Tech - Abstractionist by Keenen Charles

Abstractionist by Keenen Charles

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Tech

A collection of 15 posts

Finding The Next Tech Platform

Finding The Next Tech Platform

Every few years some new trend comes along and promises to reshape the tech industry and wider world. It usually starts in niche spaces, then a few startups, then the tech giants join, and pretty soon everyone is talking about it. It's in the news, on late night shows, celebrities

Why Laugh At Quibi's Failure?

There seems to be a fundamental misconception of why people are enjoying Quibi's demise. Startup vets seem to believe it's making fun of people who took a big swing and failed. > The glee about Quibi's failure seems to me misguided. Startups are hard. There's no honor in applauding when they

Growth At All Costs

Growth At All Costs

Years ago I used to be enamoured by the startup community. So many people building innovative companies and changing the world. The stories of small beginnings and huge achievements were enticing. The advice they spouted made sense. Pour your days and health into your work. Aim as big as possible.

Music Devaluation

Music Devaluation

I spent some time today looking into how much artists get paid per stream and it really surprised me just how little it is. I've been listening to a new album from an independent artist a lot since it came out. 250 listens based on my tracking. And that works

2020 Won't Be The Year of Foldables

2020 Won't Be The Year of Foldables

Since Google first announced support for foldable screens in late 2018, they have been one of the most exciting things in tech. Smartphones, tablets, and laptops have been stuck in a continuous cycle of iterative upgrades each year. They've all plateaued and each year only brings marginally improved specs. There's

Why Tumblr Should Copy Patreon

Why Tumblr Should Copy Patreon

Automattic recently announced they'd be buying Tumblr from Verizon. It seems like a natural fit but the most surprising detail was the price. Reportedly, they've paid only $3 million for Tumblr. Yep, $3 million. For a company that Yahoo bought for over a billion not that long ago. I'm curious

It's Not HBO. It's TV.

It's Not HBO. It's TV.

This week Warner announced their streaming service. It's called HBO Max. It'll feature content from WB, DC, New Line, CNN, the CW, Cartoon Network, and a whole lot more. In previous posts, I've talked about Warner as a potential successful competitor in the field and this announcement definitely shows their

But...it's Facebook

But...it's Facebook

Facebook officially announced its new cryptocurrency, Libra today, and it actually sounds potentially useful. There were rumours that they were building something cryptocurrency related for several years now and I was always sceptical about it due to Facebook itself. Facebook's reputation is clearly shattered, at least to people with a

Apple: Support or GTFO

Apple: Support or GTFO

Today Apple announced a new "Sign in with Apple" service that developers can add to their apps and websites. It's a great alternative to Google & Facebook sign in and comes with several privacy features that I hope the others adopt. Competition is always good. Then someone noticed that Apple quietly

Microsoft's Rebranding

Microsoft's Rebranding

I was watching some of Microsoft's BUILD conference today and I was amazed at the successful rebranding they've pulled off in just a few years. For a long time, Microsoft had a negative image in the eyes of most. And they certainly earned that image. In some ways, the goodwill

Game Streaming Lowers the Barriers

Game Streaming Lowers the Barriers

Google announced their game streaming platform, Stadia, today and it feels like a look at the future. Game streaming has been touted as the future of video games for several years now and there are already existing services but Google's feels different. There are several unique advantages Google has here.

Innovating

I've been watching videos and reading articles about all the new phones being announced at Mobile World Congress this week. I've noticed many of the companies who've been struggling to compete with Apple & Samsung are now taking wild swings to differentiate their phones. Most of their ideas seem unlikely to

A Jobless World

A Jobless World

How does society change when there aren't enough jobs for anyone? This video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW5ktbit2s0] got me thinking about the implications of automation. Pretty soon jobs that employ thousands and probably millions will be done by algorithms and machines instead. For most of human history,

Google Killing Products Is Ok

Google Killing Products Is Ok

Where were you when Google announced they were killing Google Reader? If your answer is "What's Google Reader?", then you're in the majority. But in the world of mega-corps like Google, a product loved by a minority can have a user base of millions. Whenever Google decides to shut down

Netflix, Disney & The Future of Streaming Services

Netflix, Disney & The Future of Streaming Services

With the announcement that Disney will be pulling all their content from Netflix [https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/8/16115254/disney-launching-streaming-service-ending-netflix-deal] and building their own streaming service, it seems like the dream of one streaming service to rule them all is dead. The future of streaming looks a lot