Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

Latest Episodes:

(Preview) AI and the Big Five, Google and the Ongoing Gemini Catastrophe, The Stakes (or Lack Thereof) for Chatbot Output Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

An email about AI losers spawns a check-in on the AI efforts of the big five, Google’s Gemini rollout prompts a history lesson and questions about the culture, while the debates over Gemini highlight the limits of chatbots and signal another step toward bifurcation between the physical and virtual world.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

Groq Costs, Gemini Pro 1.5, Google’s Timidity — Stratechery Update

Sora, Groq, and Virtual Reality — Stratechery

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) The History of Consoles, The Murky Present for Microsoft and Xbox, The Gaming Future for Sony and Meta Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

How the gaming market went from PlayStation to Microsoft Game Pass, the fundamental tensions underlying Microsoft’s current strategy in games, and thoughts on the future for Sony and Meta’s Quest 3 as a gaming console.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

Microsoft: four Xbox-exclusive games are coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch — The Verge

Xbox Games to Go Cross-Platform?, Console Context, Xbox’s Final Strategy — Stratechery Update

Xbox’s Announcement; Microsoft’s Messy Middle; Apple in Europe, Continued — Stratechery Update

Consoles and Competition — Stratechery

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.

A Sports Super Bundle, The Next Challenge for Digital Advertising, Zuckerberg Reviews the Apple Vision Pro Feb 15, 2024

Show notes

A look at the questions surrounding the sports streaming bundle that’s coming from Fox, Disney, and Warner Brothers Discovery, including the challenge of targeting video ads on the internet, why Disney’s bet on sports is a bet on ads, and why Andrew is bearish on the joint venture. At the end: Mark Zuckerberg on the Vision Pro, and Ben takes to Twitter to talk Vision Pro on an airplane.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

Why Three Media Giants Made a Hail Mary Bet on Sports Streaming — Wall Street Journal

I tried Vision Pro. Here's my take, shot with Quest's high resolution mixed reality passthrough. — Instagram: @zuck

@BenThompson — X

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) The Vision Pro and the Newton, The Case Against AVP as an Entertainment Device, The Most Valuable Tech Product of All Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

Ben and Andrew begin with a note about a recent Stratechery announcement before to turning their attention to a variety of emails about the Apple Vision Pro.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

Vision Pro at Work, The Sports Bundle — Stratechery Update

Meta Earnings; Meta, AI, and ATT; Meta’s New Playbook — 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.

First Impressions of the Vision Pro: What It Is, What It Might Have Been, and a Note About Guest Mode Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

Ben and Andrew share first impressions after Andrew demos a Vision Pro and Ben spends 24 hours exploring the AVP at home. Plus: Venting about Apple’s user-hostile guest mode process.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

The Apple Vision Pro — Stratechery

Apple Vision — Stratechery

Quest vs. Vision, Vision and the Mac, Apple Acquires Mira — Stratechery Update

the thing no one will say about Apple Vision Pro — YouTube: CaseyNeistat

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.

Mailbag: A Navy SEAL on the Vision Pro, Reading 10-Qs, Apple Follow Up, Netflix and Books, Unsolicited Parenting Advice Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

A new mailbag featuring a comparison between the Vision Pro and night vision goggles, Ben’s process for digesting quarterly earnings news, and some final thoughts on Apple’s approach to the App Store.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

Google Earnings, Microsoft Earnings — 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.

(Preview) Google’s Lumiere, The App Store and Lost Innovation, The Tension Between Property Rights and Public Interests Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

A question about AI video and what sectors it might disrupt, and the latest attempt at Apple regulation promos a conversation about Apple’s property rights and the future of the App Store.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

Lumiere — Google Research

Apple and the DMA, Apple and “Or”, A Reluctant Apple Apologist — 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.

Why Netflix Bet on Wrestling, The Future of Watching Sports, Recapping a Week at the World Economic Forum in Davos Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

Introducing the Sharp Tech YouTube Channel, understanding why Netflix choose the WWE for its first live rights partner in sports, more on the Vision Pro and watching sports in VR, and recapping Ben’s week in Switzerland at the World Economic Forum.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

An Interview with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters About Strategy and Execution — Stratechery Interview

Netflix’s Subscribers, Revenue Surge as It Cracks Down on Password Sharing — Wall Street Journal

Amazon and Diamond Sports, Netflix and WWE — Stratechery Update

The secret to Netflix's total dominance — Business Insider

I co-founded Occupy Wall Street. Now I'm headed to Davos. Why? — Guardian

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) Apple's Latest App Store Gambit, iTunes and Macworld Context, Vision Pro Developers on Strike Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

Apple’s new App Store rules inspire plenty of familiar complaints, while some of the biggest tech companies in the world tell Apple to launch Vision Pro without them.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

Apple’s Testy Developer Relationships Threaten to Hamper Vision Pro — Bloomberg

The Apple Vision Pro’s Missing Apps — Stratechery

The Supreme Court Declines to Hear Apple-Epic, Apple’s (Predictable) Response — Stratechery Update

Apple’s biggest critics are big mad about the new 27 percent App Store tax — The Verge

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) The Peacock Playoff Experiment, Revisiting the OpenAI Lawsuit, Big Picture Questions After the Boeing Mess Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

Peacock makes history as the first streaming service to broadcast an NFL playoff game, an emailer asks Chat GPT licensing deals, and Boeing follow-up spawns questions on the future of free markets and humans vs. software.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

What is Peacock? Why the NBC platform is exclusively streaming Chiefs-Dolphins playoff game — The Athletic

Global news publisher Axel Springer partners with OpenAI in landmark deal — Reuters

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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