The following is a collection of articles, thought pieces, presentations and podcasts highlighting interesting trends and changes in the world you and I live in.
Andreessen Horowitz recently released a presentation which looked at venture capital funding in the US which sparked off more conversations on whether there’s a tech bubble. Ben Thompson expands on this to provide his view on the value of the growing number of unicorns:
I think it’s this dichotomy that makes the current bubble discussion so difficult: most unicorns may be overvalued, but in aggregate they are probably undervalued. It turns out winner-take-all doesn’t apply just to the markets these startups are targeting, it applies to the startups themselves.
Ben Thompson profiles Google’s data centric strategy with Facebook’s strategy which focuses on personalisation with Twitter seemingly unable to deploy either approaches:
Benedict Evans provides contrasting review of business strategy in the digital age, looking at the importance of curation in an age of abundance providing a review of different approaches:
- There is giving you what you already know you want (Amazon, Google)
- There is working out what you want (Amazon and Google’s aspiration)
- And then there is suggesting what you might want (Heywood Hill).
It’s also worth spending time with Evans’ updated Mobile is Eating the World presentation.
I have concerns about the way that pornography is reshaping sexual relations in the modern era, but Maria Konnikova’s account suggest that pornography might be more a symptom than a cause of modern ills.
A recent issue of the New Yorker has a fascinating look at a case of hate crime in North Carolina and the expanding scope of euthanasia.
For lovers of history and data visualisations, Neil Halloran’s piece on deaths in World War 2 makes compelling viewing. Check it out The Fallen of World War II for an interactive version
I’ve been going through something of a podcast binge recently, turning my cycle rides around town into more enriching affairs. Shows that have hit the spot recently include the following:
Children of the Magenta looking at the perils of automation in aircraft.
The Takeover looking at how a boring Facebook group developed a life of its own.
Antibodies Part 1: CRISPR looks at recent advances in gene therapy which are both exciting and bewildering.
The Birth and Death of the Price Tag looks at changes in pricing without even mentioning Uber’s surge pricing.
The President was Here leaves me even more enamoured with Barack Obama.
The featured photograph is of a Reka piece from Milan, Italy published in StreetArtNews.
