The Ice Cream Isn’t Free
September 3rd, 2010 by ComputerBob
The old saying says, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
In my experience, that’s almost always true, and, in many areas of life, most people are wisely skeptical of anyone who offers them something for nothing.
But millions of people throw caution to the wind and eagerly jump at the chance to utilize “free” online services — with little concern for the fact that those services almost always come with hidden, long-term costs.
An organization called “Consumer Watchdog” has set up a Web site to educate people about the costs of Google’s “free” services — and to ask for people’s help in petitioning the U.S. Congress to create a “Do Not Track Me” list.
But there are mixed reviews of Consumer Watchdog’s campaign. Here’s what the BBC and PCMag and PCWorld and Wired are saying about it.
And here’s Consumer Watchdog’s controversial new animated video of Google CEO Eric Schmidt that’s currently running twice each hour on the giant screen in New York’s Times Square.
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Tags:
Consumer Info, Ethics, Google, Internet, Law, Rights, Security, Video