Comment by b112 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by b112 | Hacker News Reader

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I think yes, and it really boils down to role separation. For everything.

An example being cable companies. They should have no capability to own TV stations, media creators, news companies, the list goes on. Backbone is backbone, be it an internet connection, or a TV/video feed.

Back to Microsoft you can make an OS, or you can make apps, but not both. An OS being a 'backbone'.

Applies to Google. "Search" vs "Ads". Backbone versus 'stuff on top'.

Really, sadly, there are cases where co-mingled stuff makes perfect sense. But bad actors are why we can't have nice things.

I wonder, there have always been jokes about how the world would be a paradise without lawyers, but would that be more MBAs in the 21st? Whether cars, or computers, or even the ladder I recently bought that is junk, it really all comes down to MBAs.

Engineers input "that's not acceptable quality", and MBAs just tromp all over that.

MBAs, the "we can't have nice things" people.

How would you suggest splitting up a heavily vertically integrated company, like eg Apple?

Does Google search become a paid subscription product in your vision of separation of search vs ads?

Companies have been split up before, and such acts are nuanced and often company specific. One logical thought is that existing companies would be handled differently than newer companies venturing where they should not.

I have no detail on what precisely need be done, typically that's where experts chime in. And no, that does not invalidate my opinion.

If for example, I get food poisoning regularly from the food I buy at a supermarket, then something must be done. The problem must be fixed. The food must be rendered safe. Which means "food producers must provide safe food" is a sensible response, and then food experts enact.

So back to Apple and Google? They're broken, as all synergistic orgs are. And yes this needs to be dealt with.

But you're missing something more important. I did not specify only them, but just general division for all corporate entities. This is much larger than Google or Apple or cable companies.

Playing devils advocate, the real problem is that such solutions enacted solely on the US stage only won't work. Instead it will simply shift power to externals. You'd need to get most countries on the planet to comply, else a competitive edge would be lost in the US.

Apple TV can be separate, as can their music stuff. Other than that I'm not sure.

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