Many years ago, I viewed a movie called, “ A Streetcar named Desire “ [ starring Marlon Brando ]
Its latest version is Facebook but it would be better to call it a Greed
Ship ( a Space Ship ) than a car [ starring Marc
Zuckerberg ]
A earth-bound car and a space-ship move in different
dimensions and vastly different speeds
But why call Facebook, a Greed
Ship ?
Because it’s greed for advertising
revenue, is unlimited
Here are contextual figures :
Ø In
2019, Facebook’s Advertising Revenue reached $ 69.6 Billion ( 98.5 % of
its total income )
Facebook's average revenue per user also significantly increased in the same
time
[ Facebook's advertising revenue worldwide from 2009 to 2019 ]
Ø It is estimated
that advertising spending worldwide will surpass 560 billion U.S. dollars in
2019
[ Global
advertising spending from 2010 to 2019
]
That means, Facebook garnered some 12.5 % of World spend on advertising
And here is India’s contribution to online advertising :
Online ad revenue of Facebook and Google in India
rose to Rs 11,500 crore in FY19, the filings reviewed by BloombergQuint showed.
Of
this, the search engine behemoth clocked Rs 9,203 crore from ads compared to Rs
6,389 crore in the previous fiscal while the social media giant garnered Rs 2,233 crore.
With over 1.3 billion people and about 500
million internet users, digital advertising in India—the fastest-growing
advertising market in the world—is expanding at a faster pace than any other medium.
According
to a report by Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd., online ad spend is expected to reach Rs 28,249 crore by 2022—up from Rs 13,683
crore in 2019.
[
Indian
Entities Spent $1.6 Billion On Facebook And Google Ads In 2018-19 ]
Here
is what Peter Diamandis writes in his 2020 book,
“ The Future is Faster than You
Think “ [ page : 118 ] ,
“ ….the global advertising industry surpassed $ 550
billion, driving Google’s valuation north of $ 700 billion and Facebook’s above $ 500 billion. The reason for this
spike is that these numbers are based on our data and the trail left by,
Ø Our
searches
Ø Our
likes and dislikes
Ø What
we desire
Ø Who
our friends are
Ø What
we ( and they ) are clicking on these days
But with a blitzkrieg of TECHNOLOGIES converging on the
industry, advertising will continue to change. First, it’s likely to get a little more
invasive and a lot more personal “
Within a few months of
Peter’s Prediction, Facebook is out to prove him right, by launching :
Announcing Project Aria: A Research Project on the
Future of Wearable AR / 16
Sept 2020
As expected, this
innocuous-sounding announcement says :
Ø Project Aria glasses
are not a consumer product, nor are they a prototype. They won’t display any
information on the inside of the lens, and research participants cannot view or
listen to the raw data captured by the device.
Ø Again, we are not
releasing this device to the general public and it won’t be for sale.
The announcement goes on to list
measures adopted for DATA
PRIVACY PROTECTION , at :
https://about.fb.com/realitylabs/projectaria/
But
critics would rather believe Peter Diamandis than trust Facebook !
Following is one article re “ potential
misuse “ of Project Aria VR Glasses :
Facebook’s Project
Aria Is Google Maps — For Your Entire Life
Dave Gershgorn ( 18 Sept 2020 )
Ø Facebook can already see
almost every aspect of how the world uses the internet, through its ad tracking of users and nonusers on and off its site.
Project Aria would add a physical dimension to Facebook’s omnipotent gaze.
Ø If the project goes
according to plan, the final result would be a live, 3D map of the world, constantly updated and refreshed by people walking around with AR headsets
loved ones, pictures of any sensitive documents or communications you might
be looking at with the glasses on, passwords — literally your entire life.
Ø The product and research
decisions made by Facebook right now can
determine whether Facebook is actually creating a distributed surveillance panoptic on.
Ø Who
has access to see the data from this live 3D map, and what, precisely,
constitutes private versus public data ? And who
makes that determination ?
Ø Faces might be blurred,
but people can be easily identified without their faces. What happens if law
enforcement wants to subpoena a day’s worth of Facebook’s LiveMap?
Ø One thing is for certain:
If the company handles this platform the same way it’s handled Facebook.com, we’re in for a lot of trouble
===================================================
Have
no doubt re the INTENTIONS of Facebook , notwithstanding its public
pronouncement re Data Privacy Protection
No
company would spend millions of dollars just for the sake of “ Research “ .
Sooner – than later – it wants to make money through “ Commercialization “ of
that research . And Facebook is no exception
Without
doubt, dozens of other companies ( notable being, Google – Microsoft – Apple –
Amazon – Tesla – Baidu – Softbank etc ), are working on equivalent of Project
Aria
Stakes
are huge
Whoever
succeeds first with such technology packed / AI driven / light weight and cheap
, AR / VR Glasses, can expect to earn billions of dollars by selling these to
police departments of governments around the World . And may be, millions of
students who cannot attend classes due to Covid pandemic
Oculus Quest 2 was launched a few days back, priced at $ 299
. It is meant for gaming
It is only a matter of a few months before a
Chinese Company starts selling one for $ 100
Governments around the World are debating :
How to stop Social Media from un-authorized (
and FREE ) collection of PRIVATE PERSONAL DATA of its users – then make tons of
money by selling it to advertisers ?
Answer :
IN LONG TERM :
With dozens of Project Arias popping up all
around the World , I don’t think we can totally STOP this of snooping and
collecting of PRIVATE DATA , beyond 5 years
IN SHORT TERM :
If
there is a political will on
part of our Central Government, we can, most certainly REGULATE the Social
Media, by quickly implementing :
Digital Dividend from Demographic Data [
4 D ]………………….....[ 14 Feb 2019 ]
SARAL ( Single Authentic Registration
for Anywhere Login )…[ 10 Feb 2019 ]
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 22
Sept 2020
================================================
Related Readings :
To curb fake news and hate speech, first regulate digital
media, Centre tells Supreme Court
Context :
Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Zinc join IIT-M bid to develop Zinc-Air Battery
https://lnkd.in/ewpCH3G.
============================
On Battery Day ( 22 Sept ), Elon Musk has promised to make a " Mind Blowing " announcement - most likely upgrade of Li-Ion Battery . To know if our Scientists / Engineers will steal his thunder , read :
https://lnkd.in/fcdYamf
https://lnkd.in/frKjw4v
https://lnkd.in/fN8G9tZ
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