66. Right versus left, or right versus wrong?

A big-room star on the Sunday of South by South West was Roger McNamee, Silicon Valley Investor turned agitator. If you weren't there you can find out about what he said here and here.

The headline of McNamee's talk was the threat from the tech superpowers, Google and Facebook in particular. McNamee has tried to embody his views by entirely avoiding using Google, which he admits is very difficult indeed. Imagine, no search, no maps, no Youtube!

He's optimistic about alternatives to the big tech companies that are more open, that hold no data, that don't seek to listen through our microphones or see through our cameras. He named names, though its interesting that none of them particularly stuck with me.

It was also interesting that McNamee's visit to SXSW coincided with Elizabeth Warren making an appearance (along with a tranche of other Democratic candidates for the 2020 race). You may not have seen her speak, but you will probably know that part of her policy is a questioning of the power of big tech. She addresses it by proposing to break up the behemoths, as has been done with other monopolistic companies. She starts with splitting apart Facebook from its key acquisitions, Whatsapp and Instagram, making them compete, stopping them from sharing our personal data.

At SXSW McNamee said Warren's proposal was brilliant, and that it shouldn't be a political issue, adding a phrase that brought a round of applause:

'It's not right versus left, it's right versus wrong.'