They said that Facebook

[Suff]

I have a Very smart phone. But I don't have a facebook account any more so no issues there. It is connected to google play but only because I can't do much of anything with it without that account. Just as well I have a google account I don't use very much....

They say that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well money also corrupts and huge sums of money leave the corrupted unrecognisable.... Such is the Internet now.... A great idea, a great ethos. Taken over by money.

The funny thing is that for the first time people really have control over this. They don't have to go to another shop, drive miles out of their way to avoid those who bought up and closed down their favourite stores. All they have to do is simply jump onto google and find another i-home......

The fact that people don't want to, is just a reflection of society today. Or maybe most people were just like that and it wasn't so visible because you could never chart what billions of people were doing without spending billions of £. I see Apple marketing and Apple customer loyalty as a large indicator of that. Most Apple users wouldn't even know that Apple has 25% of the phone market and that Android has 50%. Or that Apple only has the largest share of the smartphone market in the US, Android has a much larger share in the rest of the world.

A friend of mine, during a recent discussion, said to me. "But you were never a follower of others were you?". He was right, I don't.

[Workingman]

"But you were never a follower of others were you?". He was right, I don't.

And here's another. But the sheeple are out there, and they will quite happily give away any and every aspect of their lives if they are asked nicely, or lead to believe that it is necessary for them to be 'connected'. My sympathy for them is non-existent.

[Suff]

Perhaps it's a lack of understanding on both sides WM?

Most people think that because the internet is on the other side of a pay for service, that it is somehow trustworthy. Of course there are exceptions to that such as aggers who is where we were 15 years ago. I still can't change my date of birth on my Yahoo. Why would I need to change it? there was no way, 6 months after Yahoo started, that I would give them my real date of birth. They were untrusted. There ARE many places which are trusted on the web. Possibly even more than untrusted. However the requirement is to learn the skill to differentiate. This is something people, with no interest in the technology they use, fail to do, over and over and over again.

Much of the original Wild West, drive by rip off, has changed, but still, people seem to think that a presence on the internet confers legitimacy. As with much technology people simply don't want to know as it "gets in the way" of living their lives. If people actually spent 5 hours looking to do what the scammers do, they would understand the very low entry cost to the scam artist. Quite literally as low as £50 and a few weeks of effort to create a very authentic looking website with certificates of authenticity. Much less than the cost of the suit of the sharp dressed man down the pub saying "I've got a really great deal for you".

Because of the sheer scale of the internet, scammers can reach out to so many people, there will always be a new fund of people who haven't bothered to do simple due diligence and that money drives technology and sites which can also trap those who are not wary enough.

I wonder how many Facebook users actually know that all you need in order to reset the online purchase pin of your credit or debit card, for most issuers, is the physical card and the D.O.B of the person????? Steal the wallet, maybe the bag containing the cards and the phone, then you are 90% of the way there if the person has an unguarded facebook account. Or, god forbid, an unlocked phone with stored account details for facebook, google, etc.....

But of course it is the "legitimate" enterprises who are some of the worst offenders. Give me $70 and I'll send you message right to the celebrity you want. Never mind the fact that the mailbox of said celebrity is managed by a spotty geek or an overweight man in an expensive suit......

Never before has the saying "many a mickle makes a muckle", been so true as in the Internet age.