Let’s start with the premise that Twitch, the video-game watching network, is the next ESPN – you know, the jewel in Disney’s crown that, by itself, is worth $50.8 billion. Like ESPN, Twitch is about live competition, and, like ESPN, Twitch does exceptionally well in the highly desirable young male demographic.1 Obviously this is the […]
Big Blue and Apple’s Soul
I hope you’ll forgive my writing about week-old news,1 but I find it striking to compare the paucity of words written about Apple’s partnership with IBM, at least relative to what was written when Apple acquired Beats. After all, the IBM partnership is a much bigger deal. It certainly seems that Tim Cook feels the […]
It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft
To understand why so many serious Microsoft observers were encouraged by Satya Nadella’s week-ago memo Bold Ambition and Our Core,1 it’s useful to go back 10 years and read Steve Ballmer’s 2004 memo Our Path Forward. It was around this time that cracks were first starting to appear in the Microsoft machine: the stock had […]
Daily Update: Breaking Down Satya Nadella’s Letter
Good morning, I apologize today’s update is a bit late; I’ve been struggling with a bit of Stratechery technical debt (specifically the apparently broken login on the membership page). Still, I suppose that’s a fitting segue for today’s single topic, Microsoft. Breaking Down Satya Nadella’s Open Letter Let me cut you off at the pass:Subscribe […]
What Steve Jobs Wouldn’t Have Done
Between a feature-by-feature review (members only) and an analysis of strategic underpinnings, I’ve written nearly three thousand words about Apple’s WWDC announcements. Still, though, it feels like I haven’t written about what is perhaps the most important takeaway. It’s a takeaway I’ve resisted, even as writer after blogger after Twitterer has said the same thing: […]
Why Apple Is Buying Beats
That’s a bit of a presumptuous headline: The sale is not yet confirmed UPDATE: The deal was confirmed on May 28 It’s likely no one outside of 1 Infinite Loop will ever likely know the true reasons Indeed, as Benedict Evans wrote in his weekly newsletter: The deal [is] something of a Rorschach Blot – […]
When CEOs Matter
Sometime in 2012, during the runup to Windows 8, I was on a call with a Microsoft Developer & Platform Evangelist (DPE) strategizing how we would approach a particular partner.1 I asked his opinion of a specific feature in this partner’s iPad app, and was shocked at his response: “I don’t own an iPad, and […]
Amazon and the Benefits of Vision
In case you missed it – and how could you? – this happened: While professional skeptics have been skeptical, the sheer audaciousness – and frankly, awesomeness – of Amazon’s drone proposal has attracted a near unanimous outpouring of amazement and adulation, at least if my Twitter feed is to be believed. It truly is a […]
Skating Towards the Goal
First things first: I do not subscribe to the idea that a Bill Gates return would be a good outcome for Microsoft. Indeed, much of what troubles Microsoft today is directly attributable to Gates, particularly the Vista disaster/distraction and the Windows obsession. Still, though, there is something to be said for the power and inspiration […]
An Interview with Eric Jackson at Forbes
Eric Jackson recently interviewed me for his column at Forbes. I’m cross-posting here my answers to the tech industry related questions. Check out the full interview to read more about me personally and the background of stratechery. Q: Where is Apple at right now as a company in this post-Steve Jobs period? A: I think, […]