2014 was Stratechery’s second year, and what a momentous one it was! In April Stratechery became my full-time job, and although I made some quick changes to the model, it’s been a big success. It has certainly kept me busy: in 2014 I wrote 88 free articles, 169 Daily Updates, and recorded 41 podcasts (29 […]
Articles
Christmas Gifts and the Meaning of Design
Manage your Stratechery subscription. This is a re-post from December, 2013 Gifts are a funny thing. A year ago, for Christmas 2012, my wife “gave” me an iPad mini. I use quotes because I actually bought it; supply was constrained, and when we got a notification that there were models in stock, I quickly dashed […]
The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014
While the modern computing era in many respects began with the IBM System/360 mainframe and further expanded with the minicomputer, normal consumers didn’t start encountering computers until the personal computer. And, while mainframes are technically still around (while minicomputers are decidedly not), what is unique about the PC is that it is very much still […]
Docker and the Integrated Open Source Company
It’s been a long time since an open source project has gotten as much buzz and attention as Docker. The easiest way to explain the concept is, well, to look at the logo of the eponymous1 company that created and manages the project: The reference in the logo is to shipping containers, one of the […]
Best
The key to avoiding disruption is by providing a superior user experience; that, though, requires focus and execution.
Why Uber Fights
Ride-sharing is a winner-take-all market that depends on controlling demand more than it does supply.
Differentiation and Value Capture in the Internet Age
The implication of the Smiling Curve is not only that aggregators have increased economic power, but that differentiated suppliers do as well; Omni Software is an example.
Two Microsofts
My well-chronicled frustration with Microsoft’s corporate strategy comes down to one point: I don’t think any company should have both horizontal (i.e. services) and vertical (i.e. devices) businesses. It creates conflicting incentives: a horizontal business should be great on every platform, while a vertical business should be differentiated. Thus, I was quite pleased when Satya […]
How Apple Creates Leverage, and the Future of Apple Pay
Apple attracts loyal customers through a superior user experience and leverages those customers against its partners.
Publishers and the Smiling Curve
Publishers used to live at the point of integration. The value of that integration, though, is gone with the Internet, which means value flows to suppliers and aggregators.