Comments on: So what exactly is a tech company?

By: keninca

keninca — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:53:08 +0000

OK, Om, we’re just not going to agree on this. Getting Web ID at scale may be a massive technology challenge, but so is building FedEx’s network. Or automated food processing plants. Or payment processing systems. Are those companies “tech companies”?

Having a tech component as part of a company’s infrastructure doesn’t make it a tech company, it only makes it modern.

By: mutant_dog

mutant_dog — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:33:41 +0000

When discussing multiples, incremental costs and scalability are key determinants. This tends to favor software over hardware. Silicon Valley VCs understand this.

By: ricdesan

ricdesan — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:43:29 +0000

I will agree with your assessment on how they get there. I dont think that is the issue as they are using and supporting some serious tech to keep it running. Your original point is so valid its funny really. Tech means very little these days just like a lot of monikers such as Social, PR or Marketing. Which I have seen morph into things unrecognizable to the savvy even just a decade ago. Thanks for the nod Om!

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:36:34 +0000

Again, I disagree. Getting Web ID at scale is a massive technology challenge and what it does is productivity in the consumer web. Definition is only part of it. To make it work for nearly a billion people and work for billions of transactions on a daily basis is not a trivial task and I view it as a “technology” component necessary for the new web fabric.

as for @ric ‘s comment, I am not even going to disagree. It is what it is. :-)

By: ricdesan

ricdesan — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:32:16 +0000

Keninca is absolutely right, Facebook is and always has been a user information brokerage company. It brokers between users, users and companies, users and marketers and marketers and companies.

The social vehicle is not a means to an end but a process to a monetization. Facebook could give a shit about its actual users.

By: Steve K

Steve K — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:19:21 +0000

I tend to think of tech companies from a hardware perspective. As in making hardware sufficiently advanced that it is at the leading edge of technology. That is not to say that a washing machine with a touch screen is leading edge, but someone making a gesture based interface device would be. I’ll grant that some software only companies would qualify as leading edge tech if they are creating tools and languages that advance the state of the art in getting a processor to do work. But taking those software tools and using them to automate or improve the automation of existing functions is not leading edge or tech. Even things like Facebook are not creating something new. They just leveraged existing database tools with a different user interface and structure to good old BBS groups.

By: keninca

keninca — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:58:27 +0000

Getting web identity right is not a question of technology, but one of definition. If MS can’t get it right, it’s not because the technology is too difficult for them, but they just can’t create the right interface that appeals to third parties. Definition is more of a marketing issue.

But even if you consider defining the API to be technology, that still isn’t what Facebook is selling. They are selling information, and just using technology to distribute it. Kind of like on-line brokers. Virtually every company uses technology to sell their products, with the medium for some more complex than others.

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:23:10 +0000

Actually that is the point of the post. There are some “tech” companies and others are just a “company.” Alex is trying to make that point and so am I.

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:22:24 +0000

Thanks! On the flip side, have I been asleep on the wheel or what ;-).

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:21:34 +0000

Keninca

I respectfully disagree. Web Identity is not an easy thing to do and is a complex problem that has eluded even big guns like Microsoft and Sun. In my books ID/Open Graphs do qualify as technology and we see the impact of it on all non-core tech operations every signel day.