Bit Tyrants
The Political Economy of Silicon Valley
“Highly informed, lively and readable, this is a badly needed study of the giant high tech corporations that increasingly dominate the means of work and social interaction…. Beyond exposing the nature of this awesome and threatening system, Larson goes on to outline how it can, and should, be brought under popular control. A most valuable contribution to understanding and guide to action.” — Noam Chomsky
About the book
This is the first comprehensive book from a radical left perspective on the rising power of the Silicon Valley tech sector, particularly the five dominant empires of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon, challenging the ocean of liberal ass-kissery and right-wing scorn that dominates analysis of these giants.
Every day we grow more dependent on our phones and apps to do our chores, our jobs, and our socializing. And every quarter the enormous corporate giants of Big Tech take over more sectors of the economy. It’s time crack the code of the economic dynamics that drive these companies to become near-monopolies very early, and the unique forms of “platform power” each once possesses.
As Silicon Valley rises to become co-dominant with Wall Street in the halls of corporate power, this book playfully dissects the tech monopolies with humor and a plan to secure our privacy and expand our freedom—socializing the Big Tech platforms.
What people are saying
Noam Chomsky“Highly informed, lively and readable, this is a badly needed study of the giant high tech corporations that increasingly dominate the means of work and social interaction…. Beyond exposing the nature of this awesome and threatening system, Larson goes on to outline how it can, and should, be brought under popular control. A most valuable contribution to understanding and guide to action
Winnipeg Free Press“Bit Tyrants is potentially as horrifying as any fiction.”
Contents
- Introduction: Bitatorship
- The Flaw of Gravity: The Network Origins of Tech Monopolies
- Macrosoft: The Original Platform Giant
- The Apple Bitten: The Long Road to Number One
- Amazon’s Smile: Snowballing Scale in Online Retail
- Being Evil: The Company That Governs the Internet
- Disgracebook: The Trivial Network That Moves the World
- Neutralized: The Defeat and Victory of the Telecom Networks
- Redefining R&D: The State’s Unknown Role In Creating the Internet and Mobile Tech
- Leashing the Techlash: Tech’s Love-hate Releationship With Politics
- Share This!: Socializing the Internet
- Notes
- Index
