[namsral]

I think Brin is being somewhat of a hypocrite.

User data should roam freely between services and shouldn't be locked-in.

But asking Facebook and Apple to open-up their core products is like asking Google to publish their search algorithm or publish the profiles of all their advertisers.

[gbog]

> asking Facebook and Apple to open-up their core products is like asking Google to publish their search algorithm

Nobody ask Facebook to open-source their algorithm or other fabrication secrets. What we should be asking them is to allow users to choose to open doors in the walls.

I, as a Facebook user, would much prefer getting the few baby pics I receive there from some friends directly into any "social content client" of my choice. I wrote something about it there: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104035200377885758362/posts/EWjN...

I am no Apple product user, but if I was I would require Apple to allow me to have full ownership on the files I store on the gadget, and I would require to be allowed to install manually any app I choose to install, however "harmful" it may be to my user experience.

[namsral]

Maybe I haven't been clear enough.

> Nobody ask Facebook to open-source their algorithm or other fabrication secrets.

No, but Google isn't interested in algorithms. Facebook's main asset are user profiles and Google wants to use them free of charge in order to sell more ads. No sane company is going to share its main asset with other companies, let alone free of charge.

Now Google is playing the "everything should be open" card to make Facebook and Apple look bad and force them to share their main asset. But has Google opened-up their main asset?

Unless they open-up their search algorithm, Google's main asset, they shouldn't be blaming other companies for not being open.

That's why I think Brin is a hypocrite. And user data should be free to roam despite everyone's stance.