My fear is this -- once Google has control of the web, they can turn off huge parts of it for whatever reason, however thoughtless, and without disclosing why. They might say they would never do it, but I've seen them do it with Google Reader. #
Their intentions might be fine and it might not be on their roadmap, but capturing RSS and then shutting it off probably wasn't on their roadmap either, until they decided to do it. Then it was on their roadmap. 💥#
They talk to me like I have no idea how tech companies work internally, but I do. After the next reorg they won't remember any commitments the previous management made. It's like when we change administrations in Washington. Very chaotic.#
That's why the wonder of the web is that it is not subject to the whims of chaotic corporate management. Now, I suppose at some point it will be owned, and then after that it will be shut down. That's how we lose huge amounts of IP, open stuff, non-corporate stuff.#
It's not surprising that a big corporation has little respect for stuff developed outside big corporations, but that was and could continue to be the glory of the web. It was amazing all those years ago, the freedom to do whatever you thought of doing. (It's what made Google itself possible.)#
I would like future generations to have that ability too. But next year's roadmap from Google will make the web more like AOL and the one after that, more and so on.#