I can't think of a single industry or segment, whether consumer or enterprise, where 90%+ of the market isn't controlled by 1-5 companies. That's just how business works.
Schooling
Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
181–190 of 350 posts
Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Instead of citing an AI, why don't you cite an actual reputable source? Those facts it ingested and regurgitated no doubt came from somewhere, and you're clearly attempting to use the facts to prove a point. An authoritative source is more helpful than attributing it to [insert ai bot here].
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Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
Instead of citing an AI, why don't you cite an actual reputable source? Those facts it ingested and regurgitated no doubt came from somewhere, and you're clearly attempting to use the facts to prove a point. An authoritative source is more helpful than attributing it to [insert ai bot here].
disagree
Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#184This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…
There's a George Carlin bit about politicians. The punchline is "the problem isn't the politicians, it's the people." His point is that nothing emerges from a vaccuum. Politicians are people just like everyone else, they're just responding to incentives created by a majority vote. Tech companies are just like any other company, except a lot more people are willing to pay for their goods and services. If Carlin were a…
Carlin's comedy peaked during near the era that I think most consider the Golden Age of America. Times have immeasurably changed since then.
On the tech side of things Google has recently been hit by multiple anti-trust lawsuits, and lost them all. That's perhaps even less telling than the evidence presented. They brazenly and actively conspired to kill or buy any and all competition, but they've become so large (and so important to the US intelligence agencies) that they'll get nothing more than the most gentle slap on the wrist, relative to their scale. The moral of the story seems to be don't cheat, but if you're going to cheat - cheat relentlessly, ruthlessly, and take it to an extreme - and it might just become worth it.
Politics has become similar. Politicians have become way better at their jobs in modern times than in Carlin's era. Their "job" of course is just to get elected. It turns out that actually having a platform or popular ideas is far less useful than making people hate and fear 'the other guy' enough. When you rely on hate and fear, people will even actively vote for people they despise simply because 'it's the lesser evil.' With modern politicking even Reagan-Mondale would have still been a 50/50 coinflip and Regan would be an imminent threat to American democracy, and Mondale would want to turn your kids gay. Actually if we reached the modern era of divisiveness and stupidity in Carlin's time, there's a real chance America, certainly as we know it, wouldn't even exist today.
Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#185This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…
All mature markets eventually end up with 3-5 competitors dominating the market. I don't really see this as an issue. I also disagree that it's a net negative. Technology adds convenience to these markets and as long as the government isn't price-fixing through strict regulations, we also end up with better prices. We've seen some of the prices increase after the government decided to regulate the hotel markets. They…
mature markets end up 3-5 competitors because further mergers end up blocked. capitalism would otherwise allow them to contract to a single player. So I'm sure that's one government control that you'd agree is worthwhile.
Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#186Isn't it funny? Lina Khan and the US government in general blocked all kinds of tech acquisition and merger to the point that companies got creative and as a result many Windsurf employees got screwed. On the other hand, it's totally normal that a handful companies control our food supply chain. And it's totally normal for the federal government to spend $2.5B to revamp a 4/5-story HQ. In contrast, China built Hangzhou Bay Bridge of 36 kilometers for less than $2B. The U.S is starting to feel more and more like the late Western Roman Empire — tangled in the competing interests of entrenched factions, with real reform no longer possible
Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#187One of those companies are available where I live, and I'll never use them, because they make my pick ups insufferable. I have kids, and can see McDonalds from my bedroom window, so I have more McDonalds points than I care to admit. Wolt is pissing me off every time. The amount of time the McDonalds staff needs to dedicate to Wolt staff is insane. They could easily serve twice the customer in resturante/drive-through…
I’ve had this experience specifically with Wolt in Germany: sat in a busy restaurant with sit in diners waiting 2 hours for their meals while the kitchen seemed to be catering for a constant stream of Wolt drivers.
And the real kicker is that of course since this is Germany all the negative reviews have been sued away, including my wife’s very moderate 3 star review. Of course German restaurants will claim it is libel if you write that you had to wait for your food
Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#188This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…
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Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#189Isn't it funny? Lina Khan and the US government in general blocked all kinds of tech acquisition and merger to the point that companies got creative and as a result many Windsurf employees got screwed. On the other hand, it's totally normal that a handful companies control our food supply chain. And it's totally normal for the federal government to spend $2.5B to revamp a 4/5-story HQ. In contrast, China built Hangzh…
> Lina Khan and the US government in general blocked all kinds of tech acquisition and merger to the point that companies got creative and as a result many Windsurf employees got screwed. On the other hand, it's totally normal that a handful companies control our food supply chain.
Lina Khan's FTC also successfully sued to block the Kroger-Albertsons merger...
Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market
#190Can someone help me understand how many companies are generally needed for healthy competition, as opposed to a market being considered fragmented or monopolistic? To the untrained eye, having 5 players might seem like a reasonable level of competition and suggest a functioning market. Personally, I’ve always seen food delivery as a premium service rather than an essential one — so it makes sense that there's a higher cost for the convenience of having a burrito delivered to your door in near real time.