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The conundrum is that the entrenched powers could likely continue to wield power based on the amount of regulations and standards in tech nowadays. There basic

The conundrum is that the entrenched powers could likely continue to wield power based on the amount of regulations and standards in tech nowadays. There basically would need to be a way to subsidize startups for whom such compliance is a significant expense.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
Tax the big companies to subsidize smaller ones perhaps?
- SpicyLemonZest 2y ago
  What kind of size are we talking about here? There’s lots of programs to subsidize truly small businesses, which I think are a good idea. It’s less obvious to me that we should tax the Googles making tens of billions in profit to subsidize companies making millions.
- CatWChainsaw 2y ago
  I don't reflexively gag at the thought of some redistribution but I think that redistribution of money is a medium-term bandaid solution for this scenario. I've been meaning to read Chokepoint Capitalism for a while but from the name alone it sounds like government or public intervention ought to be focused on preventing the creation of such chokepoints. Not just near-monopoly like Microsoft has over lots of PC bootloader signatures, but also avoiding duopolies like Android-Apple. In very vague terms the most sensible option would be that it should be possible for any size party to create a minimum viable product so that market forces could actually work - such as open-sourcing a "minimum viable" amount of IP that a competitor can ship a product and let customer experience and market forces come to the fore, instead of lock-in, walled gardens, regulatory capture, standards burden etc. Personally I also would like to see standard education include something akin to "How To Get Away With Murder" except it's "How FAANG Gets Away With Fucking Everybody". Bring the technical and economic literacy of the general populace closer to the average HN level, basically. More tinkers, more hackers. And, in a broader sweep, a comment I made recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40461326 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40461326

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

Tax the big companies to subsidize smaller ones perhaps?

SpicyLemonZest 2y ago
What kind of size are we talking about here? There’s lots of programs to subsidize truly small businesses, which I think are a good idea. It’s less obvious to me that we should tax the Googles making tens of billions in profit to subsidize companies making millions.
CatWChainsaw 2y ago
I don't reflexively gag at the thought of some redistribution but I think that redistribution of money is a medium-term bandaid solution for this scenario. I've been meaning to read Chokepoint Capitalism for a while but from the name alone it sounds like government or public intervention ought to be focused on preventing the creation of such chokepoints. Not just near-monopoly like Microsoft has over lots of PC bootloader signatures, but also avoiding duopolies like Android-Apple. In very vague terms the most sensible option would be that it should be possible for any size party to create a minimum viable product so that market forces could actually work - such as open-sourcing a "minimum viable" amount of IP that a competitor can ship a product and let customer experience and market forces come to the fore, instead of lock-in, walled gardens, regulatory capture, standards burden etc. Personally I also would like to see standard education include something akin to "How To Get Away With Murder" except it's "How FAANG Gets Away With Fucking Everybody". Bring the technical and economic literacy of the general populace closer to the average HN level, basically. More tinkers, more hackers. And, in a broader sweep, a comment I made recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40461326 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40461326