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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Today Google and Facebook receive 90% of the world’s news and ad-spending. Amazon takes half of all commerce in the US. Google and Apple operating systems run on all but 1% of cell phones globally and 80% of corporate wealth is now held by 10% of companies - not the Gas and Toyotas of this world, but the digital titans.
How did we get here? How did once-idealistic and innovative companies come to manipulate elections, violate our privacy and pose a threat to the fabric of our democracy? In Don’t Be Evil, Financial Times global business columnist Rana Foroohar documents how Big Tech lost is soul - and became the new Wall Street.
Through her skilled reporting and unparalleled access, she shows the true extent to which the ‘Faang’s (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) crush or absorb any potential competitors, hijack our personal data and mental space and offshore their exorbitant profits. Yet Foroohar also lays out a plan for how we can resist, creating a framework that fosters innovation while also protecting us from the dark side of digital technology.
Rana Foroohar is global business columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times and CNN’s global economic analyst. Published in 2019 it’s an absorbing and frightening look at how Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google hoard data and intellectual property to maintain market dominance, influence politics and maintain their value and a prescient warning given how the companies are now jostling to influence the incoming Trump presidency.
I picked this up because over the last few years I’ve become increasingly concerned with the activity of tech giants and the apparent lack of effective regulation to counter them. Foroohar’s book was published in 2019 and the environment has changed a lot since then but in many ways this is a prescient warning about where the tech giants were going, which helps to explain why we currently are where we are. In fact I think there’s probably scope for Foroohar to do an update edition to this book to take into account what’s subsequently happened, especially given the way that the FAANG company owners are jostling to influence the incoming Trump presidency.
The book has been impeccably researched and is extensively footnoted. Foroohar takes a fairly linear approach with a particular focus on Google and its founders and the changing ethos of the company from where it started to dealing with the needs of raising revenue. There is inevitably technological jargon within the book, especially with regard to discussions about algorithms and data collection, but Foroohar’s explanations are clear and easy for lay people such as myself to follow.
What comes through in the book is the ruthless way in which the FAANG companies use their financial power and IP to eliminate potential competition by buying up fledgling companies, paying researchers to whitewash policy in their favour and through concerted lobbying of political institutions. Foroohar pulls back to look at the influence of Chicago School economists on the rise of this approach, notably in the context of how competition is analysed and regulated, which I found to be illuminating.
The final chapter provides some suggestions for to fight back against big tech power. It’s one of those chapters that is really frustrating to read in retrospect because the Biden administration did not even attempt to tackle any of the issues (in part because of the efforts of the Republic controlled Congress) and with the incoming Republican presidency, Senate and Congress plus the big tech donations already going into the Trump residence means that it won’t happen for at least 4 years. That’s a shame because the idea of having a bi-partisan commission on the future of digital and data technology is a sensible one and offers a chance to shine a light on what is currently going on and look at what they want to do in future. Bringing back pre-Chicago School anti-trust principles also makes sense as does tax reform (although the latter will also require international co-operation, which has not been a big factor in the last few years).
All in all, I thought this was a really good book, even if it did leave me depressed as heck. As I said above, I think the book is ripe for a new edition but even if that doesn’t happen, I would definitely check out Foroohar’s other work.
The Verdict:
Rana Foroohar is global business columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times and CNN’s global economic analyst. Published in 2019 it’s an absorbing and frightening look at how Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google hoard data and intellectual property to maintain market dominance, influence politics and maintain their value and a prescient warning given how the companies are now jostling to influence the incoming Trump presidency.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Today Google and Facebook receive 90% of the world’s news and ad-spending. Amazon takes half of all commerce in the US. Google and Apple operating systems run on all but 1% of cell phones globally and 80% of corporate wealth is now held by 10% of companies - not the Gas and Toyotas of this world, but the digital titans.
How did we get here? How did once-idealistic and innovative companies come to manipulate elections, violate our privacy and pose a threat to the fabric of our democracy? In Don’t Be Evil, Financial Times global business columnist Rana Foroohar documents how Big Tech lost is soul - and became the new Wall Street.
Through her skilled reporting and unparalleled access, she shows the true extent to which the ‘Faang’s (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) crush or absorb any potential competitors, hijack our personal data and mental space and offshore their exorbitant profits. Yet Foroohar also lays out a plan for how we can resist, creating a framework that fosters innovation while also protecting us from the dark side of digital technology.
Rana Foroohar is global business columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times and CNN’s global economic analyst. Published in 2019 it’s an absorbing and frightening look at how Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google hoard data and intellectual property to maintain market dominance, influence politics and maintain their value and a prescient warning given how the companies are now jostling to influence the incoming Trump presidency.
I picked this up because over the last few years I’ve become increasingly concerned with the activity of tech giants and the apparent lack of effective regulation to counter them. Foroohar’s book was published in 2019 and the environment has changed a lot since then but in many ways this is a prescient warning about where the tech giants were going, which helps to explain why we currently are where we are. In fact I think there’s probably scope for Foroohar to do an update edition to this book to take into account what’s subsequently happened, especially given the way that the FAANG company owners are jostling to influence the incoming Trump presidency.
The book has been impeccably researched and is extensively footnoted. Foroohar takes a fairly linear approach with a particular focus on Google and its founders and the changing ethos of the company from where it started to dealing with the needs of raising revenue. There is inevitably technological jargon within the book, especially with regard to discussions about algorithms and data collection, but Foroohar’s explanations are clear and easy for lay people such as myself to follow.
What comes through in the book is the ruthless way in which the FAANG companies use their financial power and IP to eliminate potential competition by buying up fledgling companies, paying researchers to whitewash policy in their favour and through concerted lobbying of political institutions. Foroohar pulls back to look at the influence of Chicago School economists on the rise of this approach, notably in the context of how competition is analysed and regulated, which I found to be illuminating.
The final chapter provides some suggestions for to fight back against big tech power. It’s one of those chapters that is really frustrating to read in retrospect because the Biden administration did not even attempt to tackle any of the issues (in part because of the efforts of the Republic controlled Congress) and with the incoming Republican presidency, Senate and Congress plus the big tech donations already going into the Trump residence means that it won’t happen for at least 4 years. That’s a shame because the idea of having a bi-partisan commission on the future of digital and data technology is a sensible one and offers a chance to shine a light on what is currently going on and look at what they want to do in future. Bringing back pre-Chicago School anti-trust principles also makes sense as does tax reform (although the latter will also require international co-operation, which has not been a big factor in the last few years).
All in all, I thought this was a really good book, even if it did leave me depressed as heck. As I said above, I think the book is ripe for a new edition but even if that doesn’t happen, I would definitely check out Foroohar’s other work.
The Verdict:
Rana Foroohar is global business columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times and CNN’s global economic analyst. Published in 2019 it’s an absorbing and frightening look at how Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google hoard data and intellectual property to maintain market dominance, influence politics and maintain their value and a prescient warning given how the companies are now jostling to influence the incoming Trump presidency.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
