2020
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Clayton Christensen Passes Away, Professor Christensen and I, Kobe Bryant and Measuring Your Life
There is no greater influence on Stratechery than Professor Clayton Christensen, but it is another death — Kobe Bryant’s — that reminds me of what truly matters.
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Netflix Earnings; Self-Production, Cash Flow, and Margin; Netflix’s New Rung
Netflix’s earnings were mostly more of the same, but management’s comments helped explain an interesting connection between cash flow and margin, and showed how Netflix has evolved again.
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iCloud Backups and Encryption; Facts, Principles, and Concerns; Determining Defaults
More encryption news, this time about how Apple holds the keys to iCloud backups. I think this approach strikes the right balance: privacy exists, particularly if you work for it, while acknowledging legitimate societal concerns.
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Clearview AI, The Problem with Scraping, Tradeoffs
Clearview AI is billed as a story about facial recognition, but the most important questions it raises is about scraping. And, by doing so, it reveals how many trade-offs we have yet to confront.
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Exponent Podcast: The Water We Swim In
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss The End of the Beginning. Listen to it here.
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Lime Leaves 12 Cities; Scarcity Amongst Abundance; An Update on Apple, Trump, and Encryption
Scooter companies appear to be struggling, which is not a surprise; still, it is an excuse to re-visit assumptions around ride-sharing in comparison, and an generalizable principle about Aggregation Theory. Plus, an update on Apple versus the FBI.
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Visa/Plaid Follow-Up; Apple v FBI, Round 2; 2020 Differences
More on Visa/Plaid, including why payments in the U.S. and China are so different. Then, Apple is facing off against the FBI again, but its position is both stronger technologically and weaker politically.
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Visa, Plaid, Networks, and Jobs
The history of credit cards helps explain why Plaid is valuable to Visa, and how Visa can make it significantly better.
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Casper Files for IPO, Casper’s Business, Spotify Ad Targeting
Casper is a tech-enabled company, but so are its many competitors. Trying to win with brand is difficult in a market defined by infrequent purchases. Spotify, meanwhile, is seeking to expand the podcasting market beyond companies like Casper.
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CES Concepts, Verizon Drops Bundles, Technology and TV
CES is boring, because no one knows what is next. Then, Verizon is dropping Internet and TV bundles, which is a rational response to the changing nature of pay-TV. It also shows how much tech disruption is still to come.