What are “the four” of big tech? What makes them so? Should\u2014and can\u2014they be reined in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In The Four<\/em>, Scott Galloway takes a hard look at four technology companies that dominate the modern marketplace: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. He discusses their success and their impact, how their power might be limited, who’ll be the next tech giant<\/a>, and how you can make it in the economy they’ve created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep reading for our overview of this important book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n In The Four<\/em><\/a>, Scott Galloway argues that the success of the Four has had a profound and decidedly negative impact on our society, affecting everything from our privacy and our opportunities for career advancement<\/a> to our free-market economy<\/a> and the very functioning of our democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We examine the Four\u2019s outsized influence on society at large as well as its impact on our personal lives. We divide our discussion into five main parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Four are among the largest companies in the US, and their products and services infiltrate every aspect of American life. In this section, we\u2019ll first explore just how pervasive<\/em> these companies are. Then, we\u2019ll explore two factors that Galloway highlights as major contributors to their continuing success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of 2018, Apple, Alphabet (Google\u2019s parent company), Amazon, and Facebook were the first, second, third, and fifth-largest companies in the US, respectively (the fourth was Microsoft). They all had market caps in the hundreds of billions\u2014$888, $773, $748, and $534 billion, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Four\u2019s products and services infiltrate almost every aspect of American life.<\/strong> We use Amazon to purchase everything from garden tools to groceries to streaming movies. We communicate on Apple phones and work on Apple computers. We stay connected with friends and family on Facebook. And we rely on Google for answers to every imaginable question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway claims that the success of the Four is due in part to the fact that they each started with a simple vision that attracted major capital investment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, notes Galloway, Amazon managed to raise more than $2.1 billion in investors\u2019 money before it broke even, relying on a simple story: \u201cEarth\u2019s Biggest Store.\u201d It told this story via the business and tech media, which resulted in the market bidding Amazon\u2019s stock higher. Backed by so much cheap capital, and therefore not reliant on profit, Amazon was able to take huge risks and sustain significant failures, allowing it to grow rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway argues that, in addition to benefiting from a simple story that attracts cheap capital, the success of the Four is due to the fact that they appeal to our deepest human desires: for consumption (Amazon), procreation (Apple), love (Facebook), and God (Google).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway believes that our desire to buy products on Amazon can be traced back to our earliest ancestors. For 90% of human history, he explains, we were a hunter-gatherer society<\/a>. Over-accumulating was a question of survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Galloway, when we purchase Apple products, we\u2019re similarly motivated by an innate need\u2014in this case, the need to procreate. He claims that people want luxury products like Apple phones because it makes them more attractive to prospective partners.<\/strong> Only about 1% of the world can afford Apple products\u2014so carrying one signals to others that you\u2019re in an exclusive group of wealthy, successful individuals. This makes you a more desirable mate from the standpoint of natural selection<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook can help fulfill our deep need for love and relationships<\/a><\/strong>, says Galloway. He cites a 75-year, $20 million Harvard research study finding that the strongest indicator of happiness over a person\u2019s lifetime is the depth and meaningfulness of their relationships. Facebook fosters those relationships by allowing us to stay connected with friends and family no matter how far away they are or how long it\u2019s been since we\u2019ve seen them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, Galloway equates Google to a modern god.<\/strong> People entrust Google with questions that they\u2019ve never asked anyone else before: Approximately one out of every six search requests are completely novel questions. In addition, the fact that Google provides organic search results (in other words, you can\u2019t pay to appear higher up on the list) increases user trust in the company. Users see Google as a benevolent, omnipresent part of their everyday lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the Four are hugely successful, Galloway argues that they\u2019ve come by some of their success unfairly, harming society and the economy in the process. In this section, we\u2019ll explore five ways in which the Four have negatively impacted our society in their fight for market dominance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Four destroy more jobs than they create, says Galloway. Amazon is eliminating jobs<\/a> through automation, and Facebook and Google are eliminating jobs in the advertising industry<\/a>. In addition, Facebook and Google\u2019s digital advertising capabilities are also hastening the decline of print media<\/strong> such as newspapers and magazines, which rely on advertising to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon infringes on our privacy by listening in on our conversations via Alexa and mining all of our consumer data. Meanwhile, Galloway says, Apple endangered our national security by refusing to comply with a court order requiring it to unlock the iPhone of a domestic terrorist who killed 14 people in a 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino. But, according to Galloway, Facebook is perhaps the worst offender, engaging in actions that threaten our very democracy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the run-up to the 2016 election, Facebook exposed the personal data of millions of Americans to Cambridge Analytica (the Trump campaign\u2019s political consulting firm), which harvested the information without users\u2019 knowledge.