> That all has to be replaced. Yup...over time, just like it is ALREADY replaced over time. But let's assume I accept everything you stated without quibble.

> That all has to be replaced. Yup...over time, just like it is ALREADY replaced over time. But let's assume I accept everything you stated without quibble. I feel like we've lost the point of this thread. Yes, ANY large company vanishing would have a large impact. The more widespread the current influence of that company, the larger the impact. But we weren't discussing "does MS qualify as a company with widespread influence". We weren't saying "I bet I can name a large company that could vanish without notable impact". Someone made the assertion that Amazon is somewhat unique in the results of theoretical vanishing. Even if Amazon ISN'T unique in this regard, the consequences of Amazon vanishing and MS vanishing are very, very different.