Big business bytes

It's amazing that, although online media specifically, and the internet generally, has the potential to be such a democratising force, it is still big business that runs the show.

Reading this article in today's Age, 

www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/murdoch-could-join-microsoft-bid-for-yahoo/2008/04/11/1207856776806.html, I couldn't help but be struck by the massive amount of money that gets thrown around as part of these high-end corporate takeovers. These are two of the world's biggest companies who are trying to control another huge company, Yahoo, which holds the key to information about consumers (through their internet searches and email) and controls much of cyberspace. The internet offers opportunities for anyone who has access to a computer and a modem to contribute their thoughts and views, and yet it still gets taken over by the big boys every time.

I'm reminded of Orwell's 1984. The way everyone was constantly surveyed. We have to deal with consistent surveillance when we are outside our homes, on most streets and in most shops nowadays, and although we don't have video camera surveillance necessarily in our homes these days (like the Telescreens in 1984) we do inadvertently tell Big Brother what we are doing and what we are thinking about by using the internet. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are watching us! Scary stuff.