『Over the last twenty years, four technology giants have inspired more joy, connections, prosperity, and discovery than any entity in history. Along the way, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google have created hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs. The four are responsible for an array of products and services that are entwined into the daily lives of billions of people. They’ve put a super computer in your pocket, are bringing the internet into developing counties, and are mapping the Earth’s land mass and ocean. The Four have generated unprecedented wealth ($2.3 trillions) that, via stock ownership, had helped millions of families across the planet build economic security. In sum, they make the world a better place. The above is true, and this narrative is espoused, repeatedly, across thousands of media outlets and gatherings of innovation class (universities, conferences, congressional hearings, boardrooms).
However, consider another view.
Imagine a retailer that refuses to pay sales tax, treat its employees poorly, destroys hundreds of thousands of jobs, and yet is celebrated as a paragon of business innovation.
A computer company that withholds information from federal investigations, with the support of a fan following that views the firm similar to a religion.
A social media firm that analyzes thousands of images of your children, activates your phone as a listening device, and sells this information to Fortune 500 companies; a firm that was warned by the president of the United States that it was targeted by foreign actors yet refused to take responsibility and is easily used by our adversaries as a Trojan horse to defraud the United States.
An ad platform that commands, in some markets, a 90 percent share of the most lucrative sector in media, yet avoids anticompetitive regulation through aggressive litigation and lobbyists.
This narrative is also heard around the world, but in hushed tones…』*
Amazon’s founder is a good story teller. He persuaded investors the need to do a lot of innovative experiments and no need to earn money in short period of time, making Amazon be able to leverage huge capitals with almost no cost. High level of automation, using lots of robots, in Amazon’s warehouse logistics and last-mile delivery creates imminent challenge to millions of low-wage earners who works in stock taking, teller counters and shipment.
Facebook meets our instinct need on social with others. Facebook analyzes what you click, what you like and what you post, ending up knowing you much better your other half. Facebook knows what you need and what you want, no wonder it can do the advisement and sales so targeting and effective. We post and write for Facebook for free in exchange for meeting our social need which creates addictive behaviors that we are always coming back to it.
Google is nowadays a God to all of us. You can search and find answers to all questions you may have. We trust Google results so much as to believe whatever we find by Google is correct and right. Google accounts for 92% of search market. If it’s not a monopoly, what is it? God is a monopoly as long as we believe.
Apple’s market share in the smart phone global market is only 14.5%, but it reap 79% of the profit. Almost everyone likes the elegant and simple design of iPhone. By vertical integration, Apple develops and deploys software for you, and provides you hardware and Cloud service as well. It manages and controls your customer experience down to every details. iPhone debuted in 2007, devastated Motorola and Nokia, and shed 10,000 jobs. Wow…
Is it worth giving so much ourselves, creating monopoly like Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple, and they eventually weakened or eliminated competition and dominated our market, and our lives.
It’s time to think about breaking them up to smaller businesses.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Is it also applied to powerful conglomerates? The Four are likable businesses and trust most people don’t think they would corrupt. But, who knows what would happen in the future.
*：《the four, the hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google》，by Scott Galloway
2020/10/2 the four Damakey
