Op-ed - Written Friday, September 17, 2010 by Naumi Haque - 1 Comment

Apple’s apps | Google’s web: What is the future of the internet?

It happened ever so sneakily-–just as we were celebrating the demise of old media companies and rejoicing in the new freedom of the web, it’s gone. While we were busy thinking the internet revolution would be about free downloads, peer-to-peer content, and enterprising grassroots innovations for all, “The Man” once again seized control. Wired’s recent article, “The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet,” by Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff, sparked my interest and brought to light the idea that maybe the “free web” as we know it was a mere adjustment period during which old empires died and new ones were being created. As the article notes, new vertically-integrated media oligopolies like Google, Apple, Facebook, and others are taking control:

“The control the Web took from the vertically integrated, top-down media world can, with a little rethinking of the nature and the use of the Internet, be taken back.”

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