Why We Shouldn’t Assume Amazon Has It All Figured Out

Even the big tech companies don’t have it all figured out.

What if America’s most successful companies are sometimes clueless?

Never underestimate Amazon. But we also shouldn’t assume that the wildly successful tech giants have it all figured out. Sometimes, these companies may just be throwing spaghetti at the wall.

Many of these are worthwhile efforts. We should all believe in the power of innovation to solve problems. But the public and policymakers should also not put too much faith in what is sometimes expensive, real-world market research by giant companies.

The optimistic view of Amazon’s grocery meandering is this is merely the first step of the company’s master plan. Maybe!

I write a lot about the power of big technology companies and the harm that can result. But believing tech superpowers have it all figured out can be harmful, too.

You know what’s not awesome? Australians getting stuck in the middle of a business negotiation between Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg.

I don’t want to let the rather meh conclusion obscure the important underlying issues. Google and Facebook gobble up a significant portion of advertising sold in the world. That makes life harder for news organizations and other companies that support themselves with advertising.

Whether these are wise steps or whether news organizations deserve special help at all is a worthy debate. Unfortunately, in Australia the important questions were muddled by rich companies bickering over power and money.

Category: Technology

Source: New York Times