So the thesis of the article is that these 5 are permanently entrenched; that none will be run out of business (in the medium term I agree just because of size)

So the thesis of the article is that these 5 are permanently entrenched; that none will be run out of business (in the medium term I agree just because of size) and that no new ones will arise (really?). The explanation is that these ones each control a network-effect-driven platform (and that network-effect-driven platforms arose only during a certain time period). They list the network-effect-driven platforms: desktop (MS), web search (Goog), mobile OS (Goog, Application), online advertising (FB, Goog), cloud (Amzn, MS, Goog), shipping (Amzn), and "human relationships" (FB). This thesis is absurd. By that theory, Google is fully dominant and Apple is about to fall out of the club. The idea that no new network-effect platforms can arise is unstated and unsupported. I usually expect better work from the Times.