| Hey all, it's Sarah Frier. Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring Covid-19 a pandemic. It also marks the end of 12 months that dramatically changed our relationship with technology, accelerated a transformation of the global economy and made some of Silicon Valley's already dominant companies astronomically larger. It was clear early on that the pandemic wouldn't affect all industries equally. As world governments first began to roll out emergency lockdowns, large tech companies were ahead of the curve. They advised employees to work from home weeks before most other businesses. And for many in tech, it wasn't much of a sacrifice: Their workforces already knew exactly how to be productive via videoconference and digital collaboration software—because those were tools they pioneered. For the rest of us, our habits were forced to evolve. If we had viewed services like social media, Amazon.com Inc. and DoorDash Inc. as tools for convenience or occasional indulgences—they soon became no longer optional. Amazon was the only way to get items we couldn't go to a store to buy. Food delivery was the only way to purchase something from a restaurant. Facebook Inc. and Instagram were the main ways to see people that weren't in our immediate household. And Zoom Video Communications Inc. replaced the conference room at offices, as well as normal human gathering spaces, like living rooms and bars and classrooms. The change was even starker for anyone running a business. Shops could no longer rely on foot traffic, or only accept cash, or decide not to provide updates online. Very quickly the internet was the only way to attract new customers and be paid by them. In some sense, this was always the world technology executives had hoped to create for us, and it showed in their earnings reports. The S&P 500 has climbed about 42% in the last 12 months, but many technology companies did much better. Twitter Inc. (whose stock went up 107% in the last year) and Snap Inc. (up 409%) saw soaring engagement rates. Amazon (up 68%) reported a blockbuster holiday season. Google parent Alphabet Inc. (up 68%) achieved record sales. And Zoom (up 205%) saw revenue in its most recent quarter more than quadruple. Tech companies, not content to sit back and count their money, were able to expand during this time, too. Facebook used the year as an opportunity to dive into the e-commerce business—a behavior that hasn't worked on its platform before. Meanwhile, Instacart Inc. upended its business model in the face of high demand, then doubled its valuation twice in five months. It's now considering going public this year. Amazon hired hundreds of thousands of people, becoming one of the largest employers in the world. But the moment also put a microscope on tech power. While the tech companies have become lifelines for many, they're often unreliable ones—unable to resolve all the problems that come along with massive scale. Facebook grappled with the spread of health misinformation, Amazon with workers contracting Covid-19 in its warehouses, Google with allegations of internal racism and Zoom with security issues. In October, Congress released the results of a 16-month investigation into tech power at Amazon, Apple Inc., Facebook and Google. The Federal Trade Commission sued Facebook for its monopoly-like powers. And the Department of Justice sued Google for the same.
When we're all vaccinated and no longer need these products as desperately, we'll look back on this as the year we started to more fully understand them, and their impact on our society. Even if the economy has indelibly changed, going forward we should also be able to ask better questions about companies' policies and practices. And if some of us opt to throw our phones into a deep ravine and spend our time and energy on off-screen activities like real-life parties and concerts, that might not be a bad thing either. —Sarah Frier | 
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