The villainy of success

Every day, I pass by a huge advertisement at a metro exit for a new real estate agency platform (大房鸭). I have only a vague idea what it is, but I imagine that it's promising the same things that once-new platforms such as 贝壳 and 安居客 once promised - features such as real listings, safe transactions, and no telemarketing calls.

Passing by the ad for the n'th time, I'm reminded of other upstarts that once battled incumbents with weapons ranging from a free product to amazing service to better technology. It may be hard to believe, but all of the major technology companies started this way.

As a teenager, I remember reading in the news about how Steve Jobs would return to Apple as interim CEO, and the launch of the colourful iMac and the first iPod. I'm also old enough to remember the beginnings of Google and Facebook, and my initial contact with them. The former was recommended to me by a mathematician classmate in 2001, and the latter by an online friend circa 2006. I was an early adopter, but believe me when I say that I didn't know how successful these two companies would become.

Fast forward to the present day.

Apple is being sued by Epic Games for predatory behavior with its App Store, Google is facing antritrust investigations and was recently fined $5 billion by the European Union, and Facebook is also facing antitrust suits following a scandal involving Cambridge Analytica's access of millions of users' private details.

It would appear that the more successful a company becomes, the greater the chance that it starts to be seen in a negative light. I still fondly remember the days when there were no ads on Google or YouTube, and pokes were still a thing on Facebook. Now, every passing year seems to be a test to see how many ads I'm willing to tolerate before I either quit the platform or pay for some form of premium account.

For most of these companies, the decline in usability seems to coincide with their IPO. As they complete their assertion of dominance over their chosen domain (search/video, social networking, e-commerce), profit-maximization becomes the natural endgame.

Which (very successful) companies haven't succumbed to villainy? I tried my best and came up with just two:

• Costco pays a minimum wage of $16 in the US, and has a history of responding quickly with remedial actions whenever the media uncovers controversial practices in its supply chain.
• In-N-Out Burger has chosen not to franchise or go public to prevent its quality from being compromised by excessively rapid business growth, was mentioned positively in Fast Food Nation, and has fans among renowned chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Keller, and Anthony Bourdain.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this post. While I stopped using Facebook years ago (and was never active on Instagram or Twitter), I still frequent YouTube and use Google whenever my VPN is on. I use Apple tech products almost exclusively.

I suppose I'm just trying to raise awareness. If given the choice, I'd shop at Costco over Sam's Club, and I'd dine at In-N-Out over Shake Shack. I still question whether sustained success must end in villainy, and I'll support any institution that tries to prove otherwise.