History
To understand where technology is going, it is helpful to know where it has been.
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The beginning of technology was about the shift from batched computing in one place to continuous computing everywhere. That era of paradigm changes may be over, which means the real changes are only beginning.
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IBM has bought Red Hat in an attempt to recreate its success in the 90s; it’s not clear, though, that the company or the market is the same.
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Venture Capital has been transformed by a surprising source: Amazon. Ultimately, no industry is safe from the impact of the Internet.
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The Funnel Framework
The Internet has removed scarcity, meaning business models based on controlling distribution are no longer viable. Instead, the key to success is controlling access to the best customers — and that means being the best.
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Daily Update: Moore’s Law at 50, BuzzFeed and Advertiser Pressure
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It’s Not 1999
The question of whether or not we are in a tech bubble has been raised regularly for years now; 2012, particularly Facebook’s acquisition of an app1 called Instagram for a ridiculous2 $1 billion, was a particular high point. The fact that Instagram is now valued at $35 billion suggests the 2012 doomsayers were just a […]
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Daily Update: Felix Salmon Thinks Journalism is a Bad Idea, Qualcomm’s China Settlement, AMC Added to Sling TV
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Mobile First
Last Friday was the eight-year anniversary of the announcement of the iPhone, the event that began the mobile epoch. It was, though, an Apple rumor that to my mind illustrated just how much the world has changed. Mark Gurman is reporting at 9to5Mac that the next MacBook Air will have a radical redesign. The biggest […]
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Differentiation and Value Capture in the Internet Age
The implication of the Smiling Curve is not only that aggregators have increased economic power, but that differentiated suppliers do as well; Omni Software is an example.
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Peak Google
Despite the hype about disruption, the truth is most tech giants, particularly platform providers, are not so much displaced as they are eclipsed. IBM, for example, has been successfully selling and servicing mainframes for going on 50 years (although they are now in serious trouble (members-only)). During the PC era, though, they were eclipsed by […]
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iCloud and Apple’s Founding Myth
From a certain perspective, what is happening to Apple this week is unfair. Both OS X and especially iOS are more secure than their competitors, and Apple has regularly prioritized security over features that customers have demanded. For example, Android has long supported custom keyboards, but Apple is only adding them in iOS 8. The […]
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Rebuilding the World Technology Destroyed
The Washington Post was headed for bankruptcy, and was finally sold for a pittance. Its buyer began his career on Wall Street, only to move into a burgeoning new industry, where he truly made his wealth. The newspaper he bought has a noble history, but will certainly earn losses for years to come. I’m talking […]