What makes the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats stand out. How do these cleats enhance player performance. Why are they considered a top choice for lacrosse players. What innovative features do these cleats offer. How do they compare to other lacrosse cleats on the market.
The Evolution of Lacrosse Footwear: Introducing the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro
Lacrosse, a sport known for its speed, agility, and precision, demands footwear that can keep up with the intense demands of the game. Enter the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats, a game-changing addition to the world of lacrosse equipment. These cleats represent the culmination of years of research, development, and player feedback, resulting in a product that truly lives up to its “untouchable” moniker.
The evolution of lacrosse footwear has been a journey of innovation and adaptation. From the early days of basic cleated shoes to today’s high-tech offerings, the focus has always been on enhancing player performance while ensuring safety and comfort. The Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro cleats stand at the forefront of this evolution, incorporating cutting-edge technology and design elements that cater specifically to the unique needs of lacrosse players.
Unparalleled Traction: The Foundation of Performance
At the heart of any great lacrosse cleat lies its ability to provide superior traction, and the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro excels in this area. The cleats feature a strategically designed stud pattern that offers optimal grip on various playing surfaces, from natural grass to artificial turf. This enhanced traction translates directly to improved player performance, allowing for quicker cuts, more explosive starts, and better overall maneuverability on the field.
How does the stud configuration contribute to the cleat’s performance? The Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro utilizes a combination of bladed and conical studs. The bladed studs provide excellent lateral stability and cutting ability, while the conical studs offer multi-directional traction and easy ground penetration. This hybrid design ensures that players can maintain control and stability in all directions, a crucial factor in a sport as dynamic as lacrosse.
Key Traction Features:
- Hybrid stud configuration for all-around performance
- Optimized cleat placement for enhanced stability
- Durable material composition for long-lasting grip
Lightweight Construction: Maximizing Speed and Agility
In a sport where every second counts, the weight of a player’s footwear can make a significant difference. The Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats are engineered with a focus on minimizing weight without compromising on durability or support. This lightweight construction allows players to move more quickly and efficiently, reducing fatigue and enabling them to maintain peak performance throughout the game.
What materials contribute to the cleat’s lightweight nature? Nike employs a combination of advanced synthetic materials and strategically placed mesh panels. The upper is constructed from a durable yet lightweight synthetic leather, providing structure and support where needed. Breathable mesh inserts are incorporated to enhance ventilation and further reduce weight, ensuring that players’ feet remain cool and comfortable even during intense gameplay.
Weight-Saving Technologies:
- Synthetic leather upper for durability without bulk
- Breathable mesh inserts for ventilation and weight reduction
- Lightweight, responsive midsole foam
- Minimalist yet effective cleat plate design
Advanced Fit System: Tailored Comfort and Support
A crucial aspect of any high-performance athletic shoe is its fit, and the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats excel in this regard. These cleats feature an advanced fit system that adapts to the unique contours of each player’s foot, providing a customized feel that enhances both comfort and performance.
How does the fit system work? At the core of this technology is Nike’s Flywire system, a series of ultra-strong yet lightweight fibers that work in tandem with the laces to wrap around the foot, providing targeted support where it’s needed most. This dynamic fit system ensures that the foot remains securely in place during quick movements and directional changes, reducing the risk of in-shoe slippage and potential injuries.
Additionally, the cleats incorporate a padded collar and tongue, offering extra cushioning around the ankle and instep. This not only enhances comfort but also helps to prevent irritation and blistering during extended periods of play. The result is a cleat that feels like an extension of the foot, allowing players to focus on their game without distraction.
Innovative Cleat Plate Design: Balancing Flexibility and Stability
The cleat plate is a critical component of any lacrosse shoe, serving as the interface between the player’s foot and the playing surface. The Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro features an innovative plate design that strikes an optimal balance between flexibility and stability, two crucial factors in lacrosse performance.
What makes this cleat plate design unique? The plate is constructed from a lightweight yet durable material that provides a solid foundation for the cleats. It’s engineered with strategically placed flex grooves that allow for natural foot movement, particularly in the forefoot area. This flexibility is crucial for maintaining agility and explosiveness during quick starts and direction changes.
