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Comment by thwy12321 | Hacker News Reader

Big tech companies arent really monopolies. A ton of them can disappear overnight, its just a trendy thing to harp on. Look at the irrelevance of IBM, CISCO, HP, Intel, Oracle, etc. The list goes on and on, companies fail to innovate after a certain point and most die. Enough with the monopoly narrative.

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Are you trying to say that because a company can disappear overnight, it isn't currently a monopoly? Because I don't think that makes any sense.

I'm saying that its true that some are monopolies, but none really stay that way for long, and so its completely overrated to worry about. It's a similar talking point to how we are in an "AI bubble", good for clicks on an article.

Look at FB stock, it just dropped from 220 -> ~130, they saw almost half of their market cap wiped away in a few weeks. The monopoly idea is a narrative invented to stoke fear, outrage, and page clicks. It's a talking point for psuedo educated people.

Monopolies, whether ephemeral or eternal, are bad. Disappearance of a monopoly does not mean the data collected disappears nor does it repair the torn social fabric.

I entirely disagree. Monopolies discourage innovation and creativity. American companies do not operate in some bubble; we have to remain competitive with the outside world, with countries that would seek to erode our competitive advantage. Internal competition is a great way to ensure that we do not fall behind others.

I also don't think bringing up FB's stock price is relevant, not sure what your point is getting at there?

The danger of a monopoly is supposed to be that it can crush all competition, and stay a monopoly forever.

If monopolies can routinely be outcompeted, then what is there to be concerned about with them?

The danger of a monopoly lies in its ability to exploit a market, not in its longevity.

Markets can change in ways that destroy monopolies. For example, if in 1900 you had a monopoly on horse-drawn carriages, that wouldn't have prevented you from being put out of business by the advent of the automobile.

You know that's a good point. Thanks!

I think the distinction is between a monopoly disappearing because the market it owns disappears, or because it gets outcompeted in it.

> Look at the irrelevance of IBM, CISCO, HP, Intel, Oracle, etc.

I'm real curious how you think those companies are irrelevant.

They were once the big bad "monopolies". Now they're just mediocre companies. Weird how manipulated people can be by narratives. Show me any company who has dominated for 50 years, thats something to worry about. Both FB and Google could lose 50% of their value in a month. See the recent FB stock drop. Its a complete fallacy, a trendy thought narrative, its propaganda.

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