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This is an extremely naive take. Standards by definition can't innovate at the pace technology is evolving. Successful companies have no choice but to continu

This is an extremely naive take. Standards by definition can't innovate at the pace technology is evolving. Successful companies have no choice but to continuously iterate. Natural Monopolies occur even if it isn't your strategy because of the nature of things. Wikipedia, Craigslist didn't set out to become a monopoly, but it naturally became one. If you don't understand the underlying natural forces that are at force, then you succumb to conspiracy theories like OP. Do company take advantage of the natural forces?. Of Course. Blitzscaling is a business strategy that takes advantage of this. But it is more of, someone will have a monopoly due to natural forces, might as we be us and might as well accelerate that process

PaulHoule 4y ago
Many of the modern monopolists have power that comes from two sided markets. If I was trying to start something like Ebay I would have to get a critical mass of both buyers and merchants whereas if I was just trying to sell a widgets I just need to find 10 customers to buy 10 widgets. By that analysis, Google is a strong company not because of technological virtuosity or because their products are that good, but because they can strongly monetize any product that they make and it is hard for any other ad brokerage to get in because they don't have the inventory. Regulators were slow to catch on to this issue in the critical years, they just didn't see anything wrong with match.com buying all the other dating sites. They are just now waking up to the danger of Microsoft buying Activision which is bad not just because it hurts gamers in the short term but in the long term our noncompetitive domestic markets will lose out to markets like China that are more competitive and make better products. (e.g. we are talking of banning Tik-Tok precisely because Google, Facebook and such will kill any attempt to make an innovative social platform in the US)
- xpe 4y ago
  > (e.g. we are talking of banning Tik-Tok precisely because Google, Facebook and such will kill any attempt to make an innovative social platform in the US) Precisely? Why are you so sure? You are aware of China's ownership, control, ability, and motive to use Tiktok for state purposes, whether surveillance, influence, disinformation, or otherwise. This is the biggest stated risk I've seen across various media (at least what I read; I'm not on Facebook). You disagree? Perhaps you have evidence that the claims above are false? Do you think these claims are manufactured by US social media companies to defend their turf? This would seem the less plausible claim in my view. Three articles, one quite different than the rest: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2022/10/tiktoks-secret-operation-tracks-you-even-if-you-dont-use-it/amp https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2022/10/tiktoks-secre... https://apnews.com/article/technology-china-united-states-national-security-government-and-politics-ac5c29cafaa1fc6bee990ed7e1fe5afc https://apnews.com/article/technology-china-united-states-na... https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/economy/2023/1/26/a-us-state-asked-fbi-for-evidence-to-ban-tiktok-it-declined https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/economy/2023/1/26/a-us-state-a...
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    You are right about the dangers of Tik-Tok but it would not be so dangerous if we had a healthy market here that could keep up with it. It is like the way a fungal infection can be dangerous for an organism that is already badly run down. In the case of games, Genshin Impact for all of it's flaws is a new franchise that is winning players. The other day I was looking at a "top 25 games" list for the XBOX ONE and was kinda shocked that I didn't see any games that I didn't know already (the top 25 list for a Nintendo platform would have some games that would be new to me and get me excited about games) One of the top games was Skyrim which is a good game but was a bargain bin game for the Xbox 360. The rest are all forgettable (in my mind) entries in series like Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Madden NFL, etc. From the outside the western video game industry seems to be putting up healthy revenue numbers but I think it is senescent and has been rotting for some time. A situation like that is very dangerous for our markets being taken over by actually competitive competitors controlled by the CCP.
    - xpe 4y ago
      > You are right about the dangers of Tik-Tok but it would not be so dangerous if we had a healthy market here that could keep up with it. What do you mean by a healthy market in this case? You mean social media, right? Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, NarcissisticScrollParade, etc? What is lacking? I don't mean from a historical particulars point of view (e.g. TikTok found a recipe that seems to work for now); I mean from a structural point of view. What properties of the _market_ are not functioning well? And, to accept your premise for the sake of argument, who can revive the US social media market? China pumps tremendous resources (money, connections, etc) into TikTok. Are you suggesting that a "healthy market" is a good solution to a state sponsored competitor? By "healthy market" what do you mean? If you mean the "free market" as defined by many economists, then we need to recognize the well-known patterns of market failures. What market failures do you see? Perhaps you recognize how nation-states can and do interfere with free markets quite effectively, at least from a nationalistic perspective? The US does it for agriculture. Since at least the Cold War, the US has poured resources (funding, careers) into mathematics and engineering for the benefit of American industry. Let me know where you are coming from? I'm not trying to rehash underlying economic philosophies; we don't have to subscribe to the same economic theories. I'm interested in what you specifically think is happening and why.

