Kara Swisher, a business journalist specializing in human behavior and how they wield wealth and power, spoke about the giants of Big Tech. For nearly three decades, she has closely examined Silicon Valley — writing for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, founding the tech website Recode , and pioneering podcasting. Her writing always strikes a delicate balance between insider knowledge and grit. Her book, Burn Book, profiles the CEOs who have been at the forefront of technology in recent years and analyzes their character and actions.
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The title is inspired by the 2004 film Mean Girls, in which the central characters keep a shared diary filled with insults and rumors about their classmates. In addition to telling her own story, Kara Swisher’s book focuses on descriptions of people – mostly men in Big Tech – that she has observed up close as their rich and influential reputations have grown: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of Google.
Some emerge as concrete, deep-thinking individuals who at least understand the big questions of power that are entangled around them. In contrast, others are presented in a more blunt manner – as “new rising wonders that I had supported” and in the end make the author feel “like a parent whose offspring have turned into, shall we say, bastards”.
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In the book, Swisher calls Zuckerberg “the most damaging man in tech.” Elon Musk is described as “the most promising,” reflecting Swisher’s long-held view of the Tesla and SpaceX as one of the most promising people in the tech industry. In 2016, she reached out to him before a big meeting with Trump, warning that the president-elect would “make a fool of him.” Two years later, Musk told her she was right.
Kara Swisher's book also mentions other Big Tech figures, her view of their achievements, and also her image of each of them. If you are interested in her book, you can find it on Amazon and on the book's official website.
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What are the main Big Tech companies?
The world's major Big Tech companies are many and varied. Starting with Apple, the company has focused on manufacturing high-quality electronic products and software. Then, we have Microsoft, a company that has left its mark on the world of computers with the Windows operating system and the Office application suite. Google is also one of the major technology companies, with its search platform being the most popular in the world and Android holding a significant market share in the smartphone category. Amazon, on the other hand, has evolved from a simple bookselling website to a technology giant that offers cloud computing, digital content, consumer products and even television productions. Finally, Facebook is one of the largest technology companies in the world of social networks, with platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp under its umbrella.
Source: theguardian
