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Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

nytimes.com

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Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#161

Post by plushpuffin »

farisjarrah wrote: post #129
wongarsu wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would download all those, but there's also a lot of Google stuff pre-installed on my phone that I wouldn't have downloaded: the Google search bar, Google assistant, Google music, Hangouts, Google+, just to name a few.

Man, that persistent white toolbar at the bottom of the screen is really annoying when I want to check my phone in the middle of the night.

You can install a different home app. I use Nova Launcher, which lets you customize the search bar or remove it entirely.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#162

Post by throwaway082729 »

fowkswe wrote: post #158

If there has ever been a monopoly, those 3 companies are it. I wont speak for social media and search, but Amazon has a complete stranglehold on retail in the United States. People keep saying 'retail is dead', thats bullshit, Amazon has a monopolistic stranglehold on the selling of all goods. If that weren't the case, small shop brick and mortar shopping would still be a thing.

Walmart did too, for a long time. They have had a stranglehold on vendors for vendors and were the first to kill small brick and mortar shopping.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#163

Post by eanzenberg »

wybiral wrote: post #52

Google/Facebook/Amazon have the power to push any startup competition out of the market in ways that are hard to even enumerate. Think about all of the services, devices, and standards that they control. Watching the fanboys defend their favorite tech giant is incredible. These companies are not behaving in the markets or people's best interest and they are way too big, at a scale that dwarfs most of the worlds organ…

As long as those services are profitable and they can outcompete startups then there’s nothing illegal or wrong about that. There’s no right that startups need to survive or have bias to succeed.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#164

Post by wongarsu »

all2 wrote: post #66
untog wrote: post #14

Comparisons will be made to Microsoft and Internet Explorer but to me the really crucial part of this isn't market dominance in the "what app are you using" sense, it's data. Facebook, Google and Amazon really do have an unprecedented amount of data on us. And keep vacuuming up more and more of it. Facebook should never have been allowed to buy WhatsApp (and maybe not Instagram though I'm less concerned about that on…

> Companies with an annual global revenue of $25 billion or more ... Hiding revenue is something multi-national corporations do really well. If I ran a company that had a platform as described, and we were approaching the 25bn mark, I'd find ways to make sure we never crossed that line. Losing IP to what would become a 'public utility' would discourage me from ever trying to develop beyond the 24.9bn mark.

That works to some degree, but there's some point at where it is more beneficial to just spin the platform into its own company and let it be regulated while all your other services can operate freely without having to hide most of their revenue.

Sure, some of your IP moves to a new company that is more restricted in how it can operate. But at least your marketplace doesn't hold back everything else your company is doing.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#165

Post by ocdtrekkie »

partingshots wrote: post #70

To my knowledge, American monopoly laws focus more on the welfare of the consumer and whether customers are being negatively affected rather than the companies themselves. There’s nothing wrong with having a monopoly, but where issues arise is when consumers start to be hurt. In this context, how do Elizabeth Warren’s comments mesh out?

Monopolies are inherently harmful to consumers, as reduced competition means less parties can compete for the best offering, or push to create a better product. The myth that a monopoly "isn't hurting anyone" is nonsense. It's existence is enough, and yes, impacting other competitors negatively directly harms consumers. There has been an outdated focus on price specifically, which is why many free services have evaded the law for so long.

That being said, Warren directly states something tech companies should be competing on: Privacy. An issue with direct consumer impact, that due to monopoly status, these companies have largely not set as a priority.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#168

Post by chmielewski »

I choose not to use Amazon. I choose not to use Facebook.

Very difficult to not interact with Google...

I choose not to use Verizon... however COMCAST is TERRRIBLE and along with Verizon, they have shut down every mom-and-pop ISP and are responsible for the wholesale elimination of robust, in-place copper from the consumer and business markets.

Senator Warren, please add Comcast\Verizon to this list. That would get my vote... either that or slapping Ajit Pai for me next time you see him. Thanks.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#169

Post by clarkmoody »

travisoneill1 wrote: post #19

What is the alleged anti-competitive behavior? The article doesn't mention it. It sounds like she is calling for their breakup merely for being big and powerful, and if that were cause enough to break up an entity we would logically start with the government.

She's a politician. She doesn't need logic behind her statements. Rather, she's tapping into progressive sentiments and trying to ignite her base during primary season.

Re: Elizabeth Warren Proposes Breaking Up Tech Giants Like Amazon

#170

Post by BurningFrog »

geofft wrote: post #58

This is an excellent goal, and Paul Graham has articulated the reasoning pretty clearly: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/886953410356011008 > Here's how to explain to people the distinction between fighting poverty and fighting economic inequality. If you're fighting poverty, you might say "Let's have universal health care." If you're fighting economic inequality, you have to say "Let's have universal health care. A…

But Google (the search engine) is one of the greatest gifts to humanity that ever existed!

That some people made a few $100B on it is nothing compared to the value it's given humanity.

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