Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big? • Hacker News Board

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#61

Post by weirdstuff » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:01 PM UTC

wayn3 wrote: post #55

weirdstuff wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To my mind, something as subjective as consumer experience is difficult to objectively measure. I'm not sure what would count as valid evidence.

i believe that happy customers would count as valid evidence. when i use google or amazon, im usually pretty happy with the service they provide. when i have to stand at a walmart cashier for half an hour while the lady has to yell for the manager because she needs to issue a $1.20 refund, im not as happy. when I have to go to the library of alexandria to find a piece of infomration that im looking for but then they…

Right, but how to measure that?

For example, do we know a company's customers are happy because the company has grown to be large?

Like Comcast. Comcast has a lot of customers, maybe they're happy ones? Otherwise how did Comcast grow to that size? (See what I'm hinting at?)

There are different interpretations of Comcast's success at customer growth and retention.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#62

Post by RubyPinch » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:01 PM UTC

nickpp wrote: post #46

jondubois wrote: post #14

I agree they should be regulated. The world is a better place with lots of smaller companies. These big companies turn regular people into corporate livestock to serve the wealthy. If you were to analyze Facebook as if it were a country, the wealth gap among employees would be atrocious - The top 1% would own maybe 99% of the wealth of the country and everyone else would earn a minuscule fraction of the total value t…

And yet to protect your precious rights and freedoms from the greedy and evil corporations, you turn to the government - the biggest monopoly there is...

Can we vote on the governance of facebook and google like we do with the government? (where every person's vote is equal)

if so, where can I register to freely vote

edit: since it doesn't seem clear, my comment is sarcastic

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#63

Post by petra » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:01 PM UTC

l5870uoo9y wrote: post #39

devuo wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, only very large companies are able to make a certain class of investments in infrastructure and services — that push technology and society forward as a whole — that small to mid companies due to lack of capacity never could, and governments due to lack of vision and political will never would.

The capital requirements are generally low in the tech sector compared to traditional industry.

Not really. Search engines, Warehousing infra-structure, operating systems, compute clouds, marketing to achieve critical mass are pretty expensive.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#64

Post by yalogin » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:03 PM UTC

Are the existing laws enough to regulate them though? The anti competition laws don't apply here as all of them are competing in the same space and all of them are huge.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#65

Post by maehwasu » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:03 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #52

virmundi wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At that point the pool is mirroring a large corp. while it's still in the small so to speak, it has the same ends and reaction to the same stimulus

With the major difference that the ultimate decision-making power would be more widely distributed.

That's not necessarily a good feature.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#66

Post by gramstrong » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:03 PM UTC

Kenji wrote: post #27

jondubois wrote: post #14

I agree they should be regulated. The world is a better place with lots of smaller companies. These big companies turn regular people into corporate livestock to serve the wealthy. If you were to analyze Facebook as if it were a country, the wealth gap among employees would be atrocious - The top 1% would own maybe 99% of the wealth of the country and everyone else would earn a minuscule fraction of the total value t…

I think your comparison of companies with states is really far fetched. An employment contract is completely different from citizenship. The freedom of speech comparison is particularly odd, obviously if you are a trouble maker in your company, they rightfully conclude that your value to them decreases.

Agreed. People can talk freely. People can also be dismissed freely. Freedom of speech, freedom of market.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#67

Post by cwyers » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:03 PM UTC

Piccollo wrote: post #9

therealmarv wrote: post #3

Two words: too late.

One word: yes.

The avalanche has already begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#68

Post by jimmywanger » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:05 PM UTC

RubyPinch wrote: post #62

nickpp wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet to protect your precious rights and freedoms from the greedy and evil corporations, you turn to the government - the biggest monopoly there is...

Can we vote on the governance of facebook and google like we do with the government? (where every person's vote is equal) if so, where can I register to freely vote edit: since it doesn't seem clear, my comment is sarcastic

Sure, it's called the stock market. You buy a share and you get a vote.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#69

Post by slice_of_life » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:05 PM UTC

jondubois wrote: post #14

I agree they should be regulated. The world is a better place with lots of smaller companies. These big companies turn regular people into corporate livestock to serve the wealthy. If you were to analyze Facebook as if it were a country, the wealth gap among employees would be atrocious - The top 1% would own maybe 99% of the wealth of the country and everyone else would earn a minuscule fraction of the total value t…

I can't take it anymore! I have to speak out.

>The top 1% would own maybe 99% of the wealth of the country and everyone else would earn a minuscule fraction of the total value that they produced.

What is up with all this egalitarian nonsense? There is an obsession with equality that I just don't get. Where is all the envy coming from(because that's what it is)?

This is an affront on capitalism which has served to lift so many out of poverty. It is unacceptable in my books.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#70

Post by amelius » Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 5:06 PM UTC

devuo wrote: post #35

jondubois wrote: post #14

I agree they should be regulated. The world is a better place with lots of smaller companies. These big companies turn regular people into corporate livestock to serve the wealthy. If you were to analyze Facebook as if it were a country, the wealth gap among employees would be atrocious - The top 1% would own maybe 99% of the wealth of the country and everyone else would earn a minuscule fraction of the total value t…

And yet, only very large companies are able to make a certain class of investments in infrastructure and services — that push technology and society forward as a whole — that small to mid companies due to lack of capacity never could, and governments due to lack of vision and political will never would.

It depends on the perspective of what "large" means.

If "large" means "rich", then you are right.

However, if "large" means "comprised of many employees", then this is not necessarily true.

So perhaps a first good step is to put a limit on the number of employees. This also enforces a "modular" style of working, where companies can more easily be swapped for other companies, and more reuse of "company-modules" can happen.