Concerns and Disadvantages of Having Large-Scale Online Organisations - Essay Example

Identify and discuss the disadvantages of having these large scale organisations and the threat they may pose to society’s future.  Anything that exceeds its limits is destined to have a negative impact either on its own or on its surroundings. The case with technology similar. No one had imagined that technology would turn in to God. In the last three decades of the 20th century technological companies have seen an unprecedented success in all forms of business. This technological revolution has occurred at a speed where the majority of the population is struggling to keep up with it (Buta, 2009, p. 45). This success is not only in terms of financial benefits, it goes way beyond than that. Their impact is so dominant that almost all forms of businesses small or large are somehow linked to these tech companies either through their Facebook page or to their android app etc. There is no question that these companies are in fact shaping our lives. The question arises have companies like Google, Apple, Samsung Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft etc. swelled too much that they are now even bigger than the society? Taking a closer look at an average person that wakes up in the morning goes to the coffee table for his breakfast. At the table the old newspapers have been replaced by laptops, tablets, and smart phones. Now the information comes both in overt and covert advertisements. What this average Joe receives as a form of information includes a lot of triggers that induce certain behaviours. It is simple mathematics; input equals output. What one person receives in terms of information is how they behave. The tech giants like Apple, Google and Samsung have revenues exceeding the GDP of many countries. Their annual reports show financial gains bigger than the budget of some of the Third World regions. It is somewhat surprising to see the chief executives of these companies treated like celebrities. The words coming out of their mouths directly impact the stock market. Launch of the product, an IPO, the news about latest technological innovation, development of most advanced software ever known to man, or the sad passing of a CEO (Steve Jobs of Apple Inc.), these are the factors that now surround the lives of billions of people around the globe. It is understandable that these companies are at profit war with each other. They are nothing but rivals and they want the biggest market share, to have the greatest impact on the mankind, and the most indulgent customer loyalty ever seen in the history of business. The tech industry has seen its share of rivalries. IBM and Apple Inc. were at each others throat back in the 80s, similar type of war was seen between Microsoft and Netflix in the 90s (The Economist, 2012). This is the inherent conflict of interest. It would be foolish to consider that they are only giving unbiased technology to the society. It is very important to understand that each business starts with the goal of generating profit. It is the most natural things a business needs. Without having significant profit no one can do business. Tech giants like Google and Apple are NOT non-for profit organizations, they are not welfare trusts either, they are out there to make profits. They are not looking out for the society and theyre definitely not working for an ideal society deviant only be found by the restraints put on them by the regulator treat authorities. Their most common form of social manipulation is the information war. The bigger and organizations becomes the bigger is the conflict of interest within it. They cannot claim to be working for the people or for the betterment of society they are out there to grow their business and to capture market share. Tech companies do offer products that make life better but without first taking care of their profits they cannot create or launch a product. Despite the fact that tech companies uphold the secrecy and privacy of the customer in the most prominent neon signs however there have been recent scandals against the breach of customer privacy. According to Sam Gustin (2013), a journalist for the Times Magazine, the US tech giants can lose billions of dollars in the lawsuit by their involvement in the NSA spying scandal. This is just one aspect to demonstrate that tech giants are only after their profits. Their business interests are prime. A similar story in The Washington Post by Cecelia Kang and Ellen Nakashima (2013) reports that spying scandals are hurting the business of tech companies badly. Any news that badly reflects on these companies and their profits will not be spread. These companies are the news generators and the promoters. They are controlling the social media. People would like to think that they are fleets and social media is a free medium for self-expression but this is also controlled by corporate who are out there its to make profits. People should understand that these businesses are by no means moral missionaries operating under some divine authority. Their business strategies revolve around the tactic where they sell certain products and then their accompanying software which are almost necessary to run those products; software is needed to run the hardware. On top of that these companies also offer specific applications that enhance productivity, gaming experiences and our customized to an extremely personal level. For instance businesses can specifically asked for a specific application that only served their business productivity. A software is created for a specific client. Both Microsoft and Apple has been trying to turn into one-stop shops for their applications that work on products that use the company operating systems (Zittrain, 2008, p. 267). For instance Microsofts Office and Apples iLife indicate what they are trying to accomplish which is a broader market niche. Gives branding strategies has reached a whole new level. Theyre always on the lookout of marketing changes the changes in society and popular culture in anything that could possibly be useful for them in their business expansion. One could go into an Apple store and notice that it has been shaped into one of the modern day care centres. On the surface there is no similarity between an iPhone and a day care