Not what I was going for, but oh well.
Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook are worth a combined 2.8 trillion dollars. Despite all that cash, they all pay well under the corporate tax average in the US (Facebook only pays a 4 percent tax rate!). All that revenue is going to a small number of people--Facebook only employs 23,000. Sure, you might know a lot of people that work at an Amazon warehouse, but how much are they getting paid? Is our increasing servitude to these four companies worth the disruption they cause the economy when one of them puts yet another company out of business? I don't think so: these companies are vast data mining operations that sell every piece of info they can glean from you to the highest bidder. In the futile interest of reducing the onset of the surveillance state (hah, it's been here for a while), I'm going to examine my usage of the four aforementioned companies and figure out if I really need the services they provide.
Amazon--I've had a Prime membership for three years, but I don't really need it. I don't order a whole lot from Amazon. Their streaming service is my least watched app--none of their original series have grabbed my attention, and the exact same movies can be watched on Hulu. I do use a Firestick to watch TV, but you don't have to have Prime to use one. It is awful damn convenient to order books from them, since there isn't a bookstore in my vicinity. However, you don't need Prime to order stuff. I think I could cancel our Prime membership, if I can talk my wife into it.
Apple--I've never purchased an Apple product. I used to have an Ipod, but it was given to me by my sister. Apple's entire strategy is to design nice-looking products and charge a lot more for them than they are worth. Since I've resolved never to get a smartphone until it is government-mandated, I have little use for them. Their PCs are shit, and tablets are for children. As far as I'm concerned, the world's most valuable company ain't worth shit.
Facebook--Facebook also sells a product that I'm not interested in. It was fun in Facebook's nascent days to check out girls and keep tabs on friends while I was in college, but as an adult I have no use for fake news and shitty design. Seriously, every time I log in the whole interface is so terrible I have to wonder what all those billions are being used for; I assume Zuckerburg is building an underwater lair in the shell of an old volcano. If you care about somebody, visit them in person or call them on the phone. Stop putting your life up on Facebook for them to data mine at their pleasure. My profile picture is the face of William Riker, and my birthday date is listed as January 1st, 1901. The only reason I have a profile at all is for my business. Otherwise, I'd never use Facebook.
Google--Ah, and here is where my snarky attitude and smug superiority fail me. I use Google for everything. If I have a question, I google it. This blog is provided free of charge from Google Blogger. I have 10 gigs in my Google Drive, 10 gigabytes of music and writing that I've done over the years. My email account is a Gmail account. I do use Firefox as my browser instead of Chrome, but big whoop. Youtube is full of nerds commenting on bullshit, but that doesn't mean I've never uploaded a video myself. I suppose I could backup my data on multiple hard drives like I used to in the past, but it is so damn convenient to be able to access the same document on multiple computers using Google Drive. I'm probably not going to change my email, and this blog ain't moving. Perhaps I should start using Bing to look up shit, but Microsoft is basically the granddaddy of the big four, and is Bing still around? Fine, Google. I surrender. Please don't sell my secrets. I swear they aren't worth anything.
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