[po]

I don't think you're wrong per-se… I think that's one way of looking at it and is the way preferred by most people. It's nice to be a customer. You have power and control.

In this case, I would argue that you're bartering your attention for a service. To me the word customer implies an exchange of money - almost by definition. As I mentioned in my raw materials comment, Google turns around and sells your attention to advertisers: their real customers. They need you, but not in the same way they need their customers.

I voted your comment back to 1. I don't agree with your viewpoint, but I don't think it's a wrong viewpoint.