Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

Latest Episodes:

A Disastrous (and Resonant) New iPad Commercial, The Future of Google Search, Tom Brady and the Netflix Roast May 09, 2024

Show notes

The iPad commercial that made the Internet angry this week, a question about Google search spawns thoughts on the various futures of Google's business, and a few observations on the Tom Brady roast as a reflection of Netflix strategy. Plus: A final word on the iPad and its utility.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Meet the New iPad Pro — X: @tim_cook

The iPad Commercial in Reverse — X: @rob_keyes

Apple’s iPad Event, The Peaceful iPad, Disney Earnings — Stratechery Update

Google Earnings, Google’s Re-Org, Google’s True Moonshot — Stratechery Update

TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — And Inevitable Fall — Stratechery

Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

(Preview) Apple in China and Japan, The iPad as a Mac Replacement, Apple and the Growth Premium May 07, 2024

Show notes

A question about Apple sentiment in China spawns memories of Apple's entrance to Japan, the utility of the iPad as a Mac replacement (and why the Vision Pro would be the better option for that job), plus Apple acquisitions, Apple's growth premium, and where, exactly, Meta is spending all that money in the Metaverse.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Apple’s New iPad Pro Should Turn Device Into True Laptop Replacement — Bloomberg

Apple Earnings, Wearables and Vision Pro, AI Leverage — Stratechery Update

Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

(Preview) The NBA Creates a Rights Bidding War, The Optimal NBA Schedule, RSNs and the Future of Customer Acquisition May 02, 2024

Show notes

Parsing the latest reports on the battle for the NBA's next round of broadcast rights, a question about the NBA schedule and how the league should think about competing with the NFL, and the implications of an increasingly bleak outlook for regional sports networks.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon and Microsoft Earnings — Stratechery Update

NBC Prepares $2.5-Billion-a-Year Bid to Pluck NBA Rights From TNT — Wall Street Journal

NBC Sports could buy back rights to iconic theme song ‘Roundball Rock’ if it airs NBA games again, composer John Tesh says — CNBC

Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

(Preview) Virtual Reality and the Innovator's Solution, Meta Embraces the Android Approach, Uber as an Aggregator Apr 29, 2024

Show notes

Ben proposes a potential update to Clayton Christensen's theory of disruption, why the latest round of Meta market skepticism is not as crazy as the last few episodes, questions about Facebook and Apple, and an emailer wonders whether Uber is the future aggregator for transportation and beyond.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Meta and Open — Stratechery

Does VR Matter?, Modular Products and Defining New Markets, TikTok Acquirers — Stratechery Update

Apple Rivals Retool to Challenge the iPhone and Vision Pro — Bloomberg

Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

(Preview) TikTok and the E-Commerce Giants, The FTC Moves to Ban Noncompete Agreements, 'Bluey' and Streaming Leverage Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

Why TikTok makes more sense for Wal-Mart and Amazon than Oracle and Microsoft, and the FTC's ban on noncompete agreements prompts reflections noncompetes in Silicon Valley and the decline of trust across society. At the end: A question about Bluey and purchasing power for streamers, and an update on Drake's AI freestyle.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

The Inside Story Of How Glen Taylor Sabotaged The Timberwolves Sale — Huddle Up

An Interview with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon About Omnichannel Retail — Stratechery Interview

Business Groups Race to Block FTC’s Ban on Noncompete Agreements — Wall Street Journal

FTC Enrages Corporate America by Eliminating Non-Compete Agreements — BIG by Matt Stoller

Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

(Preview) What Taylor Swift Can Tell You About Netflix, What Meta Wants from Generative AI, Google and the Moonshot Apr 22, 2024

Show notes

A closer look at Netflix after news that the streamer will stop reporting subscription numbers in 2025, a question about Meta’s AI ambitions, and the case for Google making a play to compete with the iPhone. At the end: Drake’s use of AI Tupac in a rap battle.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Netflix Earnings, Netflix’s Reporting Change, Netflix’s Waiting Game — Stratechery Update

Google and the Limits of Strategy — Stratechery

Google’s True Moonshot — Stratechery

Instagram, TikTok, and the Three Trends — Stratechery

Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

10 Years of Stratechery: Best and Worst Takes, Creating on the Internet, AI as a Threat, and Memories of Day 1 Apr 18, 2024

Show notes

Celebrating 10 years of Stratechery as a subscription business with 10 questions about analysis, creating on the Internet, what's coming with AI, and what it was like on day 1.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

MKBHDs For Everything — Stratechery

Meta Myths — Stratechery

Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery

Popping the Publishing Bubble — Stratechery

Peak Google — Stratechery

The Vision Pro and the Newton, The Case Against AVP as an Entertainment Device, The Most Valuable Tech Product of All — Sharp Tech

Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.

(Preview) When AI Hits Digital Advertising, What the IT Era Can Teach Us About AI's Impact, Chip Questions and EV Mechanics Apr 15, 2024

Show notes

The advertising possibilities that AI can unlock for Meta, Google and Amazon, why TikTok is interested in AI to create digital influencers, and looking to past technologies to predict the impact that AI will make on the economy. At the end: Two questions about chips, a story about EVs and British mechanics, and Scrabble.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Actors Are Making Thousands of Dollars Through Fake Video Podcast Ads — Bloomberg

TikTok Plots Using Virtual Influencers for Advertising — The Information

The rise of the chief AI officer — Financial Times

Nike designed these wild Air sneakers with a little help from AI — Fast Company

EVs Head for Junkyard as Mechanic Shortage Inflates Repair Costs — Bloomberg

Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.

(Preview) Mailbag: AI Hardware, NBA Newsbreakers as Aggregators, Reels vs. Shorts, The Best Approach to Age Verification Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

Andrew and Ben turn to the emailers and answer questions on Jony Ive's post-Apple adventures, structural parallels between tech and the rise of journalists Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski, Instagram's strategy for Reels, the information environment surrounding Neuralink, and the best approach to solving age verification for teenagers.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Jony Ive and Sam Altman’s AI Device Startup in Funding Talks With Emerson, Thrive — The Information

Instagram, TikTok, and the Three Trends — Stratechery

Elon Musk’s Neuralink Shows First Patient Using Its Brain Implant — Wall Street Journal

What the NBA Can Learn From Formula 1 — Stratechery

ESPN Financials, NBA Spin, Jon Stewart vs. Apple — Stratechery Update

Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.

Amazon and the “Just Walk Out” Parable, Mythbusting on Meta and TSMC, The XZ Backdoor and Its Implications Apr 08, 2024

Show notes

Updated thoughts on Amazon rolling back “just walk out” in grocery stores, context for a viral Meta tweet and a year of pessimism surrounding TSMC in Arizona, and Ben walks through what happened with the XZ backdoor and the changes that should come next.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

The Status of Just Walk Out, TSMC Gets CHIPS Act Grant — Stratechery Update

The XZ Backdoor, What Happened, Open Source Safety — Stratechery Update

Amazon Ditches 'Just Walk Out' Checkouts at Its Grocery Stores — Gizmodo

Facebook Gave Data Access to Chinese Firm Flagged by U.S. Intelligence — New York Times

TSMC says Arizona fab is now ahead of schedule; signs semiconductor talent agreement with Kyushu University — Data Centre Dynamics

Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.

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