Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

Latest Episodes:

(Preview) Another Max Mess for Boeing, Boeing as a Case Study, ESPN and the Vision Pro Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

The latest failures at Boeing invite fresh scrutiny of the incentive structure, strategy lessons embedded in the company's decline, and why Boeing exemplifies the same mistakes and challenges that the rest of the American industrial base will confront in the years to come. At the end: ESPN eyes an even bigger college football investment and a release date for the Vision Pro.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

Panel on Boeing Plane May Not Have Been Properly Attached, Agency Says — New. York Times

‘I Honestly Don’t Trust Many People at Boeing’: A Broken Culture Exposed — New York Times

The Long-Forgotten Flight That Sent Boeing Off Course — The Atlantic

How Engineering "Took a Back Seat to Finance" at Boeing — WTTW

Inside the strained union of Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems — The Air Current

Apple’s Vision Pro Headset to Go on Sale at US Stores on Feb. 2 — Bloomberg

Sources: College Football Playoff, ESPN discuss 6-year rights contract — ESPN

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The New York Times Sues OpenAI, Napster History vs. ChatGPT Future, Copyright Enforcement at the Aggregator Level Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

A word about the Packers and microchips, and then reactions to the New York Times suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, the similarities and differences between past copyright cases with Google and Napster, and a question about automated copyright enforcement.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

The Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft Over A.I. Use of Copyrighted Work — The New York Times

AI’s future could hinge on one thorny legal question — Washington Post

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(Preview) Sharp Tech Holiday Hoopla: Streaming Mergers, Kitchen Tech, Worst Decisions, MBA Advice, Mac vs. PC and More Dec 22, 2023

Show notes

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Celebrating the end of the year with a few reactions to Wednesday’s Paramount-Warner Brothers rumors and a wide variety of mailbag questions. Happy holidays from the entire Sharp Tech team!

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

Scoop: Warner Bros. Discovery in talks to merge with Paramount Global — Axios

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Apple Gets a Patent War for Christmas, Europe's Ability to Hijack the Regulatory Process, Systemic Questions After Adobe-Figma Dec 20, 2023

Show notes

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The patent dispute that has Apple ready to take Apple Watches off the market, the expanding powers of the EU regulatory regime, why the Adobe-Figma acquisition raised legitimate competition concerns, and the uncertainty for the startup ecosystem as mergers become more difficult across tech.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

Apple Is So Big, It’s Almost Eclipsing France’s Stock Market — Bloomberg

Apple Watch Import Ban, Apple v Masimo, Apple’s Response — Stratechery Update

Apple to halt Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 sales in the US this week — 9to5Mac

When Apple Comes Calling, ‘It’s the Kiss of Death’ — Wall Street Journal

Adobe abandons $20 billion acquisition of Figma — The Verge

Adobe to Buy Collaboration-Software Company Figma for About $20 Billion — Wall Street Journal

Adobe Acquires Figma, Figma’s Disruption, The Figma OS — Stratechery Update

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Mailbag: Google and Antitrust Festivus, Credit Card Dominance, AI for Movies and Writing, Shohei’s Contract Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery

Google Loses Antitrust Case to Epic; The Differences Between Apple and Google, Revisited; The Tying Question — Stratechery Update

Malakai Bayoh sings a stunning ‘O Holy Night’ duet with Aled Jones — Classic FM YouTube Channel

King's College, Cambridge : 'O Holy Night' : 2015 — Archive of Recorded Church Music YouTube Channel

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(Preview) Google's Killer Instinct, The Gemini Demo and AI Unknowns, Notes on College Football and Mark Cuban Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

Bull and bear cases for Google's long term prospects, why navigating the AI era may require leadership and culture changes, and thoughts on college football's success and Mark Cuban's sale of the Dallas Mavericks. At the end: Select wisdom from Charlie Munger.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

A collection of Charlie Munger's best quotes — X: @MorningBrew

The College Football Playoff, Events Over Inventory, NASCAR’s New Deal — Stratechery Update

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Why the Internet Is Getting Worse and Why That Might Be Good for Society Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

Ben’s article on “Regretful Accelerationism,” the differences between today’s Internet and that of 10 years ago, AI articles at Sports Illustrated as digital media continues its decline, and why the increasingly bleak outlook for social media might be healthy for society itself.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

Regretful Accelerationism — Stratechery

Sports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated Writers — Futurism

Why Web Pages Suck — Stratechery

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(Preview) Elon at the DealBook Summit, The Strategic and Technical Failures at X, What Musk Might Be Getting Right Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

NYT DealBook Summit: Elon Musk — X: @andrewrsorkin

Two Apple Items, Twitter Cash Flow, Twitter Versus Advertisers — Stratechery Update

Substack Has a Nazi Problem — The Atlantic

Spotify and Joe Rogan, Culture and Principles, Music Versus Podcasts and the Long Run — Stratechery Update

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(Preview) Altman Returns to OpenAI, Governments and the AI Ecosystem, Q* Questions and Hitchhiking Robots Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

Altman Returns as OpenAI CEO in Chaotic Win for Microsoft — Bloomberg

OpenAI’s Misalignment and Microsoft’s Gain — Stratechery

The OpenAI Saga Continues, Microsoft’s New Chips, Microsoft’s AI Platform Hedge — Stratechery Update

HitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot, gets beheaded in Philadelphia — CNN

The Crown season 6 review – so bad it’s basically an out-of-body experience — The Guardian

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OpenAI and Microsoft, Human Nature and the Not-So-Effective Altruists, Imperfect Information and the Cult of Sam Altman Nov 21, 2023

Show notes

Reactions to one of the most extraordinary weekends in the history of the tech industry, the blindspots that were exposed among both the OpenAI board and Microsoft, the non-profit model for development and OpenAI's recruiting prowess, and a groundswell of support for Sam Altman as a variety of questions remain.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

OpenAI’s Misalignment and Microsoft’s Gain — Stratechery

The Accidental Consumer Tech Company; ChatGPT, Meta, and Product-Market Fit; Aggregation and APIs — Stratechery Update

The OpenAI Saga Continues, Microsoft’s New Chips, Microsoft’s AI Platform Hedge — Stratechery Update

OpenAI, Artificial Intelligence and Data, Data and Recruiting — Stratechery Update

Altman Sought Billions For Chip Venture Before OpenAI Ouster — Bloomberg

Microsoft Wants to Work With OpenAI’s Sam Altman, No Matter Where he is, CEO Nadella Says — Bloomberg

Inside the Chaos at OpenAI — The Atlantic

The Doomed Mission Behind Sam Altman’s Shock Ouster From OpenAI — 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.

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