Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery!
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On that note, here were a few of our favorites this week.
- What Technology Did for United. I am hardly the only technologist fascinated by airlines, so the opportunity to interview United CEO Scott Kirby was obviously one I was excited about. What makes United particularly interesting to me, however, is that my personal experience with the airline long ago convinced me that this is one of the most interesting tech stories around: United has become one of the best airlines in the world by investing in technology, which not only benefits all of its customers but has also let it invest in all the other parts of being a premium airline. It’s both a reminder of how technology is the only way to progress generally, and also how the real challenge is making up-front investments that may take years to pay-off. — Ben Thompson
- What Technology Is Doing to Legacy Media. The biggest media story of the last 12 months is Netflix and its attempt to buy Warner Brothers; the biggest, cattiest media story among media, however, is Bari Weiss and her ongoing efforts to remake CBS News. On Sharp Text this week I wrote about the chaos surrounding Weiss and CBS, my theory on why she’s so polarizing, and why, with my tech podcaster hat on, I think her project to revive CBS News is doomed to fail. — AS
- What Technology Should Do For Apple. The Vision Pro finally has my dream content: a live broadcast of an NBA game in immersive video, and even better, the first broadcast featured my Milwaukee Bucks! Unfortunately, I found the experience incredibly disappointing: while the Vision Pro was immersive, as soon as you gained the sensation you were there Apple’s production immediately reminded me I wasn’t, changing cameras, cramming in studio shows, and generally treating an entirely new format as if it were simply TV. I am more convinced than ever that Apple has this all wrong: the Vision Pro doesn’t need bells and whistles, it simply needs to let me feel like I am there. In this case, less is more, both in terms of a single game, and also in the amount of content that could be made available. — BT
Stratechery Articles and Updates
- Apple: You (Still) Don’t Understand the Vision Pro — The first live sporting event was broadcast in the Vision Pro, and it’s a big disappointment. The experience could be amazing, but Apple actively ruins it.
- Apple and Gemini, Foundation vs. Aggregation, Universal Commerce Protocol — The deal to put Gemini at the heart of Siri is official, and it makes sense for both sides; then Google runs its classic playbook with Universal Commerce Protocol.
- Meta Compute, The Meta-OpenAI Battle, The Reality Labs Sacrifice — Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Compute, a bet that winning in AI means winning with infrastructure; this, however, means retreating from Reality Labs.
- An Interview with United CEO Scott Kirby About Tech Transformation — An interview with United CEO Scott Kirby about how rebuilding United’s technical infrastructure laid the foundation for transforming the airline.
Sharp Text by Andrew Sharp
- News in the Era of Irreconcilable Differences — The Bari Weiss era at CBS is probably not the crisis her critics allege it to be, but two fundamental realities make a successful revival look close to impossible.
Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber
Asianometry with Jon Yu
Sharp China with Andrew Sharp and Sinocism’s Bill Bishop
Greatest of All Talk with Andrew Sharp and WaPo’s Ben Golliver
- It’s Trae Day in Washington D.C., The End of An Era in Atlanta, Will AD Move Next?
- Rockets and Nuggets Stock Going Opposite Directions, The Wolves are Alive and Well, Buzz on Ja, AD, and MPJ
Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson
This week’s Stratechery video is on AI and the Human Condition.