Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery!
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On that note, here were a few of our favorites this week.
- Drifting Apart. For the last 25 years, Apple has been in a position where its computers were not only thought of as the best choice for everyday consumers, but also the most useful tools for technologists and hackers. However, I think those paths are diverging: in Apple and a Hacker’s Future I explain why I feel myself growing increasingly frustrated with Apple in the age of AI; that means that Apple partnering with LG to dramatically expand its home offering is not for me, which paradoxically means it’s a great idea. The future of consumer technology is likely completely custom on one hand, and completely integrated on the other. — Ben Thompson
- It’s Complicated. As someone who was born in D.C. and therefore takes an interest in politics as a birthright (or birth defect), I loved this week’s Stratechery Interview with author and political consultant Katie Harbath. Ben and Katie trace the early innings of tech’s impact on politics, including several flashpoints I’d forgotten (John Kerry and dolphins!), but then turn to ten years of Katie’s experience at Facebook. Her tenure coincided with seismic political shifts and subsequent sentiment shifts toward tech companies, and both Ben and Katie—who’ve been friends for 20 years—reflect on that era with an honest and fun look at evolving business imperatives, angry backlashes, and the explanatory power (or lack thereof) of tech as a political force. — Andrew Sharp
- Friends Without Benefits. Speaking of politics… Sharp China was off this week, but two weeks after Xi Jinping’s visit to D.C., I wrote about the delightful absurdity of U.S.-China dynamics in the current moment, and the quiet effectiveness of his administration’s campaigns to counter Beijing. One year after I wrote that China threatening to cut off the Western world from rare earths would do lasting damage to its global standing, Germany and France are now lobbying for new trade barriers and a “China kill switch” that could shut off Chinese imports entirely. Trump, meanwhile, is friendlier than ever with Xi, as the U.S. attempts to preserve stability while its policies complicate Beijing’s relationships everywhere else. — AS
Stratechery Articles and Updates
- Apple and a Hacker’s Future — I was happy for years in Apple’s walled garden; with AI, however, their protections feel like limitations.
- Game Decompilation, Is This Legal?, A Well-Trodden Path — Games are being decompiled, but the real risk to gaming is new games and increased personalization.
- Apple and LG, The House For Everyone Else, Agent Standards and Amazon — Apple is taking a smarter approach to the home than I expected, leaning into integration (with partners); then, what Amazon should do about agents.
- An Interview with Katie Harbath About Disrupting Politics at Facebook — An interview with former Facebook Head of Global Elections Katie Harbath about her new book Disrupting Politics, and how things change for the company in the 2010s.
Sharp Text by Andrew Sharp
- Friends Without Benefits — The Trump methods are often maddening, but the current administration’s strategy on China continues to be quietly effective.
Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber
Asianometry with Jon Yu
Greatest of All Talk
Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson
This week’s Stratechery video is on Apps, Agents, and Aggregation.