's understanding the need, let alone figuring out the how-to.)

Trying to Steer The Ocean

The bottom line is that Apple and Facebook are both trying to steer the ocean. Technology advances, and the smart surfers will continue to ride the waves and improve their products. The people who become villains are those who think that they can steer and control the waves to their will. It's not only ultimately futile, but it will piss off all the beach-goers.

As we saw from decades of stagnation from AT&T when it was a monopoly, being in control of a market in telecommunications means an absence of innovation. It wasn't until AT&T was broken up that Internet, broadband, personal mobile calling, cheap international calling, and so on, were able to move forward. Certainly, Apple and Facebook continue to add to their platforms, but the iPhone is essentially the same device it was in 2006, but with tighter restrictions on 3rd party developers. Facebook is the same platform it has been for years, with less privacy guarantees. (Or maybe with Zuckerberg saying people who trust him are "dumb f**ks", there really never was any privacy guarantee.)

Google, you're just a short distance away. With stunts like the Buzz debacle, you'd best be keeping a critical eye on your own policies.

Technology Is Driven by Science, Science is Globally Shared

This is the central point. Science is a global shared effort. Science emits technology like plutonium sheds gamma rays, or The Fonz emits cool. When was the last truly unique, new technology that was invented by an individual company or person, rather than emerging out of an industry of folks trading ideas? Seriously, I can't think of one that isn't hyper-specific, like a method for organizing virtual applications on a mobile device using RF transmission. And that's not a technology, that's an invention.

Inventors tune in on the "waves" of technology and make cool stuff, but they don't invent the underlying technology itself. Show some respect. Realize you're surfers, not Neptune. Show us your surfboard, not your trident. Then maybe you can be cool again. And seriously, the masses of people are a fickle, forgiving sort.

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