I remember the sheer awe when I first learned there was a huge open web outside of AOL. I'm sure people nowadays are aware of the rest of the web, but if the draw is minimal, they will likely get stuck in the same loops of well-trodden space.
A lot of the same people who kept that AOL walled garden alive, just migrated to Facebook. To them Facebook is the web, the restaurants they like are there, the tired celebs they worship are there and whatever crazed conspiracy theories someone told them at work or at church are under Facebook News. It's comfortable and I agree with you and like how you phrased it as "the same loops of well-trodden space."
I dont think they re worried much about that anymore , people always return, they ve established their position. OTOH, it would be nice for google to have some serious competition on the web, esp. considering that FB has a great NLP AI team.
> "According to legend, upon hearing of Colt's entrance into the lever-action rifle market, Winchester began to develop a prototype revolver to compete with Colt's market. A "gentleman's agreement" then followed between Colt and Winchester, with Colt agreeing to drop production of the Burgess and Winchester abandoning its plans to develop a revolver. The truth of this story has never been fully verified, and as such, the reason for the Burgess rifle's short production history is unknown.[1][4][5]"
