Another example of this can be found in WebTV's seemingly benign decision to make its keyboard optional. But by including a remote, not a keyboard, as the standard controller for the unit, WebTV discourages writing. The suggestion here is that typing is just a subsidiary part of online life, something the power-users like to do, while the rest of us mindlessly point and click. While you can type in any URL, the place at which you do this is notably difficult to find, and again you're only going to use it if you buy the optional keyboard. Commercial services such as America Online have always hawked their own material.
Search engines give preferential treatment to sites that pay for top billing.
Even browsers are being linked to certain content. Yes, you'll still have access to the whole Web, but increasingly the pages of individuals, nonprofits, and small commercial outlets will be lost in cyberspace. Without the brand recognition or the advertising budget to compete with the Disneys and Microsofts, they'll be about as prominent as the outcasts on public access cable or ham radio. Which isn't to say that the Net will be worthless. And now there's nothing to it.