Ted Chiang isn’t just one of the greatest science-fiction writers alive — he’s one of the greatest writers alive full stop. Which is why I was so saddened and disappointed by his recent excoriation of Silicon Valley in BuzzFeed. As the tech industry grows ever more powerful, we need brilliant minds critiquing and dissecting its many flaws. Instead we got a trenchant takedown of… Read More
Category: Opinion
The Last Jedi should be the last Star Wars film
At the risk of being ostracized by the vast majority of my TC teammates, let me propose that Star Wars: The Last Jedi would — in a fairer universe — be the last Star Wars film… (Spoiler alerts!) Read More
ICO-lateral damage
The ICO regulators are here, and they’re carrying big sticks. (PDF) “Coins or other digital assets issued on a blockchain may be securities under the federal securities laws… tokens were securities as defined by Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act because they were investment contracts … An investment contract is an investment of money in a common enterprise with… Read More
The difference between good and bad Facebooking
“Social media” is a clumsy term that entangles enriching social interaction with mindless media consumption. It’s a double-edged sword whose sides aren’t properly distinguished. Taken as a whole, we can’t decide if it “brings the world closer together” like Facebook’s new mission statement says, or leaves us depressed and isolated. Read More
To fix SoundCloud, it must become the anti-Spotify
Startups die by suicide, not competition. It wasn’t that anyone was stealing SoundCloud’s underground rappers, bedroom remixers, and garage bands. SoundCloud stumbled because it neglected these hardcore loyalists as it wrongly strived to usurp Spotify as the streaming home of music’s superstars.
But four months ago after laying off 40% of its staff, SoundCloud scored a… Read More
Is Trump a Twitter addict?
The president of the United States cannot seem to stop tweeting. Despite stern advice from his advisors and opprobrium from the world, not a day goes by that POTUS doesn’t escalate some tension in 280 characters. Each of us can relate to making a social media post we regret later and vowing never to do it again — but few of us do it on such a public scale. But is it addiction? Read More
The Flying Eye and you and I
It’s refreshing, in this difficult time, when technology and the tech industry seem trapped in a quicksand of endless ethical compromises and disconcerting emergent properties, to come across something tech-related of which one can say, awed, without complications or caveats: holy shit this is amazing. Which happened to me today! Let me share it with you. The Flying Eye Hospital,… Read More
In praise of Tesla’s bankruptcy
You know everybody loves Tesla-the-company. But did you know that a whole lot of smart people hate Tesla-the-business? “From a return-on-investment-capital standpoint, Tesla is a catastrophe.” “The electric-car maker has been burning money at a clip of about $8,000 a minute (or $480,000 an hour.)” “Tesla is losing a massive amount of money with no competition, and… Read More
Cultural accumulation vs. cultural decay
Don’t worry; I’m not getting all moralistic on you here. When I talk about cultural decay I’m talking about something I think we need more of. We have too much culture to have a culture, you see, and that’s basically all tech’s fault — but it’s not necessarily a problem. No, stop, wait, listen, I can explain. Have you noticed that it’s a whole… Read More
Snapchat’s epic strategy flip-flop
It takes courage to say you were wrong about almost everything. But that’s what Snap Inc CEO Evan Spiegel did this week, and that’s what it will take to save Snapchat. From algorithmic feeds to partnerships to target markets to recruiting adults, Snap is planning a 180-degree turn across the board. It’s warranted. The Q3 earnings report was a blood bath with Snap’s… Read More
Arab springs and AI winters
Remember the Arab Spring? “Revolution 2.0”? Remember how we imagined, full of triumphal optimism, that social media would become the web that knit the oppressed masses better, would empower them to join together and overthrow their oppressors and stride shoulder-to-shoulder together into a better world? Yeah, those were the days. But now — “disillusioned”… Read More
What the Trump administration really wants you to read
President Donald Trump is constantly accusing the media of spreading “fake news,” but the content his White House wants you to read is more opinion than fact.
In honor of Trump’s one-year election anniversary, we analyzed “West Wing Reads,” a newslet…