Daily Update: Moore’s Law at 50, BuzzFeed and Advertiser Pressure

Good morning, The French Senate approved a measure (it won’t be law, at least not yet) that would force Google to disclose its algorithm to a French regulator. If you have strong views on this (particularly if you are in favor), I’d love to hear from you as to why — with the condition youSubscribe […]

Tidal and the Future of Music

Predicting success and failure is about understanding who has leverage. In the case of music, the winners will be the labels, not the artist. But perhaps there is hope for tomorrow

How Apple Will Make the Wearable Market

Last fall, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the Apple Watch as the “next chapter” in Apple’s history, placing it at the same level as the Mac, iPhone and iPod. I get the sense that a lot of people don’t believe him; they just don’t see the need for a wearable. There is ample precedent for […]

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 […]

Daily Update: Looking Forward to CES, Looking Ahead to 2015, Apple and the Functional High Ground

Good morning, Happy New Year! It’s great to get back into the flow of things. Let’s get on with it! Looking Forward to CES It’s fun to rag on CES, particularly during the 00’s when Apple’s MacWorld keynote announcements would overshadow the going-ons in Vegas, at least from a news cycle perspective. It wasn’t justSubscribe […]

The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014

While the modern computing era in many respects began with the IBM System/360 mainframe and further expanded with the minicomputer, normal consumers didn’t start encountering computers until the personal computer. And, while mainframes are technically still around (while minicomputers are decidedly not), what is unique about the PC is that it is very much still […]

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.

Daily Update: American Girl, Minecraft, and the Next Generation of Builders; The Panasonic Cameraphone; China’s Antitrust Crusade

Good morning, I wrote yesterday that I thought the Minecraft acquisition made a lot of sense for Microsoft both from a financial point-of-view – given it’s engagement numbers, I think Minecraft has a lot of latent revenue opportunities – but also from a strategic point-of-view. It’s a natural fit with where Satya Nadella wants toSubscribe […]

Digital Hub 2.0

The PC was famously the digital hub; now that is the smartphone.