Headline Jan 11, 2018/ ''' *TECH GIANTS TEAM* '''

 ''' *TECH GIANTS TEAM* '''

*WILL THE GIANT FIVE* ultimately, some day, annihilate The World Students Society and Better World Networks, is a question-

The students of the entire world, must stop to ponder in all earnestness? And when and if you do that, do consider, that after so many rollercoaster years for the tech world-

Many industry leaders are also looking for the cutting edge for salvation. Time will tell Ya all, and the world, that only the World Students Society can provide that!

AS THE TECH FAITHFUL GATHER in Las Vegas, to worship at Mecca of innovation, we turn around and take a look at the Big Five. And if need be get overly vigilant.

THEY SAID the Five's platform had made starting companies cheaper and easier, and pointed to several successful start-ups that managed to elude the Five's clutches in the last few years:

Netflix, Uber and Airbnb and !WOW!, and when you look at business focused companies that aren't house hold names, you come up with  dozens more, from Slack to Stripe to Square to *Better World Network*.

''In a lot of ways I'd say it hasn't changed,'' said Joey Levin, the Chief Executive of  IAC, an Internet and Media company based in New York.

''I've been around the  Internet   long enough and the first thing we used to ask in every meeting when I started was:
''Why won't Microsoft do your business?''

Then six years later, it was.

''Why doesn't Google  do it? Now it's a combination of why can't Facebook, Google, Amazon, or Apple do this?''

Mr. Levine position is interesting. Even if he and you may not have heard IAC has been battling giants online for a long time. The company grew out of the media tycoon Barry Diller's television holdings of the 1990s-

Over the last two decades, IAC created a string of digital brands that tried to find some foothold  outside the fiefs of the giants.

Among them are Expedia, Match.com, Tinder, Ask.com and Vimeo. .

Some of these companies became the biggest brands in their categories, while others were also-rans that came up short against the day's tech  giants. In many cases, though IAC made money by shrewdly navigating the giants.

Sometimes it worked with the behemoths, other times it competed with them, and always it looked for opportunities above and beneath and between the giants, like a clever pigeon picking up crumbs around a picnic table.

IAC's latest gambit is Angi Homeservice, a company that combines two big brands aimed at home repair and refurbishing, Angie's List and Home Advisor.

That company competes directly with some of the  Five -both Google and Amazon have services meant to help you find people to install things in your home.

Chris Terrill, the chief executive disclosed that Angi Homeservices had a dedicated team working on providing a service that's superior to anything the giants can build.

But he also said his company was eager to team up with one of the big Five guys   -for instance, on one of their voice-assistant platforms   -because working with one of the  Five  could ease its path into the big leagues. 

''We think that a  smart voice  provider will say, 'If i want to win it all costs, we'll go get the very best partner'    -and that's us,'' Mr. Terrrill said.


In some ways, IAC could be a model for the  Internet companies  of tomorrow.

It clearly aims big and isn't going for second place. But it has also internalized a kind of working method that recognizes the  Five  as more-or-less permanent fixtures of the Internet.

It's not betting on their demise, rather, it's betting on their continued success. If Angi is to win, so will one or more of the Five.

IAC's executives recognize the  danger of digital  marketplace that is so heavily dependent on big guys.

''I think the opportunities are still there, but I do worry that some of the biggest players are going to stifle  that competition by trying to do and own too much themselves,'' Mr. Terrill said.

I asked another IAC veteran, Dara Khosrowshahi -who until recently was the chief executive of  Expedia -whether he believed that Internet was still an open field for innovation, or whether the Five were closing it off.

''I'm mixed as it relates to that,'' he said.

''I fundamentally think innovative ideas can still survive and thrive, but the Googles and Facebooks of the world have to so much more intelligence as to mass consumer behavior that they probably have an unfair advantage in identifying these early fast movers   -and are willing to pay prices that are extraordinary for them.''

In August, Mr. Khosrowshahi was appointed chief executive of Uber, where he will have to deal with the giants more directly.

Though his company is the most  highly valued  start-up of our age, its success seems far from assured.  Many of its problems are of its own making, and Mr. Khosrowshahi is determined to fix them.

But like  Snap, Uber is at the mercy of the Five Alphabet, Google's parent company, is an investor in Uber.

But Alphabet's autonomous-car company, Waymo, is also a competitor to Uber. On top of that, Waymo has sued Uber, allegedly theft of trade secrets.

The future of Uber, of ride-hailing and of autonomous vehicles in America is hazy. But here's one thing that seems a sure bet : Whether Uber wins or losses-

Google will end up doing just fine.

With respectful dedication to the Big Five, Leaders, Corporate Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW! -the Ecosystem 2011:


'''Gold dips !WOW! '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless