Sadly this book didn't give any new or different views into "The Four" big ones that makes this book worth reading or talking about.
I also didn't love the writing style of this author, who quite often seems to lack focus to just talk about one specific thing at a time instead of criss-crossing almost constantly between different things, from strategy to history and to something else yet again.

The idea was well meaning and a good one, but sadly the actual book itself isn't that well done and could have been something fantastic, but sadly ends up being a bit of a sad shadow of what it could be.

What makes the big 800-pound internet gorillas of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google tick? This is a fascinating book that seeks to lift the curtain a little and show some of the ‘hidden DNA’ behind these ultra-successful companies that can presently form a dominant part of our lives.

It is an insightful read, even though there is no shortage of information on these companies available online and in-print. As a composite work it is an addictive, engaging and accessible read. Myths are abound about these companies of course, possibly with a degree of truth at heart, yet how did these companies manage to establish such a firm position? The journey was not necessarily smooth and without pain and neither can the future be guaranteed, but for the time being these giants show no sign of being dislodged from their pedestals.

This book manages to serve several audiences at the same time, giving different things for different readers ranging from the casual generalist to the most-analytical academic. The featured companies have managed to get ‘inside our minds’ to create an emotional, perhaps addictive, relationship with us, even if we do not necessarily know it or accept it. The author also shows how some of these corporate secrets can be deployed within our own business and private lives – yet naturally can no guarantee be given. The reader will learn some of the strategies deployed by these companies as well as get to see how they play with industry rivals, customers, regulators and even the governments. When these companies can have valuations more than many countries’ gross domestic products, they can be formidable adversaries or partners alike.

Whatever your own views about these companies – and views can vary on different elements of corporate behaviour and more besides – you surely cannot fail to enjoy this book, even if it does seem to end so quickly as you just churn through its pages, devouring its content along the way. The future can be very interesting, since these giants fight against each other for even-more domination. One or more giant may fall, possibly to be replaced by a yet-unknown. Interesting times are ahead, that is for sure.

I particularly enjoyed the great mix of information, commentary, humour and cynicism presented throughout this book. It made it a recommended read, even If you don’t think you are interested in just these four companies.

The Four, written by Scott Galloway and published by Random House/Transworld. ISBN 9780593077894. YYYYY

‘The Four’ considers the enormous power accrued – for good and for (tax-avoiding, job-destroying, fake news-propagating) ill – by the big four technology giants Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.

This examination takes place at a very interesting time for, as author Scott Galloway makes abundantly clear, the only competition the Four face is from each other, and the race is now on between them to become the premier operating system.

The first half of the book looks at the history of retail and the business strategies of each of the Four (such as the inspired decision to transition Apple from a tech to a luxury brand and to move into retail), whilst the second half chiefly considers the Four’s relations with governments and competitors and suggests future trends.

Galloway most definitely knows what he’s talking about. Now Professor of Marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, he previously founded or co-founded nine firms, some of which foundered at the hands of the Four. These experiences have not embittered him. On the contrary, he writes not only with great insight but also with considerable humour, not least about the origins of our consumerist cravings.

In so doing, Galloway occasionally overstates his case, as when he writes that, “At its core, Apple fills two instinctual needs: to feel closer to God and be more attractive to the opposite sex.” The bald facts are already sufficiently astonishing - Apple has “a cash pile greater than the GDP of Denmark, the Russian stock market, and the market cap of Boeing, Airbus and Nike combined” - for there to be any need for this kind of hyperbole.

This book is by turns frightening and funny, depressing (on the demise of quality print journalism) and visionary (on the possibility of a tuition-free university).

I cannot recommend it too highly, as it is both a superb eye-opener and an entertaining page-turner.

Scott Galloway equates the Big Four - Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon - to the Four Horseman of god, love, sex and consumption respectively.

The author proceeds to examine and deconstruct the strategies that the Four employed in becoming the present giants of industry, the exploitation of their own mythologies and consumer habits as well as their overt and covert anti-competitive techniques to stifle their competition.

This is all extremely illuminating, but there isn't much new here that you aren't able to read elsewhere. The prominence of these ubiquitous companies in our daily lives means that they are already subject to extensive research and analysis in many books, publications, research papers and articles.

Scott Galloway does make a concerted effort to draw business lessons from the Four, but I find this part unconvincing as you cannot extrapolate success from the unique circumstances and individuals that birthed the Four. Great success requires ingenuity, not imitation.

However, it is seldom that you have the convenience of all Four being the subject matter of one singular book. It is further interesting how these four divergent companies are slowly, but inexorably encroaching upon each other's special areas of expertise in the race to become the first trillion dollar company.