Good morning, Quartz readers!
On Sunday, roughly 200,000 exhibitors, buyers, and members of the media will begin descending on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, or CES. Expect lots of 5G talk, autonomous vehicles, smart devices, robots, and many, many gadgets. CES is a time to celebrate our technological advances and dream of the future, but this year it will be difficult to ignore the present.
Looming largest is a company that doesn’t even attend CES: Apple. The iPhone maker stunned markets this week by slashing the revenue outlook for its crucial holiday quarter, sending its stock plummeting. Since shares peaked in October, Apple has lost more than $400 billion in market capitalization (paywall), or roughly one Facebook. It’s facing harsh questions about its ability to innovate and grow.
Most concerning is what the reduced forecast portends for everyone else. In a letter to investors, Apple CEO Tim Cook singled out China for buying fewer iPhones, thanks to a slowing economy and a trade war with the US. China has long been the center of growth for global businesses, and if the world’s largest consumer-device maker is struggling there, watch out.
All that CES optimism will also have to contend with the fact that our relationship with technology is changing. Executives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google were hauled in front of government bodies last year to defend how they use and protect our data. The darlings of our digital economy are facing scrutiny like never before.
This should trouble the whole tech industry. Those smart speakers and fridges and bottle openers all want our data, too. We need to ask how much data is really needed and where it ultimately goes.
Technology will remain the world’s growth engine. It creates efficiencies, makes the world more accessible, and makes the once impossible possible. But we’re at a moment where we’re asking if we really need a new phone or TV that might only be marginally better than the one we have. And if we do need that new gadget, what’s the true cost? —Matt Quinn
Five things on Quartz we especially liked
Black Mirror isn’t just predicting the future—it’s causing it. The recent Netflix series’ interactive episode, “Bandersnatch,” is one of the first mainstream attempts at narrative-driven gameplay. But as Alice Thwaite writes, it’s also potentially the progenitor of a new form of surveillance—one that invades our privacy while wearing the cloak of entertainment.
Everybody’s talking about water on the moon. In a remarkable week in space, China landed a rover on the far side of the moon and NASA received images of Ultima Thule, an icy world far beyond Pluto. But as Tim Fernholz writes (Quartz member exclusive), water on the moon is perhaps most exciting. Lunar water could be used for the creation of air, food, and fuel—and make possible far more ambitious space missions.
GM’s decline truly began with its quest to turn people into machines. While GM once built nine of every 20 new cars sold in America, its market dominance has long since faded. Gwynn Guilford shows that nothing about the company’s decline was inevitable. She highlights a crucial moment in 1972 when management decided to emphasize automation and treat workers as little more than moving parts in one giant machine.
The perils of using social media to find a cosmetic surgeon. More and more people are using social networks to book their next cosmetic procedure, persuaded by widely shared pics and videos, some of which show entire operations. But as Phoebe Bradford reports in a Quartz News video, that often leads to practitioners who are more savvy about social-media marketing than medical surgery.
Instant Pot wine is a terrible idea. It’s possible to turn supermarket grape juice—along with a bit of yeast and sugar—into homemade table wine using an Instant Pot. A growing number of DIY-loving Americans appear to be trying it. But vintners needn’t worry that their industry is about to be disrupted, Anne Quito explains. For starters, the right type of grape is crucial in wine-making, and it’s not the one you’ll find in grape juice.
Five things elsewhere that made us smarter
The cautionary tale of Chicago’s anti-flooding system. Far below Chicago lies the Deep Tunnel, one of world’s most ambitious attempts to manage urban flooding. Though it has inspired similar efforts internationally, the multibillion-dollar system does not in fact stop flooding‚ partly because rainstorms keep getting stronger. As Henry Grabar writes for Slate, another US city has a smarter approach: “If Chicago built a bathtub, Philadelphia is trying to transform itself into a sponge.”
Life as one of China’s internet censors. It’s no secret that China clamps down on even the slightest sign of political dissent online. But who are the grunt workers carrying out Beijing’s will? For the New York Times (paywall), Li Yuan profiles a worker in a fast-growing “censorship factory” who spends his days scanning online content for anything that might incur the government’s wrath. Even a photo of an empty chair could cause trouble.
The National Rifle Association goes international. The US gun lobby often drapes its messaging in the Stars and Stripes, but these days many of the forces shaping it are distinctly non-American. As Bloomberg Businessweek explains (paywall), foreign gun companies—and overseas markets—have become much more important to the NRA, which has found stalwart allies in Brazil, Russia, and elsewhere.
The lucrative business of selling soccer players. The transfer of athletes between clubs should be about boosting competition and helping teams win titles. But some see it as a way to generate profits for investors. For Reuters, Tom Bergi and Cassell Bryan-Low look at efforts by a Chinese tycoon and a top agent—revealed by leaked documents—to develop academies in Europe in order to buy and sell players, sidestepping rules and depriving smaller clubs of key revenue.
California’s new gold rush. Since the state legalized marijuana a year ago, the business of “pot tourism” has exploded. Typical tour stops include weed-growing facilities, glass-blowing bong makers, and of course dispensaries, with some operators allowing guests to light up on the bus. But as Hugo Martin writes for the Los Angeles Times, the companies face unusual obstacles—such as being unable to advertise on mainstream travel websites—and many are surprised by their customer demographics.
Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, lunar liquid, and Instant Pot recipes to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Weekend Brief was edited by Steve Mollman and Kira Bindrim.