5
Tech Giants that Continue to Dominate the World We Live In
The five largest American tech companies are Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. Each of these giants have growing economic, social, and political power not only in the United States, but all over the world.
Between
them, they control the world’s most important tech, including smartphones, app development
and app stores, and social media networks. The influence these five tech giants
have is arguably stronger than that of any government. This is nowhere near
more evident than in the testimonies of executives from Google and Facebook,
admitting in front of Congress how the algorithms embedded in their technology
and the platforms themselves may have been used to influence the 2016 election.
There
are some who describe the power that these companies have as dangerous.
Admittedly, these five corporations have grown to be so big that they’ve literally
altered so many aspects of the world we live in. The difficulty in this growing
power is that there may not be any real way to stop it from happening or even
mitigating the consequences.
Tech
can change Society in Unexpected and Messy Ways
Though
tech developments have led to some of the most wonderful interventions in
history, it does have a dark side. Having 5 massive tech conglomerates, it does
provide some good in at least knowing that this is not necessarily a
one-company-rules-all situation. That said, modern communication is really
dominated by these five brands. Thus far, they’ve been able to be held
accountable and seem to communicate genuine interest in ensuring their power is
used for positive purposes. That said, the negatives that have come with these
five companies are difficult to ignore for some segments of the population that
are prone.
These
5 Tech Giants Don’t like Each other at all
The
worried among us who are a little apprehensive about these five huge
conglomerates can rest easy knowing that they don’t really work together and,
in fact, really don’t like each other in some cases.
They
rarely work together on projects and have largely remained competitors with one
another. All five invest in unique areas and largely, each has remained in
their own lane. Google specializes in search, Facebook in social networking
features, and Amazon in e-commerce
shopping. They may battle for new markets and tech but once a winner is
decided, these giants are quick to re-invest and move on to other battles. In
terms of any real one-world monopoly, as of today, there doesn’t really seem to
be a plausible argument for it.
It’s
Kind of “the American Way”
These
companies have risen to power, in part, due to the American system of business.
All five of these companies are based and controlled out of the United States,
though tomorrow’s giants may be from China, India, Russia, or Europe. For now,
this has more positive implications than negative as these corporations are
allowed to grow domestically while internationally they have faced increased
regulation as foreign-owned corporations.
The
problem is rather complex. Or, to some, there is no problem. What all of us can
acknowledge though is that there are 5 big corporations who have major
influence over the world. Largely what the future holds for tech and digital marketing,
to an extent, are within the hands of these companies. Their efforts to capture
and govern more power are moves that must be weighed and supervised.
