3 ms·

AT&T is a tech giant in precisely the same sense that Google is.

themagician 8y ago
AT&T controls infrastructure and has a monopoly in certain geographic areas. Google does not. Google has a monopoly on search, but that’s about it. There are alternatives though, some of which are as good or better in many ways.
- ghostly_s 8y ago
  In any meaningful sense, search is infrastructure now. So is email, etc.
- basilgohar 8y ago
  Google dominates search, but also dominates e-mail, mobile devices (less so, but still a major player), and is heavily involved in many other tech verticals. That they dominate isn't the problem. That they are leveraging their hegemony across all of these verticals to drive their main source of revenue, advertising, is where the concern comes. The fact is it is nearly impossible for a non-entrenched player to enter into the market without either being drowned our or bought-up by one of the big players is where the monopolistic concerns arise.
lotsofpulp 8y ago
Some people have no choice but to use ATT, it's the only way to get internet into their home. I can do everything I need to without Google, but not ATT.
- AlexandrB 8y ago
  > I can do everything I need to without Google, but not ATT. I'm betting that you actually cannot. If you blacklisted Google's domains many sites would be inaccessible or broken due to reCaptcha, Google-hosted fonts/scripts, or ad-blocker blockers.
  - lotsofpulp 8y ago
    That's true, but it feels different than owning the only telecommunications cable going into homes. I would actually classify wired and wireless internet providers as utilities since the capital costs are so enormous it's impossible for a new supplier to enter the market, but that may apply to Google too.
- stochastic_monk 8y ago
  I have some (more bio, less cs) colleagues who only distribute and edit in google documents. I don’t think avoiding all google services is exactly trivial.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

AT&T controls infrastructure and has a monopoly in certain geographic areas. Google does not. Google has a monopoly on search, but that’s about it. There are alternatives though, some of which are as good or better in many ways.

ghostly_s 8y ago
In any meaningful sense, search is infrastructure now. So is email, etc.
basilgohar 8y ago
Google dominates search, but also dominates e-mail, mobile devices (less so, but still a major player), and is heavily involved in many other tech verticals. That they dominate isn't the problem. That they are leveraging their hegemony across all of these verticals to drive their main source of revenue, advertising, is where the concern comes. The fact is it is nearly impossible for a non-entrenched player to enter into the market without either being drowned our or bought-up by one of the big players is where the monopolistic concerns arise.

lotsofpulp 8y ago

Some people have no choice but to use ATT, it's the only way to get internet into their home. I can do everything I need to without Google, but not ATT.

AlexandrB 8y ago
> I can do everything I need to without Google, but not ATT. I'm betting that you actually cannot. If you blacklisted Google's domains many sites would be inaccessible or broken due to reCaptcha, Google-hosted fonts/scripts, or ad-blocker blockers.
- lotsofpulp 8y ago
  That's true, but it feels different than owning the only telecommunications cable going into homes. I would actually classify wired and wireless internet providers as utilities since the capital costs are so enormous it's impossible for a new supplier to enter the market, but that may apply to Google too.
stochastic_monk 8y ago
I have some (more bio, less cs) colleagues who only distribute and edit in google documents. I don’t think avoiding all google services is exactly trivial.

deleted 8y ago

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