Hello again! Fun week for tech news, with some big acquisitions, big failures and big beer deliveries
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October 31 · Issue #19 · View online
Technology, Startups & the Future. I'm lucky when it comes to finding amazing content written by others and want to share that luck with you. Find me at http://twitter.com/bryceadams š
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Hello again! Fun week for tech news, with some big acquisitions, big failures and big beer deliveries.
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Iām finally putting the finishing touches on Metorik and looking forward to releasing it publicly any day now. And thereās a mascot!
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Anyway, hereās Pivoting: š
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Twitter Couldnāt Hold Onto Vineās Audienceāor the Stars It Created
Four years ago, Twitter purchased a company in its infancy that was building what Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey described asĀ āan entirely new art form to the world.ā He was right. The world instantly embraced Vine, an app that only allowed you to post six-second videos. By design, the videos became more appealing after each play. Thousands of creators flocked to it. Hundreds of thousands of viewers fell in love it. It seemed like the future was bright for Vine. But after years ignoring both its creators and users, Twitter has decided to shut down Vine. To read more about why they made that decision, give this article a read.
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Uber's Self-Driving Truck Startup Otto Makes Its First Delivery
In happier news, last week Uber-owned startup Otto sent autonomous truck on a two-hour, 120-mile journey, packed with beer. While it was a bit of a PR stunt, it highlights the progress Uber and other self-driving car companies are making in the space.
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A Japanese Billionaireās Robot Dreams Are on Hold
The Japanese Billionaire in question is Softbank CEOĀ Masayoshi Son, who received quite a lot of attention just a couple of months ago with the purchase of UK chip-designerĀ ARM. As is often the case with acquisitions, cultural clashes and conflicting visions have made the development of Pepper, anĀ emotionalĀ AI robot, difficult (to say the least). This quote from one of its users says it best: āItās not there to have a conversation,ā said Junichi Nishi, a municipal government official in Fujieda, a city of about 140,000 in central Japan. āWe use it primarily as a tablet,ā he said, referring to the touch screen attached to the robotās chest. However, Masayoshi Son seems to be very determined to make his dream a reality and doesnāt plan on giving up. Iām looking forward to seeing Pepper 5 or 10 years from now.
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AT&T-Time Warner Deal Is a Strike in the Dark
Some of the bigger news from last week. AT&T wants to buy Time Warner for $85 billion. Itās a huge acquisition and says a lot about the telecom and media landscape today.
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The New York Times is buying The Wirecutter for more than $30 million
Another acquisition, not quite the size of AT&T and Time Warner, but significant (and a good one, in my opinion). For years the Wirecutter has been my go-to source for tech product recommendations. They take a statistical and test-driven approach to reviewing products that leaves you certain with your choice and more importantly, ready to make the purchase. And thatās where Wirecutter makes the bulk of its revenue. Every time you click on a product linked to from their site and make a purchase (perhaps on Amazon), they get a cut of it.
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A First Class Journey From London To Sydney On British Airways & Qantas In 1958ā¦
I fly a lot, so I found this particularly interesting. A mostly visual look at a first class journey across the world, just 60 years ago.
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The Weird Economics Of Ikea
Iām also a big Ikea fan! Itās interesting to see how Ikeaās pricing changes over the years. For example, the PoƤng, an iconic chair thatās been sold by Ikea for decades: In the early 1990s, the chair couldnāt be had for less than $300, adjusted for inflation. Today, itās $79. (The average piece of $300 dollar furniture in 1990 would cost about $151 today, per the consumer price index for furniture and bedding.)
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Uber Skips World's Biggest Cab Market for Japan's Tiniest Towns
And one more Uber article, because it wouldnāt be an issue of Pivoting without at least 2 Uber-related pieces of a news. In a small coastal town on the Sea of Japan, Uber Technologies Inc. is deploying an unusual strategy.
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Bloomberg Decrypted Podcast
Iāve been listening to this new podcast from Bloomberg and have really enjoyed it so far (and think you will too). It focuses on events in the tech world and interviews the founders involved. The Fab.com one was great, but I really enjoyed the Uber in China one, where they spoke to Didi Chuxing founder Cheng Wei.
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MacBookĀ Pro - Apple
Well, the new MacBookPro is here - finally - and to be honest, itās not very exciting. Apparently Iām not the only person who thinks this. If youāre feeling similarly but donāt really know how to articulate it, this article may help. Regardless, itās still nice and news-worthy. The highlight seems to be the touch bar - a digital, touchableĀ display that sits above the keyboard where the function keys used to be. It comes in Space Grey now, too. Otherwise there isnāt much worth talking about.
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Microsoft Surface Studio
Microsoft on the other hand have made a greatĀ impression on the tech world with their latest piece of hardware, the Microsoft Surface Studio. Itās a huge touch-screen desktop that while niche (and not cheap), is a beautiful feat of engineering and pretty exciting. Iām looking forward to seeing it in person!
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