Bloomberg is reporting that the Apple HomePod, Apple’s response to the Amazon Echo, is off to a slow start. In the first 10 weeks of sales, the HomePod has about 10% of the smart speaker market. And much of those sales came upon initial release. Price likely has something to do with the speaker’s slow start. The HomePod is $200 more than most smart speakers. Unless you are an Apple fanboy, it may be difficult to justify the premium price for what is a basic speaker with an inferior voice assistant. At first, it looked like the HomePod might be a hit. Pre-orders were strong, and in the last … [Read more...]
Do Google and Facebook Have Bigger Problems than Privacy?
While battles rage in the U.S. and Europe over to what extent the big internet companies should be allowed to collect people's personal information and sell that information to advertisers and other end users, the companies may actually have a bigger problem. It turns out, the internet is a pretty boring place. Generation Z, i.e. the young people born between 1998 and 2010 (post-Millennials), have fallen out of love with the internet. The youngsters are bored like all kids have been in their day, but now they are "phone bored," as Taylor Lorenz calls it in The Daily Beast. Imagine if … [Read more...]
Should Mark Zuckerberg Lead One of America’s Largest Companies?
In the spirit of kicking somebody while he is down, check out the Facebook chart below. Facebook has been on the hot seat for a number of reasons, as you are likely aware. Chief among those reasons, but unsaid explicitly by the media, is that Facebook is responsible for the Donald Trump presidency. Take away the emotion of the issue and it is obviously far-fetched. But the recent Cambridge Analytica issue has provided more oxygen for the fire. Facebook’s response to the scrutiny has been embarrassing. Watch some of Zuckerberg’s CNN interview and ask yourself if this is a guy who should be … [Read more...]
Scientists Could Soon Make a Breakthrough in Battery Tech
The Wall Street Journal's Chistopher Mims writes that scientist working on enhancing battery technology could make a breakthrough that would increase capacity by double digit percentages. Predictions like these come often. Fusion power has been "just 10 years away" for 50 years. And battery technology has been about to make a giant leap forward for some time now. The most encouraging part of Mims' prediction is that this time, many researchers are working on battery technology, and they have a lot of money behind their efforts. Mims writes: The next wave of batteries, long in the … [Read more...]
Can Blockchain Survive Crypto-Mania?
I have repeatedly said that while I'm not a big fan of bitcoin the currency, I think there is a lot of value in blockchain technologies. (See here, here, here, and here for more on that). Despite being the most inherently valuable piece of the crypto-currency craze, blockchain is also the least understood. With the power to change how business is done in real estate, shipping, material sourcing, and other industries. At The Wall Street Journal, Christopher Mims explains blockchain: What is blockchain? It’s essentially a secure database, or ledger, spread across multiple computers. … [Read more...]
Will 38% of Workers Telecommute by 2027?
According to Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel, 38% of full time workers could telecommute by 2027. That could change the way cities are organized and drastically alter the makeup of transportation networks. Connie Loizos reports from TechCrunch: Workers “want to do this,” says Kasriel. And “in the current labor market, skilled workers have their way.” Interestingly, Kasriel argues that “city planners aren’t thinking sufficiently” about the shape of workforces and how they are evolving. He believes cities will be organized differently as a result. That’s something he shares in common with … [Read more...]
Never Stop…
The FT reports here that a new wave of automated artificial intelligence software is replacing routine office work now done by people. Forrester Research estimates that 4 Million office employees are likely to have their jobs taken over by such software over the next five years. “There are a lot of tedious processes that involve taking information from this place and entering into that place,” says Rich Wong, a partner at venture capital firm Accel, which led a $153m investment this week in UiPath, giving the company founded in Bucharest and now headquartered in New York a valuation of … [Read more...]
Could the ‘Proton Battery’ Revolutionize Energy Storage?
Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne have created a rechargeable "proton battery," that could change the way energy is stored. The big advantage of the proton battery over today's battery technologies using lithium, is the affordability and environmental safety of its components. TechXplore reports: The working prototype proton battery uses a carbon electrode as a hydrogen store, coupled with a reversible fuel cell to produce electricity. It's the carbon electrode plus protons from water that give the proton battery it's environmental, energy and potential economic edge, says lead … [Read more...]
Thieves Now Stealing Identities That Don’t Even Exist
In what is known as "synthetic identity fraud," thieves are now creating false identities from whole cloth, and using them to dupe lenders and credit card companies out of their money. The Justice Department says this fast growing danger is one of the hardest forms of identity crime to fight. That's probably because no actual identity is being stolen, so there's no immediate victim to raise a red flag on fraudulent activity. The victims in this case end up being the lenders who cannot get their money back after sending it to a completely fictitious person. Peter Rudegeair and AnnaMaria … [Read more...]
Are Fewer Commercials the Answer for Broadcast TV?
Fox Network Group’s ad chief wants to reduce TV ad time to two minutes an hour by 2020 from over 13 minutes today. Fox would need to boost price in order to cut volume, but an 85% reduction in commercials would be a hit with consumers. The WSJ has more. The shift is contingent on the industry changing the way it buys and sells media. Mr. Marchese wants to sell ads using a metric based on time spent with content, versus the number of views. “The two minutes per hour is a real target for Fox, and also our challenge for the industry,” said Ed Davis, chief product officer for ad sales … [Read more...]
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