The Apple iPad Commercial: That’s Not What’s Meant By ‘Crushing It’

The Apple iPad Commercial: That’s Not What’s Meant By ‘Crushing It’

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Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

“Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we’ve ever created, the most advanced display we’ve ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create,” Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted last week, proudly showing off his company’s latest product – and setting off a media and Twitter/X firestorm.

In the commercial, the company that has long been the standard bearer for providing creator tools showed a hydraulic press pulverizing a number of the physical tools on which its very core market – artists – depends: musical instruments (including an upright piano), cans of paint, an 80s arcade game, a sculpture, to name a few.

“You destroyed all the creative tools and effort of humans. Worst. Commercial. Ever,” was just one of the comments in the Twitter/X feed. Read More...

The Work-Life Balance 2.0

The Work-Life Balance 2.0

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Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

We haven’t seen this issue getting much attention lately, but things have changed since the lockdowns. It was a time when isolation became the New Normal, with people working from home; at least the concept of the metaverse rising in the patois; and like Google, Zoom became a verb.

Did the younger generations, especially those who were coming of age during the time of isolation, withdraw into the metaverse? There’s no doubt that the space is alive and well and growing and expected to reach 1.4 billion users in just seven years, with gaming and ecommerce being the most popular sectors to date.

As for it becoming the new workplace, hold on there, baba louie. Read More...

Big Wins for Big Tech.

Big Wins for Big Tech.

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Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

For the rest of us, not so much…

There were two big stories in tech this past week, neither of which is good news for startups. It’s also difficult to rate which of them is the lesser of two evils.

First came the announcement that OpenAI’s Sam Altman and other tech leaders join the federal AI safety board, and as Engadget put it so correctly, “It’s like turkeys being appointed to the Christmas (or Thanksgiving) oversight board. “Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are joining the government’s Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board, according to The Wall Street Journal. They’re also joined by Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Northrop Grumman’s Kathy Warden and Delta’s Ed Bastian, along with other leaders in the tech and AI industry. The AI board will be working with and advising the Department of Homeland Security on how it can safely deploy AI within the country’s critical infrastructure. They’re also tasked with conjuring recommendations for power grid operators, transportation service providers and manufacturing plants on how they can protect their systems against potential threats that could be brought about by advances in the technology.” Read More...

An Homage to Earth Day

An Homage to Earth Day

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Image by Ericve from Pixabay

Climate engineering is nothing new. We’ve been allowing Bill Gates et all to crisscross the skies with chemtrails to block out the sun in order to reduce global warming, or so goes the unproven hypothesis. “Controversial spraying method aims to curb global warming,” CBS News reported in 2018.

Odd, as four years later, “CNBC report on climate research didn’t confirm ‘chemtrails’ theory,” AP reported, contending that “The story reported on a federal plan to research technology such as “stratospheric aerosol injection,” the concept of placing materials in the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from Earth. Experts say the idea is being investigated and not currently in use.”

Well, look! Up in the skies! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s superscientist Bill Gates crisscrossing the skies with chemtrails! “A Bill Gates Venture Aims To Spray Dust Into The Atmosphere To Block The Sun. What Could Go Wrong?” Forbes reported the year before. “Widespread research into the efficacy of solar geoengineering has been stalled for years due to controversy. Opponents believe such science comes with unpredictable risks, including extreme shifts in weather patterns not dissimilar to warming trends we are already witnessing.” Read More...

The Power of AI: Who Is Truly Hallucinating?

The Power of AI: Who Is Truly Hallucinating?

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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

It’s a tough funding environment right now and although we’ve often reminded founders that some of the most successful companies launched during the toughest times in funding, that fact often gets lost in the tough-times funding headlines.

The current exception seems to be if/when founders have ‘AI’ someone front and center in their pitches. As we all know at this point because the hype machine/tech press impresses it upon us every two or three headlines, AI is going to change the world, replace most jobs, eliminate entire professions.

Including coding itself, if Devin is any indication. Devin is “An AI startup that’s not even 6 months old says it’s worth $2 billion Cognition Labs is building an AI tool for writing code — and seeking a valuation six times its current level,” said Quartz. Read More...

The Police Blotter of Tech

The Police Blotter of Tech

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Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay

Big Tech never shrinks from pushing the envelope, or as the motto goes, ask forgiveness, not permission. We suppose that when you get away with it long enough and often enough, the lines don’t blur. They simply cease to exist.

Ask forgiveness is really understating the sentiment. In reality, their true approach is ‘why stop there?’

TikTok’s troubles just got worse: The FTC could sue them, too, Politico reported. Read More...

Apple Antitrust Suit: Let the Games Begin – Again.

Apple Antitrust Suit: Let the Games Begin – Again.

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Let’s face it: the good people at Apple believe that they’re just smarter than the rest of us. When Epic Games sued the company over their monopolistic practices – taking such a huge vig from products in the app store, Apple did win most of the civil suit, but had to make concessions to comply with California law.

Apple attempted to block Epic from starting a competing app store. Until Apple Reverse(d) Course and Allow(ed) Epic Games to Start (One), said the New York Times. “Days after Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, complained publicly that Apple had blocked it from starting a competing app store in Europe, the technology companies said Apple had reversed course and would allow Epic to go ahead with its plan.” But only did so to comply with a new European tech competition law.

Think Different might not always be such a good idea after all and damn those pesky laws! What’s a mother – or monopoly – to do? Read More...

Tik Tok, Tik Tok, Tik Tok

Tik Tok, Tik Tok, Tik Tok

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Image by Benjamin Zocholl from Pixabay

Due to the purported national security concerns posed by China-based ByteDance’s ownership of Tik Tok, the video sharing app which is used by around 170 million Americans and more than a billion people globally is in the spotlight. Congress is attempting to pass a law requiring that ByteDance divest itself of its interest in the company.

The ban would go into effect in six months.

“These countries have blocked or restricted it (Britain, EU, Canada, India, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Pakistan and note – primarily on government-issued devices),” the Washington Post reported. “The federal government already bans TikTok on government-owned devices.” Read More...

Zombie VCs: the Era of the Walking Dead Funds

Zombie VCs: the Era of the Walking Dead Funds

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Image by Izzy Loney from Pixabay

VCs ask founders a lot of questions. It’s a big part of their job. They’re deploying other people’s money and just as founders have an obligation to make money for their investors, venture firms have an obligation to bring preferably significant returns to theirs.

Founders need to ask investors questions, too. The most important one (or two): are you still deploying funds/when was the last time you made an investment?

PitchBook recently reported that the number of VCs in US deals peaked at 18,504 in 2021 and fell to 9,966 last year. Read More...

The Report from the Trenches

The Report from the Trenches

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 Before we moved into tech, we worked in the music business, for one of the major labels. One year, we were invited to attend the Music Hall of Fame Awards.

Once there, we were escorted to the wrong table. We made it clear to the usher that we worked at BMG, not BMI, but what do we know? So, we were seated among total strangers, all of whom ignored us. We introduced ourself to the little old man and his wife seated next to us, who were also being ignored.

His name was Hy Zaret, one of the evening’s inductees, who was being honored for a song he’d written. One single song. Must have been some song, we figured, so we asked him what the title was. Read More...