On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss the importance of the user experience in not only avoiding disruption but also in building dominant companies. Listen to it here.
October 2015
Twitter Follow-up, Nintendo’s Conundrum
Some follow-up and clarification on yesterday’s piece on Twitter’s advertising business, plus a rumination on where exactly Nintendo is going as a company.
Twitter’s Opaque Earnings, Twitter’s Misaligned Advertising Business, Twitter’s New Ad
Twitter’s earnings were concerning, and the explanation on the earnings call was opaque. What exactly is going on, and what is the company trying to hide?
Stop Doubting the iPhone, The Macintosh Company
There have always been iPhone bears, but the latest set seems to be ignoring reality. Plus, the amazing success of the Mac and what that means for the iPhone.
Chase Pay and the Payments Stack, Apple Pay and Opportunity Cost, Applying Aggregation Theory
There’s another new payments solution coming — Chase Pay. The punchline is easy: it will fail. Why it will fail, though, is interesting, and it shows the opportunities and challenges for Apple Pay specifically and the usefulness of Aggregation Theory.
Google Earnings and the Shift to Mobile, The Steve Jobs Movie
Google provided another set of strong earnings, and a return to their roots — search — is the biggest reason why. Plus, my review of the Steve Jobs movie.
Exponent Podcast: YouTube Red
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss In Defense of The New York Times. Listen to it here.
Amazon’s Transformation, Continued; Microsoft’s Transformation…and Threat
As predicted last quarter, AWS is increasingly the engine driving Amazon’s financial results. However, there is evidence the e-commerce side is changing as well. Then, Microsoft has completely changed itself over the last few years, but the company is not out of the woods just yet.
YouTube Red, Yahoo Stumbles
YouTube Red doesn’t make much sense at first glance, but there might be something there if Google goes all in. Plus, the sad end of Yahoo.
In Defense of The New York Times
Amazon and The New York Times had a fascinating exchange this week, on Medium of all places. What that exchange represents — the search for truth, now open to anyone — is far more important than the particular article in question.