Good morning, The news of the day was certainly the fact that HBO is planning to sell subscriptions directly to customers. It’s a big deal, but the reaction among tech folks has been way over the top; this is not the beginning of the end of the cable bundle, for all the same reasons ISubscribe […]
Daily Update: HP to Split, A Secure Golden Key, Microsoft’s Android Cash Cow
Good morning, My piece on PayPal will drop later today, so keep an eye out for that. Just a heads-up that I’m traveling this week so updates may be a bit irregular. Thanks for your patience. On to the update: HP to Split Big news from The Wall Street Journal: Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to separateSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Japan and the Distinction Between Consoles and Mobile Gaming, Gaming in China and Asia, Xbox China Launch Delayed
Good morning, Until a few months ago gaming in general was a bit of a blind spot for me, and I think was hardly alone in that among technology observers. Still, it always bothered me that, for example, Apple spent so much time on gaming in their keynotes, yet I simply spaced out. So, asSubscribe […]
Daily Update: American Girl, Minecraft, and the Next Generation of Builders; The Panasonic Cameraphone; China’s Antitrust Crusade
Good morning, I wrote yesterday that I thought the Minecraft acquisition made a lot of sense for Microsoft both from a financial point-of-view – given it’s engagement numbers, I think Minecraft has a lot of latent revenue opportunities – but also from a strategic point-of-view. It’s a natural fit with where Satya Nadella wants toSubscribe […]
Microsoft’s Good (and Potentially Great) Minecraft Acquisition
It’s difficult to overstate what a big deal Minecraft is. It’s the third best-selling game of all time behind Tetris and Wii Sports, and unlike the latter especially, it is a remarkably sticky experience: the vast majority of customers (over 90 percent on PC, according to Microsoft) sign in every single month. Were Microsoft to […]
Daily Update: How Tim Cook Should Have Introduced Watch, Apple Pay and the Apple Watch, Microsoft to Buy Minecraft?
Good morning, I wrote about the Apple Watch introduction on Stratechery in a piece called Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No. In short, while I like everything hardware-related about the watch, I was very concerned with both the keynote messaging and the software. Moreover, I think those two concerns are interrelated: the need theSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Alibaba Opens Roadshow, Twitter Testing Purchases, Microsoft Rebrands Bing Apps to MSN
Good morning, Finally, no Apple items in today’s Daily Update. I think we’re all well and truly inundated, and you should probably brace yourself for today’s onslaught. On to the update: Alibaba Opens Roadshow The New York Times has an excellent profile of Alibaba founder Jack Ma: When the Alibaba Group goes public later thisSubscribe […]
Daily Update: China and Microsoft, Sony vs. Samsung, Why Twitter Adds Favorites to Your Timeline
Good morning, I’m working on a piece about Apple, the cloud, and culture; I think it’s pretty interesting and I hope a good contribution to what has happened this week. It will hopefully be up later this morning. I’m pushing my piece on payments and the wearable to next week. On to the update: ChinaSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Another (Inevitable) Uber Controversy, Why Instagram’s Hyperlapse Damns Windows Phone, Pouring Water on Fire Phone
Good morning, I wrote a brief piece on Stratechery about Amazon buying Twitch; my takeaway was in the title: Amazon: Not an E-Commerce Company. One could argue that makes the upside in their stock even greater, but were I an investor, I think I’d be out. I buy the e-commerce story; Amazon ruling the world,Subscribe […]
Daily Update: Gaming and New-Market Disruption, Why the PS4 is Winning, Uber Testing On-Demand Product Deliveries
Good morning, I trust you won’t mind a couple more items on gaming; I (obviously) find the current debate fascinating, and it’s not as if there is much happening in traditional tech land! On to the update: Gaming and New-Market Disruption The fastest growing demographic in gaming is adult females. From the Wall Street Journal:Subscribe […]