The Apple and the Sandbox - Different Rules for Different Operators

Please folks bear with me as I attempt to set this discussion up.

I’m sure by this point we’ve all seen and read about the unfortunate picture of some of our warriors posing with the SS colors in Afghanistan.  If not you can gander and read about it here,  http://ow.ly/91hZq. 

I’m equally certain most of us have at least heard about Apple manufacturer Foxconn’s child slaves and “inhumane” working conditions; you can read about this fiasco here http://ow.ly/91i4y

And finally, this week our Air Force announced it plans to purchase 18,000 iPad2 for flight crew use, details here http://ow.ly/91iap.

So establishes the variables for my question.

How can America (our military and government - politicians and bureaucrats) investigate and probably punish those warriors who sacrifice everything for us, for posing in front of a flag representing torture, death and oppression?  While simultaneously that same military and government plans to hand over somewhere around $8,982,000 to an organization, Apple, that we know for a fact directly funds torture, death and oppression, of children no less?

Does this seem absolutely absurd, even within the context of the military and political bureaucracy, to anyone but me? It really seems like this is yet another instance of our political masters holding our troops to a standard they could never hope to nor even bother attempting to maintain in their own conduct?

I’m interested in your thoughts and insights?

GOOGLE’S SOCIAL MEDIA PLAY – OR – HOW FACEBOOK PANICKED AND KILLED SOCIAL MEDIA

So I’ve been reading the unending whining going on about FaceBook’s recent changes. My favorite, from a friend likening the New FB to New Coke; and if you remember that you’re both old and probably in marketing.

And I thought, hey I liked New Coke, holy crap does this mean I’m going to like the new FB?  Probably no danger of that, but I do feel bad for FB and you can quote me and mark this point in technology history… “This is the beginning of the end for FaceBook and maybe even the death of the socialized web as we know it.”

There I said it.  FACEBOOK is killing itself and this latest round changes are a symptom of the disease.

The changes are not going kill Facbook, but the fact they were scared, pushed, forced choose your excuse, and ultimately were willing to make these changes tell me FB has done a couple things that signal it no longer believes in itself.

First by responding to Google+ launch by making sweeping changes at launch tells me they fear Google far too much for their own survival and second, by allowing Google to dictate a change FB is surrendering its market leadership position to Google or anyone else with the digital balls to take it.

So there it is, Facebook helped create our present version and vision of social media and the socialized biosphere… it helped create a modern technology revolution no less significant than the World Wide Web itself.

And while no one can discount Google’s mad rise to power nor debate its willingness to wield and continue to acquire and hoard its information power, FaceBook was a social biosphere apex player… no one was above it and it had the power which can only come from numbers of real users.

So shame on you FB for surrendering to the Madness that is Google’s desire to gather, hoard and miserly distribute information to us, the poor wretched and huddled cyber-masses.