APPLE SEEN AS SLIGHTLY MORE BENEFICIAL THAN FACEBOOK TO SOCIETY

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

Not contributing as much as he thinks?

James Martin/CNET

When I say "tech companies," is the first thought entering your head: "My, how they've made society better"?

I only ask because of a survey published Sunday that asked 2,772 American adults which tech companies make the most positive impact on society.

Performed by SurveyMonkey/Recode between April 8 and 9, the survey threw up some fascinating conclusions.

You might be struck by the fact that Amazon came at the very top, with 20 percent of respondents choosing it as the most positive societal contributor.

I might suggest that this implies contemporary Americans view making things easier and cheaper as the most positive contribution to society a tech company can make.

I confess to being more fascinated, however, by the fact that Apple received 11 percent of the votes, while Facebook got 10 percent.

And this at a time when Facebook is being vilified seemingly in every stratum of society, all the way up to Congress for its alleged laxity when it comes to your personal data.

While Apple CEO Tim Cook commented in a recent interview that he would never allow his company to get itself in the heinous situation in which Facebook finds itself, because, one inferred, it was a more moral company.

Apple and Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Amazon declined to comment.

Another conclusion from this survey is that there's a fair sprinkling of division as to which companies are really good for us. Or even to us.

Google came second with 15 percent. Apple's 11 percent put it third. Oddly, Uber scored higher than Netflix, Twitter, Snap and, oh, Lyft.

What were these people thinking, I hear you cry. Or feeling, perhaps.