Opinion
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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. Read More
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Why Snapchat Spectacles failed
How come only 0.08% of Snapchat’s users bought its camera sunglasses? Hundreds of thousands of pairs of Spectacles sit rotting in warehouses after the company bungled the launch. Initial hype and lines for its roving, limited time only Snapbot vending machines led Snap to overestimate demand but underdeliver on quality and content. Massive piles of assembled and unassembled… Read More
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How I cured my tech fatigue by ditching feeds
On paper, smartphones are amazing pieces of glass. They have magically cured boredom as we always have something to do — those endless feeds of content are a perpetual source of inspiration, information and amusement. And yet, feeds need to die because they distort our views and disconnect us from other human beings around us. Many people have deleted the Facebook app from their phone… Read More
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Facebook seriously needs its own Bitmoji
Your Facebook profile used to be the online version of “you”. But over the past year, Bitmoji has usurped Facebook to become the preferred way to share your identity over the web. The Facebook profile assembles a collection of text and real-world photos into a fixed set of poses, making it more of a snapshot of the offline you ported into the digital realm rather than a vision of… Read More
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Animoji are dumb and I detest them
Apple today announced the digital equivalent of a singing telegram, a perversion of the emoji concept that embodies the worst of both the company’s exclusionary philosophy and the worst of CG animals and excreta. Animoji are dumb and I loathe them. Here’s why. The iPhone lineup just got really compleX
Steve Jobs said “Simple can be harder than complex,” so it looks like Apple is taking the easy route. Customers will now have to choose between 8 different iPhones with today’s addition of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X. That’s a tons of specs and options to compare, and we’re not even talking about color or storage size. Read More
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At Burning Man while your startup burns
There’s a difference between clearing your head, and ditching your dying startup to do drugs in the desert. If your ship is sailing smoothly, a vacation full of solitary introspection and artful inspiration could help you improve your decision-making. But if you’re using time off to escape your responsibilities rather than prepare to fulfill them, you’re endangering your… Read More
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Google and Facebook envision Stories for news, not social
Stories taught us the joy of dictating the pace of content consumption. We fast-forward in 10-second increments, with a quick trigger finger let loose the moment we get bored. That’s why soon, endless paragraphs of text and time-consuming videos might not be the only ways to get the news. Read More
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Apple’s capitulation to China’s VPN crack-down will return to haunt it at home
Yesterday Apple removed all major VPN apps from its App Store in the country. These VPNs aided internet users there to get around the government’s vast system of censorship and access uncensored sources of media. But by doing so, Apple has clearly decided to put its business before the interests of the population, opposition leaders and activists.
For example, Golden Frog, which makes… Read More
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Google’s brave new friendless feed
It’s like Facebook without all those annoying “friends.” Instead of having to look at what weird things other people are interested in, like their babies, Google shows me the weird things I’m interested in, like Legend of Zelda and Elon Musk. It’s a fundamental shift in content consumption, and it could unlock our niche fascinations without us ever having to… Read More
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