I think we are constantly tweaking things over time.
For much of human history, consolidation was natural but the relative simplicity of technology kept barriers of entry low which enabled competition and new entrants. Also, poorer logistics and transportation meant you have many smaller semi-independent markets instead of fewer monolithic ones.
Industrialization and powered transportation upended that and gave a lot of power to consolidation. That led to the era of robber barons.
That power concentration was so bad for society that eventually the labor and antitrust movements came around to somewhat correct it.
I think now we're seeing another oscillation. Software creates huge network effects and economies of scale. If a business writes a single program once, they can run it on as many servers or sell it to as many users as possible. Services that let users interact benefit exponentially from network effects. AI generates a lot of value, but requires extremely large datasets that only the largest corporations have access to.
We are essentially in the era of digital robber barons right now. Six of the top ten richest people in the world according to Forbes got there through software. (Arguably seven if you consider Musk's wealth to be software-driven.)
We are clearly nowhere near the optimal point on the consolidation continuum. With luck, we'll get something like an "information labor movement" and more teeth in our antitrust regulation to correct that.
For much of human history, consolidation was natural but the relative simplicity of technology kept barriers of entry low which enabled competition and new entrants. Also, poorer logistics and transportation meant you have many smaller semi-independent markets instead of fewer monolithic ones.
Industrialization and powered transportation upended that and gave a lot of power to consolidation. That led to the era of robber barons.
That power concentration was so bad for society that eventually the labor and antitrust movements came around to somewhat correct it.
I think now we're seeing another oscillation. Software creates huge network effects and economies of scale. If a business writes a single program once, they can run it on as many servers or sell it to as many users as possible. Services that let users interact benefit exponentially from network effects. AI generates a lot of value, but requires extremely large datasets that only the largest corporations have access to.
We are essentially in the era of digital robber barons right now. Six of the top ten richest people in the world according to Forbes got there through software. (Arguably seven if you consider Musk's wealth to be software-driven.)
We are clearly nowhere near the optimal point on the consolidation continuum. With luck, we'll get something like an "information labor movement" and more teeth in our antitrust regulation to correct that.