centre however published article in the New York Times (such as the one by Hillary Stout ‘toddlers favourite toy: the iPhone’) demonstrates that an iPhone has become one of the most famous toys among toddlers (Lindstrom, 2011, p. 26) . For this reason Apple is coming up with so many baby friendly apps to entertain the toddlers. This strategy might look harmless but there is a lot of information going into the childs brain other than the funny voices from an application. For instance, they are recognizing logo of the company and they are getting familiar how this device operates. This is becoming one of their earliest memories of their childhood. One does not need to consult a psychologist to get an opinion how this is going to impact their adult lives. They will be making buying decisions and going to the shops to buy their technological products, those infant memories of playing with an iPhone will be in their subconscious. The devices and technology can induce addictive behaviours. This can already be observed in people who act like zombies hold onto their smart phone, tablet or a similar device that connects them with social media. People are constantly checking e-mails, text and Facebook because it gives them a dopamine rush when they click on something new hoping that something interesting might be there (Lloyd, 2013, p. 220). Struggle to dominate our modern information age To understand the struggle to dominate modern information age a simple thesis can help. For instance certain organizations or corporate approaches except that tech companies that has an information monopoly the approaching company offers a huge amount in return for manipulating information or retrieving personal data from users browsing experience. If there is no proof of this deal there can be no allegations of breaching the privacy of the consumers. The simple question is what is going to stop companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft or Netflix from sharing or manipulating information for their business gains? The debate goes back to the same hypothesis that these companies are not welfare organizations they have his business interests and their financial targets for probably the next hundred years. One needs to understand that life browsing they are shown advertisements which specifically interest them. This is not rocket science that those advertisements have been targeted to that person based on simply bitter search engine history. These tech companies have data about the things a person clicks on, the keywords entered into the search box and the time spent on a particular website. In short these companies are becoming too powerful. Without proper regulations they can grow too big for the government to control later on. But the emergence of the social media is probably one of the most significant tech trends of the 21st-century. In the words of Clive Thompson and editor for the New York Times, social media is “The most significant intergenerational shift since rock n roll” (Rice, 2009, p. 85). It has already changed and shaped our lives. The generation that is going to interact in social media is termed as generation Y. Their thinking, behaviour and dreams in life are very different from their predecessors. The majority of their time is spent on social media and in cyberspace than in real life. There have been many addictions prior to the of social media including TV addiction however the social media addiction is a unique form because one does not necessarily passengers these information they are interacting this opens new doors for the intensity of one addiction or attachment to the cyber world. A Study by Andreassen et al. (2012) from the Department Of Psychosocial Science University Of Bergen, studies specifically the social media addiction and analyses it according to the general syndromes shown in any form of addiction. This can imagine that for this purpose is known as the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS). This study proved that social media experience is in fact an addiction which does not necessarily have to be entirely negative. The proof that social media is somewhat addictive offers great business opportunities for its owners. According to Jeff Jarvis (2013), a journalism professor at the City University of New York writes in The Guardian that despite the tech companies fighting with the citizens when approached by the governments to spy on people that tech companies protected the rights of the citizens however they were still acting in their own economic interest. This is the ultimate conflict of interest. References 1. Andreassen, et al. 2012. Development of a Facebook Addiction Scale. Psychological Reports: Volume 110, pp. 501-517. 2. Buta, Paul. 2009. Privacy Panic: How to Avoid Identity Theft, Stop Spam and Take Control of Your Personal Privacy. Minneapolis: Hillcrest Group. 3. Gustim, S. 2013. Business Money NSA Spying Scandal Could Cost US Tech Giants Billions Comments. Times Magazine. Retrieved 18 Feb. 2014. [http://business.time.com/2013/12/10/nsa-spying-scandal-could-cost-u-s-tech-giants-billions/]. 4. Kang, C. and Nakashima, E. 2013. Tech Executives to Obama: NSA Spying Revelations Are Hurting Business. Washington Post. Retrieved 16 Feb. 2014. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/tech-executives-to-obama-nsa-spying-revelations-are-threatening-business/2013/12/17/6569b226-6734-11e3-a0b9-249bbb34602c_story.html] 5. Jarvis, J. 2013. Eight Tech Giants Have Sided with Citizens over Spies, but Its Not Enough. Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 18 Feb. 2014. [http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/tech-giant-companies-open-letter-white-house]. 6. Lindström, M. 2011. Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy. New York: Crown Business. 7. Lloyd, S. T. 2013. Sermons from the National Cathedral: Soundings for the Journey. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. 8. Rice, J. 2009. The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook. 9. The Economist. 2012. Another game of thrones. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/news/21567361-google-apple-facebook-and-amazon-are-each-others-throats-all-sorts-ways-another-game 10. Zittrain, J. 2008. The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It. New Haven: Yale UP. Read More