At the same time, the plate incorporates reinforced zones in key areas to ensure stability during lateral movements and when planting to shoot or pass. This thoughtful design approach results in a cleat that offers the perfect blend of mobility and support, adapting to the diverse movements required in lacrosse.
Cleat Plate Features:
- Lightweight, durable construction
- Strategic flex grooves for natural foot movement
- Reinforced zones for lateral stability
- Optimized stud placement for traction in all directions
Enhanced Ankle Support: Protecting Against Common Injuries
Ankle injuries are a common concern in lacrosse, given the sport’s emphasis on quick cuts and sudden direction changes. The Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats address this issue with a design that prioritizes ankle support and protection.
How do these cleats provide enhanced ankle support? The cleats feature a mid-cut design that extends slightly above the ankle, offering additional stability without restricting movement. This design helps to reduce the risk of ankle rolls and sprains, particularly during aggressive lateral movements.
Furthermore, the cleats incorporate an internal heel counter, a rigid structure that helps to lock the heel in place and prevent excessive movement within the shoe. This feature works in conjunction with the Flywire system to create a secure, supportive fit that extends from the midfoot to the ankle.
Ankle Support Technologies:
- Mid-cut design for increased stability
- Internal heel counter for secure heel lock
- Flywire system extending to the ankle area
- Padded collar for comfort and additional support
Durability and Longevity: Investing in Long-Term Performance
While performance is paramount, the durability of athletic footwear is also a crucial consideration, especially given the investment that quality lacrosse cleats represent. The Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats are designed with longevity in mind, utilizing high-quality materials and construction techniques to ensure they can withstand the rigors of regular play.
What features contribute to the cleat’s durability? The synthetic leather upper is not only lightweight but also highly resistant to wear and tear. It’s engineered to maintain its shape and integrity even after repeated use, ensuring that the cleats continue to provide optimal fit and support throughout their lifespan.
The cleat plate is constructed from a durable compound that resists cracking and maintains its structural integrity, even under the high-stress conditions typical of lacrosse play. Additionally, the studs are designed to resist excessive wear, maintaining their traction properties over time.
Durability Highlights:
- Wear-resistant synthetic leather upper
- High-strength stitching and bonding techniques
- Durable cleat plate material
- Long-lasting stud design
The Impact of Color: The Psychology Behind the White Design
While the performance features of the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats are undoubtedly their main selling point, the choice of a white colorway is not without significance. The psychology of color in sports equipment can play a subtle yet important role in player perception and performance.
Why choose white for these high-performance cleats? White is often associated with purity, clarity, and focus. In the context of sports equipment, white can create a sense of lightness and speed, potentially influencing the player’s perception of their own quickness and agility on the field.
Moreover, white cleats have a certain visual appeal, standing out against the green of the playing field. This can draw attention to a player’s footwork, potentially intimidating opponents or boosting the wearer’s confidence. The clean, crisp appearance of white cleats can also contribute to a player’s overall sense of professionalism and readiness for peak performance.
Psychological Benefits of White Cleats:
- Association with speed and agility
- Enhanced visual presence on the field
- Potential boost to player confidence
- Professional and clean aesthetic
In conclusion, the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro Lax-White Lacrosse Cleats represent a pinnacle in lacrosse footwear design. By combining advanced traction technology, lightweight construction, superior fit, innovative cleat plate design, enhanced ankle support, and durability, these cleats offer players a comprehensive package that can truly elevate their game. The choice of a white colorway adds a psychological dimension that complements the physical attributes of the cleats. For lacrosse players seeking to maximize their performance and make a statement on the field, the Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro cleats stand as a compelling choice, living up to their “untouchable” moniker in both form and function.
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The most untouchable Giants records
The Giants.com crew is presented with four statements and must decide whether they are Fact or Fiction.
The most untouchable career franchise record on defense is Emlen Tunnell’s 74 interceptions
John Schmeelk: Fact – Players just don’t rack of those kind of interceptions any longer given the efficiency, pinpoint and short-pass based NFL offenses of the present. Rod Woodson, Charles Woodson and Ed Reed are the only players with more than 60 interceptions who played past the 2010 season. It’s just a very hard number to reach.
