The Four

better for the prices Apple charges. I would argue Amazon could
charge as much for its products as do its brick-and-mortar
competitors... and would still dominate the marketplace. Why?
Because it’s still infinitely easier to hit a couple keys on your computer
to buy a book or a piece of furniture than it is to drive down to the
local mall, find a parking place, walk a half mile, be overwhelmed by
tons of irrelevant merchandise, and then lug your shit back to your car
for the drive home. Amazon has removed all that friction and brings
your purchases to your door for less than the cost of gas for your own
car.
So, while it may seem that the value explosion brought by the
technology revolution comes from the addition of new features and
capabilities, its greater contribution comes from removing obstacles
and time killers from our daily lives.
Friction is everywhere. For example, there is a ton of friction in
transportation. That’s why Uber saw an opportunity, via GPS, texting,
and online payment, and removed the pain and anxiety of ordering a
car, wondering “where the hell is the car,” and fumbling around in the
back of the car at the end of the journey trying to dig out money and
pay. How many of us recently have bombed out of a taxi without
paying because we’ve become so used to frictionless Uber? Bottom
line: paying is friction, and it is disappearing. Just as hotel checkout
disappeared a decade ago, check-in will be a thing of the past in
another ten years. Some of the better hotels in Europe no longer
require you to sign a bill after a meal. They know who you are and will
charge you. Less is more.
Each of the Four has a superior product. It sounds old school, but
Google really does have a superior search engine. The Apple iPhone is
a better smartphone. The cleanliness of Facebook’s feed—coupled with
the “network effect” (the fact that everybody’s on it) and a constant
stream of new features—makes it a better product. Amazon redefined
the shopping experience and expectations: from 1-click ordering to
getting your product within two days (or in hours, soon by drone or a
truck UPS used to own).
These are tangible innovations and points of product
differentiation. All have been achieved through access to cheap capital
set against deft technological innovation. “Product” is experiencing a