My Netflix chart from Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits wasn’t quite right: after all, I was talking about time, and networks and studios are already modularized. Still, fixing my error provides an interesting view on ESPN and its challenges and opportunities.
July 2015
Apple Loses E-books Appeal; Apple Music and Antitrust; Producers, Consumers, and Apple
Apple’s E-book case finally came to it’s likely end a few week’s ago; it’s worth reviewing what was at stake in light of recent news that Apple Music could face a similar investigation. Then, if Apple Music will do for musicians what the App Store did for developers, is that a good thing? Plus, why sites are bad and no one is at fault.
The Best Twitter Day Ever, The End of Windows Phone
Something amazing happened on Twitter that really highlighted how unique the service is. It also showed how many product holes remain. Then, Satya Nadella does what needed to be done. That doesn’t make it any less impressive.
Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits
Netflix has a lot more in common with Uber and Airbnb than you might think: it all comes back to the Law of Conservation of Attractive Profits, a core principle of disruption
The Reddit Rebellion, How Should Reddit Make Money?, The Disappearance of High-End Android
Reddit had a rough weekend, raising questions as to whether or not the site will ever be able to become a real business. It’s very nature may make that impossible, or maybe it simply needs a different business model. Plus, Samsung and HTC’s tough quarter.
Is Safari the Next IE?; Rendering Engines and the Sweet Solution; China’s Stock Bubble, Continued
Suggesting that “Safari is the Next IE” has led to a fruitless discussion about whether or not the accusation is fair; incentives are more banal yet far more revealing. Plus, a continuation of last month’s discussion of the Chinese bubble: it may be bursting.
Airbnb’s Externalities, Sharing and Culture, PayPal Acquires Xoom
Yesterday’s discussion of Airbnb was in part focused on the broader implications of the sharing economy. Truthfully, though, Airbnb deserves more attention for its externalities — it is in many ways more radical than Uber. It’s also not clear it will work in every culture.
Then, a brief discussion of Paypal and Xoom and how different degrees of trust require different types of business models.
Airbnb and the Internet Revolution
Airbnb gets less press than Uber, but in some respects its even more radical: understanding how it works leads one to question many of the premises of modern society from hotels to regulations. It’s an important marker in the Internet Revolution.