Mon 15th Feb 2021
There is a saying within corporate ranks, and elsewhere, that suggests something created or invented, may well be a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
Is Gemini one of these solutions too?
The problematic elephant in the room is the WWW, it is a problem because it is run by a few interested stakeholders, namely Am*z*n, G**gle, Fa*eb**k, M*cros**t and other such nefarious companies who's only goal is to make money, and lots of it. So the WWW is a problem, but only a problem for those that can see it's a problem, for those that don't know what JavaScript or super-cookies are then it probably doesn't seem to be a problem, even though it is.
Not only do the aforementioned companies want all of your money, they don't stop there, they want all of your data too, so they follow you around the WWW like a crazed stalker, watching and recording everything you do, or don't do.
So Gemini can be added to the list of centralised internet spaces that can be a sanctuary from these monsters, but is it in any way useful, or is it just a bunch of nerds doing nerdy stuff?
In it's infancy, Gemini just looks like a lot of people uploading a test page with a link to their friends test pages and a few links to their HTTPS:// 'real' sites, maybe a bit like Geo-cities in the 90's? There doesn't seem to be a search engine or site aggregator (maybe there is and I haven't found it), so this would severely limit it's usefulness as a place for sharing information, because as a text-only service, information is its only use as far as I see things. And if it did become popular, very, very popular, then the demonic big tech companies mentioned earlier would jump on it and destroy it too, much as M*cros**ts cancerous tentacles are slowly infecting the Raspberry Pi Foundation with their blood money.
So, what's the point? I guess for now it's fun, I can use my TTY to browse part of the internet that is populated by like minded people (for now) and I can write pointless ramblings that no one will read.
2020 was obviously a very strange and challenging year for most of humankind, the WWW became an essential thing rather than a play thing, and sadly the big tech have seized on this to further their death-grip on things, so for now Gemini is a welcome distraction from the dangerous WWW and I wish it well and a long future.