The Earth Is Round ...Information       
   
        In 1995 Jeff Bezos sold his first book on Amazon.com. He shipped it from his garage in Seattle.

   Amazon wasn't about books. It was about using customer data to offer personalized service. Once the company amassed a customer profile based on book preferences, it could use that information to sell customers most anything. 

        For six years critics watched Amazon fail to make a profit. It's strategy paid off beginning in 2001, and now Amazon is the No. 1 retailer. 

   Google, Apple and Facebook also ballooned on the power of information. A blogger in USA Today wrote, "Now your devices have turned into tools for governments and corporations to keep tabs on you." 

   For Christians, the concerns may be moral and political, writes Janie B. Cheaney in WORLD magazine. 

   A fired Google staffer filed a class-action suit against the company, calling out the "culture of group think." He notes required seminars in approved opinions, put downs of Caucasian males, denigration of Christians and Republicans, and harassment of any employee who dares express non-Google views. 

   Google, Facebook and Apple are imposing their ethics on the public, Cheaney writes. Apple has removed some Christian apps from its online store. YouTube (Google) has blocked certain videos. Facebook censors decide what gets published. (We think - not sure - our Bible-based blog didn't make the cut Saturday/Sunday. Cheaney says bloggers may be blacklisted.) 

   Editors can manipulate people who are not clear about what they think, she writes. "Know what you believe, and why. Know the truth, and it will keep you free."   

      Jimmy