AT&T skipped out on its deal with Huawei, reportedly under political pressure. Expect more tech issues between the U.S. and China, and Apple has the most to lose.
Vulnerabilities, Philosophies, and Ad-Blockers; Intel’s Response; The Advantage of Serverless
Follow-up on Meltdown and Spectre, Intel’s obfuscation, and why serverless is better.
Facebook and Age Discrimination, Apple Slows Down iPhones?, 2017: When Tech Grew Up
Facebook is accused of abetting age discrimination, which raises many of 2017’s most prominent themes. So does the news that Apple slows down iPhones.
Target Buys Shipt, Why Target?, The Expansion of Amazon Basics
The Disney-21st Century Fox was certainly the biggest acquisition that happened last week, but it wasn’t the only one. Netflix may loom large, but Amazon arguably looms larger.
Disney-Fox Deal Announced, Horizontal Antitrust, Whither Hulu
The Disney-21st Century Fox deal is official, and the antitrust questions continue to loom large: there are clear issues with regards to a horizontal merger, but is having a vertical competitor to Netflix worth it?
Regional Sports Networks, ESPN + RSNs, TechDirt’s Response on Title II and Net Neutrality
Understanding regional sports networks, and why they make sense with ESPN — but why ESPN makes less and less sense with Disney. Then, a brief — and final — follow-up on Title II and Net Neutrality.
Disney and Fox
Disney’s rumored acquisition of 21st Century Fox is all about competing with Netflix; whether or not that is a good thing depends on your frame of reference.
Snapchat’s Redesign, Spiegel’s New (Old) Vision, Tencent and Spotify
Snap has a more cogent vision than the one it presented in its S-1; the problem is it might be too late. Tencent, meanwhile, fresh off its Snap investment has picked up a piece of Spotify.
Tech’s Person of the Year; Uber at the End of 2017; Fowler’s True Impact, and Means
Susan Fowler is tech’s person of the year, both because of her impact on Uber and on the tech industry broadly.
The Pollyannish Assumption and Bright Lines, YouTube’s Market Power, Google vs Amazon
Society collectively decides what is wrong through laws: that’s a useful bright line for platforms. Then, YouTube is demonstrating its market power, and Google and Amazon are acting like monopolies.