How Amazon’s success with AWS make sense in the context of The Value Chain Constraint, and why Oculus and Facebook do not. Plus, why Microsoft’s approach to HoloLens 2 makes sense.
The Value Chain Constraint
Companies succeed or fail not based on technology but rather according to their ability to integrate within their value chains.
Apple News Follow-up, What Direct-to-Consumer Publishers are Selling, More on Podcasts: Supporting Cast and Kimberlite
More on why Apple News is both different than Facebook, and yet similar from a publisher perspective. Then, how publishers should think about their business — and Apple News — plus two new entrants in the podcast space.
Facebook Versus Apple: Background, Facebook Versus Apple: Fallout, Facebook Earnings
The full context of Facebook’s dispute with Apple, why the former was wrong, yet why Apple’s actions are just as problematic. Then, Facebook beats expectations with results that aren’t a surprise.
Apple Earnings, Apple the Services Company (for Real!)
Apple’s earnings were definitely weak in China, but the rest of the world wasn’t great either. No wonder the company is pivoting so strongly into services — and there is upside.
The BuzzFeed Lesson
The lesson of BuzzFeed is that dominant Aggregators like Facebook have no incentive to act against their self interest and support suppliers.
The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Phenomenon, Ninja’s 2018, Facebook and the Human Condition
The connection between Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ninja, and Facebook’s scandals
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.
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.
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.