Lance Medow: Fact – Emlen Tunnel not only set a franchise record with 74 interceptions but his 79 career picks (five more with the Packers) ranks second in NFL history. To further put things in perspective, only three players in league annals have collected more than 70. The next closest Giant to Tunnel is Jimmy Patton, who recorded 52 picks.
Matt Citak: Fact – What Tunnell did during his time with the Giants is simply amazing. The defensive back earned eight consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl from 1950-1957, in addition to earning six selections as an All-Pro. He intercepted seven passes in just 10 games as a rookie in 1948 and then a career-high 10 interceptions the following year. From 1948-57, Tunnell had at least six interceptions every season. That just does not happen in the NFL any longer. Patrick Peterson and Harrison Smith are tied for the current lead among active players with 34 interceptions, and each have played in the league for more than a decade. It would be shocking to see anyone come even close to Tunnell’s 74 interceptions.
The most untouchable career franchise record on offense is Eli Manning’s 57,023 passing yards
John Schmeelk: Fiction – The NFL is becoming more of a passing league every year. Whether or not the Giants have a quarterback who can play 16 years like Eli did is a legitimate question, but getting to more than 57,000 yards over the span is very doable if a player can log that many games. Tiki Barber’s 10,449 career rushing yards might be tougher to break given how running backs rarely play the position full-ime any longer and have such short careers.
Lance Medow: Fact – It’s going to be very difficult for anyone to break most of Eli Manning’s marks given he made 222 consecutive starts between Nov. 2004-Nov. 2017. On top of that, in the entire history of the NFL, just four quarterbacks (Brett Favre, Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning and Eli) have reached 200 consecutive starts. That’s a huge reason why the Giants legend piled up more than 57,000 passing yards. Another Giants quarterback would have to play as long, without any injuries, to even start having a discussion that it could be feasible.
Matt Citak: Fact – This is another one that will be incredibly difficult for anyone to beat. Perhaps Manning’s best trait was his ability to stay on the field. The legendary quarterback started 210 consecutive games, and wasn’t even injured for the game that snapped his epic streak. This led to Manning creating a significant distance between himself and all other Giants quarterbacks – Phil Simms is second on the all-time passing list with 33,462 yards, more than 23,000 less than Manning. To put it into perspective, Daniel Jones is four years into his NFL career and is sixth on the franchise’s all-time list with 11,603 yards. Unless someone is able to start 200+ consecutive games at quarterback again, Manning’s record isn’t being touched.
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The most untouchable single-season franchise record on defense is Michael Strahan’s 22.5 sacks in 2001.
John Schmeelk: Fact – This isn’t just a Giants record, it is an NFL record (shared with T.J. Watt). Although sack numbers are increasing due to the higher frequency of passes being thrown in the league, it is hard to imagine another Giant surpassing 22.5 sacks. The expanded 17-game season helps but it is not enough.
Lance Medow: Fiction – It’s either Michael Strahan’s sack record or Jimmy Patton and Otto Schnellbacher’s shared interception total of 11 in 1958 and 1951, respectively. You can make a strong case for both but go with the latter. Although 22.5 sacks seem untouchable on the surface, Jason Pierre-Paul recorded 16.5 in 2011, which is at least in the same ballpark. No one has posted double-digit interceptions in a Giants uniform since 1968 and only one player has come close in the 21st Century (Stevie Brown had eight in 2012).Based on those trends, go with matching or passing Strahan as more likely.
Matt Citak: Fact – Strahan set the NFL all-time single-season sack record with his 22.5 in 2001. Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt matched that number in 2021, and others came close in the years before Watt was finally able to reach Strahan’s mark. But 22.5 sacks in a single season is quite the accomplishment. Lawrence Taylor, perhaps the greatest-ever defensive player, topped out at 20.5 sacks in 1986. The next-highest Giants sack total, other than Strahan’s 18.5 sacks in 2003, was Jason Pierre-Paul’s 16.5 in 2011. Strahan’s high-mark will be very tough for anyone to beat.
