Tech's competition game change

In most businesses, competition means several rivals are fighting to win a prize — typically, the customer's dollar. Most tech companies still view themselves as engaged in fierce competition. They're just going after a wider and more complex set of prizes. Competition, in this context, refers to companies' efforts to set new technological standards, earn the biggest payouts to shareholders, monopolize a piece of the market, or, overall, set a new precedent in the industry. This different understanding of competition explains the deep mindset mismatch at the heart of today's epic struggle between Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Silicon Valley sees an industry in a state of constant churn and paranoia, perpetually hungry for new products, and afraid that some newcomer will eat their lunch. However, DC (and many homes and small businesses outside tech) sees a handful of giants with strangleholds over key markets. The question regulators and critics keep asking today is whether these companies are entrenched in an unfair way that blocks new entrants and ideas. The bottom line: if these critics are right, then lawsuits and regulations are needed to restore competition and allow more consumer input.