Concepts

Ethics and Mores

Ethical dilemmas and changing societal mores

  • If there is a new tech cold war, it is one with shots fired over a decade ago, largely by China. The questions going forward are about both leverage and values.

  • Harvey Weinstein was a gate-keeper — a position that existed in multiple industries, including the media. That entire structure, though, is untenable on the Internet, and that’s a good thing.

  • Benchmark’s lawsuit against Uber is extraordinary; that is because Uber, despite everything, remains an extraordinary company. Game theory explains the implications.

  • Manifestos and Monopolies

    Facebook has long had too much power, but Mark Zuckerberg’s expressed willingness to use said power for political ends means it’s time to consider countermeasures.


  • Fake News

    Facebook is under fire for fake news and filter bubbles; they are a problem, but most of the proposed solutions are far worse.


  • Amazon Prime Day and Prime Challenges, Facebook Diversity Numbers Don’t Budge

    Amazon Prime Day was a smashing success, at least if you ask Amazon. The ongoing shift in ecommerce models, though, threatens Prime’s underlying value proposition. Then, Facebook’s disappointing diversity numbers.


  • A Technical Glitch

    Facebook Live is likely a lot more meaningful than Facebook expected: it’s a plus for society, but Facebook should expect more scrutiny. Given that, they have work to do when it comes to transparency.


  • Peter Thiel, Comic Book Hero

    What Gawker did to Peter Thiel is inexcusable, but Thiel’s response is threatening to the industry that made him rich in the first place.


  • Bitcoin and Diversity

    First, an exploration of the block size debate that is roiling the Bitcoin world, and then how lessons from that debate apply to diversity in tech.


  • A Politics For Technology

    Technology is changing the world, which means politics should change as well. There is a way forward that entails less regulation and a much bigger safety net.


  • Jack Dorsey Named Twitter CEO, The Problem With Daily Fantasy

    It took only a few hours for the first concerning response to the announcement of Jack Dorsey as CEO, and it came from his old adversary Ev Williams. Then, Daily Fantasy has a real scandal on its hands, but the implications of that scandal are the opposite of what most think about Daily Fantasy.


  • Amazon Continued and the Role of Journalism, Three Streaming Developments: HBO, Amazon Prime, and ESPN

    The Amazon story continues, and it is striking how there is zero common ground between people who work in tech and the journalists who cover it. Will this mark a shift in the relationship? Plus, what HBO’s Sesame Street deal, Amazon’s Top Gear deal, and NBC’s Premier League deal say about the future of streaming.


  • The New York Times on Amazon, Jeff Bezos’ Email, Why Work for Amazon

    The New York Times has a very in-depth critique of Amazon’s work culture. Some of what was reported was truly deplorable, and Jeff Bezos wrote that he agrees; other parts, though, deserve a much more nuanced and respectful discussion than what the New York Times provided.