monday quote: software is not neutral

Zadie Smith: Why Generation (NYRB, Nov 25 2010 issue)

Software is not neutral. Different software embeds different philosophies, and these philosophies, as they become ubiquitous, become invisible.

“You have to be somebody,” Lanier writes, “before you can share yourself.” But to Zuckerberg sharing your choices with everybody (and doing what they do) is being somebody.