Week 06 Reflection -- Monopoly Gains Power from Consumers

In a seminar given by Dr. Bylund, he states that "any innovator is necessarily a monopolist". I think this was a very interesting statement because a majority of the time we don't think of monopolies like this. I think the most common thought that pops into everyones head when discussing monopolies is already well-established businesses that have a ton of money and sales and years of experience. I thought it was very interesting how he described that innovators were monopolies because they didn't have any competition and are the top seller of their creation or products. I thought that this phrasing was also interesting because I think that some "monopolies", while they are the highest seller and have the largest market, do have some competition they just may not be as large. For example, Facebook is a largely considered monopoly, but there are many other social media networks such as Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Can all of these be monopolies while in the same market? I also thought it was interesting how he discusses that consumers make the choice to purchase products, like Apple, therefore giving these companies the power of monopoly in turn. I think this is a very interesting concept, as social influences are one of the most powerful effects in the world in my opinion. I think that social behaviors and influences hold a ton of deciding factors for people, especially in regards to products. I think that the influence from people held in high regards and celebrities are also able to influence people to purchase from specific businesses and companies. I thought it was interesting that the speaker stated how people choose who they buy products from due to quality and price. I think this is true, but as I had discussed I also think there is a social factor of what's "trending". I do think that for the most part, quality is one of the most important factors, due to the fact that no one wants to buy something of terrible quality for a high price, but I do think that there have been instances where the social influence to purchase a product may have overcome the quality/price aspect which can be seen when discussing designer purses. I think that there are plenty of other brands for bags that have just as good quality if not better, and can also be less expensive, however people tend to buy the more expensive designer ones because of the social influence from famous/wealthy people. I think this is such an interesting aspect when discussing monopolies because most commonly people would express anxiety and fear of power, but it almost seems that the customers are the ones in power of controlling which business is in power and monopolized by these aspects.