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.
Gaming the Smiling Curve
The spate of recent acquisitions in the gaming space — Take-Two and Zynga, Microsoft and Activision, and Sony and Bungie — make sense in the context of the Smiling Curve.
Spotify’s Earnings; Spotify’s Podcast Payoff; Universal, Taylor Swift, and Internet Power
Spotify’s earnings show that their strategy is working exactly as predicted; then, Universal is responding to Taylor Swift’s leveraging of Internet power.
Five Lessons From Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle has a new special about his old show that includes fundamental lessons about how the Internet has changed the content business.
Antitrust Politics
Analyzing the politics of the antitrust hearing featuring the CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook.
Xiaomi IPOs, Samsung’s Profit Slips, The Smiling Curve
Xiaomi’s IPO shows a company that has come full circle but still has a long ways to go. Then, Samsung remains reliant on components for profit, and both companies show that the Smiling Curve applies to smartphones more than ever.
Defining Aggregators
Building on Aggregation Theory, this provides a precise definition of the characteristics of aggregators, and a classification system based on suppliers. Plus, how to think about aggregator regulation.
Intel, Mobileye, and Smiling Curves
Intel is buying Mobileye; it’s an acquisition that makes sense once you realize how much value there is in components.
Ben @ Code Media on The Great Unbundling
A video of Ben presenting at Code Media.
DistroKid, The “Publisher’s Right”, Shopify Results
Distrokid is small, but it’s a powerful example of the how distribution is not a value-add, the implications of which European publishers have yet to learn. It’s a lesson that doesn’t just apply to media, either.