Ello and Consumer-Friendly Business Models

Vox introduced Ello this way: A brand-new social networking startup — Ello — has gone viral. At one point on Thursday, the site was acquiring 31,000 new users an hour — many of whom flocked to there because of a disagreement with Facebook over its policy requiring real names, which some say is unfair to […]

Daily Update: China Approves the iPhone, Photoshop on Chromebooks, Technology = Tobacco

Good morning, False alarm about the Ello post; hopefully it will go up today instead. On to the update: China Approves the iPhone From Reuters: The iPhone 6 will be sold in China from Oct 17, after rigorous regulator scrutiny led to Apple Inc reassuring the Chinese government that the smartphones did not have securitySubscribe […]

Podcast: The Talk Show – The Edition Edition

I joined John Gruber on The Talk Show to talk about Apple Watch, Bend-gate, Apple and China, and more Apple Watch. Check it out here.

Daily Update: Facebook Launches Atlas, News as a Service

Good morning, My first item today is about Facebook’s new (relaunched) Atlas product. You may think it’s creepy, so check back on Stratechery later on to see what I think about Ello. I will warn you, though, I’m not a fan. On to the update: Facebook Launches Atlas From the New York Times: Facebook builtSubscribe […]

Podcast: Exponent Episode 019 – Me, Myself, and Minecraft

On the newest episode of Exponent, the podcast I co-host with James Allworth: In this week’s episode Ben and James reflect about last week’s episode and the personal feedback that resulted, then move on to discuss why Minecraft is a big deal as well as a bit about Apple’s new focus on privacy. Links Ben […]

Why Now for Apple Watch

The impression I get is that many people don’t really understand why I changed my mind about the Apple Watch. In Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No I criticized the lack of an explicit “why” in the Watch presentation and questioned parts of the demo, particular those which replicated phone functionality. After all, if […]

Daily Update: The NFL, Advertising, and Pay TV; iPhone Teardown and the 16GB Model; Bend-gate

Good morning, I got a few (very friendly) notes about my item about the iPhone line yesterday, suggesting I was reading too much into the Asian focus and missing the broader complaint about “true” Apple fans. In my defense, the tweet I was referring to was one of about 100 (seriously) that was in mySubscribe […]

Daily Update: Talko, Bye-bye Beats Music?, About that iPhone Line Film

Good morning, I wrote about Uber yesterday, but in reality I was actually writing about why I think the tech industry should become much more proactive about the development of a social safety net. Not only would a better safety net spur entrepreneurship, but it would also provide a cushion for those who lose theirSubscribe […]