Good morning, I almost edited out the line in yesterday’s piece about Uber that stated Emil Michael would probably be fired, and I probably should have: CEO Travis Kalanick seemed to suggest in a tweetstorm that Emil Michael wasn’t going anywhere. Of course things could change, but what kind of CEO would keep someone onSubscribe […]
Daily Update: A Tale of Three Smartphone Makers, Microsoft Health and the Microsoft Band
Good morning, There was a fair bit of Apple Pay news today, including conflicting reports about whether or not retailers can easily leave MCX, as well the fact that MCX got hacked (oops). All good news for Apple, in my estimation. James Allworth and I spent over an hour discussing it on a new episodeSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Apple Earning, Apple Pay Launches
Good morning, I’m finally set up in the new place, albeit a couple of hours late. Thanks again for your patience both yesterday and today. I look forward to getting back up to speed. Today I’m focusing on Apple’s earnings and the Apple Pay rollout; I’ll catch up on some other items tomorrow, including IBM.Subscribe […]
Daily Update: Apple’s October Event – Why It Impressed, Notes and Observations
Good morning, I’m working on the HBO piece, but given that I’m moving house this weekend (Ugh!) I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get it out today. However, we do cover the topic on the next episode of Exponent, which will be out in a few hours. While today’s update is focused onSubscribe […]
Daily Update: More on GT Advanced’s Shady Bankruptcy, Apple Watch in China Vogue, LINE Reveals MAUs
Good morning, Apple has announced another event for this Thursday for presumably the iPad, Mac, and OS X. However, I don’t think I’ll be writing a preview piece (except in this newsletter); that, more than anything, describes the iPad’s faded star. I do have a whole host of thoughts, though, I just plan on savingSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Ello Follow-up, Windows 10, Apple Watch in Paris
Good morning, The biggest news yesterday was that Ebay plans to spin off Paypal. I definitely think this is the right move, but I also suspect it’s too late. I plan to write more about it in a day or two. On to the update: Ello Follow-up I was actually surprised I didn’t get moreSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Why Next Year for Apple Watch, I Love the Blackberry Passport, Bill Simmons and Writer as Brand
Good morning, It seems that yesterday’s update got marked as spam, so please take a look and mark it as not-spam – this will help ensure this happens less often in the future. On to the update: Why Now Next Year for Apple Watch While I noted last week that I had changed my mindSubscribe […]
Why Now for Apple Watch
The impression I get is that many people don’t really understand why I changed my mind about the Apple Watch. In Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No I criticized the lack of an explicit “why” in the Watch presentation and questioned parts of the demo, particular those which replicated phone functionality. After all, if […]
Podcast: Exponent Episode 018 – Agree to Disagree
On the newest episode of Exponent, the podcast I co-host with James Allworth: In this week’s episode Ben explains why he has changed his mind about Apple Watch. James is not convinced. We go on for a while. Links Ben Thompson: What I Got Wrong About Apple Watch – Stratechery John Gruber: Apple Watch: Initial […]
What I Got Wrong About Apple Watch
While I stand by last week’s opinion that the Watch presentation was poor, I’ve somehow, at least in my little corner of the Internet, become the face of people who don’t believe in Apple Watch at all. The biggest problem with that view is that I’m actually a big believer in the category, having written […]