{"id":25867,"date":"2022-12-26T10:50:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T10:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/26\/big-techs-billion-dollar-curse-of-the-free-the-register\/"},"modified":"2022-12-26T10:50:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T10:50:23","slug":"big-techs-billion-dollar-curse-of-the-free-the-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/26\/big-techs-billion-dollar-curse-of-the-free-the-register\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Tech\u2019s billion dollar curse of the free \u2022 The Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Opinion<\/span> Consequences can come at you fast or slow. If you\u2019re a trillion-dollar company, you get to choose which, a bit, but you can never escape completely.<\/p>\n

Amazon is burning billions on Alexa because voice assistants need massive infrastructure but can’t be monetized. Google Cloud is $700 million in the red as of last earnings<\/a> and heading south to a state of madness like a New Jersey retiree. These are mature products in saturated markets. You don’t need an MBA to know what will happen. But even the dean of Harvard Business School can’t say when.<\/p>\n

The big confounding factor is reputation. Take Alexa, which, as has been noted, is overwhelmingly used for a few simple tasks: playing music, setting timers, doing quick queries, switching lights. Shopping and advertising? Not so much. The issue for Amazon over those few popular use cases is that they are very popular. For some demographics among the elderly and disabled they’re now part of their daily life. Millions more are habituated, with Alexa just being quietly useful when hands are full or pulling up a calculator app is just too much hassle.<\/p>\n

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