Some of Cory Doctorow's work is worth a read, such as this article/ podcaset here:
https://hbr.org/podcast/2025/10/the-trouble-with-tech-companies-and-their-strategies
This guy doesn’t beat around the bush in his criticism of big Tech companies such as Feacebook and Google: the tech we all use is built and controlled by a handful of huge US companies, set up in Washington, and shaped to suit Silicon Valley’s interests—not ours.
He paints a picture of tech as a set menu. You buy a phone or a laptop, and you’re instantly tied to one operating system, one app store, and a handful of services. You don’t get to mix and match. The companies decide what runs on your device, how your data gets used, and who makes money off you.
Doctorow says there’s nothing inevitable about this. We can build things differently. Require companies to let in competitors. Allow different app stores. Make it easier to tinker with or reverse engineer software. Apple wouldn’t have the final say over what you install on your own phone. Google wouldn’t just scoop up your search data without a fight.
But then, politics gets in the way.... regulators are reluctance to regulate because tech giants bring jobs, investment, prestige. Politicians don’t want to pick fights with them.
Another problem is that the users. We gripe about Big Tech, but we’re locked in too. Their platforms are just too convenient, too familiar. Even critics can’t seem to leave.
It's blissfully simple, we need regulation to be able to open up real competition, to make more of a modular landscape so that it's easier for mix and match and plug and play....
It's easier to be said than done of course!