The most untouchable single-season franchise record on offense is Y.A. Tittle’s 104.8 passer rating in his 1963 NFL MVP season.
John Schmeelk: Fiction – Passer rating are only going up as completion percentages sky-rocket and interceptions plummet, thanks to passing games that include so many safe completions at or near the line of scrimmage. Those plays will often turn into big games thanks to the dynamic athletes on the other side of the plays.
Lance Medow: Fiction – While Y.A. Tittle’s feat shouldn’t be overlooked, several Giants quarterbacks have finished their respective seasons in the 90s, including 2015 when Eli Manning posted a 93.6 passer rating. When you look around the league, 104.8 has easily been surpassed by the NFL’s annual leader in 15 of the last 16 seasons. That’s why Tiki Barber’s single-season mark for carries will never be broken. He ran the ball 357 times in 2005 and the only player to even reach 300 carries since is Barber again. With most teams using running back committees and the injury rate at that position, Tiki’s mark is more than safe.
Matt Citak: Fiction – This one was close, as Tittle’s 1963 passer rating is an impressive mark, one that no other Giants QB has come close to in the 60 years since. However, Tittle’s 104. 8 ranks tied for 61st on the NFL’s all-time list. While no Giants QB has beat it, many others have. That is why I’m going with Daniel Jones’ 1.1 interception percentage last season as the most untouchable single-season franchise record. That mark is tied with five others as the 22nd-best in NFL history. Within the Giants record books, Phil Simms came closest at 1.3 percent. Jones’ 1.1 was the best in the NFL last season, as he threw just five interceptions on 472 pass attempts. In the last five years, the only QBs to best that mark are Aaron Rodgers (four times), Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees.
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how the caste hierarchy penetrated the Indian IT industry – Career on vc.ru
Indian IT companies had a chance to become free from caste restrictions, but for the most part they have completely adapted this system. About why this happened, as well as the position of representatives of the lower social groups in the industry – in the retelling of Rest of World.
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Source: Rest of World
India experienced a hiring boom in 2021 with almost 50% of the country’s companies planning to add staff in early 2022 and the number of applicants doubled compared to last year. Competing with each other, IT firms offered potential employees even with little experience comfortable conditions, high salaries and corporate gifts.
At the same time, due to the caste organization of Indian society, the access of some people to prestigious and sought-after industries is difficult – castes are traditionally associated with certain professions.
Dalits, or the untouchables, have historically been given “dirty” jobs like manual garbage collection. In 1947, India introduced a reservation program: it assigned to Dalits and representatives of indigenous communities close in status to them the right to education and service in public positions, and also introduced quotas for them.
This made it more difficult for dominant groups to find jobs in public institutions. According to the publication, this pushed them to work in a predominantly private IT industry, where the state could not impose employment quotas.
But the Dalits also went there – the new industry promised to create equal conditions for everyone, in which everything would depend on individual abilities and personal merit, and religion, gender and caste would not matter.
However, this mixture led to the formation of caste hierarchies within the industry as well. Castes in the Indian technology sector are not disappearing, but are rapidly adapting to new conditions, concludes University of Canterbury professor B. Lindt.
It is difficult for members of the lower castes to obtain specialized education
Barriers to entry into the IT industry for historically oppressed groups arise from childhood. Among them:
- Unequal access to quality primary education. High-caste people can afford English-language schools with the best teachers for their children, but the poor are denied that advantage, says Monash University teacher in Malaysia Rajesh Ramachandrana.
- Remoteness of educational institutions. IT colleges are often located in cities – villagers have to travel long distances to get to them.
- High cost of education. While most engineering colleges offer residential courses, they are not affordable for students from poor families.
Faced with these difficulties, many members of the lower castes choose non-engineering majors. An additional factor in this is the lack of knowledge of English, which is mainly taught.
PhD Jyoti Lavanya and her brother are children of Dalits. They told the publication that their parents couldn’t help them with their homework.
During my school years, no one in my family could tell me how to solve tasks in basic mathematics or English, not to mention help with admission to an IT specialty.
Jyoti Lavanya
Prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology, or IITs, are subject to a government-set quota, but these conditions are not always met.
