The upcoming liability switchover offers the best ever chance for Apple to drive Apple Pay adoption, at least in the United States. Apple should put all its efforts behind making it happen, even if it helps Android Pay too. Plus, MCX unravels.
Intel and the Delay in Moore’s Law, Another Android Vulnerability
Moore’s Law has officially hit a slow-down. The more important question is why — and it is necessarily as bad a thing as we expected? Plus, the latest Android vulnerability points to a big Apple advantage and the implications of tradeoffs.
In Defense of Markets, The Qualcomm Mess, Uber and de Blasio
I think that the stock market tends to get a bad rap amongst tech pundits and executives; in fact, it is a critical part of how new companies defeat incumbents. Still, sometimes markets get it wrong and I think that is the case with Qualcomm. Plus, what Uber’s episode with New York City mayor Bill de Blasio suggests about politics and Aggregation Theory.
Apple Loses E-books Appeal; Apple Music and Antitrust; Producers, Consumers, and Apple
Apple’s E-book case finally came to it’s likely end a few week’s ago; it’s worth reviewing what was at stake in light of recent news that Apple Music could face a similar investigation. Then, if Apple Music will do for musicians what the App Store did for developers, is that a good thing? Plus, why sites are bad and no one is at fault.
The Reddit Rebellion, How Should Reddit Make Money?, The Disappearance of High-End Android
Reddit had a rough weekend, raising questions as to whether or not the site will ever be able to become a real business. It’s very nature may make that impossible, or maybe it simply needs a different business model. Plus, Samsung and HTC’s tough quarter.
Airbnb’s Externalities, Sharing and Culture, PayPal Acquires Xoom
Yesterday’s discussion of Airbnb was in part focused on the broader implications of the sharing economy. Truthfully, though, Airbnb deserves more attention for its externalities — it is in many ways more radical than Uber. It’s also not clear it will work in every culture.
Then, a brief discussion of Paypal and Xoom and how different degrees of trust require different types of business models.
Airbnb and the Internet Revolution
Airbnb gets less press than Uber, but in some respects its even more radical: understanding how it works leads one to question many of the premises of modern society from hotels to regulations. It’s an important marker in the Internet Revolution.
Curation and Algorithms
More and more companies are announcing new products based on human curation, even as the most important content players — Google and Facebook — rely on algorithms. When does curation make sense, and when are algorithms better? And ultimately, who is responsible for both?
Unicorns Follow-up; Uber, Contractors, and Employees; Microsoft and the End of the Ballmer Era
This Daily Update follows up on my Unicorns article by pointing out how the behavior of most late-stage investors is totally rational. Then, a discussion about a recent decision by the California Labor Commission that one Uber driver is an employee, not a contractor, and a translation of Microsoft’s latest reorganization.
Uber in China, Didi Kuaidi Raising $1.5 Billion, China Scale and Apple Maps
It seems that Uber is doing far better in China than expected. How is the company succeeding where other western companies have failed, and is their success sustainable? Plus fundraising news from Uber’s biggest competitor, and some amazing numbers about China’s scale.