Yesterday I was in a lot of pain and it had nothing to do with the fact that I fell off my bike and may have broken my arm or torn an elbow ligament. Rather, It was because I tried to sit through a congressional hearing on Antitrust that saw the leaders of Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google get grilled awkwardly by members of Congress who don’t know the first thing about technology. A shit show the likes of which has not been seen since the 2005 Congressional witch hunt on steroid use in baseball.
Watching it all unfold I began to fear what might come next. Will the Big Four face fines or other legislation targeting their business practices or would the final outcome be much, much worse. Could they even get broken up out of fear that they have become too big for their own good, too big for the betterment of society as a whole?! The way the railroads were once broken up.
I sure hope not. Because I believe that the Big Four can do more good than harm. Yes, Facebook does copycat the best features of their competitors and buy up anyone that’s perceived to be a threat to them just like they did with Instagram. Yes, Google does have the ability to influence search results even if they don’t do so intentionally. Yes, Amazon does put mom and pop shops and brick-and-mortar stores out of business. Yes, Apple does control which apps make it into the App Store. Yes, tech conglomerates on a whole could be a threat to democracy if left unchecked. Our privacy is definitely very much at risk and competition certainly faces an uphill battle. The scales could be tipped in either direction at a moment’s notice. No question about it. There is risk here. Congress is right to be at least a little bit suspicious.
But at the same time I feel like these companies also do a lot of good or at least have unlimited potential to do good. Facebook connects the world which is more important now than ever before since families are separated by a global pandemic. If virtual reality ever goes mainstream we’ll probably have them to thank. Meanwhile, Google can predict what we want before we even know we want it. If we get Driverless cars we’ll have them to thank. Apple may control the App Store but it’s also a platform that lets millions of small businesses reach larger audiences. The same goes for Amazon’s platform which enables sellers to reach millions of customers. Thousands of companies rely on Amazon’s infrastructure and Cloud Computing Services. Any forthcoming breakthroughs in AI and robotics will likely have their fingerprints all over it. All in all, these four companies are the heart and soul of the Internet. It’s upon these four pillars that the rest of the foundation of the world wide web rests.
Do they need oversight? Probably? Can they be trusted to oversee themselves? Probably not. But is the meddling of Congress right now the right answer? I don’t think so. At the end of the day I think we should let these tech companies do what they do best. Compete fiercely, innovate passionately, and relentlessly push each other in an epic tug-of-war that pulls all of mankind alongside them to new heights. If we interfere now out of fear of the unknown we may miss out on something truly great.
Leave the Big Four alone?
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