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My ambivalent take: Lot's of the big tech is just user interfaces (Uber, Airbnb, even Netflix). There is some utility in better interfaces - but overall their
by zby 7y ago
My ambivalent take:
Lot's of the big tech is just user interfaces (Uber, Airbnb, even Netflix). There is some utility in better interfaces - but overall their market power comes from squeezing the suppliers (see https://stratechery.com/2017/defining-aggregators/ https://stratechery.com/2017/defining-aggregators/ and my assimilation of it: https://hackernoon.com/aggregators-bffd36063a72 https://hackernoon.com/aggregators-bffd36063a72). This is a market inefficiency and it will be eventually fixed somehow.
But it is not everything - because we can automate more and more stuff beside user interfaces, this will grow.
- kochikame 7y agoUber and Airbnb are more than just user interfaces. They actually unlock economic potential that was previously left unused. It's not like all those cars and drivers and spare rooms were being used for anything else before, or offered through some other "interface" I'd argue that they created both the supply and the demand, so in effect an entire market. That's rather more than an interface
- zby 7y agoI agree that they do unlock some economic potential - but still they are just user interfaces. They don't own any of the physical facilities and they don't do any sophisticated computations - all they do is matching offers and that is just user interface. User interface is not rocket science. They did unlock some economic potential and they have been rewarded for this - but the equilibrium state is when return on investing in Uber and investing in a physical facility (a car used as taxi or for Uber) is the same. An app (Uber market cap $40B) cannot be worth more than a factory (Ford market cap $9B) forever, because app is easier to produce and if it is worth more now - then this attract competition that will drive this down.