PaulHoule 4y ago

Many of the modern monopolists have power that comes from two sided markets. If I was trying to start something like Ebay I would have to get a critical mass of both buyers and merchants whereas if I was just trying to sell a widgets I just need to find 10 customers to buy 10 widgets. By that analysis, Google is a strong company not because of technological virtuosity or because their products are that good, but because they can strongly monetize any product that they make and it is hard for any other ad brokerage to get in because they don't have the inventory. Regulators were slow to catch on to this issue in the critical years, they just didn't see anything wrong with match.com buying all the other dating sites. They are just now waking up to the danger of Microsoft buying Activision which is bad not just because it hurts gamers in the short term but in the long term our noncompetitive domestic markets will lose out to markets like China that are more competitive and make better products. (e.g. we are talking of banning Tik-Tok precisely because Google, Facebook and such will kill any attempt to make an innovative social platform in the US)

xpe 4y ago
> (e.g. we are talking of banning Tik-Tok precisely because Google, Facebook and such will kill any attempt to make an innovative social platform in the US) Precisely? Why are you so sure? You are aware of China's ownership, control, ability, and motive to use Tiktok for state purposes, whether surveillance, influence, disinformation, or otherwise. This is the biggest stated risk I've seen across various media (at least what I read; I'm not on Facebook). You disagree? Perhaps you have evidence that the claims above are false? Do you think these claims are manufactured by US social media companies to defend their turf? This would seem the less plausible claim in my view. Three articles, one quite different than the rest: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2022/10/tiktoks-secret-operation-tracks-you-even-if-you-dont-use-it/amp https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2022/10/tiktoks-secre... https://apnews.com/article/technology-china-united-states-national-security-government-and-politics-ac5c29cafaa1fc6bee990ed7e1fe5afc https://apnews.com/article/technology-china-united-states-na... https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/economy/2023/1/26/a-us-state-asked-fbi-for-evidence-to-ban-tiktok-it-declined https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/economy/2023/1/26/a-us-state-a...
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  You are right about the dangers of Tik-Tok but it would not be so dangerous if we had a healthy market here that could keep up with it. It is like the way a fungal infection can be dangerous for an organism that is already badly run down. In the case of games, Genshin Impact for all of it's flaws is a new franchise that is winning players. The other day I was looking at a "top 25 games" list for the XBOX ONE and was kinda shocked that I didn't see any games that I didn't know already (the top 25 list for a Nintendo platform would have some games that would be new to me and get me excited about games) One of the top games was Skyrim which is a good game but was a bargain bin game for the Xbox 360. The rest are all forgettable (in my mind) entries in series like Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Madden NFL, etc. From the outside the western video game industry seems to be putting up healthy revenue numbers but I think it is senescent and has been rotting for some time. A situation like that is very dangerous for our markets being taken over by actually competitive competitors controlled by the CCP.
  - xpe 4y ago
    > You are right about the dangers of Tik-Tok but it would not be so dangerous if we had a healthy market here that could keep up with it. What do you mean by a healthy market in this case? You mean social media, right? Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, NarcissisticScrollParade, etc? What is lacking? I don't mean from a historical particulars point of view (e.g. TikTok found a recipe that seems to work for now); I mean from a structural point of view. What properties of the _market_ are not functioning well? And, to accept your premise for the sake of argument, who can revive the US social media market? China pumps tremendous resources (money, connections, etc) into TikTok. Are you suggesting that a "healthy market" is a good solution to a state sponsored competitor? By "healthy market" what do you mean? If you mean the "free market" as defined by many economists, then we need to recognize the well-known patterns of market failures. What market failures do you see? Perhaps you recognize how nation-states can and do interfere with free markets quite effectively, at least from a nationalistic perspective? The US does it for agriculture. Since at least the Cold War, the US has poured resources (funding, careers) into mathematics and engineering for the benefit of American industry. Let me know where you are coming from? I'm not trying to rehash underlying economic philosophies; we don't have to subscribe to the same economic theories. I'm interested in what you specifically think is happening and why.