Amazon’s purchase of MGM makes sense strategically, but also points to bigger ambitions; it also highlights how a lot of antitrust talk is actually anti-monopoly.
May 2021
Apple Ads and the Anti-Steering Argument, Additional Follow-up
Apple’s argument defending its anti-steering provisions also explain the company’s approach to its burgeoning ad business.
App Store Arguments
There are all kinds of arguments to make about the App Store, and nearly all of them are good ones; that’s why the best solution can only come from Apple.
Snap Partner Summit, Spectacles AR, Scan and Minis
Snap’s Partner Summits continue to provide compelling looks into what Snap is building today, and how it connects to the future.
An Interview with Google CEO Sundar Pichai
A discussion with Google CEO Sundar Pichai about Google as answering machine, its deals with publishers, privacy, and productivity.
Google IO: Google’s Reality, Workspace and Smart Canvas, Wear + Tizen
Google’s IO seemed boring, but taken in totality, revealed Google’s ambition to create a new reality. Plus Smart Canvas and the partnership between Wear OS and Samsung’s Tizen.
Distribution and Demand
Distribution on the Internet is free; what matters is controlling demand. AT&T and Verizon didn’t understand the distinction.
AT&T’s Original Bad Deal, Discovery + WarnerMedia, The Streaming Landscape
AT&T bails on its streaming ambitions; they can’t undo the mistake of buying Time Warner, but merging WarnerMedia with Discovery is a nice recovery.
An Interview with Brad Stone about Amazon Unbound
An interview with Brad Stone about his new book about Amazon, how the company has changed, and his outlook for a post-Bezos future.
AWS CloudFront Functions, AWS’s Data Residency Whitepaper, Muddles and Mirages
AWS’s responses to Cloudflare are still predicated on an assumption of centralizaion; the truth is in the middle, and the status quo is powerful.