Silicon Valley Rhetoric : Three Myths Debunked

The European Court of Justice's recent move to classify Uber as a transportation-services company attracted international headlines—yet it was a fairly straightforward, common-sense decision. What, then, made it so remarkable? It was one of the first high-level rejections of Silicon Valley Rhetoric. Uber may scrupulously refer to itself as a "ridesharing" platform, but its for-profit business model has nothing to do with "sharing."Today's tech giants are unrivaled in their ability to verbally disguise who they are and what they do. Regrettably, antitrust and competition authorities have at times fallen under their spell. This essay debunks three such examples of Silicon Valley Rhetoric: the Myth of the Garage (entry is easy!), the Myth of Free (our products are free!), and the Myth of Constant Disruption (competition is just a click away!)