Do you remember? When some "thing" we have now existed in the past? Chances are, it was better back then than it is now. Sure, lots of things have improved. Gmail, Ubuntu, cell phone technology - the list goes on and on of the things that we have now and appreciate for their improvements over time. But the things that got better don't stick in my mind nearly as well as the things that got worse. But I don't mean to burden you w/ the responsibility of coming up w/ examples. I got several of them for you right here!
Myspace. Its golden age was among the more brief of the social networks, but Myspace was one of the first (to my knowledge) to really try and socially connect people on the internet in a secular setting. And, for the short time it had a respectable audience, Myspace got things right. It was easy to see what people were up to, post on their walls, share things, and pass things amongst a community of friends. I used Myspace a long time ago, so I can't attest to its privacy rules. My use of Myspace is a distant memory, so perhaps my praise of the site is lacking for that reason.
But we all know where Myspace was headed. The ever-famous "Myspace photo" pose is a classic example of how outdated the social network became. (My point is made all the more poignant b/c "Myspace photo" can mean one of several different picture poses). It became a breeding ground for self-worship & drama. The original intent of Myspace - to help aspiring musicians reach their audience - backfired. Myspace bands carry with them this sketchy "flavor". (This is mostly b/c of all the crappy musicians floating around polluting the Myspace music-air). And of course, nobody likes any of the songs people put as their profile song. The themed skins, annoying decorations, gobs of pictures, and a plethora of other nicknacks made sifting through someone's profile impossible.
Myspace failed. But maybe Big Brother Facebook fared better. What do you think?
Psh. We all know the answer to that.
Many years ago, Facebook had a lot going for it. For one thing, it was exclusive. Only college-attending people could have accounts; you literally had to have a university email account to make a FB profile. I joined during this time. (Before that, only certain colleges were included in the network). A smaller community gave FB a definite edge over Myspace, which had exploded w/ user accounts spanning the gamut of human personalities.
Before all these smart-phone apps and get-rich-quick advertising schemes, FB's interface was slick, lightweight, easy-to-browse, and free of nearly all clutter. Javascript developers had a blast writing all sorts of nifty plugins to enhance the FB experience.
But then Facebook got popular. And w/ that popularity came a need to appeal to a wider audience. Nothing was broken w/ Facebook, but they decided to go on fixin' it. Like their UI: I've never been able to get a handle on the FB interface b/c it keeps shifting on me like France's constitution; since joining, I've seen Facebook go through 4 or 5 interface changes. And not a single one ever solicited user feedback. Not even one of the silly survey monkey forms. I just woke up one day and *BAM!*, new UI. Maybe I'd like it. Maybe I wouldn't. But the user experience never really mattered to Facebook.
Think about it: have you ever tried to solve a problem on Facebook? Suggest a feature? Register a complaint? Receive some kind of human (or automated) confirmation that the feedback you submit is received? More generically: ever tried to contact FB? Y'know, like some kind of Support service? It's impossible! In all my years of using the site, I've never once turned up an email address to which I could send a complaint. Oh sure, there are FAQ's and forums for people to ask stupid questions to make FB look like it's answering concerns important to me. But really, as far as customer support is concerned, Facebook isn't.
One more thing for FB: privacy. Yeah yeah, it's come up now and again over the past couple of years. But the public's concerns about FB don't interest me too much, mostly b/c, if a concern goes public, Facebook will have to change to accommodate it. No, what worries me is the things people don't complain about b/c they don't know better.
I wrote a very lengthy (and awesome) paper on the ethics of FB's privacy architecture. Beyond learning some really cool words and cool terms, I realized that FB isn't going to stop pushing the issue of "sharing more". Everything about FB is designed to go public - all its settings default to "public" or at least "friends of friends" for new accounts. Timeline, FB's newest interface, makes it even easier/enticing to stuff FB w/ more information about you.
And, despite those silly status posts people were making a couple months back to "protect their information from the government" (sadly, I couldn't find an example of it on Google), nothing you put on Facebook is safe from discovery.
But, I'm afraid I've digressed too deeply into my opinions about Facebook. If you want to read my paper, just ask. (Seriously, it's awesome). If I still have your attention, I want to get to the whole point of this post.
Hulu.
Man, Hulu used to be so awesome! Do you remember when Hulu first started? No commercials. Everything free and available. Fast connections that hardly ever needed buffering time. But it got popular. I understand that increased throughput requires higher revenue (a valid justification for commercials). As a company grows successfully (as Hulu has), things have to change. Overall, I approve of Hulu's direction. They've expanded to devices like XBox, smart phones, TV, etc. Their new interface, while difficult to adjust to, sure is nice. And they've got most of the shows I watch. (Nobody's perfect, right)?
But over the years, I've observed a trend of entropy w/ Hulu. For one thing, commercials. Both frequency (Hz) and length (t). Where there used to be one (or no) commercials, there are now at least 3. Instead of 2 or 3 commercial breaks for a 24 minute show, there are 5 or 6 commercials (each at 60s or 90s in length). That could be as much as 9m overhead (~37.5%).
Then, there's Hulu+, Hulu's paid-for-account. It gives you access to all sorts of cool features, the most useful of which is getting Hulu on mobile and external devices, along w/ giving you access to more episodes of the shows they offer (which they used to do for free, but...). But you know what really irked me? Payin' for a Hulu+ account doesn't remove commercials. How does that make sense? If ads are to help pay for a free show-watching experience, where is Hulu+ subscription money going? I'm sure there's an answer to that question, but I really hate ads.
At the bottom line, it's just sad to see such wonderful services on the internet rot beneathe the gaze of a mass of public crying "More! More!". Maybe one day somebody'll get it right. But Myspace, Facebook, and Hulu sure haven't.
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