[hw_engineer]

My understand is that, unlike the others, Netflix does not have any in-house hardware development

[marssaxman]

Now I'm even more confused. Since when is Netflix considered one of the tech giants - they're a one-product streaming service...?

To me the "Big 5" are Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. I didn't realize there were different lists. What's yours? :-)

[dbasedweeb]

What did you think the ‘N’ in FAANG was exactly?

[marssaxman]

I've never seen that acronym before. It is hard for me to imagine any way in which Netflix would be more similar to the other four than Microsoft.

edit: perhaps this is a regional difference; are you in the Bay Area? I imagine that Microsoft has less of a presence there, and perhaps Netflix is a bigger deal down south than they appear to be here in Seattle.

[hw_engineer]

I had the same doubt when I first read FAANG (some time ago), and reached the same conclusion: it's not about the importance or size of the company, it's about the job market in the Bay Area.