amazon
Where Have All the Devs Gone?
Last week another 3 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance, bringing the 8-week total to 36.5 million. Before COVID-19 took hold, unemployment was at a 50-year low. Now it’s at its highest point since the Great Depression. Labor shortages are a given. This is an unprecedented disruption in manufacturing and in shipping; crops go unharvested; …
Pandemics, Paid Streaming, and the Pace of Progress
Tigger, Self-portrait, 2020 We said we weren’t going to talk about anything related to…the situation this week, but COVID-19 has woven itself into everything and altered the way we live, the way we work, and the way we look to the future. Or, more specifically to today’s column, the speed with which the future is …
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COVID Crisis
No matter where you turn, everyone is talking (or worrying) about coronavirus. Our Washington-based, Director of Content has been sick all week, and we admit we’ve all been on tenterhooks waiting to see if it’s anything to worry about. Of course, we’re a fully distributed company, so we’re safe in the event of an outbreak. …
Amazonian Aspirations
All’s Unfair in Love and War Back in October, the Department of Defense awarded the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft after a long-contested fight between the Seattle giant and…the other Seattle giant, Amazon. OK first of all, we’re pretty sure the Jedi Code doesn’t mention anything about military cloud …
Cars and Congress
I Hear the Secrets That You Keep, When You’re Talking in Your Sleep Last week we got a little scaremongery about the future of electronic surveillance. (Ironically we dictated part of that piece.) We talked about eavesdropping speakers and the limits of privacy, and this week, as then, there’s really no easy answer. We accept …
Free internet, Fire flops, and iWork for all
“The internet is the ultimate vehicle for free expression. It is simply too important to allow broadband providers to make the rules.” Yesterday an historic decision was made by the FCC. In a 3-2 vote, it was decided that the Internet will be reclassified as a utility under Title II. If you’re not sure what …
Grand gestures, Samsung in the ring, Amazon says now.
Oh, we get it. It mutes. Around here we talk a lot about Jobs-to-be-Done; the theory that you must solve a customer’s real and ongoing problems. Now with that in mind, watch this Microsoft ad. Trust us, it’s SFW and won’t offend any sensibilities (other than your cinematic ones). That, my friends, is Microsoft’s latest …
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Why is Amazon Flailing?
With the disastrous release of Fire Phone and the utterly ignorable Echo, it seems Amazon has lost its way. The trouble started when Amazon forked Android to make Fire OS. While Android is technically open source, and anyone can take the code (AOSP) and build, there are limitations. AOSP gives you the basics, but it …