Enrolling in IIT is like a “lucky ticket to life” because these institutions, according to the publication, are among the best engineering institutions in the world and attract foreign recruits every year. But even after overcoming the difficulties of primary education and enrolling in IIT, Dalit students face rejection.
- According to a documentary made by Indian students, between 2007 and 2011, 18 Dalit students committed suicide due to caste discrimination.
- In 2021, a video leaked online in which a teacher at an elite school insulted students enrolled through the reservation program.
- A student at the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta told how a professor devalued his contribution to a key project. “They couldn’t believe that the reserve candidate could do well,” he said.
It is difficult for educated Dalits to find decent work due to nepotism and caste prejudice
Manoj is a Dalit who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology and joined a tech company in Bangalore. At first, colleagues did not know about his caste and treated him friendly.
But when they became aware of her, their behavior changed. The manager now greeted Manoj with a smirk, and a colleague casually remarked at lunch one day, “I didn’t know you were from the ‘reservation’.”
Prashat Tambe, a public figure and founder of a private college in Nagpur, said that he personally invited students from oppressed castes for interviews. “Almost 90% do not come because they are afraid that they do not speak English well enough, ”he shared.
Tambe was doing research for a multinational tech company and found out that most of the lower castes work as service personnel.
Caste discrimination is felt at a deeper level. Colleagues don’t always say things directly—their prejudice can be expressed in minor actions, intonations, or even body language.
Dhruva, Dalit Technician
The IT sector claims that merit-based hiring has supplanted nepotism. “But if most of the employees are English-speaking people from big cities, the industry is just modifying the old forms of nepotism,” said Shanmugavelan, a fellow at the nonprofit research organization Data and Society.
Much of the hiring happens on referrals, and this is how people from the same social groups move up the corporate ladder. However, if Dalits deliberately hire Dalits, it is not welcome, writes Rest of World.
Born into a Dalit family, Chandru holds a senior position in one of India’s leading software companies. He hired six workers for the office, focusing only on their ability.
According to him, the management of the firm was furious that they were all Dalits. Six months later, when the trial period ended, they were forced to quit.
Even within organizations employing more diverse staff, role stratification has emerged. “While graduates from IIT and other prestigious institutions are in the best places, college graduates are more likely to get into lower-paying routine positions,” Upadhya writes in his study.
Several major Indian software development companies prefer to hire students from mainstream schools. As one manager said in an interview with Upadhya, they need “guys who can just sit and write code without asking too many questions.”
Many Dalit workers see their caste as a barrier to career advancement. They face the challenge of how much to share about their origins.
I know that I am not promoting in my current company because I am a Dalit. You can hide it and develop in a career, but lose heart. Perhaps I will have a lower standard of living, but I will talk about myself and at least keep my dignity.
Ravi, technology company employee
Case against Google, cheap electric cars and untouchable WeChat
Topic – what threatens Google in the US antitrust investigation
This week, the US Department of Justice sued Google for abusing the monopoly in the search market. Next in line is Facebook. The lawsuit against Google, which was expected for more than a year, immediately became the topic of heated discussions and divided politicians and IT people into two camps: some believe that the position of the Ministry of Justice is weak, and the lawsuit is a purely political phenomenon, others talk about the terrible consequences of market monopolization and the need to take action. We tried to figure out what guides both of them, as well as what this case, which risks becoming the main process of the decade, can threaten you and me.
What Google is being accused of
This week the Decade Trial officially kicked off in the US, with the Department of Justice filing its lawsuit against Google for abuse of its monopoly position in the search and online advertising market after a year of deliberations. The case has been in preparation for more than a year, the lawsuit, in addition to the ministry, was filed by prosecutors from 11 states, Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen told reporters. Google is accused of creating an illegal monopoly in the US Internet search market, 88% of which is controlled by the service, and advertising in search services.
What Google is accused of:
- In a multi-billion dollar deal with Apple to preinstall Google services on iPhones and iPads. This is one of the main charges. Google agreed with Apple that on all its devices around the world, Google will be the default search engine. For this, the company pays from $ 8 to 12 billion a year, and Apple itself records payments from Google in the segment of its revenue from the services segment, the growth of which boasts to investors. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai met in 2018 to discuss the deal. After that, a certain Apple executive wrote to his colleague from Google that “we work as if we are one company.”
