People Still Use Facebook?

Week after week reporting on the same tech giants, we are pleased to report that we finally have a contender that has put all the other tech giants to shame, though not necessarily in the way you'd expect it to.

Facebook 👑 topped this week's rankings as the company's founder Mark Zuckerberg joined the likes of Elon Musk, Alex Jones, and Jordan Peterson in sitting down with podcaster and occasional conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan to talk about a bunch of stuff, including an already-documented fact that Facebook limited a report on President Joe Biden's son following a notification from the FBI.

In tandem, Facebook's parent Meta Platforms Inc. agreed to pay big bucks™ (the exact figure is unknown) to settle a lawsuit in San Francisco for letting third parties, including now-defunct British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, access to the private data of users, Reuters reported.

Facebook's modus operandi has always been questionable and The Wall Street Journal's highly-acclaimed Facebook Files blows the lid off on how predatory, outright questionable, and often unpredictable, if not negative, the platform's effect has been on the population at large. We're pretty certain when the Zuck said "move fast and break things" he didn't actually mean the human species itself.

Apple 🍎

Facebook's unexpected rise to the top meant that Apple had to be relegated to the second position in this week's rankings.

A little over a week from now, Apple is expected to drop the beans on its latest iPhone and smartwatches in an event that is simply called 'Far Out.' The title itself could be a reference to a new main wallpaper, long-rumored satellite capabilities on Apple devices, or a feature that could rival Google’s long-existing astrophotography mode. Or it could be neither of those things.

We'll only find out on Wednesday, Sept. 7, when the event is scheduled to take place.

Apple ranked #2 in this week's tech rankings.

Google 🔍

Google searches probably went up this past week for President Biden's Student Loan Forigveness program, as thousands of debt-saddled former college students checked whether they were eligible to receive the newly announced debt relief.

The relief may prompt some to go on vacations or return to school, though critics say it could result in even more inflation in the country. Regardless of the outcome, Google searches are going to go way, way up.

Google ranked #3 in this week's tech rankings.

Microsoft 🖥️

The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has put a dent in Microsoft's plans to open new data centers in Ireland. Initially reported by The Times, Ireland's state-owned electricity system operator EirGrid has placed a moratorium on new connections as the EU struggles to diversify its energy dependency in the wake of the war.

Data centers take up a ridiculous amount of power, and EirGrid's decison — which also affects Amazon — makes sense.

Microsoft ranked #6 in this week's tech rankings.

Amazon 📦

Amazon may well be on its way to acquiring One Medical to reinvent U.S. healthcare, but a new report from Stat details how the data needed to make that possible is lacking.

According to the publication's analysis, One Medical's data (which Amazon will gain access to) is primarily made up of urban, wealthy, non-Hispanic white, college-educated individuals who are located in the top 10% of most-fortunate communities located across the U.S., meaning it fails to represent a range of socioeconomic backgrounds and racial and ethnic groups needed to ensure that healthcare reform is equitable.

Amazon ranked #8 in this week's tech rankings.

And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading Tech Company Brief Issue #13! If you'd like to see which tech companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness, feel free to head down here. See y'all next week.

PEACE! ☮️