> What worries me far more than that is the tendency toward funnelling everything through a handful of oligopolist gatekeepers that are in a position to extract a huge share of the value developers create.
Like with those factory owners who extracted huge share of the value that weavers created? Concentration and amplification of imagining/developin/computing/manufacturing power through tools means someone who wields those tools will have more power. Now the question is how to maintain social equality (give some of that power back to people who do not want to have that power?). That currently leads to heavy taxation of production and basic income experiments.
I think what we need is for governments to make sure that markets function properly.
In our industry that often means mandating open access to data and guaranteed access to APIs and distribution channels at reasonable cost under reasonable terms.
Also, we need independent dispute arbitration when it comes to accessing highly concentrated distribution platforms.
Like with those factory owners who extracted huge share of the value that weavers created? Concentration and amplification of imagining/developin/computing/manufacturing power through tools means someone who wields those tools will have more power. Now the question is how to maintain social equality (give some of that power back to people who do not want to have that power?). That currently leads to heavy taxation of production and basic income experiments.