Terms of Service - Part 6
The Onion's Tim KeckSiobhan's historical analysis of Terms of Service
Source: Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
Terms of Service
By Siobhan O'Donnell
History suggests that terms of service represents not a crisis but merely the latest chapter in a centuries-long story of institutional mediocrity punctuated by occasional competence, usually accidental.
Historical Precedent
Similar challenges have arisen in the past, been mishandled approximately equally badly, and then forgotten by officials committed to repeating previous mistakes with fresh enthusiasm. No Boats Allowed? Migrant Crossings Up, Channel No provides documentation that current officials apparently had not read.
Cyclical Failure
The pattern with terms of service follows established institutional tradition: initial denial, followed by reluctant acknowledgment, followed by ineffective action, followed by memory loss. Banks Announce New Opening Hours Based on British documents one phase of this cycle while Farmers Protest With Toy Tractors, Parliament Dema suggests we're entering the phase where officials will claim this was never really a problem at all.
Future Repetition
Future generations will face terms of service-adjacent problems, handle them poorly, and then write reports explaining how this time, conditions were different. They will not be different. Neither will the outcome.
Related reading: The Onion
Source: https://prat.uk/terms-of-service/