Will Oculus Go kill the TV set?
Smart glasses, heads-up display, augmented reality, mixed reality, virtual reality: no matter what you call them, computer screens that you wear on your face are poised to change how we interact with...
View ArticleThe half-life of brands: Amazon’s algorithmic strategy
Although what comes next will offend generations of power-mad English teachers, red-pen-wielding copy editors, and Spelling Bee conquistadores, these days most people don’t need to learn how to spell....
View ArticleAQ: The President’s No-Lose Media Equation
Here’s a thought experiment: what if the White House held a press conference and nobody came? What if the president tweeted and nobody saw it? What if late-night talk show hosts didn’t mention the...
View ArticleAmazon’s real reason for launching “Free Dive” isn’t about ad revenue
Late last month, the business rumor mill exploded with the story that Amazon subsidiary IMDB was to launch “Free Dive,” an ad-supported streaming video service that would be free to anybody who had an...
View Article2023: Why Comcast should worry
For years I’ve thought that—while Comcast’s cable television business had a future that made polar bears wince in sympathy—its lock on the cable internet business made the company invulnerable. Sure,...
View ArticleAll the news that’s fit to ignore
I missed the mid-terms last week. It was great. Don’t get me wrong: I voted early by mail, so I did my civic duty. It’s what happened after I dropped my ballot that’s interesting. Due to travel in the...
View ArticleWhy Google Should buy eBay: Digital Assistant Wars
Last week, Allison Prang reported in The Wall Street Journal that eBay, under pressure from activist investors, is planning a strategic review of its assets, including its classified ad business and...
View ArticleWhy Amazon made “The Boys”
Amazon Prime Video’s new superhero satire is too niche to be a big hit, but it pieces into Amazon’s strategy of taking shrewd advantage of the blind spots of other businesses. As I write this...
View ArticleWho will create the best streaming video experience?
At this month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, TiVo announced the release of a new gadget, the TiVo Stream 4K. On the surface, the TiVo Stream 4K looks like other “dongles” — Amazon’s Fire...
View ArticleIt’s time: subscribe to your local paper; turn off your ad blocker. We did.
We live in Portland, and a few years back we let our subscription to the local paper, The Oregonian, lapse because we just weren’t reading it regularly. Then came Coronavirus, and suddenly I found...
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