The coronavirus crisis should be changing long-held beliefs. Then, what tech companies can do to get us out of this crisis, and Airbnb’s disastrous decision to not go public sooner.
Tech Companies Versus Misinformation, Tech Tracking, Capability Versus Policy
Tech companies unite to fight misinformation, and potentially are working on tracking COVID-19. What tradeoffs might that entail, and is it worth building capability and trusting in policy?
Six Deaths in King County, U.S. Mistakes, Paywalls and Pandemics
The situation in the U.S., particularly in the Seattle area, is likely worse than it appears; Microsoft and Amazon should take action. Then, the U.S. needs to rely on the private sector, and publishers need to remember why people pay.
Clearview AI, The Problem with Scraping, Tradeoffs
Clearview AI is billed as a story about facial recognition, but the most important questions it raises is about scraping. And, by doing so, it reveals how many trade-offs we have yet to confront.
The End of the Beginning
The beginning of technology was about the shift from batched computing in one place to continuous computing everywhere. That era of paradigm changes may be over, which means the real changes are only beginning.
AB 5 and Health Care, Project Connected Home Over IP, Ecosystem Pragmatism
A more flexibility economy would benefit from a stronger safety net. Then, a new standard that actually has real potential. It’s a win for some companies, but questionable for others.
AWS re:Invent; Transformations, Transitions, and Databases; Amazon Outposts
The AWS re:Invent keynote was quite compelling, as Amazon made the case for enterprises to not simply transition to the cloud but to transform their approach to IT — which, of course, favors Amazon.
Portability and Interoperability
Data portability is friendly to consumers, but it has very little to do with encouraging competition, at least relative to interoperability.
Facebook Pay, Google Checking, Tech Company Differences
Facebook announced Facebook Pay, which is far different from Libra. Then, Google is apparently getting into checking, which leads to a question of motivations: each of the tech companies are approaching financial services from a different angle.
Amazon Earnings, AWS Concerns, Google Earnings
Amazon’s earnings are encouraging because profits are down. Still, there is reason for concern around AWS. Then, Google’s top-line continues to impress, but the company continues to waste huge amounts of money, hurting the bottom line.