Say goodbye to the Internet business - Chapter 2

A prior post looked at the Internet infrastructure. Read it here as background for this post. This one looks at Internet services, and Google by example.

The concepts that underlie Web 2.0 have been understood for 30 years, awaiting only the arrival of the necessary infrastructure. Fundamentally, Web 2.0 moves big chunks of expensive software from your personal computer to the web. The economics of moving to web 2.0 are huge and positive. Word processing, spreadsheets, data storage,email processing and storage, and practically everything else happens on servers out there somewhere. All you need is an operating system and a browser. Your computer gets smaller and cheaper. You don't have to buy and regularly upgrade lots of expensive software. What's not to like?

If you haven't looked at the nearly free services available from Google, for example, you're probably missing the whole show. And the economics that sent me there are even more profound for business. Big savings in both time and money.

There is, of course, a fly in the ointment. Your precious, proprietary, sensitive data travels over the public internet and resides on a server that you do not control.

The big problem is the US government. Intelligence agencies with the support of the administration have the muscle to access and share it all. And they don't always act in your best interest. One need only look at the information that emerged 30 years after the death of J. Edgar Hoover to get the point.

In the 21st century matters get worse, Congressional and Judicial oversight is virtually non-existent. The effect is to seriously threaten your privacy, your business privacy, and Web 2.0 business.

What to do? Maintain your business' data on equipment you control? Expensive. Safe until some government agency threatens you with incarceration or extraordinary rendition, all without benefit of Congress, the judiciary, or the clergy. Data outside your campus can be transmitted securely with the proper encryption. Stay current and at least for now you can stay ahead of the spies.

Data held on a server is at the whim of a government. Both Canada and most European governments provide superior privacy protection. How will companies like Google respond? They will move their business, their server farms, their technology and their academic support to Canada, Western Europe, or other supportive jurisdictions.

Kiss the baby goodbye. More from the Canadian press here.