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The reading time for The Four varies depending on the reader's speed. However, the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Is The Four a good book? Is it worth reading?

The Four is a fascinating read that offers insights into the world's most influential tech companies. It's definitely worth your time.

Who is the author of The Four?

The author of The Four is Scott Galloway.

Economics

The Four Book Summary - The Four Book explained in key points

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The Four summary

Name: The Four
Rating: 4 (155 reviews)
Author: Scott Galloway

Scott Galloway

The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google

4 (155 ratings)

25 mins

Brief summary

The Four by Scott Galloway reveals the dark side and monopolistic practices of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. It presents a thought-provoking and insightful analysis of how these companies have become the most powerful and influential forces in our society.

Topics

Big Tech Big Data Media Entrepreneurship

Table of Contents

The Four
Summary of 9 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Familiarize yourself with the four companies that have shaped today’s world.

Do you own any Apple products? If not, have you checked your Facebook feed today? If you’re boycotting both Apple and Facebook, then when was the last time you bought a book – or anything – from a company other than Amazon? And if you’re also a militant offline shopper, then how long has it been since you conducted a Google search?

There may be those out there who can say, with a clear conscience, that they’ve done none of these things in the last few days. But most of us have interacted with either Apple, Facebook, Amazon or Google, or some combination of the four, within the last 24 hours.

So how did these companies come to dominate the modern marketplace? In these blinks, you’ll learn how the Four achieved success, and that, though they proclaim themselves to be benevolent pioneers of the future, their motives don’t always chime with that message.

You’ll also discover

how to spot a fifth horseman;
why you should move to a city; and
how Apple appeals to your loins.

Four companies – Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google – pervade modern life, and their presence isn’t purely benevolent.

Every human has needs. And today, four companies – the author refers to them as the Four Horsemen – seek to satisfy them all.

Google has supplanted God. Instead of directing questions to an ever-silent deity on high, we now type them into Google’s search engine and receive answers instantaneously.

Facebook provides the love and connection that were once only to be found at home or among friends.

Apple shores up our sex appeal. The iPhone and the MacBook aren’t technically superior to other smartphones or laptops. But they’re undeniably sexier.

And Amazon, the temple of consumption, is there to bring us everything our heart may desire, be it fiction, food or fashion.

These Four Horsemen – god, love, sex and consumption – probably aren’t harbingers of a biblical apocalypse. But their ubiquity has certainly changed the world.

Today, it doesn’t matter whether you’re searching for a nail file or a novel – you’ll probably look for it on Amazon first. In the United States, Amazon is already the top choice for online purchases, and it’s swiftly moving into that position abroad as well.

And Apple isn’t only the producer of universally coveted mobile phones and computers; it’s also the most profitable company ever.

Meanwhile, 1.2 billion people visit their Facebook profile every day. In other words, Facebook has managed to congregate nearly one-sixth of the world population in the same digital space.

Finally, Google is a latter-day oracle, an ever-flowing fountain of knowledge. There’s no question we can’t ask it, and the answers come back at pace – in roughly 0.0000005 seconds, which is a lot faster than you’d get a response back in Delphi’s heyday.

There’s no doubt that the Four Horsemen have changed – many would say improved – our world, but they aren’t the benevolent knights people often imagine them to be.

Here’s the standard story: this quartet of companies has done a great deal of good, creating thousands of jobs, making a myriad of products easily accessible and providing services that improve our day-to-day lives. In other words, they’re making the world a better place.

But take a moment to look at the fine print.

Amazon, in addition to refusing to pay sales taxes, is renowned for mistreating its employees; in the wake of a domestic terrorist attack, Apple refused to follow court orders and provide information that could have been valuable to federal agents; Facebook takes our most personal information and sells it; and Google aggressively lobbies and litigates against regulation of its anticompetitive practices.

So let’s learn a bit more about these potentially dubious companies.

