So to see if computers in general are a useful tool, we can take the lack of computer as the implicit reference for computer utility, and see how computers benefit or not to mankind, comparing the result and cost. Once properly programmed, computers can do quickly and cheaply large amounts of simple calculations that would have required a large number of expensive human beings to manage (which is called ``number crunching''); and they can repeat relentlessly their calculations without committing any of those mistakes that humans would undoubtly have made. When connected to ``robot'' devices, those calculations can replace the automatic parts of work, notably in the industry, and relieve humans from the degrading tasks of chain work, but also control machines that work in environments where no human would survive, and do all that much more regularly and reliably than humans would do. Only computers made possible the current state of industry and technology, with automated high-precision mass production, science of the very small, the very large, and the very complex, that no human senses or intelligence could ever have approached otherwise.

the competitive advantage of many of today’s popular centralized platforms is their data silo, and the fact that their service depends entirely on access to that data.

This paradigm of storing everything in a place we control is fundamentally different from the centralized one, and has several beneficial consequences for users. It improves privacy, since you can say whatever you want about anything, without having to disclose this to Facebook or anyone else. This positively impacts freedom of speech and goes against censorship (with all of the associated consequences and debates). The flexible access control can be used in any way imaginable: even individual likes or comments could only be visible to certain people, groups, or applications—and you can change those permissions at any time. All this is what it means to truly be a data owner.

Front and Center