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Fri. 07/07 – I’ve Never Seen Anything Like Threads Jul 07, 2023

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It’s been my job for over a decade now to analyze the competitive landscape of the tech industry, and I’ve simply never seen anything like what Threads has achieved in less than 48 hours. Though, Elon is threatening to sue. Uber, DoorDash and GrubHub are suing NYC. Volkswagen is rolling out its self-driving cars. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

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Links:

Threads Becomes Most Rapidly Downloaded App, Raising Twitter’s Ire (NYTimes)
Zuck's Threads halo (Axios)
Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over Threads (Semafor)
OpenAI makes GPT-4 generally available (TechCrunch)
Food-Delivery Companies Sue New York City Over Minimum Pay Law (NYTimes)
Volkswagen's Self-Driving Cars Begin Testing In Texas (Jalopnik)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

What Did People Do Before Smartphones? (The Atlantic)
The Man Who Broke Bowling (GQ)

Thu. 07/06 – Uh, Did Threads Just Win? Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

There’s only one story today. Threads. Threads. Threads. Has Threads already won?

Links:

Meta launches Instagram Threads in a direct challenge to Twitter (CNBC)
Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting Instagram account, Meta says (TechCrunch)
Instagram Threads works, but it’s sterile, dull and worst of all – it’s still run by Mark Zuckerberg (iNews)
Meta unspools Threads (Platformer)
So where are we all supposed to go now? (The Verge)

Wed. 07/05 – Twitter Chaos: The Real Fireworks Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

Chaos at Twitter emphatically did NOT take the 4th of July weekend off. Instagram’s Twitter clone looks like it’s going to take advantage of this chaos to launch now. The Reddit app apocalypse has happened. Oh, and the mods for Reddit AMA’s have downed tools. And how drone technology is disrupting the traditional Fireworks industry.

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Instagram’s Twitter competitor, Threads, briefly went live on the web (The Verge)
The Reddit app-pocalyse is here: Apollo, Sync, and BaconReader go dark (The Verge)
The Reddit moderators who coordinate many celebrity AMAs will no longer do so (The Verge)
Fireworks Have a New Competitor: Drones (NYTimes)

(IHP) Amazon's Founding Part 2 Jul 04, 2023

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Originally published April 2015

It’s part two of our Amazon founding story. How did Amazon come to completely dominate e-commerce? How did Jeff Bezos’ “Get Big Fast” strategy evolve? How and why did Amazon become the quintessential “dot com” and dot-com-era stock? The answers are within.

Bibliography:

(IHP) Amazon's Founding Part 1 Jul 03, 2023

Show notes

Originally published February 2015.

Finally, the long-promised foray into e-commerce, starting with… not the first… but practically the first… player in the space… and ironically enough, the 800 pound gorilla in the space to this day. Amazon. Dot com. We examine Jeff Bezos, the man. We consider Amazon, the idea. We look at e-commerce, the concept. It’s interesting. It’s groundbreaking. It’s available with free 2-day shipping for Prime members. Just kidding.

Bibliography:

Fri. 06/30 – Apple $3T? Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

Second time the charm for Apple to close above $3 trillion? Google says it will remove news links in Canada. Meta will allow you to download apps directly from Ads. Self driving cars are giving cops more surveillance tape. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

Apple’s market cap tops $3 trillion (CNBC)
Canada’s ‘link tax’ law could break how the web works, says Google (Android Police)
Meta is planning to let people in the EU download apps through Facebook (The Verge)
Fidelity Joins Spot-Bitcoin ETF Race With Fresh SEC Filing (Bloomberg)
Police Are Requesting Self-Driving Car Footage For Video Evidence (Bloomberg)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

When Will AI Generate a Hollywood Blockbuster? “Give It About Three Years.” (Inverse)
These Tech Companies Think They Can ‘Solve’ the Wildfire Crisis (Motherboard)
Who killed Google Reader? (The Verge)
Mixtape Sites Like DatPiff Propelled Rap. Can They Be Preserved? (NYTimes)

Thu. 06/29 – Big Interesting (AI) Raises Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

Satya Nadella had his day in court. Looks like the FTC is finalizing its big case against Amazon. YouTube has advertisers asking for refunds. Big new interesting raises in the AI space. And ahead of the Fourth of July travel weekend, we may not have the autonomous driving we want, but maybe we can get the autonomous rental car delivery we deserve.

Links:

Microsoft and Activision Chiefs Testify Merger Will Benefit Consumers (NYTimes)
Lina Khan Is Coming for Amazon, Armed With an FTC Antitrust Suit (Bloomberg)
Advertising industry seeks refunds over YouTube skippable ads (FT)
ChatGPT maker OpenAI faces a lawsuit over how it used people’s data (Washington Post)
Inflection AI Raises $1 Billion (Forbes)
Halo Car launches remotely piloted rental car deliveries in Las Vegas (TechCrunch)

Wed. 06/28 – Who Needs A Mac Pro? Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

Even in bankruptcy, even FTX is like, maybe we’ll hold on to these AI investments. Could Windows itself become a fully cloud product? Has Google canceled its AR project? How AI is making even Billy Bean look like old school baseball. And who needs a Mac Pro when you’ve got a perfectly good Mac Studio or even Mac Book?

Links:

FTX Halts Sale of Its $500 Million Stake in AI Startup Anthropic (Bloomberg)
AI Frenzy Draws Hordes to Private Markets in Industry Gold Rush (Bloomberg)
Microsoft wants to move Windows fully to the cloud (The Verge)
Google killed its Iris augmented-reality smart glasses as it shifts attention to building AR software (Insider)
DoorDash launches hourly rates and location sharing for couriers (The Verge)
Baseball Scouts Call In Artificial Intelligence Help From the Bullpen (WSJ)
The Mac Pro’s biggest problem is the MacBook (The Verge)
Eat Your Heart Out, Tesla. Mercedes-Benz May Have the Fastest EV Yet. (Barron's)

Tue. 06/27 – What If OpenAI Did Its Own Copilot? Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

Checking in with the FTC vs. Microsoft case. Checking in with the effort to recover funds from FTX. What if OpenAI did its own Copilot? Would Microsoft be pissed? And reviews of the Pixel Fold include one reviewer’s unit dying after a mere few days.

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Links:

Microsoft exec was ready to ‘go spend Sony out of business’ to strengthen Xbox (The Verge)
FTX Bankruptcy Team Says the Exchange Owed Customers $8.7B (CoinDesk)
Thomson Reuters buys Casetext, an AI legal tech startup, for $650M in cash (TechCrunch)
OpenAI Plans ChatGPT ‘Personal Assistant for Work,’ Setting Up Microsoft Rivalry (The Information)
RIP to my Pixel Fold: Dead after four days (ArsTechnica)
Google Pixel Fold review: closing the gap (The Verge)

Mon. 06/26 – The M&A Deluge In AI Begins Jun 26, 2023

Show notes

Well, this AI moment is only about 6 months old, but it looks like the mergers and acquisitions are beginning in earnest. Wait, we’re still worried about 5G interfering with airplanes? Amazon wants your local florist to deliver your packages. An Amazon/FTC kerfuffle we missed. And what are the OTHER Apple products we can expect in the next year or so?

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