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> not only are technology monopolies “not so bad”, and not only ought company founders seek to build them, but they are in fact actively good, create massive po
by n4r9 2y ago
> not only are technology monopolies “not so bad”, and not only ought company founders seek to build them, but they are in fact actively good, create massive positive externalities for the public, and are a primary source of innovation for society. When they fail, things actually deteriorate.
The tech sector is fairly unique in that innovative useful products lead quite quickly to a monopoly. That doesn't make the monopoly a good thing. It leads to inefficiencies and degraded consumer experience while the company desperately tries to maintain and suck dry its market share. The author argues that monopolies set the scene for new disruptive technologies to appear, but you could equally well argue the opposite: monopolies slow down progress via a combination of regulatory capture, acquisitions, and anti-competitive practices.
- AnimalMuppet 2y agoConsider another area: (personal) computer hardware. The IBM PC was a big deal. But innovation really exploded when the PC compatibles came on the scene. IBM tried to stop that by switching to a proprietary architecture (MicroChannel). The market rejected that, because a better bus was less important than all the innovation that came through an open bus. So, yeah. IBM tried to slow down progress so they could suck more profit out of the market, and the market ran them over with a non-proprietary alternative.
- n4r9 2y agoI think you're arguing that it doesn't matter when a monopoly tries to slow down progress, because a competitor will then overtake them. It sounds like IBM misjudged the market. This isn't how it always plays out - for example, Amazon forces you not to list your products cheaper elsewhere if you want it displayed as a "Featured" buy. But because the lack of viable alternatives means that most sellers bend over backwards rather than take their business elsewhere.
- JohnFen 2y agoExactly. Monopolies are always a bad thing. Sometimes they result in a benefit that outweighs that bad, but that situation is temporary 100% of the time.