Two days ago, I hit the 200-day mark in my journaling app, Day One. This number isn’t particularly impressive in and of itself – it’s only seven months worth of writing, and there are plenty of people who’ve written for far, far longer – but it is nice to have a record of consistency. I … Continue reading Journaling
Looks like Amazon is opening a bookstore in Seattle. The Seattle Times reports: The store, called Amazon Books, looks a lot like bookstores that populate malls across the country. Its wood shelves are stocked with 5,000 to 6,000 titles, best-sellers as well as Amazon.com customer favorites. Some interesting things here, starting with the exposure it … Continue reading Amazon Gets Physical
AdWeek reported yesterday that GoPro will award cash prizes on a weekly basis to users who generate some of the best content. The piece notes: “This is not a contest or gimmick—it’s an ongoing campaign,” said Zander Lurie, svp of entertainment at GoPro. “We envision that a key component of our strategy will be to share revenue … Continue reading GoPro Goes Long
I’ve held shares of Ford for a little while, and so I’m naturally inclined to perk up a bit when I see them mentioned in a headline. In this case, the article in question is a piece in the Wall Street Journal, which talks about how the car company is investing heavily in autonomous vehicles … Continue reading Automotive Updates
Twitter has begun implementing its new feature, “Moments,” which aims to sift through the chaff that is the Twitter stream. The service aims to distill important news items into easily digestible and image-heavy stories from reliable news outlets. In order to keep stories updated and orderly, Twitter will use human editors to sift, prioritize, and … Continue reading Just a (Twitter) Moment
I was pretty sure I’d never use the word “blackberry” on this blog again, except for, perhaps, a granola recipe. But the news is out that the erstwhile smartphone leader is releasing a keyboard slider Android handset, aimed at the business and security-minded crew. I’m not going to say “I told you so.” I’ll just … Continue reading Blackberry is (Kinda) Back
After I wrote my post about Tumblr’s hidden value the other day, Ben Schenker and I got into a conversation about if Yahoo! might present an appealing takeover target, similar to Verizon’s acquisition of erstwhile internet behemoth AOL. It’s hard to imagine, but AOL also seemed equally improbable. Despite its somewhat dated brand image, it’s still … Continue reading Who Would Buy Yahoo?
There’s been some hubbub lately about the potential tax implications of Yahoo’s planned spinoff of its 15% stake in Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba. Those shares, worth about $25 billion, would account for the lion’s share of Yahoo’s $29 billion market cap at close of trading on Monday. This math got me thinking about Yahoo’s other big acquisition … Continue reading Tumblin’ Dice
In iOS 9, Apple now permits users to move Newsstand apps out of the dedicated folder. It’s nice to see Apple loosening these restrictions. I suspect it’s because it was hard to keep a firm lock on what was really considered news: Would apps from, say, Buzzfeed or Vice be considered news or content? The … Continue reading All the News That’ll Fit to an iPhone Screen
At its lengthy announcement last Wednesday, Apple announced a number of new products, including the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPad Pro, and the new Apple TV. As a number of outlets have been quick to point out, there was nothing truly revolutionary here. However, I think there were a number of compelling iterations that didn’t so much seek … Continue reading Subscribing to iPhone
Silicon Spatula 