Down Round

Latest Episodes:

#61 - The news: Breaking! Extra! Exclusive! Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com

For hundreds of years, newspapers had a pretty good business model: you’d buy the paper, and it would have ads in it. Not bad!

Unfortunately, computers occurred. Now, our friends in the lying news media have been forced to adapt. In today’s episode, we dig into the uneasy marriage of news publishers and the internet.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#60 - Dating apps: Raph Super Liked you! Feb 28, 2023

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Over the past decade, we’ve successfully outsourced romance and human reproduction to a series of apps, most of which are owned by Match Group. Pretty cool!

But it’s starting to look like Tinder and its many clones have lost their spark. What does the future hold? This week: a dive into the sick, sordid world of dating apps.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#59 - The Accountability Episode: Correcting the record Feb 23, 2023

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com

Unlike other tech podcasts – who we won’t name – Down Round is ruthlessly committed to accountability and self-critique.

On today’s ep, we revisit a handful of topics we’ve covered over the last six or so months and evaluate whether we got it right or wrong. And we have a few laughs along the way. This is exactly what you pay for.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#58 - Gaming: Gamers rise up, you have nothing to lose but your chains Feb 21, 2023

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com

Gaming, which was considered a nasty little hobby for maladjusted dweebs as recently as 2018, is now as important to the global economy as healthcare and the natural resources industry.

OK, maybe that’s not true. But anyway. Gaming is big business, and it’s become deeply intertwined with the rest of the tech industry. This week, we’re talking about how t…

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#57 - Microsoft vs. Google: This one is for the Bing heads Feb 16, 2023

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com

The history of tech is littered with rivalries. Apple vs. Microsoft. Netflix vs. Amazon. PlayStation vs. Xbox. IBM vs. HP. Raph vs. Henno.

Microsoft vs. Google is one you hear about slightly less. But it’s been thrust to the forefront of the discourse now as the two companies battle in the world of AI and Google tries to tackle the ChatGPT threat.

But the rivalry goes back far longer and deeper than that. We dig in.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#56 - Sports betting: 3 blokes share their luckiest multis (ft. Mark Di Stefano) Feb 14, 2023

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com

Sports betting. It’s an enduring part of Australian culture, where having a flutter on your sport of choice is as natural as breathing oxygen, or putting your paycheque through the pokies, or having a flutter on something else like the dishlickers at Wentworth Park.

But sports betting is even more topical now that it has swept through the US in the wake of a Supreme Court decision back in 2018. Now it looks like Australia’s obsessive sports betting culture is hitting the global mainstream.

To dig through the detritus of the tech-enabled sports betting universe, we’re joined by Down Round repeat guest Mark Di Stefano, a reporter at the Australian Financial Review. We don’t even invite him at this point, he just wanders into the studio like he owns the place.

Links

How Sports Betting Hit the Mainstream in America – NY Times

Sportsbet under investigation for dodging online betting rules – AFR

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#55 - Reddit: r/downround has been permanently banned Feb 09, 2023

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com

Reddit. Once infamous as a haven for libertarians, endless arguments about video games and borderline illegal porn, it has managed to survive the last decade of internet development as one of the last genuinely useful online communities.

We dive into the history, the culture, and why ‘Reddit’ has become one of the most common and effective Google search …

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#54 - Instant grocery: A single Twix bar delivered to your house in two minutes Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

Instant grocery (also known as instant commerce, 10-minute grocery, ultrafast delivery and a million other names) was one of the hottest categories globally at the tail end of the last investment craze. It seemed every major city had 3-5 companies trying to be the one to deliver you a bag of oranges at superhuman speed.

Now it doesn’t look so hot. In Australia, only Milkrun is left, with Voly and Send having collapsed already. And it’s looking shaky for Milkrun too.

What happened? Was instant grocery doomed from the start? How can they fix it? And where can a guy get toothpaste in five friggen minutes in this town??

Links

* Milkrun, the last local grocery delivery standing, is still trying to find fresh capital after raising $75 million - Startup Daily

* Instant grocery delivery app Send collapses - Sydney Morning Herald

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#53 - The creator economy: Please like and subscribe Feb 02, 2023

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com

The creator economy was one of the most hyped sectors at the tail end of the last boom, promising that anyone with an iPhone and a $15 ring light could become a phenomenally wealthy celebrity if they just believed in themselves. It even convinced two crazy-ass white boys from Sydney they could become successful Substack podcasters.

Now the dust has settled, was the hype justified? We’re talking everything from YouTubers and Instagram influencers to link-in-bio startups and whatever the hell Mr Beast does on this week’s episode.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#52 - Food: From Soylent to soy burgers (feat. two soyboys) Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

The tech industry has had a long-time obsession with revolutionising food and the way we eat. From Soylent, the nutrient slurry intended for lifehacking programmers to optimise their sad lives, to the current obsession with plant-based and cell cultured meat, there are always venture-backed startups trying to disrupt the crap we stuff into our chompholes.

We dive in.

Links

* Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad” - Bloomberg

* The original Soylent blog

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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