Facebook's new always-listening home appliance kit Portal doesn't do Facebook It's always listening to you and comes from a division of Facebook run by the former head of US military madtech arm DARPA*, so what could possibly be creepy about Facebook's new hardware experiment, Portal? Facebook bills Portal as a video-calling device designed to always be on – making distant friends and relatives more …
Maybe Zuck should have a word with Lord Sugar?
Of course, Sugar's Amstrad made a similar device of its own once upon a time. I actually knew someone who had one of the first-generation devices...
Edit. Here's a better link
M.
It's a common thing here in the comments section to forget *we* are not the target market,
Loads of people will, initially, eat this up. Just like Alexa/google home etc. If it sticks around longer than one iteration is the question.
Just because 'we' think it's mental, doesn't mean the other 8 people in a sample of ten will think it is.
It's a common thing here in the comments section to forget *we* are not the target market,
True.
We are, however, a fairly good representative group of the informed consumer market. Any device we'd have misgivings about should be looked at with rather more suspicion.
Of course, these days, experts etc. no one listens to.
Of course, these days, experts etc. no one listens to.
There aren't any experts any more.
That product we just bought has 10,000 five star reviews, bought from China for ten cents each; the single one-star review came from a guy who bought it for his daughter but she was out when the postman came round.
"It's a common thing here in the comments section to forget *we* are not the target market"
I see this comment from time to time but I don't think it's true, for the most part. Most people here are well aware that they aren't representative of the general public. The comment you're replying to doesn't imply that he thinks he's representative, either. He's expressing genuine confusion about why people would buy this thing, which implicitly admits that he isn't.
All that said, Facebook is consistently losing users, particularly those who are under 30 -- so I think the general public is actually starting to become aware that Facebook is a bad deal and should be avoided.
All that said, Facebook is consistently losing users, particularly those who are under 30 --
They're growing up, starting families, and suddenly realize they don't have time for Facebook. Plus, at that age they pretty much get beyond "here's a pic of today's dinner" or similar stuff.
so I think the general public is actually starting to become aware that Facebook is a bad deal and should be avoided.
Some are becoming aware but only those who read the news and saw the farce in front of Congress and Parliament . The rest, not so much.
"Facebook is consistently losing users, particularly those who are under 30 -- so I think the general public is actually starting to become aware that Facebook is a bad deal and should be avoided."
I suspect that might be more "Argh, my parents are on Facebook now", it's no longer cool.
But it can record the length of the call, who you spoke to, the time of day when you spoke to them, and links to products and events that you mentioned during the call - that's not "listening", that's data analysis.
I assume that it connects to the network via Wi-Fi, so the device can record all network devices in the environment too, if it passes on the network ID's then they can follow both participants after the conversation ends.
Expected weasely words:
> "Facebook doesn't listen to,
... because 'listen' isn't the actual way we refer to computer processing and storage of even more data about you.
>view
Ditto.
>or keep the contents of your Portal video calls,
Because we don't describe them as 'Portal video calls', (We do keep all the data associated with actual video calls', though, or course. And you were so dumb (*) that we fooled you, again, like the utter dumbsters (*) you are).
(*) Or 'dumbfucks,' as our glorious leader famously described you.
Yet.
The FAQ "Does Portal Have Ads?" contains the ominous response:
Portal does not have Facebook ads at this time [emphasis added, but not entirely necessary].
Conveniently, the Portal TOS are not readily accessible - just the improbably "Frequently Asked Questions" for a product that hasn't been released yet - a great example of Pynchon's maxim: "if they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers".
"Facebook doesn't listen to, view, or keep the contents of your Portal video calls," the company said. You can turn off the camera and mic with a double tap, and delete your entire voice history with one command.
I seriously doubt that anything in that paragraph is true... apart from 'the company said' bit.
It also missed out 'process your video calls to extract data' that's different from viewing them etc.
Exactly: when it comes down to it, they really don't care about the actual data stream; it's far too diffuse to justify the bandwidth or storage cost. What they really want is the condensed version that flags preferences, demographic data, economic indicators - the kind of info their ad machine can really use.
There's enough wiggle room in their statement to hide a whole elephant's weight in data gathering and enough bad-faith moves on their part to deny them the barest benefit of doubt.
