Good evening.
Pelosi presses pause on impeachment. After a two-week recess, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is declining to move forward with a formal House vote on an impeachment inquiry into president Trump, Politico reports.
Last-minute Brexit deal
Cord cutters corner
Disney is going to win the streaming wars. Medium's OneZero makes the case that an epic Twitter thread from Disney+ proves that, for a couple of bucks a month, you can go home again.
AMC Theatres joins the streaming wars. The world’s largest movie theater chain announced a streaming service to rent or buy films from major Hollywood studios, Business Insider reports.
I don’t see this as a streaming play from AMC but more as insurance for their physical locations. As more content producers create their own streaming services, the physical theaters lose the stronghold they’ve had on distribution. By having a streaming service of their own, AMC can hold their physical
I don’t see this as a streaming play from AMC but more as insurance for their physical locations. As more content producers create their own streaming services, the physical theaters lose the stronghold they’ve had on distribution. By having a streaming service of their own, AMC can hold their physical theater infrastructure (which still makes gobs of money for content owners like Disney) at ransom by requiring a share of the streaming rights in order to show movies in their physical theaters. The physical infrastructure of theaters across the nation is still the most profitable asset for now, and AMC just outsmarted the streaming wars.
With half a dozen major streaming services online by year's end, consumers are going to have to make decisions about which they are willing to pay for. The services that have the clearest identity are likely in the best position. That benefits HBO and Disney+. The identity of an AMC channel is a lot murkier.
Restart for upgrades
Google's gaming service gets a launch date. Customers who pre-order Google's Stadia will be able to experience top-tier games streamed directly to their web browsers starting November 19, Polygon reports.
Fortnite’s two-day outage was the game’s most popular event of the year. At its peak, more than 4 million people watched the event on YouTube. But it’s unclear whether Fortnite’s rediscovered momentum will stick.
I installed the update this morning on my phone but haven't had a chance to play it yet.
I wonder if millions of people downloading the same 2GB over data on mobile devices at the same time strains networks. A similar thing happens with Apple iOS updates, but I imagine they have more practice.
Retail roundup
Net Positive
The mysterious sounds that defined the early days of the internet. Before we were always online, logging on to the internet was a journey through sound. Here’s what those sounds actually meant.
The Apple icons you see today have surprisingly ancient roots. Susan Kare designed the icons for Apple’s first computer, the Macintosh; many are still in use today. To create these early icons, Kare drew inspiration from surprising sources, from Swedish campgrounds to ancient hieroglyphics.
This is so cool—the friendly design of early Apple icons made computers much more appealing to consumers.
The internet, contrary to how many of us think of it, is not a self-propagating entity—it’s created and shaped by humans. Susan has had an outsized impact in the way we experienced the web, both in its early days and today.
What comes after the iPhone?
Can Apple do it again? The iPhone turned Apple from a successful computer company into the world’s most profitable consumer electronics operation. But as this Quartz member exclusive shows, its success could also spell Apple’s undoing.
Apple is at crossroads. It revolutionized the way we communicate with the iPhone nearly 13 years ago, but its longtime cash cow has started to waver. Apple has a host of new bets in the works, some that could also change the world as the iPhone did. But will any of them actually be able to do it?
Apple is currently a perfect example of a business case where a company which itself creates a high bar that it become de facto standard and is now at crossroads as it hasn't been able to repeat its same success.
Consumers are looking for beyond mobile phone for sure. Hence very interesting to watch
Apple is currently a perfect example of a business case where a company which itself creates a high bar that it become de facto standard and is now at crossroads as it hasn't been able to repeat its same success.
Consumers are looking for beyond mobile phone for sure. Hence very interesting to watch as to how they would turn it around by either building a full ecosystem of products/services or new revolutionary ideas.
I don't think apple will be able to come up with a product as influential as the Iphone was to its quarterly revenue. The focus should really be on the apple ecosystem (apple pay, music, tv...etc). This would mean selling the iphone at an even cheaper price to allow users to embrace apple services. This
I don't think apple will be able to come up with a product as influential as the Iphone was to its quarterly revenue. The focus should really be on the apple ecosystem (apple pay, music, tv...etc). This would mean selling the iphone at an even cheaper price to allow users to embrace apple services. This is the most sensible strategy in the near term while they work on the next big thing which may not be big after all.