Amazon appeals to our natural stuff-gathering instincts, but it’s also killing competition and decimating jobs.

First, let’s look at Amazon, the horseman of consumption.

In 2016, Amazon’s growth accounted for roughly half the growth of all online companies in the United States. And the number of Amazon Prime memberships is on the rise. In 2017, 52 percent of American households held one. So what caused this horseman’s wild success?

Apple makes its own rules and, as a luxury brand, appeals to our desire to be special.

On December 2, 2015, a 28-year-old health inspector named Syed Rizwan Farook, together with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, shot and killed 14 of Farook’s coworkers at a departmental event.

The shooting was deemed a terrorist attack, and, when the FBI acquired Farook’s locked iPhone, a court order was issued, demanding that Apple unlock it. But Apple refused to cooperate – and its decision to defy the law even gained public support. How did it manage this?

Facebook capitalizes on our need for social relations, selling our data and denying responsibility for its content.

Catholicism is 2,000 years old and has roughly 1.3 billion adherents. Facebook is 14 years old and has 1.2 billion daily users. How did a start-up founded a bit more than a decade ago come to have as many devotees as a major world religion?

It’s really very simple. Facebook taps into yet another deep human desire: the need for social relations.

Google is the modern-day God – omniscient, omnipotent and completely trustworthy.

Since time immemorial, people have put their faith in some higher power. We once directed our prayers to God, hoping that He might help us penetrate life’s many mysteries, and, though he always listened, he rarely replied.

Today, there’s a more responsive deity on the block – Google, a digital god who always has an answer. Gone are the days of hopeful eyes turned toward heaven; we now gaze devoutly screenward.

The Four Horsemen are cunning thieves, and they rob us by appealing to our hearts, brains and lusts.

Each of the Four Horsemen is a force to be reckoned with. And each used similarly underhanded methods to get where it is today.

In fact, the Four are all cunning thieves.

Eight factors will combine to create the first trillion-dollar company.

The Four Horsemen dominate the world today. But might a fifth horseman emerge and unsaddle these other riders?

If that were to happen, this fifth horseman could well become the first company with a market valuation of $1 trillion.

Companies like Alibaba, Uber or Microsoft could well become the fifth horseman.

So who, out of the world’s cavalry of companies, might emerge as the fifth horseman? Though it’s impossible to make any definite predictions, there are a few promising candidates.

High on the list is Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company.

To succeed in the world of the Four, develop your personality, educate yourself, move to a city and pimp your career.

The world of today is shaped by the Four. So what can you do to get ahead in such a world?

For starters, it would behoove you to foster three personal qualities:

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What is The Four about?

The Four (2017) examines the great superpowers of our digital age – Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google – and attempts to answer a few tough questions: How have these companies changed the world we live in and what is their formula for success? How can other companies rise to similar echelons of power? And what does it take to thrive in a world shaped by the Four?

The Four Review

The Four (2017) is a thought-provoking exploration of the dominance of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google, and why these companies shape our lives so profoundly. Here's what sets this book apart:

Through meticulous research and analysis, it offers a comprehensive understanding of the influence that the Four have on our society and economy.
It unveils the strategies and tactics that these companies employ to maintain their dominance and disrupt industries.
The book delves into the implications and consequences of the Four's power, prompting readers to reflect on the future we're shaping.

Best quote from The Four

Apple is the largest tax avoider in the world because lawmakers treat it like the hot girl on campus.

—Scott Galloway

Who should read The Four?

Facebook and iPhone users
Anyone who regularly performs searches on Google, shops on Amazon, uses an Apple device or spends time on Facebook
Business enthusiasts and business analysts

About the Author

Scott Galloway is a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, where he teaches brand strategy and digital marketing. Galloway is a serial entrepreneur who has founded nine firms, including L2, Red Envelope and Prophet. In 2012, he was listed among the website Poets & Quants’s 50 best business school professors.

Categories with The Four

Economics Technology & the Future

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