You can turn off the camera and mic with a double tap
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/22/zuck_covers_mic_and_cam_sharing_not_always_good/
Bets on how long before buy-outs lead to Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, LinkedIn (*), match.com (grindr... toomanyfish... AshleyMadison...), Experian, etc., banks, retailers, political affiliations, etc., etc., etc. surveillance data all belonging to one company...?
And which country will own it? (My money's currently on Vlad's rather than Donny's, based on brain cells. Or maybe others).
(*) Already on the way.
Two fails in one. First fail is that this clearly exists for no reason except that somebody wants subscription fees and marketing data. Second, massively failed computer designs are always displayed in a kitchen. Over-priced, under-powered, enormous computers for your kitchen countertop to help you manage recopies, cook, and send e-mails. Smart appliances collecting marketing information, offering sponsored advice, and giving hackers something to play with. Now here's a video chat application turned into a bulky and expensive appliance...and it's shown in a kitchen with people helping each other cook. Who seriously wants to do that? How did this again come to exist as a marketing segment?!?!
"Portal" looks like a tablet computer with a motorized swivel stand. JUST SELL A MOTORIZED SWIVEL STAND.
"Don't worry citizen.
Winston Smith will edit that out later."
More appropraitely may be a short story (might be by Asimov) I once read based around a murder investigation in the future where everyone communicates via video screens most of the time and it turns out in the emd that the victim actually killed themselves as they were so paniced that someone was about to visit them in person as they'd developed an irrational fear of direct human contact ... with the final twist that visitor turned out actually to have been an android.
More appropraitely may be a short story (might be by Asimov) I once read based around a murder investigation in the future where everyone communicates via video screens most of the time...
It has been a long time since I read Asimov's Robot series (with Elijah Baley and R Daneel Olivaw), but that story sounds like The Naked Sun.
Absolutely agree. This has been tried before, as has already been noted here, and it never took off.
It won't now either because people do like to show off, but on their own terms. They post their lives on Facebook because when they're not on the computer, it does not affect them. This is invasive and forces them to be their show-off selves when they're not ready.
You can take a phone call when you're naked, no problem. With this, you're liable to get a bad surprise when you answer and find that your wife is looking at you wondering why the hell you're in the nude at 3 in the afternoon.
As one of the crusties who's old enough to feel (yes, bizarrely) a little nostalgic for the Cold War—it turns out western societies were, on balance, healthier then than they are now: for every step forward made with PC tolerance, we've made two steps backwards into the internet-fuelled Age of Stupid—I cannot help wondering why anyone with the remotest scrap of intelligence would voluntarily pay money for a microphone to install in their most private retreat, their home.
Once upon a time (and for all I know, it's the same in Putin's kleptocracy today) a conversation with a Russian or an East German might well be punctuated with a brief silence and a finger pointed upwards: which in the language of the times meant, "They are probably listening."
We now live in an era where some western governments have arrogated to themselves spying powers and invasions of privacy which even the KGB and Stasi didn't contemplate. And democracy is more fragile than ever, with populist little-Hitler vermin up on their hind legs from the White House to Turkey and beyond. The large internet companies are notorious for harvesting every fragment of data they can, selling you for a profit, and cosying up to ever more authoritarian governments at every turn, and almost daily acknowledging the compromise of millions of people's private data.
And many of you actually want to install always-on listening devices in your homes? So you can save your poor little tired fingers from a dozen keystrokes ...? Really??
Once upon a time (and for all I know, it's the same in Putin's kleptocracy today) a conversation with a Russian or an East German might well be punctuated with a brief silence and a finger pointed upwards: which in the language of the times meant, "They are probably listening."
Thus, the video part. It will see you pointing and notify the proper people that you have something to hide.
""Facebook doesn't listen to, view, or keep the contents of your Portal video calls," the company said. You can turn off the camera and mic with a double tap, and delete your entire voice history with one command."
Maybe true... the instant he said it. As for the future....it is clear to me that Facebook can and will change the terms of service at their pleasure, and that they will change this policy just as soon as it becomes financially favorable to do so (I'll bet their EULA doesn't have they above statement). You simply cannot trust ANYTHING they say with respect to your privacy because they don't respect your privacy.
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