Innovation as a Product of Free Speech

One of our country's greatest early successes was the establishment of the right to free speech. As a result of this citizens in our country were free to engage in any topic of conversation worry-free that they may be punished by their opinion so long as it did not aim to harm another individual. There are several obvious benefits to this policy including the ability to speak out against governmental tyranny and personal comfort knowing it is allowed to stick up for oneself. Although, one huge benefit that may not be as evident as the others is free speech's role in innovation.

To innovate is defined as to "make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products. To watch a short video describing the definition and importance of innovations click here. Essentially, innovation is the process by which we improve something through new technology or procedure. When promoting a community of high innovation, creativity must be valued. In order for creativity to be valued, it is important for the members of the community to be comfortable when expressing their new ideas. That is why a community of freely speaking people is more likely to be efficient. 

I imagine a world without free speech as a world slow to innovation. While many do not realize it, the citizens of the United States are blessed to witness and collaborate on our country's growing innovation and technology. Throughout history and even today, there have been several nations not allowing the average citizen's involvement in their country's innovation. Like current North Korea, the people living there have no idea of the new technology being made by their government. Their government fears being overthrown and as a result, they create all of the new inventions that benefit their nation. While it may seem unfortunate that their people are robbed of the excitement that stems from the process of innovation, there are other more serious negative repercussions as a result of the lack of free speech there.

All influential products, methods, or technology are the direct result of an idea. Although, ideas do not stand alone as the only thing that drives innovation. It is the acts of sharing ideas, building on top of other ideas, revising, then rediscussing ideas. In short, while ideas may be the birthplace of all great innovation, open communication is the channel by which an idea becomes innovation. So, while many people see free speech as a benefit to only the individual, think about the technology around us and how little of it we would have if its inventors were unable to collaborate. Think about the fact that the United States is one of the most economically competitive countries in the world and also the biggest supporter of free speech because, to me, that does not sound like much of a coincidence. 

Google: In terms of its History and Impact (EOTO1)

Today, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin boast a highly impressive net worth of at least 53 million dollars apiece. This may not come to a surprise to most as these two began one of the most successful and widely recognized companies in the modern era. Holding a current market value of 858$ billion dollars and averaging 3-4 searches per person, per day (in terms of the world population) they are a hard company to ignore. Although, while it may be challenging to look past their current success, similar to most successful companies they stem from quite the humble beginning.

Page and Brin began the powerhouse known today as Google out of their dorm rooms at Stanford University. By maxing out their credit cards and using discounted computer parts they were able to engineer a computer program they named BackRub. This program utilized a data collection system known as PageRank which backtracked links to determine the importance of a page. A few years later the hype of Backrub had officially spread from the academic world into the investors of Silicon Valley. In August of 1998, Andy Bechtolsheim wrote Page and Brin a check of 100,000 dollars and simultaneously the pair decided to change the name of their newly incorporated company. It was here Google Inc. was born and set off with the mission to “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Since then, Google has effectively branched out into several different aspects of the internet, finding success in many different places. For starters, Gmail, the email server created by Google in 2005, is the most popular email server in the world, serving more than 1.5 billion active users. Chrome, Google’s signature web browser, has been installed more than 5 billion times. Youtube, a video search engine created by Google, has over 1 billion videos watched on it a day and is the second-largest search engine in the world (behind Google of course). Finally, Android (launched in 2007) controls around 85% of the mobile operating system market and is the system used on almost every phone not owned by Apple.

As a result of this success, Google has revolutionized the way we see online advertising. This is because of two crucial factors. Due to the massive amount of reach they have into many different areas of the internet, Google is able to track more personal information about consumers than anyone else on the internet. In addition to that, they hold such a popular search engine that everyone wants to use it, and in turn, it becomes the most sought-after place for companies to advertise. Combining these two factors Google is able to place certain advertisements in the place they are most likely to be bought. This leads to Google not only charging large amounts of money for companies to show up at the top of their search results but also Google making high revenue as a percent of sales from these companies. In conclusion, Google effectively plays both sides of the fence controlling the data being used as insight and the location for which the ads are being placed.

The Real Origin of Twitter

The powerhouse known as Twitter is now worth an impressive 5 billion dollars, almost reaching 10 billion in secondary markets. Although in the beginning, Twitter did not seem so likely for success. It all began when Noah Glass created Odeo. Originally designed for podcasts, this company had a small number of investors including a former Google employee Evan Williams. Soon thereafter the company seemed doomed when Apple announced they would include a podcasting platform on Itunes that was built into the millions of Ipods they were set to sell.  At this time, Evan Williams, the new CEO of Odeo decided podcasting was not in their future and pushed his 14 workers to brainstorm for other ideas. Then Jack Dorsey, one of his workers, came up with the idea of sharing statuses.

In 2006 the idea was presented to the rest of the company, it included a system in which one could text a single number and have it broadcasted to all of their friends. Twitter or "Twttr" at the time was slow to take off and Williams became nervous. After Glass took charge of the project he presented it to Odeo's board and no one paid any attention. It was then Williams wrote a letter to the Odeo investors claiming "to feel bad" that two months after its launch it only had 5,000 registered users and he offered to buy back their stock in Twitter. 

The investors agreed and Williams bought out all 5 million of their combined stock in Odeo and Twitter. Unfortunately for those investors just 5 years later those stock were worth at least 1,000x more, 5 billion. Whether Williams did it on purpose or not once he bought the company, Twitter took off and the rest was history. Business Insider

The Silence of Anti-War Voices

After browsing through AntiWar.com as well as The American Conservative I have come to realize how developed these writers and media platforms have become. There is a surplus of fact-checked information, research, and articles to be read through on both of these websites. Although, one thing I found peculiar was the lack of mainstream media coverage these platforms get. I have never seen either of these websites advertised anywhere else, and I have also never seen any of the writers that made these articles write for anything else.

Then I began to think that there has to be a reason for this weird coincidence and it hit me: there is no money to be made during peaceful times in our country. I have come to realize the sad truth that a lot of different companies and people make money off war yet no one makes money from times of peace. As a result of war, there are several businesses that flourish. All the companies that supply the military with their equipment and weapons make large profits. All gas and electric companies that fuel and power our military see an increase in business. Even the politicians that win the war get looked at as heroes for doing so.

Although it is the sad truth, war is a time for profit and whether it is ethical or not there are a lot of powerful people who want war to happen so they can make money. So, next time you come across a strong Anti-War voice and you wonder why it is not on the real news ask yourself this: Why would CNN want to air a story against the war when they have more news to cover in a time of war?