The optimist in me applauds Facebook for the effort to provide basic data access to the developing world.
The pessimist in me wonders if this is simply a brilliant strategy by Facebook to acquire the 4.5 billion people who aren't currently connected without having to compete with others. What's different between this and getting rid of net neutrality aside from side stepping the government entirely and doing it under the premise of helping the world become a better place?
The realist in me guesses that they probably see both sides and consider it a win/win scenario. I mean, wouldn't you?
No I wouldn't. I've hoped too many times that this kind of monopolist-but-beneficial scheme would work for the best, only to be consistently disappointed that the company behind it will use it only for its own interests when it's in a bad situation. And then everyone wonders "why did we let this happen?" Yeah...
The pessimist in me wonders if this is simply a brilliant strategy by Facebook to acquire the 4.5 billion people who aren't currently connected without having to compete with others. What's different between this and getting rid of net neutrality aside from side stepping the government entirely and doing it under the premise of helping the world become a better place?
The realist in me guesses that they probably see both sides and consider it a win/win scenario. I mean, wouldn't you?