Mark Zuckerberg Scoffs at Tim Cook’s ‘People are Products’ Claim

Back in September, Apple CEO Tim Cook launched a veiled attack on sites like Facebook that are free but carry ads. Cook claimed that “when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product.” He expanded on his point, saying, “I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money. And if they’re making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried.”

Now, Chief Executive of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has hit back. He defended his company’s operating strategy, saying, “A frustration I have is that a lot of people increasingly seem to equate an advertising business model with somehow being out of alignment with your customers.” Then, in a direct swipe at Cook’s company, Zuckerberg said, “What, you think because you’re paying Apple that you’re somehow in alignment with them? If you were in alignment with them, then they’d make their products a lot cheaper!”

Zuckerberg summed up the ideology of Facebook: “Our mission is to connect every person in the world. You don’t do that by having a service people pay for.”

Source: The Verge