Evan Spiegel wrote a long memo to Snapchat that laid out the company’s problems perhaps more starkly than he appreciated.
Data Factories
Facebook and Google and other advertising businesses are data factories, and regulation will be most effective if it lets users look inside
Microsoft Ignite, Weaknesses To Strengths, Amazon’s Device Announcements
Microsoft’s Ignite conference was another reminder that the company no longer focuses on the consumer, a point Satya Nadella emphasized as a strength. Then, Amazon helps explain why.
Six Years of Systrom, Instagram’s Alternate Reality, Facebook’s Red Flag
Despite this week’s bad news, Facebook won with Systrom’s tenure. Then, what might have been with an independent Instagram, and the worrying signals this sends about Facebook the app.
New Alexa Devices, Amazon and the EU Commission
Why is Amazon selling more Alexa devices? More broadly, do the company’s house brands leave it susceptible to an antitrust challenge?
The iPhone XR Delay, India, and China; Discriminatory Job Ads on Facebook; EU Versus Internet Follow-Up
More follow-up on the iPhone, then how discriminatory job ads on Facebook demonstrate how to police bad behavior on platforms with zero marginal costs. Plus, follow-up on The European Union Versus the Internet.
iPhone Classes; iPhone Growth Drivers, and Limiters; The Apple Watch
Will the iPhone XS slump like the iPhone 6S? Probably not, because theories about the iPhone 6S slump are probably wrong. Plus, the Apple Watch.
The iPhone Franchise
The iPhone is a franchise, a product that will make money in well-defined ways; Apple understands that and is exploiting it more than ever before with the iPhones XS and XR.
Apple’s iPhone Event, Facebook Fact-Checking, Vimeo Pivots Again
A preview of Apple’s iPhone event, a revelatory controversy about Facebook fact-checking, and yet another pivot by Vimeo thanks to mistakes made years ago
Sandberg and Dorsey in Congress, Dorsey and Incentives, Google’s Absence
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey testified in front of Congress; the former had the most to lose, while the latter hinted at exactly what.