Wise Guys on WHO Radio - July 18, 2015
Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.
In the news this week
Business travelers are now taking more trips on Uber than via taxi
That's an analysis from an expense-management software company, so it's third-party data that may not be completely accurate for the universe at large, but it does signal the threat that ride-sharing poses to conventional taxicab services. There's no doubt they've failed to capture the opportunities that the Internet placed right in front of them.
Google may be starting to watch its spending a bit
The stock price took off by 16% after the company reported a nearly $4 billion profit in the second quarter of this year. They're still trying to break out of the confines of Internet search-related advertising, but the impression seems to be that the new CFO won't tolerate quite so much frivolous spending as took place in the past -- and that she's going to keep a closer eye on some of the company's "moon shot" investments.
What's said on the Internet still has consequences
Gawker took down a post under pressure this past week. The original story alleged that a media executive had texted an escort, and they took down the story because the public pressure "reflects a growing recognition that we all have secrets, and they are not all equally worthy of exposure", according to Gawker's founder, Nick Denton. This is the same Gawker that tastelessly manipulated a Coca-Cola promotion earlier this year. It's odd watching Internet wunderkinds realize they have to grow up.
Amazon still acts like profits don't matter
It's not a non-profit by definition, but it doesn't actively produce a lot of profits -- even after 20 years. That makes it hard for anyone to compete with them, and that may be the point. Amazon lost money in 2012, profited in 2013, and lost again in 2014.
Street-smart social media
I got a strange message in my inbox this week:
It came to one of the e-mail addresses that I have permitted to leak out onto the Internet. Clearly, I wasn't trying to register an Instagram account under the username "reginasummerp". What concerns me is what the purpose of trying to set up a spoof Instagram account may have been. As of this morning, the account still exists, even though I rejected the account-confirmation message (after confirming, of course, that the message really did come from Instagram). The problem with scams like this is that the scammers are always on the offensive and it's left to the rest of us to always be playing catch-up.
Brian's Big Picture
Employees at the Chicago Tribune discovered a hundred photos from a 1915 boating disaster that killed more than 800 people on the Chicago River. They've digitized the photos and put them online for review today. The sheer amount of basic information and data that lurks in basements -- like that of the Chicago Tribune, and in millions of offices and homes all over the world -- is really mind-boggling. And for all that we think we've done to put things online in the last decade or two, there is an astonishing amount of knowledge that remains trapped outside the digital realm, and we shouldn't forget that.
Politics of technology
Chicago imposes 9% "cloud tax"
If you pay to stream music or videos (in other words, if you subscribe to Netflix or pay for Pandora), you'll have to pay for it -- starting in September. If it sticks, get worried about a national Internet sales tax regime.
Listen again on-demand
- Podcast of this episode (forthcoming)