4 ms·

Reminds me of a quote I once heard (but can't find now) about Ford or GM, that they aren't an automobile company but rather a finance/loan company.

• taneq 8y ago
  Kind of like big mining companies aren't actually mining companies, they're finance and investment companies. The actual mining is done by contractors three or four tiers down in the contract stack.
  • quickthrower2 8y ago
    No company is a what it actually does company.
    • sah2ed 8y ago
      > No company is a what it actually does company. Or perhaps that companies, like individuals, have facets. Someone calling Google a search engine company is no more correct than you saying they are an advertising company, technology company etc, or in a negative sense, a monopoly. Each of these epithets refer to the same entity, it's just that each emphasizes a particular trait over other traits for the point being made. A regulator is more much more likely to use "search engine" in conjugation with "monopoly" to characterize Google than with the term "technology company" since their goal is to highlight a potential case of abuse that is known to stem from such market power.
    • taneq 8y ago
      True, but I'd phrase it as "no big company is actually a what-you-think-it-is company."