Nick SrnicekPlatform Capitalism (Theory Redux)

Not without controversy, Srnicek’s critiques of capitalism nonetheless invite compassionate responses whether by those within progressive business or whatever organized activist communities are still left (pun intended). While Inventing the Future was addressed to (on the U.S. side), the Bernie and Occupy crowds, this shorter pocket-volume addresses more of a Clinton-crowd. The prognosis is dire: the main thesis being that there is inherent instability and a bubble-effect to the platform capitalism of the title (the Ubers and AirBNBs of the world whose main business is to connect one group of people to another), which is itself a sort of bandaid solution to vacant hole left in the 21st century where the Western manufacturing sector used to be. Srnicek diagnoses but does not, in this volume, begin to constructively address the problem.... either from the will to make this volume a conversation-starter or the sheer urgency to communicate the problem.... which would make the overwhelming task of the development of cooperative solutions the next logical step.

There’s a market for an intelligent critique of the monopolistic tendencies of the current evolution towards platform. This short book, alas, never quite pulls that all together. I really liked the distinction between different types of platforms but the author doesn’t provide any further useful structure and ends up piling theories about capitalism in general, the supply of capital, and Marxist exploitation of labor concerns up in a less than attractive heap. Absent was any clear sense that of why the end consumers of these businesses consume what they offer and how that might play into the whole situation.

Bought this because I really liked the book he cowrote on "Inventing the Future" but this one doesn't capture the same energy. It looks more in a descriptive manner at the build of the current economic system in the west dominated by platforms - which are modern day electronic agoras for the market to meet (and maybe clear).

I think this book is not so much about how Platform Capitalism operates, but rather how monetary policy made it possible for platform capitalism to develop rapidly in advanced capitalism. Really interesting read, though!

What a great read! Srnicek gives us a 50 foot economic view of the Platform Economy!Highly recommended...I would recommend this book to a dear friend.

Thanks.

Great Book! Must read for any executive interested in Platforms.

The first chapter brings up to date our knowledge of capitalist economies, their tribulations and booms since WW2 and especially the low-interest world since 2008. With no interest, firms increasingly looked for tax avoidance including offshore investment. This doesn't carry a high level of detail.The second chapter explains data hosting platforms and how companies increasingly put their admin and processes on computer and on the internet. We're told that the net uses 9.2% of the world's electricity today. As companies got no return on cash in banks, they invested in tech, undermined unions and labour rights, sold factories and got goods built cheaply in other nations. With cash in hand they then turned to monetising the platforms with which they interact with the consumer market... Google tracked data at first to improve search efficiency but then to sell advertising. Again it's broad sweep, few individuals named, not too many acronyms such as NASDAQ. I saw just a couple of graphs in the whole book.The platforms come in five types, says the author, from those that sell goods to those that offer services, and really lean ones may be renting the servers, data bank space, cloud storage and tech services. All they own is the computer code... and the data they can extract. They can then sell the data. RFIDs that are supposed to track goods can provide further reports; Uber can sell data about its cab riders. One major effect is that with low wages or no jobs and no incentive to save, people rent homes, goods and services like computer programs or music rather than pay a large sum to own. Another is that with no large tax incomes, countries are stuck in austerity.The next chapter looks at competition, surveillance by smart homes and IOT, and privacy laws. I am amused by the way that the author now uses the term ecosystem without once referring to living plants and animals, except humans. Other terms used are mergers being horizontal, vertical or conglomerate - and sometimes tech mergers are none of those. As the author was writing, Microsoft had bought Linked In. (Main results, they made it look like facebook, which I never use, made the groups less useful, so less used, and took away our ability to report spam.)For the future, the author considers the shift in global trade, driverless cars, ruthless competition and whether online advertising can work given ad blockers, bots and spam. Again no huge level of detail, just general warnings. If all this sounds like a useful read - with no alphabet soup of initials and with most economic jargon terms explained in the text - I recommend grabbing this short book as a good intro and overview of economics and IS platforms. Even first year economics students should get on fine, provided they are interested in IS. I have read most of the content elsewhere but scattered over several longer books.Personally I strongly recommend combining this read with Green Capital by Christian de Perthuis and Pierre-André Jouvet; because the Earth's resources are finite, not mentioned in this economics text, and Earth Overshoot Day, the day each year by which humans have consumed all the resources the planet can renew in a year, comes earlier each year, on Aug 2nd in 2017. We need to assign economic values to clean air and water, fertile land, oxygen production, carbon storage.Notes P 130 - 174 of my e-ARC. I counted 24 names which I could be sure were female.I downloaded a copy from Net Galley and the publisher. This is an unbiased review.

This book has been the highlight of my Spring 2018 reading. Highly recommended.

Thanks

Awesome

An good review of the current tech-economic market place and how it is responding to new developments.

Great summary of the platform business world in the context of macro economics