It’s trivial to say that the Internet changed media; what is more interesting is unpacking how different types of media were affected, and why — and what might happen to TV.
Xiaomi Retrenches, Lenovo’s Smartphone Struggles, The Chinese Consumer Market and Smartphones
Xiaomi’s CEO confirms how and why the company went wrong; then, why I got Lenovo wrong when it comes to smartphones. Plus, why China is such a challenging market for everyone, including Apple.
The Facebook Journalism Project, Why Facebook Fails as a Platform, How Facebook Can Truly Help the Media — and Itself
Facebook has announced the Facebook Journalism Project, which primarily serves to highlight the extent to which Facebook has failed as a platform company.
Atlassian Buys Trello, Yahoo => Altaba
Atlassian acquired Trello in a deal that makes sense for Atlassian and also signifies increased consolidation in productivity software; then, Yahoo is nearly finished: the company was more important than we remember.
The Ten Year Anniversary of the Apple TV
Today is being marked as the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone; it is a footnote of history that it is also the 10-year anniversary of the Apple TV. It’s a reminder that we don’t know what innovations matter until they occur.
Alexa: Amazon’s Operating System
Money is made at chokepoints, and the most valuable chokepoints are operating systems; Amazon is building exactly that with Alexa.
Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s Bad Reviews, Apple’s App Store Failures
Super Mario Run is a great game that is getting bad reviews that are ultimately Apple’s fault. The company needs to make the App Store much more developer-friendly
The State of Technology at the End of 2016
The annual Stratechery review of the state of technology, and call to build products that unlock human potential
Slack + G Suite; Facebook Facing Board Lawsuit; Yik Yak Layoffs
Slack + G Suite is intriguing, but is it the end of the story for Slack and identity? Then, a new lawsuit against Facebook is a reminder that no outside entity has any leverage over the social network. Plus, how Snapchat took Yik Yak’s market and why it was still worth investing in.
Opendoor Follow-up, Fitbit Buys Pebble Assets, GoPro Closes Entertainment Unit
The point of writing about Opendoor was to praise the ambition for the very reason that it might not work. Then, hardware continues to be hard: Pebble is out of business, and GoPro is in very big trouble.