- That the company enters into restrictive agreements with manufacturers of devices based on the Android mobile OS developed by Google. Moreover, it was often impossible to remove Google services from a smartphone or computer.
- Google controls through exclusive rights about 90% of all search queries in the US and receives $ 40 billion a year from advertisers. At the same time, the company gave an advantage in advertising to its products and pushed competitors, the lawsuit says.
Google itself released a lengthy rebuttal on its blog. The company’s vice president, Kent Walker, wrote that he believes the lawsuit is deeply flawed. “People use Google because they want to, not because they have to or can’t find alternatives. This lawsuit will not help consumers in any way. On the contrary, it will artificially support lower quality search alternatives, increase phone prices and make it harder for people to access the search services they want to use,” he said.
Changing default settings is easy, according to Google, and people use a lot of specialized services when it suits them. Besides, the company isn’t doing anything wrong: Google pays for a digital version of supermarket shelf space that food manufacturers pay for. Google’s competitors can do the same. And Apple chose Google because its product is the best.
What it threatens
The Wall Street Journal calls the lawsuit the largest antitrust case in the US in decades. The case is compared to two historic antitrust trials – 1974 years against telephone AT&T, which resulted in the division of the company into 9 regional operators, and 1998 against Microsoft, after which Bill Gates’ company miraculously avoided a similar division.
The lawsuit against Google does not specify the sanctions that the plaintiffs will demand to impose on the company, but the US Department of Justice does not rule out any options and even hints at a forced separation of the company. This option is also allowed by lawyers.
The requirement to separate Google’s business is a real prospect. Such a decision (in relation not only to Google, but also to Facebook, Amazon, and Apple) was called acceptable in a report published in early October following an investigation by the Congressional Antitrust Committee. Politico reported last week that the US Department of Justice is considering selling the Chrome browser and spinning off Google’s advertising services as one option.
But the shareholders of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, clearly do not feel much threat from the lawsuit, for the week the company’s shares not only did not fall in price, but also rose in price. The market has long considered the prospect of filing a lawsuit, the proceedings will take years, and the plaintiffs have not yet demanded the most radical measures, such as the forced division of the company, analysts told Reuters. Alphabet now has $120 billion in cash on its accounts – this will allow the company to pay any, even the largest fines, without any problems.
Who is next in line
The lawsuit against Google is only the first sign: the authorities in the US and the EU are investigating and preparing antitrust charges against all major technology companies:
- The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is conducting its antitrust investigation on the tech market. In the next few weeks, she will file a lawsuit against Facebook. The focus is on deals to buy Instagram and WhatsApp, which the FTC has been studying for over a year.
- The EU is also conducting its own antitrust investigation: the European Commission launched two parallel cases against Apple due to commissions in the App Store and Apple Pay rules. The first was initiated by Spotify and Rakuten and involves a 30% commission on in-app sales. The second is due to the fact that you can pay on the company’s devices only through your own payment service.
- Another investigation that the European Commission may soon launch is against Amazon. It will affect the relationship of an online retailer with its sellers.
Disputes around the lawsuit
The main claim to the investigation of the Ministry of Justice against Google is political motivation. Democrats and Republicans are in the most bitter confrontation on all but one issue – the need to punish tech companies, writes The New York Times tech newsletter writer Shira Ovid in the column “Why Washington hates big tech. ”
Some critics believe that the cases against Google and others are the result of Donald Trump’s personal war against tech companies that do not support the Republicans and are actively at war against the incumbent himself. Others are reminiscent of the Democrats’ resentment on Facebook and other social media platforms that were instrumental in Trump’s 2016 election victory.
As a result, tech companies are trapped. “This is the most bipartisan initiative I’ve come across in five and a half years in Congress,” Republican Congressman Ken Buck said during a summer hearing that questioned the CEOs of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple.
On the one hand, the Republican Trump is actively making statements, unusual for his party, about tougher regulation of the tech business and social networks. He constantly accuses them of political censorship due to the removal of their posts, as well as his decree, which will allow regulation of social networks and deprive them of protection from allegations of defamation – because of which Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai will have to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on October 28.
