Exponent

Ben and James discuss Amazon Go and what it says about the economics of tech and how Amazon is building multiple monopolies. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Amazon Go and the Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Facebook’s algorithm change, the difference between Facebook and Snapchat, and what the company’s motivations might be. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Facebook’s Motivations — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Feed — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebooks — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Popping the Publishing Bubble — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Tyler Cowen: A Simple Theory of Moore’s Law and Social Media — Marginal Revolution Farhad Manjoo: It’s … Continue reading Episode 137 — Addicted to Facebook

Ben and James discuss the Meltdown and Spectre bugs and what they say about processors, technology, and even society. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Meltdown, Spectre, and the State of Technology — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Alexa: Amazon’s Operating System — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Arrival of Artificial Intelligence — Stratechery Nicholas Kristof: Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History — New York Times Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Disney’s recent history, its acquisition of Fox, Netflix’s power, and why more and more policy decisions are about choosing the worst of two options. Note: This episode was recorded on Monday, December 18, 2017. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Disney and Fox — Stratechery From Intel to Disney — Exponent Ben Thompson: Why Disney and ESPN Will Be OK — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content … Continue reading Episode 135 — Two Is Better Than One

Ben and James discuss why effective content moderation is so hard, how it can be done, and why it sometimes shouldn’t be. Plus, how tech optimists and tech critics make the exact same mistake. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Pollyannish Assumption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Pollyannish Assumption and Bright Lines, YouTube’s Market Power, Google vs Amazon — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Tech’s Person of the Year; Uber at the End of 2017; Fowler’s True Impact, and Means — Stratechery Daily Update The Laborers Who Keep Dick … Continue reading Episode 134 — Human Problems

Ben and James discuss the net neutrality debate and why both sides of the issue at hand involve making difficult tradeoffs; the bigger problem is broken governance. Please listen to the end! Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Pro-Neutrality, Anti-Title II — Stratechery Ben Thompson: “Light Touch”, Cable, and DSL; The Broadband Tradeoff; The Importance of Antitrust — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and Net Neutrality — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Net Neutrality and Zero Rating — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Comcast’s Inevitable Data Caps, T-Mobile Offers Free Video, America Versus … Continue reading Episode 133 — Two Terrible Options

Ben and James discuss IPOs, including those of Stitch Fix, SendGrid, and Blue Apron, and the importance of understanding what type of company you are. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Stitch Fix and the Senate — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why (Most) IPOs are Under-Price — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Waze Winners and Losers — Stratechery Ben Thompson: SendGrid IPOs — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Blue Apron Files for IPO — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James … Continue reading Episode 132 — Successful Disappointments

Ben and James break down the differences between new market and low end disruption and how they apply — or don’t — to Apple and the iPhone. Links Ben Thompson: Apple at Its Best — Stratechery Apple’s iPhone X Parts Cost $115 More Than iPhone 8, IHS Says — Bloomberg Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Beyond the iPhone — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Android Detour — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple and the Oak Tree — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review … Continue reading Episode 131 — Head-on is Hard

Ben and James walk through the history of Stratechery to explain why Facebook is inescapable for a podcast about tech and society. Links Ben Thompson: Tech Goes to Washington — Stratechery John Gruber: Blackberry vs. iPhone — Daring Fireball (note: I said on the podcast this was written in 2007; it was written in 2008) Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Peak Google — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Revisiting Peak Google, Again — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: More Spectacles Mea Culpas — … Continue reading Episode 130 — The 50,000 Foot View

Ben and James discuss why acquisitions should be the focus of tech regulators in the context of Facebook buying tbh today, and Instagram and WhatsApp previously. Links Ben Thompson: Why Facebook Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Buy TBH — Stratechery Marco Arment: The Impossible Dream of USB-C — Marco.org Ben Thompson: Peak Google — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Revisiting Peak Google, Again — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter … Continue reading Episode 129 — The Disruption Antidote