Notes on Musk’s latest Twitter about-face, then Meta open-sources an AI library that is a big threat to Nvidia. Plus, another example of a failed paid product from an ad-supported company.
Google Kills Stadia; Why Stadia Was a Bad Product; Microsoft, Activision, and Antitrust
Google Stadia is, predictably, dead: the company never had the business model to match. Microsoft is showing just how hard it is to get that business model off of the ground.
An Interview With Instacart CEO Fidji Simo About Big Ambitions
An interview with Instacart CEO Fidji Simo about Instacart and why she believes it is a generational company.
Roblox Ads, Walmart Land, Internal Economies
Roblox announced an advertising platform; I’m skeptical about the value to brand advertisers, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be valuable to Roblox itself.
An Interview With The Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel About Building a Destination Site
An interview with The Verge EIC Nilay Patel about building a destination site, his background and how that connects to his career in tech journalism, The Verge’s business model and approach to journalism ethics, and a bit of a debate about moderation and net neutrality.
An Interview With Michael Mignano About Podcasts, Standards, and Recommendation Media
An interview with former Anchor co-founder and CEO Michael Mignano about podcasts, Anchor, Spotify, standards, and recommendation media.
The Twitter Whistleblower, mDAUs and Bots, Musk’s Akorn Lifeline
A Twitter’s whistleblowers report is very believable in terms of Twitter’s violation of its FTC consent decree; that may matter more to Elon Musk than the discussion about bots.
House of the Dragon and Creative Programming, The Big Ten’s Deal, Disney’s New Prices
How much of the difference between HBO and Netflix is mindset? Plus, the Big Ten’s new deal, and Disney raises prices
An Interview With Eric Seufert About the Future of Digital Advertising
An interview with Eric Seufert about Apple’s big overhaul of SKAdNetwork, speculating about a possible Apple Ad Network, and why we’re both optimistic about Meta’s outlook. In addition, we discuss Snap’s disastrous year, and the Unity-ironSource-AppLovin acquisition drama.
Instagram, TikTok, and the Three Trends
Trends in medium, AI, and user interaction underpin Instagram’s response to TikTok, and will determine Meta’s long-term moat.