It’s almost like finding out Santa isn’t real.

It feels like only yesterday, Wired did an incredible long read on Magic Leap, at the time considered one of the world’s most secret startups. The article explored AR - augment reality - and how Magic Leap was at the forefront of revolutionising a technology we were pretty unfamiliar with. While VR offered us a look into a world we didn’t yet know, AR promises to accompany us into the only world we’ve ever known.

Through a string of similar articles and demo videos, Magic Leap made a name for itself (the $1 billion + it received in funding didn’t hurt either). But now we’re hearing that Magic Leap’s promise of revolutionary AR technology is many years away. Perhaps that doesn’t really come as a surprise, but what I didn’t expect to hear was that it’s noticeably inferior to Microsoft’s HoloLens headset. 

This was a good read.

Google hasn’t really had the typical speed-bumps that most companies run into (at least it appears that way from the outside). With year-after-year (and often quarterly) growth in double digits and tens of billions of dollars generated by its advertising business every year, they’ve been able to keep investors and shareholders happy while taking huge risks through its multiple R&D departments.

But not everything works out, and as this article explores, even the wealthiest companies sometimes need to take a step back and ask “is this worth it?”.

I’m going to quote the last paragraph of the piece here because it’s just so good, but you should still give this piece 15 minutes of your attention.

You’ve got to hand it to Amazon. They’re a huge company, with an origin that isn’t quite as exciting as Airbnb’s turning of the hotel industry upside down or Tesla’s brilliant electric cars. But yet, they continue to innovate and consistently release useful, well-executed products. Amazon Web Services, Alexa, Amazon Dash, Prime, and now, Amazon Go.

The idea is kinda brilliant and I’m surprised that none of the other big tech companies or supermarkets have at least tried it. Using proprietary technology (pretty much just a bunch of cameras and other sensors), they’ve designed and built a grocery store that has no checkout, no cashiers, not even self-serve checkout machines. You simply walk in, take what you want and leave. A moment later you’ll receive a receipt, with the payment charged to your Amazon account. I’m guessing there’s some kind of system where you check in when you arrive so they know you have an Amazon account and that you’re in the store, but the specifics aren’t really relevant just yet.

It’s pretty exciting stuff. Ben Thompson, in a Stratechery daily update last week (highly recommended), mentioned something that I thought worth sharing:

I almost didn’t share this, just because #firstworldproblems, and the protagonist [wife], ends up being a not-quite-that-nice person herself, but I still found it to be a pretty great read that opened my eyes a bit into a world we often don’t see inside of. Also, the artwork is just beautiful and very Archer-esque.

It involves a Finish businessman that made millions through numerous internet scams, and his wife, who came along for the whole ride. Years later, she discovers he’s been cheating and they start to get a divorce. Through so many layers of companies, trusts, international entities and banks, countless lawyers and accountants and deceit, a small law firm tries to uncover where the money is hiding.