4 ms·

That bigger is always better seems to be a concept culturally possibly most valued in the US. But what if the “bigger is always better” mantra is actually wron

That bigger is always better seems to be a concept culturally possibly most valued in the US. But what if the “bigger is always better” mantra is actually wrong? (Many fallen empires come to mind.) Maybe it’s an overall healthier state of affairs to have less concentration of power? So maybe Europe is just fine?

tpush 5y ago
But the chief problem for (tech-)corporate Europe isn't that power is concentrated less than in the US. It's that Europe has less absolute or nearly no power in areas that matter a lot for their society.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  >It's that Europe has less absolute or nearly no power in areas that matter a lot for their society. Bingo. For example I, a European worker, wake up in the morning by the alarm sound of my US developed phone who's software and services are also developed in the US. I then power up my US developed laptop and use a US designed OS and read and reply to emails using a US developed solution part of an office suite also made in the US. During work, I deploy my work, which helps people book flights, to a US developed cloud solution. After work I text my friends on a US developed messaging solution and at the pub one friend keeps posting pictures to a US developed social media platform and another swipes through photos of potential mates on a US developed dating platform. Hell, even when I want to use online banking or online government services I'm still relying on mostly US tech to get the job done. How the hell is this absolute dependence on US tech not scary for Europe's sovereignty is beyond me. If the US wanted to flex its power for shits and giggles it could just ask the Microsoft, Apple and Google to turn off their services in Europe for a couple of hours and send Europe to the stone age.
  - pwlb 5y ago
    That sounds like a view from last century. FAANG multinational, sovereign companys and they are interested in money and are not interested in losing their userbase. moreover a lot of these companys have offices in europe as well, so part of these solutions are developed in europe as well. having the HQ in one country is only one aspect of a company
    - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
      Of course that scenario would never happen, I was being overdramatic to prove a point, but do you think the US has no idea of how much leverage it has over Europe being so dependent on US tech? It's a new kind of soft power. Why do you think China blocked US tech giants from operating there and support it's local players instead.
Rexxar 5y ago
Additionally, current market valuations are so irrational that I don't see how we can conclude anything by looking at them.
- SomewhatLikely 5y ago
  Was the picture (European under representation) significantly different at any point in the last 30 years?
  - Rexxar 5y ago
    The global fortune 500 doesn't use market capitalization and the picture is quite different : https://qlik.fortune.com/global500/ https://qlik.fortune.com/global500/
ksec 5y ago
Ignoring Tech. Energy, Telco, Retail and Banking are all concentrated in a few companies in US. Comparing it to EUR you see it is spread across at least dozens of companies. Some of them private. ( like Ikea ) Unfortunately the list doesn't allow you to sort by Industry. But you can easily see larger number of Top 100 are Tech companies. Nearly Half of the Top 20 are Tech companies if you include Tesla. Then there is the Tech / US stock market value differential. So EUR aren't really doing that bad. Not to mention half of your 5G equipment are from EUR. Ericsson and Nokia which has a low market cap but fairly high importance. I am not an Open Source advocate by any definition. As much matter of fact I think I prefer to use something like Shared Source as in Unreal Engine. But anyway since tech will be the infrastructure of any modern society, I would not be surprised if one day, OS, and basic form of Software are all Open Source.

tpush 5y ago

But the chief problem for (tech-)corporate Europe isn't that power is concentrated less than in the US. It's that Europe has less absolute or nearly no power in areas that matter a lot for their society.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
>It's that Europe has less absolute or nearly no power in areas that matter a lot for their society. Bingo. For example I, a European worker, wake up in the morning by the alarm sound of my US developed phone who's software and services are also developed in the US. I then power up my US developed laptop and use a US designed OS and read and reply to emails using a US developed solution part of an office suite also made in the US. During work, I deploy my work, which helps people book flights, to a US developed cloud solution. After work I text my friends on a US developed messaging solution and at the pub one friend keeps posting pictures to a US developed social media platform and another swipes through photos of potential mates on a US developed dating platform. Hell, even when I want to use online banking or online government services I'm still relying on mostly US tech to get the job done. How the hell is this absolute dependence on US tech not scary for Europe's sovereignty is beyond me. If the US wanted to flex its power for shits and giggles it could just ask the Microsoft, Apple and Google to turn off their services in Europe for a couple of hours and send Europe to the stone age.
- pwlb 5y ago
  That sounds like a view from last century. FAANG multinational, sovereign companys and they are interested in money and are not interested in losing their userbase. moreover a lot of these companys have offices in europe as well, so part of these solutions are developed in europe as well. having the HQ in one country is only one aspect of a company
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    Of course that scenario would never happen, I was being overdramatic to prove a point, but do you think the US has no idea of how much leverage it has over Europe being so dependent on US tech? It's a new kind of soft power. Why do you think China blocked US tech giants from operating there and support it's local players instead.

Rexxar 5y ago

Additionally, current market valuations are so irrational that I don't see how we can conclude anything by looking at them.

SomewhatLikely 5y ago
Was the picture (European under representation) significantly different at any point in the last 30 years?
- Rexxar 5y ago
  The global fortune 500 doesn't use market capitalization and the picture is quite different : https://qlik.fortune.com/global500/ https://qlik.fortune.com/global500/

ksec 5y ago

Ignoring Tech. Energy, Telco, Retail and Banking are all concentrated in a few companies in US. Comparing it to EUR you see it is spread across at least dozens of companies. Some of them private. ( like Ikea ) Unfortunately the list doesn't allow you to sort by Industry. But you can easily see larger number of Top 100 are Tech companies. Nearly Half of the Top 20 are Tech companies if you include Tesla. Then there is the Tech / US stock market value differential. So EUR aren't really doing that bad. Not to mention half of your 5G equipment are from EUR. Ericsson and Nokia which has a low market cap but fairly high importance. I am not an Open Source advocate by any definition. As much matter of fact I think I prefer to use something like Shared Source as in Unreal Engine. But anyway since tech will be the infrastructure of any modern society, I would not be surprised if one day, OS, and basic form of Software are all Open Source.