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The last point in the article hits the nail on the head; power is being centralized in these large tech giants. It's not so much that they are inherently bad, b

The last point in the article hits the nail on the head; power is being centralized in these large tech giants. It's not so much that they are inherently bad, but it's that there are quickly becoming no alternatives.

close04 8y ago
At some point they will be regulated like utilities. Which they might as well be in the future. In the meantime imagine your electricity provider cutting your power because you gave a bad Yelp review to one of the people individually producing solar power and distributing it through the provider's grid. Or some other similar scenario.
- beamatronic 8y ago
  It seems like this has some overlap with the recent Supreme Court bakery decision. Do you have a right to get a cake baked? To stay in a hotel? To get electrical service?
  - vccc 8y ago
    The bakery wasn't a monopoly. On the contrary, it was specifically sought out among many bakeries to make a point. Also, the court decision was quite vague, tailored to a specific case and left future rulings open.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - FireBeyond 8y ago
      > The bakery wasn't a monopoly. On the contrary, it was specifically sought out among many bakeries to make a point. Citation? This is the first I've heard of this. Certainly, of course, there were multiple bakeries in the area, but I've never heard that the bakery was specifically chosen because they knew that it would reject the order, and they'd go to court over it. That's not described in any of the court filings or news articles I've seen.
    - wool_gather 8y ago
      > it was specifically sought out among many bakeries to make a point. According to the Denver Post, it was recommended to the couple by the person planning their reception: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/04/charlie-craig-david-mullins-whats-next/ https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/04/charlie-craig-david-mu...
      - timr 8y ago
        FTA: “The only reason that we chose Masterpiece Cakeshop was it was in close proximity to our reception restaurant,” Craig said. “The person helping us plan that had used them in the past.”
  - darpa_escapee 8y ago
    Supreme Court didn't make a decision on whether or not it's legal to refuse service.
- dunpeal 8y ago
  I don't see any clear path for Big Tech to be regulated like utilities. Certainly not in the US. The internet itself is still not even close to being regulated as a utility, decades after it became indispensable for our lives. So Google or Amazon? How would that even work? This is a tough problem, and I don't think it's going to be solved so easily.
  - close04 8y ago
    I think the path is there, we just don't really know how long it takes to get to that point. I gave electricity as an example because at some point is was also just a service provided by a private company to people who had alternatives. So it's perfectly conceivable that in 10-20-50 years such services will be considered utilities. Electric, gas, water, sewage, trash, these all became utilities. The internet itself might also become one. Or some of the services relying on the internet like mail, shopping, accommodation, etc. I expect it will take a while though.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    You’d only need California to do it, due to their economy size and influence. Disclaimer: I am an investor in an Airbnb compliance management startup
- spraak 8y ago
  > At some point they will be regulated like utilities. Like the internet is? Oh...
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  I hope so, but given the current political climate in the US, I'm not confident.
cabalamat 8y ago
> power is being centralized in these large tech giants. It's not so much that they are inherently bad As power becomes more concentrated, abuse of that power gets more likely.

close04 8y ago

At some point they will be regulated like utilities. Which they might as well be in the future. In the meantime imagine your electricity provider cutting your power because you gave a bad Yelp review to one of the people individually producing solar power and distributing it through the provider's grid. Or some other similar scenario.

beamatronic 8y ago
It seems like this has some overlap with the recent Supreme Court bakery decision. Do you have a right to get a cake baked? To stay in a hotel? To get electrical service?
- vccc 8y ago
  The bakery wasn't a monopoly. On the contrary, it was specifically sought out among many bakeries to make a point. Also, the court decision was quite vague, tailored to a specific case and left future rulings open.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - FireBeyond 8y ago
    > The bakery wasn't a monopoly. On the contrary, it was specifically sought out among many bakeries to make a point. Citation? This is the first I've heard of this. Certainly, of course, there were multiple bakeries in the area, but I've never heard that the bakery was specifically chosen because they knew that it would reject the order, and they'd go to court over it. That's not described in any of the court filings or news articles I've seen.
  - wool_gather 8y ago
    > it was specifically sought out among many bakeries to make a point. According to the Denver Post, it was recommended to the couple by the person planning their reception: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/04/charlie-craig-david-mullins-whats-next/ https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/04/charlie-craig-david-mu...
    - timr 8y ago
      FTA: “The only reason that we chose Masterpiece Cakeshop was it was in close proximity to our reception restaurant,” Craig said. “The person helping us plan that had used them in the past.”
- darpa_escapee 8y ago
  Supreme Court didn't make a decision on whether or not it's legal to refuse service.
dunpeal 8y ago
I don't see any clear path for Big Tech to be regulated like utilities. Certainly not in the US. The internet itself is still not even close to being regulated as a utility, decades after it became indispensable for our lives. So Google or Amazon? How would that even work? This is a tough problem, and I don't think it's going to be solved so easily.
- close04 8y ago
  I think the path is there, we just don't really know how long it takes to get to that point. I gave electricity as an example because at some point is was also just a service provided by a private company to people who had alternatives. So it's perfectly conceivable that in 10-20-50 years such services will be considered utilities. Electric, gas, water, sewage, trash, these all became utilities. The internet itself might also become one. Or some of the services relying on the internet like mail, shopping, accommodation, etc. I expect it will take a while though.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  You’d only need California to do it, due to their economy size and influence. Disclaimer: I am an investor in an Airbnb compliance management startup
spraak 8y ago
> At some point they will be regulated like utilities. Like the internet is? Oh...
s73v3r_ 8y ago
I hope so, but given the current political climate in the US, I'm not confident.

cabalamat 8y ago

> power is being centralized in these large tech giants. It's not so much that they are inherently bad As power becomes more concentrated, abuse of that power gets more likely.