Apple’s Errors don’t preclude the idea that prices are too high; meanwhile, the company is meaningfully pivoting to services, at least in terms of content. Then, Samsung’s pain is Apple’s gain.
Ben Thompson
Apple’s Errors
Apple’s management made three errors that led to the restatement of revenue; those errors, though, suggest that the company’s business is in better shape than it appears.
Holiday/Vacation Break: Weeks of December 24 and December 31
Stratechery is taking a holiday and vacation break the weeks of December 24 and December 31. There will be no Weekly Article or Daily Updates. The Daily Update will resume on January 7.
Facebook Stats, Facebook’s Data Sharing, Facebook Politics
The latest Facebook exposé in the New York Times raises questions as to why no one cared previously. The question today, though, is a political one.
The 2018 Stratechery Year in Review
The most popular and most important posts on Stratechery in 2018.
Discord and Its Game Store, Fortnite and the Social Aspect of Gaming, Game Store Competition
Discord is the Slack of gaming; that is valuable, but has to be monetized indirectly. Plus, the social aspect of gaming, and how competition in PC gaming stores is good for everyone.
Tumblr’s App Store Ban, Tumblr’s NSFW Deadline, Verizon Writes Down Oath
Tumblr was first banned from the App Store, and then Tumblr banned NSFW content. Making sense of what happened requires understanding what is happening at Verizon.
Exponent Podcast: Clumping and Clustering
On Exponent, the podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Aggregators and Jobs-to-be-Done and The State of Technology at the End of 2018. Listen to it here.
Distinguishing Regulation, Is the Internet Different?, Reasons for Skepticism
Follow-up on The State of Technology in 2018: the different types of regulation, whether or not the Internet is different, and why consumer tech companies may be weaker than they seem.
The State of Technology at the End of 2018
The State of Technology, at least in the enterprise space, is strong; consumer tech is another story, and it is time to question the dominance of big companies like Google.