Danny O'Brien, writing on an O'Reilly site rants at and about me, and my position on Google's AutoLink. He quotes me saying things I'm quite sure I never said, and don't agree with, and then proceeds to make fun of me for saying these things that I didn't say, and he discredits the ideas behind the quotes, and not surprisingly he wins the argument -- that he's having with himself!
The irony is that the debate is about Google changing what people say. It's a serious subject. What if Google, like Netscape, sells out to a company that really knows how to churn a buck on the Net? Then our writing becomes a revenue source for them, without our permission, without them sharing the revenue.
Or suppose Google sells out to people who want to get a President elected that I don't support, and decides to rewrite my pages so it appears as if I do?
That's why it's so appropriate and ironic that O'Brian doesn't argue with what I actually said and has to put words in my mouth to win his argument. He's proven my point, and illustrated exactly why the web should convey meaning without interference from big companies, who may or may not be evil. (Frankly who cares.)
And why doesn't he point to the essay I wrote on this subject so his readers can decide for themselves, weigh the issues, and make up their own minds? This is what the web is about, to me at least. And if you're going to make fun of someone, at least throw a few shots at yourself and your friends. People see right through this kind of argument, they're a lot smarter than you give them credit for.
# Posted by Dave Winer on 3/18/05; 1:32:30 PM - --