I see hope that Apple will soon re-imagine the mobile device again. Consumers are craving a new way, simpler method of connecting and communicating. Stagnant iPhone growth shows that we’ve hit a wall of all the doo dads and new wrappers that simply boost the current experience. But I see a glimmer of
I see hope that Apple will soon re-imagine the mobile device again. Consumers are craving a new way, simpler method of connecting and communicating. Stagnant iPhone growth shows that we’ve hit a wall of all the doo dads and new wrappers that simply boost the current experience. But I see a glimmer of change with Apple’s introduction of screen time, grayscale, health monitoring, which potentially forecasts the company’s testing of a new experience that combats the addictive tech dependencies and negative impacts of its tentpole product. Holding out hope for a re-imagining as Apple approaches an anniversary year :)
Unicorn hangovers
The tech unicorn hangover is giving Wall Street a headache. Goldman Sachs' hit from its Uber stake shows that the pain from investing binges is never isolated.
The era of cheap convenience is over. Emblematic post-recession success stories like Uber and WeWork are being hollowed out from the inside by the silent killer of discounts and subsidies. When those vanish, the urban millennial lifestyle could go with it.
It's true that companies like WeWork, Blue Apron, and Uber have been providing urban millennials with a consumer subsidy—but it's not clear to me that the millennial lifestyle is about to get more expensive. Rather, I think that when prices rise, millennials may cut back on those services, or ditch them entirely.
Broken PROMESA
Billions are at stake in Puerto Rico’s US Supreme Court case. The US government is at war with Puerto Rican entities over an oversight board it installed to restructure the island's debt. For many in Puerto Rico, however, the case is about much more than money.
Today the high court heard oral arguments on a high stakes case that means a lot to Puerto Ricans and a little less to the US government. Before and after the hearing, I spoke to Puerto Ricans who flew in for the occasion and say that the Supreme Court has the opportunity now to overrule racist and dated
Today the high court heard oral arguments on a high stakes case that means a lot to Puerto Ricans and a little less to the US government. Before and after the hearing, I spoke to Puerto Ricans who flew in for the occasion and say that the Supreme Court has the opportunity now to overrule racist and dated precedent that makes Puerto Ricans Americans with fewer constitutional rights than those in states. But the justices didn't seem interested in the historical matters being raised today inside the courtroom, focusing instead on more technical questions. Specifically, whether members of a financial oversight board for the island were constitutionally appointed.
What's not covered in the article is that the majority of debt deficit the Costa Rica has towards the US was largely to fund the development of a country-wide clean energy supply (a combination of hydro, solar, wind, and tidal). Costa Rica has been running on average 99% from renewable energy sources
What's not covered in the article is that the majority of debt deficit the Costa Rica has towards the US was largely to fund the development of a country-wide clean energy supply (a combination of hydro, solar, wind, and tidal). Costa Rica has been running on average 99% from renewable energy sources for the past 4-5 years.
Surely they can reach a settlement on % of proceeds from the electricity supply, given that the locals can afford to pay more for it.
A dismal discomfort
Nobel laureate Esther Duflo becomes a target of sexism. She’s being repeatedly described as “the wife of Abhijit Banerjee”, one of the other laureates. Duflo is only the second woman to win the economics Nobel.
Completely agree with Barkha. On top of this, ageism is creeping into Indian society and women in their 40s or 50s— by the time they have leadership roles in politics or other spheres—-are called “menopausal”
Quartz at work
Blame it on the juice
Vaping CBD carries unique risks. The combination of regulatory no-man’s land, inexperiencedqz.com manufacturers, and a consumer craze have introduced untested oils for vaping.
There’s a perception that CBD is a sort of benign, toothless form of cannabis—which might be true in some senses. But because of the consumer craze for it and an utter lack of regulation, it’s actually quite risky when it comes to vaping, largely because irresponsible players are diluting it with all
There’s a perception that CBD is a sort of benign, toothless form of cannabis—which might be true in some senses. But because of the consumer craze for it and an utter lack of regulation, it’s actually quite risky when it comes to vaping, largely because irresponsible players are diluting it with all sorts of substances. Most of the reported cases of EVALI have come from the illegal THC market, but we should be concerned about CBD vapes too.
Come back soon
Fortnite’s two-day outage was the game’s most popular event of the year
Quartz
Watch: Our call on this fall’s TV season
Quartz
Billions of dollars are at stake in Puerto Rico’s US Supreme Court case
Quartz
Even high-end brands like Lululemon face disturbing allegations of worker abuse
Quartz
Google wants to be more sustainable—nevermind all the new products it announced
Quartz
No TV show has ever weaponized figurative language as well as HBO’s “Succession”
Quartzy
To find your dream career, try studying salamanders in isolation
Quartz at Work
McKinsey and Lean In say they’ve found the biggest barrier to gender parity at companies
Quartz at Work
The tech unicorn hangover is giving Wall Street a headache
Quartz
Global investors are hoping to cash in on the infrastructure of Africa’s mobile revolution
Quartz Africa