<\/strong> Cambridge Analytica then used the data to create behavioral profiles capable of targeting pro-Trump messages to specific voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After denials, Facebook later admitted to taking money from Russia to place divisive ads that were seen by hundreds of millions of users. Galloway claims that Facebook is able to get away with this behavior because of its size and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook\u2019s ad model itself leads to increased political polarization<\/a>, says Galloway. Because it\u2019s easy for Facebook to identify people on the extreme ends of the political spectrum, Facebook focuses its targeted ads on far-left liberals and far-right conservatives<\/strong>. This results in increased polarization because the ads further entrench people\u2019s partisan loyalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This, in turn, creates a strong incentive<\/a> for Facebook to allow fake news that appeals to people\u2019s partisan loyalties to appear on its platform\u2014because the company profits from the clicks and revenue fake news generates.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway says the Four have the resources and political clout to take advantage of the complex tax code, finding legal loopholes that allow them to pay much less in taxes than other companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While large, powerful companies always have a competitive edge, Galloway argues that the Four wield their size and power unfairly to purposefully eliminate competitors from the market. As we\u2019ll explore in this section, they do this in three ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n People blame globalization and immigrants for the death of the middle class, says Galloway, but Big Tech is also responsible: The Four concentrate wealth in a small group of workers and investors and leave others behind.<\/strong> They create an elite tech workforce where there\u2019s no place for the average worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway says that the Four\u2019s unchecked size and power, along with their negative effects on the economy, all make the case for treating the Four like monopolies and breaking them up to allow other companies the opportunity to compete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He claims that one way to do this is by suing the Four in antitrust lawsuits alleging that they take advantage of their outsized market power to engage in illegal, anticompetitive practices. This could force them to sell off their subsidiaries, creating smaller companies. Galloway contends that antitrust lawsuits can lead to strong markets, increased competition, and a larger middle class.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While Galloway believes it will be some time before the Four lose their position as leaders in the tech world, he says history demonstrates that even the most successful companies can\u2019t stay on top forever. Who will be the next trillion-dollar tech company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway identifies eight factors that define the Four and are likely to be present in the next mega-successful company:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway examines various contenders to be the next tech giant, including Alibaba, Tesla, Airbnb, and Microsoft. Ultimately, Galloway doesn\u2019t pick a \u201cwinner,\u201d and he notes that the next tech giant could also be a complete unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Four have fundamentally altered the job market, says Galloway\u2014and the era of Big Tech is here to stay, regardless of who the next tech giant is. They\u2019ve created a highly-competitive environment in which average<\/em> workers have a hard time competing and succeeding. You need to be exceptional<\/em> to make it in the new digital world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway advocates developing four personal qualities in order to get and keep the best jobs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway also offers advice on specific actions you can take to increase your odds of landing a great job:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advance in Your Career<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Galloway recommends climbing further up the career ladder and getting ahead of the competition by doing the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are “the four” of big tech? What makes them so? Should\u2014and can\u2014they be reined in? In The Four, Scott Galloway takes a hard look at four technology companies that dominate the modern marketplace: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. He discusses their success and their impact, how their power might be limited, who’ll be the next tech giant, and how you can make it in the economy they’ve created. Keep reading for our overview of this important book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":82572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,45,24],"tags":[785],"class_list":["post-82533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-business","category-society","tag-the-four","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Four<\/em> by Scott Galloway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Part 1: The Success of the Four<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Size and Pervasiveness of the Four<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Vision of the Four<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Four\u2019s Ability to Appeal to Our Deepest Desires<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Desire #1: Consumption<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Desire #2: Procreation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Desire #3: Love<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Desire #4: God<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Part 2: The Four\u2019s Negative Impacts on Society<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Negative Impact #1: Job Destruction<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Negative Impact #2: Prioritizing Profit Over Privacy, National Security, and Democracy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Facebook Election Scandals<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Facebook Polarization and Fake News<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Negative Impact #3: Tax Avoidance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Negative Impact #4: Elimination of Competition<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Negative Impact #5: Contributing to the Decline of the Middle Class<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Part 3: Limiting the Outsized Power of the Four<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Part 4: Who Will Be the Next Tech Giant?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Factors Necessary to Be the Next Tech Giant<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Potential Candidates to Be the Next Tech Giant<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Part 5: How to Make It in the Cutthroat Economy Created by the Four<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Develop Personal Qualities That Foster Career Success<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Land a Great Career<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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