Exponent

Latest Episodes:

Episode 018: Agree to Disagree Sep 19, 2014

Show notes

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 Thoughts and Observations – Daring Fireball

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 017: Let’s End it There (Updated) Sep 12, 2014

Show notes

In this week’s episode we follow-up on Episode 15’s console discussion, and then dive into the Apple Watch introduction. We cover why we were disappointed in the presentation, and discuss the luxury market in Asia and why the Edition will cost thousands of dollars. And then we go back for seconds. And thirds.

(Note: This is an updated version that removes a gap present in the previous version)

Links

Ben Thompson: Gaming and New Market Disruption – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Friction – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Whither Liberal Arts? – Stratechery
Benjamin Clymer: A Watch Guy’s Thoughts On The Apple Watch After Seeing It In The Metal – Hodinkee

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 017: Let’s End it There Sep 12, 2014

Show notes

(Note: There is a gap at around the 12:30 mark due to an editing error. We apologize)

Links

Ben Thompson: Gaming and New Market Disruption – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Friction – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Whither Liberal Arts? – Stratechery
Benjamin Clymer: A Watch Guy’s Thoughts On The Apple Watch After Seeing It In The Metal – Hodinkee

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 016: Naked People Sep 05, 2014

Show notes

In this week’s episode we discuss James’ first ever trip to Burning Man, ugliness in modern culture and on the Internet, the new divide in politics, and ultimately why we have hope for the future.

Links

Grover Norquist: My First Burning Man: Confessions of a Conservative from Washington – The Guardian
Devin Faraci: Why I Feel Bad For – And Understand – The Angry #GamerGate Gamers – Badass Digest

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 015: Consoles and Disruption Aug 29, 2014

Show notes

In this week’s episode we discuss whether or not consoles will be disrupted. This episode was recorded a week ago (immediately after last week’s episode), before Ben wrote his pieces Games and Good Enough and Games and New Market Disruption.

Links

Ben Thompson: How Apple TV Might Disrupt Microsoft and Sony – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Games and Good Enough – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Gaming and New Market Disruption – Stratechery
Medallia Receives $50M in New Funding to Meet Growing Market Demand for Software that Makes Companies More Customer Centric – Medallia

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 014: The Rise of the Algorithm Aug 22, 2014

Show notes

In this week’s episode we spend a good bit of time revisiting the native ads discussion, then dive into the different ways that Twitter and Facebook have handled the news this week. From there we discuss Twitter’s timeline changes, the realities of venture capital, and whether or not our entire economic system will survive the automation revolution. Yes, it gets deep quickly!

Links

Ben Thompson: Print, Chinese Walls, and “Objective” Journalism – Stratechery (members only)
Clay Shirky: Last Call – Medium
Jay Rosen: When Quoting Both Sides and Leaving it There is the Riskier Call – PressThink
Hamilton Nolan: Time Inc. Rates Writers on How “Beneficial” They Are to Advertisers – Gawker
Derek Willis: New Republican Leader Finds New Friends, and Quick Cash – New York Times
Marco Arment: I’ll Never Fly Amazon Again – Marco.org
Ben Thompson: Twitter is Great for Unprofitable News – Stratechery (members-only)
Mathew Ingram: Twitter vs. Facebook as a news source – GigaOm
Matt Buchanan: The Twitter of Tomorrow – New Yorker
Humans Need Not Apply – YouTube

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 013: BuzzFeed and Native Advertising Aug 14, 2014

Show notes

In this week’s episode we discuss feedback about Ben’s Android criticism, then dive into Andreessen Horowitz’s $50 million investment into BuzzFeed. Is there a real business here? We also discuss native advertising: Ben is quite a bit more optimistic than James.

Links

Ben Thompson: Is BuzzFeed a Technology Company? – Stratechery
Chris Dixon: BuzzFeed – Chris Dixon’s Blog
Marc Andreessen: Introducing our new venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz – Blog Pmarca
Ben Casselman: Corporate America Hasn’t Been Disrupted – 538

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 012: The Internet Rainforest Aug 07, 2014

Show notes

In this week’s episode we discuss how the Internet is enabling not only big winners, but also small, focused niche players, and why that’s exciting. We also discuss the impact this transition will have on society, follow up on last week’s integrated/modular discussion, and in a special “After Dark” segment briefly discuss Ben’s recent experience with Android and theorize that the Android/iOS are at equilibrium.

Links

Ben Thompson: Daily Update: Micromax Wins on Local Taste – Stratechery (members-only)
Rohin Dharmakumar: Can Micromax Become India’s Leading Smartphone Maker? – Forbes India
Ben Thompson: How Technology is Changing the World (P&G Edition) – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Christmas Gifts and the Meaning of Design (includes a reference to P&G’s design process in the footnotes) – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Pleco: Building a Business, not an App – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Smartphone Truths and Samsung’s Inevitable Decline – Stratechery
Anita Elberse: The Way of The Blockbuster – Harvard Magazine
Albert Wenger: It is OK to Worry about Work (& Doesn’t Make you a Luddite or Socialist) – Continuations

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 011: Red Pill or Blue Pill? Aug 02, 2014

Show notes

In this episode we discuss this tweet of Ben’s:

Apple has a monopoly on the iOS market. And monopolies are profitable.

— Ben Thompson (@monkbent) July 25, 2014

We also discuss the news that OKCupid and Facebook are running tests on their users.

Links

Fabian Giesen: What I mean when I say “I think VR is bad news” – Github

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

Episode 010: Clap on Three Jul 25, 2014

Show notes

In this episode we discuss feedback about Uber and pricing, then discuss Ben’s recent articles on Microsoft and Apple/IBM.

Ben Thompson: It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft – Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Big Blue and Apple’s Soul – Stratechery (Note: We recorded this show before this piece was written)

We had some technical difficulties while recording this show, so we apologize in advance if there are any issues.

Hosts

Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review

Podcast Information

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