Most People Don’t Like Giving Big Tech More Power, but They Rely on Its Services
Caleb Watney, technology and innovation resident fellow at a free-market think tank, R Street Institute in Washington, said the two groups’ responses are similar because many of those who say they are against the trade-offs are likely to find that they value Big Tech’s benefits when those benefits are threatened. For people who are wary of Big Tech’s power, he said, breaking up the large companies sounds good until they realize that it could affect them personally by disrupting the services they currently enjoy.
Spending is a better indicator of consumer views, he said, suggesting that those who shop on Amazon are typically more inclined to be supportive of the company and its trade-offs.
“It doesn’t have to be this ‘I either want the digital economy or I want nothing of it,’ ” Watney said. “There’s lots of shades in the middle.”
“The winners and the losers of the digital sector are of so much interest because that’s the main innovative space in the U.S. economy right now,” Watney said. “But if we were seeing similar advancements of innovation in transportation and in health care and in construction and in manufacturing or whatnot, I think we would be a lot less preoccupied with who are the winners and losers of this particular industry.”
