Do Not Pass Go

Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google. Almost all of us have some kind of relationship with at least one of these companies, perhaps even all four. We rely on them for staying in touch with loved ones, providing entertainment, answering our questions; truly the list goes on and on. As time progresses and tech becomes more integrated into our lives, this will only grow longer. How far does the reach truly go for these technology giants though? Are we unknowingly putting all of our technology eggs into one basket? If we are, is that really so much of a problem?

A monopoly, outside of being the namesake for the family time ruining board game, is when one single company grows to control the entirety of a sector. A good example of this would be Microsoft’s near-monopoly on productivity suites, as if you’re not creating your documents in Word and your spreadsheets in Excel, what else would you use? This isn’t a true monopoly however, as Apple’s Pages and Numbers apps exist, as do some other free alternatives which I’ve written about in the past. The danger some argue is that if Apple and Microsoft, presumably in some weird alternative universe, joined forces; that would leave only one choice in this arena.

This doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch when you consider the reach of some of these organizations. It’s pretty well known that Alphabet (Google’s parent company) owns YouTube, but did you know they also own Fitbit, Nest, Waze and smartphone maker HTC? It wouldn’t be difficult to end up as an exclusively Google household. Thankfully these are all areas where consumers have lots of choice, but considering something like operating systems for computers, we’ve definitely been in a position historically where Microsoft’s Windows is borderline the only option.

A situation like this actually isn’t all bad; there are benefits to having one provider for a diverse range of tech needs. I run most of my personal business on Apple products, for example. I’m able to start a proposal on my iMac, proofread it on my iPhone, make edits on my iPad Pro and open it up for seamless collaboration to anyone who also owns hardware with a fruit on it. I could perform the same process from a Windows machine and leverage other products and get nearly the same results, I just prefer it this way. The key thing here though is that I do have a choice and can make an informed decision. The issue arises when that choice goes away.

Seamlessness in workflows is pretty much the only benefit, however. Competition in any given industry is what drives progress forward, fuels innovation and controls cost. If you’re the only guy selling umbrellas on a rainy day, who cares if they’re expensive and bad quality? Taking this metaphor even further, wouldn’t you also control supply to make your umbrellas seem more desirable? Here lies the problem. With only one company controlling cellphones, or social media, or movie streaming: it puts the consumers of that product or service in an awful position and totally at the mercy of one entity.

Laws exist thankfully to try and prevent this situation, but there’s an argument to be made that they fall short. Meta controlling Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp puts a lot of our data in one place, raising the risk of misuse or theft, but does breaking those up constitute government overreach? It’s my belief that, even though I’ve chosen a technology bed to lay in, others should be free to choose from a healthy competitor, as doing so keeps everyone moving in the right direction.