91
Apple's Audacity
This year’s WWDC presented an Apple that was finally ready to move past the iPhone.
Ben Thompson
On the business, strategy, and impact of technology.
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Visit stratechery.com → On Hacker News May 2013 – Oct 2026
Tech Industry & Business 180Society, Policy & Culture 48AI & Machine Learning 21Hardware & Electronics 17Career & Management 7Security & Privacy 4
92
The iPhone's Last Stand?
Siri isn’t state of the art, but as long as it works — and it appears it does — it’s good enough for the consumer market.
93
The AI Unbundling
AI is starting to unbundle the final part of the idea propagation value chain: idea creation and substantiation. The impacts will be far-reaching.
94
Netflix Flexes
Netflix is an Aggregator, with a value chain that lets it drive demand, raise prices, and dismiss competition.
95
Jony Ive is Not a Graphic Designer
Jony Ive, at a talk I was fortunate to attend a few years ago (sorry, no linkable write-up exists): One of the things that’s interesting about design [is that] there’s a danger, particu…
96
The Apple Vision Pro
The Apple Vision Pro is a disappointment for productivity, in part because of choices made to deliver a remarkable entertainment experience. Plus, the future of AR/VR for Apple and Meta.
97
The Internet and the Third Estate
Mark Zuckerberg suggested that social media is a “Fifth Estate”; in fact, social media is a means by which the Third Estate — commoners — can seize political power. Here history matters…
98
Gemini and Google's Culture
The Google Gemini fiasco shows that the biggest challenge for Google in AI is not business model but rather company culture; change is needed from the top down.
99
The Relentless Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is retiring, and will go down as one of the great CEO’s in tech history, in part because of how he transformed Amazon into a tech company in every respect.
100
Visa, Plaid, networks, and jobs
The history of credit cards helps explain why Plaid is valuable to Visa, and how Visa can make it significantly better.
101
The iPhone Franchise
The iPhone is a franchise, a product that will make money in well-defined ways; Apple understands that and is exploiting it more than ever before with the iPhones XS and XR.
102
Microsoft Full Circle
Microsoft has come full circle from the company that cared more about Windows than Office; the retirement of the Office name is possible precisely because Microsoft gave up on Windows and went to t…
103
Apple’s Organizational Crossroads
A core part of what makes Apple Apple is its organization structure; Tim Cook has said it will never change. However, if Apple is serious about being a services company, change it must.
104
The Roblox Microverse
Roblox is something new and interesting that abstracts away the platforms underneath it.
105
Rights, Laws, and Google
Google is not bound by the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, but its actions in a false positive CSAM case show that it is flouting the spirit behind them.
106
AT&T, Time Warner, and the Need for Neutrality
It is no surprise that a judge allowed the AT&T-Time Warner acquisition to proceed given the government’s poor case; the question is if a better case could have been made. What is ultima…
107
Building a business, not just an app
This past week has not been the first outbreak of independent developer angst over the app store, but it feels like it has been one of the more intense. The pump was primed by the news that Kim Kar…
108
The Amazon Empire Strikes Back
Amazon’s logistics investment makes the company increasingly attractive to 3rd party merchants.
109
Rethinking the App Store
Assume that Apple is going to win versus Epic: what is a reasonable approach to the App Store that will gain more developer support?
110
Google's True Moonshot
Google could do more than just win the chatbot war: it is the one company that could make a universal assistant. The question is if the company is willing to risk it all.
111
Clubhouse’s Inevitability
Clubhouse will do for audio what Twitter, Instagram Stories, and TikTok did for text, images, and video.
112
Political Chips
Chips are the clearest example that economic efficiencies will not be the ultimate decider of technology’s end state: politics will play an important role.
113
TSMC Risk
If hyperscalers and chip companies don’t build up a TSMC competitor they are set to forego billions of dollars in revenue and stunt the AI revolution.
114
Zero Trust Information
Zero Trust Networking is security with Internet assumptions; there is tremendous value if we apply the same approach to information.
115
Day Two to One Day
Amazon.com was showing signs of being a Day Two company, including the alleged manipulation of search. There is reason, though, to be optimistic that the company has gotten back to Day One. Plus, w…
116
Andy Grove and the iPhone SE
Andy Grove passed away the same day that Apple announced the iPhone SE. One of Grove’s best decisions reminds me of this launch.
117
Stratechery 4.0
The newest version of Stratechery.com: now explore the site via concept, company, or topic, or use dramatically improved search functionality. Plus, a new logo!
118
Two Microsofts
My well-chronicled frustration with Microsoft’s corporate strategy comes down to one point: I don’t think any company should have both horizontal (i.e. services) and vertical (i.e. devi…
119
The Arrival of AI
What is artificial intelligence? Is it really any different than technology? In my estimation machine learning is truly something new, and the effects on society will be significant.
120
2020 Bundles
The state of bundles in 2020: Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. Plus, Microsoft’s purchase of ZeniMax.