I can't stop thinking about it.
Author Farhad Manjoo makes the point that we are all in "inescapable thrall to one of the handful of American technology companies that now dominate much of the global economy. I speak, of course, of ... the Frightful Five: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Alphabet, the parent company of Google."
Farhad then asks the reader: "If an evil monarch forced you to choose, in what order would you give up these inescapable giants of tech?"
The first cut was easy for me - Facebook. It never had much of a hold on me. I rarely post, preferring to spend a few minutes each day scrolling to read what my friends are outraged about at that point in time.
See ya, Facebook
After that, it was very difficult.
I live in a retail desert and I would guess that 80% of what I purchase I do through Amazon. And then there are the TV shows I enjoy through Amazon Prime. But if I absolutely had to, I could purchase directly from product websites. It would take longer, but it could be done.
Bye bye Amazon.
Microsoft - sure I use Word every day, and PowerPoint and Excel from time to time. But I could use Apple's Pages and Prezi instead. I also don't use any of Microsoft's laptops, tablets, etc.
Ta ta Microsoft.
Alphabet - is not just the parent company of Google, but of YouTube. There are other search engines - Wolfram Alpha comes to mind. But YouTube? It's not about cat videos for me. I go there to see my father George London. He is preserved in dozens upon dozens of live and taped performances. It would be hard to find an alternative source for all of those clips.
So reluctantly, adieu, Alphabet.
Last would have to be Apple. I could not survive without my MacBook Pro, my iPad Mini, or my iPhone 7 plus. It's how I work and navigate the world. Through them I read books and play games. I use countless iOS apps, to do countless things.
I will leave you last, Apple.
Now it's your turn.
How would you rank the frightful five?
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