[soylentcola]

Only in the sense that I'm the "product" of broadcast television, terrestrial radio, and my local free alt-weekly.

Calling someone a "product" is a great way to make a flippant jab at a company but as far as a product is something a company produces, it's just not the case.

Google, like these other companies, produces useful (to many at least) services. The way they make money on this is by selling ad space or access to my eyeballs and earholes. So to claim that users are simply "product" is misleading at best. Their "product" for me is webmail, search, navigation, and file hosting. Their "product" for other companies is space where they can reach potential customers.

So in this sense, like countless other media and information companies, access is one of their products and information services make up their other products.

[malka]

> Only in the sense that I'm the "product" of broadcast television

Well, yes you are. Some years ago, a CEO of french television said that his business was to sell "available brain time" to advertisers.