On the other hand, the Democrats in Congress plan to continue their investigation against technomonopolies, which may eventually lead to a division of companies – but whether they will be able to complete the deal depends on whether the Democrats get the majority in the Senate, which so far holds the Republican Party.
Are the claims justified?
The issue of tech companies’ abuses will become more and more acute – after all, the strategy of all large technology companies is tied to achieving and maintaining a monopoly position, experts say. “These are companies that occupy a dominant position in the market, through which they buy emerging competitors so that their margins are not eroded,” explains Igor Danilenko, managing director of Fosun Eurasia Capital. Companies with a capitalization of more than $1 trillion are precisely the companies that have managed to build global monopolies and are now almost impossible to move, he says.
Facebook almost missed the mobile revolution, had to catch up – and for this he bought Instagram; now, until the next revolution occurs, which Facebook may miss, the situation will not change, he gives an example. The same applies to, for example, Amazon: the larger it becomes, the more difficult it is to move it, because its costs are constantly decreasing, and due to this it simply eats up other players: “Even now, when the economy is falling, they still take away market shares due to economies of scale, due to the fact that they have such a strong competitive position.”
The US has its own cultural conflict with monopolies, including those now built by tech companies. NYU Stern School of Business professor Scott Galloway, author of The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, author of The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, explains that the cult of democracy thrives in the United States, while all tech companies — which are also part of society — are run by unelected people whose work is largely unregulated. “In this sense, we can say that the current case is not antitrust, but necessary to bring the tech business to more democratic governance. And the separation should help reduce the concentration of power in one hand, ”says Grigory Bakunov, director of technology distribution at Yandex.
It is difficult to say how justified the position of the Ministry of Justice in the case against Google is, Vadim Novikov, a senior researcher at the RANEPA and a specialist in antimonopoly regulation, believes. Google services are indeed present on a huge number of devices, but the question is whether this is due to the company’s abuse or the competitiveness of its product and prices, Novikov explains. If a monopolist is clearly abusing prices, on the contrary, it helps competitors grow, which have the opportunity to set prices lower, he says.
There is a theory of competitive markets in economics, which suggests that a market can be competitive even if it has only one player, says Novikov. The main thing here is the theoretical possibility of entry. “If a company knows that in response to any attempt to abuse a monopoly, a competitor can immediately appear and begin to actively poach users, it is forced to behave as if it really has competitors. And here the main question is whether Google’s analogues have the opportunity to be its hypothetical competitor, ”explains the economist.
What this means for users
The Google case is indeed similar to the Microsoft case of the early 2000s, says Yandex’s Grigory Bakunov. At that time, Bill Gates’ company had a monopoly in the browser market, but antimonopoly officers were obliged to give the user a choice window between Internet Explorer and other browsers. Over the next four years, this led to a total redistribution of the entire browser market, as a result of which Google won with its Chrome, he notes.
If now Google has competitors in the search market, the user will win, but not immediately, Bakunov believes. “Any competition first leads to a deterioration in quality: new services always work worse than global players. But then, once they have the money for that quality, and once they have access to the consumer, the quality will go up.”
But a simple division of Google’s business into parts may not bring the radical results that Washington is counting on, the expert continues. If, for example, Chrome is separated from search, this will only lead to Chrome paying Google to promote its own service in the search bar, both companies will pay more taxes – but nothing will change for users. The same will happen if Instagram is separated from Facebook, he believes.
ELECTRIC CARS
In four years, electric cars will cost as much as conventional cars
By 2024, electric cars will cost the manufacturer no more than conventional cars with internal combustion engines – at least this is what UBS predicted. The main question is how quickly and how much cheaper batteries are the main cost item in production. Bank analysts said automakers that are trying to hold back sales of traditional cars risk falling behind Tesla and Volkswagen. The latter, as the world’s largest car manufacturer by sales, has already pledged to invest 33 billion euros in the development of electric vehicles. “There are not many reasons left to buy a car with an internal combustion engine after 2025,” said Tim Bush, an analyst at UBS.