An interview with Michael Nathanson about a tumultuous year in media, including Disney, streaming, sports, and lessons learned by both the industry and also us as analysts.
AWS:reInvent, Serverless and the Smiling Curve, AI Services
The opening keynote at AWS:reInvent was about serverless, which is a technical manifestation of how the Internet leads to smiling curves. Plus, AWS’s CEO comments on OpenAI.
Google’s Apple Payments; Apple Services: Narrative vs. Reality; Google’s Motivation
The juiciest detail yet came out of the Google antitrust case: how much the company pays Apple. This isn’t just a function of Apple’s leverage, but also Google’s strategic foresight.
Realtors Lose in Court, Zillow and Real Estate Aggregation, From Franchises to Businesses
The real estate industry is poised for major changes after a momentous court decision, and Zillow is poised to finally reach its potential as an Aggregator.
Amazon Earnings, The Logistics Virtuous Cycle, Amazon Aggregator Ads
Amazon’s cloud business doesn’t seem to have AI lift yet, but it’s early; then Amazon’s virtuous cycle in logistics ultimately is paid off with ads.
AI, Hardware, and Virtual Reality
Defining virtual reality as being about hardware is to miss the point: virtual reality is AI, and hardware is an (essential) means to an end.
An Interview with Craig Moffett About Charter vs. Disney and the Path Dependency of the Communications Industry
An interview with Craig Moffett about Charter vs. Disney, the 1990s telecom bubble, the history of the U.S. TV and broadband markets, and why Google might win video.
Nvidia On the Mountaintop
Nvidia has gone from the valley to the mountain-top in less than a year, thanks to ChatGPT and the frenzy it inspired; whether or not there is a cliff depends on developing new kinds of demand that only GPUs can fulfill.
An Interview with Eugene Wei About Twitter, Threads, and Taylor Swift
An interview with Eugene Wei about Elon Musk’s critical mistake with Twitter, the questionable prospects for Threads, and what Taylor Swift and other communal experiences say about the commoditization wrought by technology.
Disney’s Taylor Swift Era
Not even Taylor Swift can fight the devaluation of recorded music, but she makes it up in physical experiences; Disney isn’t much different, but it looks much worse given the company’s old business model.