097 - On Breaking up Big Tech & The Data Economy

Zengineering: A Philosophy of Science, Technology, Art & Engineering

Hi, Zengineers!

I’m sure you’ve heard of Amazon, right? What about Facebook? Do you use it? Google? Apple? Ma Bell? Carnegie? Vanderbilt? Woot woot!! Ok… enough listing. What’s the topic, you ask? Yeah … we’re going for it, and taking on the roll of the United States Congress and breaking up the tech companies.

Why, you might ask, are we doing this? Well, because we can, without any vote or any intervention … break up the tech companies with our words and ideas. Can you dig it? Yes, that’s correct. We’re just talking about it. We don’t actually have any power to do anything about this.
We can and we do, however, share a great conversation around what’s happened in the past, what’s happening now, how it’s the same, how it’s different, and how things could be in the future. This is a fun one that touches on history, economics, politics, myriad philosophies, and definitely a lot of crazy future tech.

Ultimately, we discover that what’s happening now is drastically different than what’s happened in the past because of the new ways technology is allowing information to be shared (which, surprise, has always been the problem, so it’s always something new).

As always, we hope you enjoy this episode, and don’t forget that our government, its leaders, and at its core, your vote, help to determine a lot of what happens in the future. It’s a wild time with a lot of wild options at our finger tips.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com
Cheers,
Adam & Brian

Show Notes

• Monopolies vs. Monopsonies: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032415/whats-difference-between-monopoly-and-monopsony.asp#:~:text=Both%20a%20monopoly%20and%20a%20monopsony%20refer%20to%20a%20single,demand%20for%20goods%20and%20services
• The Antitrust Laws: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/antitrust-laws
• Elizabeth Warren on breaking up the tech companies: https://medium.com/@teamwarren/heres-how-we-can-break-up-big-tech-9ad9e0da324c
• Breaking up the Bell System on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zengineering-podcast/support