Category: Technology

Silicon Valley, politics and the media

Rob Williams

Google and Facebook Worsen Media Bias

Google and Facebook have gained editorial influence over the press with content guidelines for participation in advertising services, writes Mark Esptein in the Wall Street Journal.

The Stark Political Divide Between Tech CEOs and Their Employees

Media outlets have failed to differentiate the people who own the industry from the people who work in it is causing the media to misread the rising wave of rank-and-file rebellion, write Moira Weigel and Ben Tarnoff in the New Republic.

Jeff Bezos Protests the Invasion of His Privacy, as Amazon Builds a Sprawling Surveillance State for Everyone Else

Amazon’s extensive relationship with the NSA, FBI, Pentagon and other surveillance agencies in the west is multi-faceted, highly lucrative and rapidly growing, writes Glenn Greenwald in the Intercept.

UK Cairncross Report

Online news sites need ‘code of conduct’, says UK media review

Technology groups should be forced by a new regulator to ensure their platforms distribute quality news, according to a U.K. government report. “As long as tech giants continue to completely dominate the market it’s difficult to see how a sustainable financial footing for journalism can be achieved,” Tom Watson, Labour’s shadow culture secretary, said.

Public funds should be used to rescue local journalism, says report

Dame Frances Cairncross’s report on ways to support high-quality journalism in Britain concluded there should be a public investigation into the dominance of Facebook and Google in the advertising marketplace.

Facebook will soon show users how advertisers target them

Rob Williams

Facebook this month will add a feature to its app and website that lets users see how their contact information is used for ad targeting. Read more…

Other reading:

Germany to restrict Facebook’s data gathering activities

How Facebook’s Tiny China Sales Floor Helps Generate Big Ad Money

Delay, Deny, and Deal Flow: Two New York Times Reporters Cash in on Seven-Figure Facebook Opus

Happy Birthday, Facebook! 15 years today — and what a rollercoaster it has been. We created a friendship anniversary video for Mark Zuckerberg to mark the day.

Stories about Apple’s strategy

Rob Williams

Apple’s Next Move: Be More Like Microsoft

“Samsung announced Monday that Apple’s iTunes software—and the video library it lets people make purchases from—will be available on its smart TVs. In addition, these TVs will support AirPlay 2, Apple’s wireless standard that allows Apple’s iPhones and other devices to stream content directly to those TVs. That was followed by a flurry of AirPlay 2 announcements from other TV makers including LG, Vizio and Sony. In December, Amazon announced that Apple Music was coming to Echo speakers.” – Christopher Mims, The Wall Street Journal

Apple’s Tim Cook maintains optimism despite iPhone sales slide

“A total of more than 900 million iPhones were in active use at the end of 2018, Apple revealed on Tuesday, up 75 million or 9 percent over the past year. Ben Bajarin, analyst at Creative Strategies, said that the statistic — which Apple has never disclosed before — was ‘much bigger than most people thought.’” – Tim Bradsaw, The Financial Times

Apple Is Planning 3-D Cameras for New iPhones in AR Push

“Apple plans to launch iPhones with a more-powerful 3-D camera as soon as next year, stepping up the company’s push into augmented reality, according to people familiar with the plans. The rear-facing, longer-range 3-D camera is designed to scan the environment to create three-dimensional reconstructions of the real world.” – Mark Gurman and Debby Wu, Bloomberg News

Apple Plans Bigger Video Presence As ‘The Bundle Breaks Down’

Apple CEO Tim Cook “outlined a handful of ways in which Apple plans to play in that space, including the Apple TV device, selling third-party video subscriptions, and original content.” – Alex Weprin, Media Daily News

Apple the next Nokia?

Screen time hurts mental, physical development of kids

Rob Williams

Higher levels of screen time among toddlers were associated with slower mental development, according to a study cited by JAMA Pediatrics.

About 98% of U.S. children ages 0 to 8 years live in a home with an internet-connected device and spend more than two hours a day on average looking at screens, according to Common Sense Media.

Children who observe screens without an interactive or physical component are more sedentary and aren’t practicing gross motor skills, such as walking and running. Screens can also disrupt interactions with caregivers by limiting opportunities for verbal and nonverbal social exchanges, which are essential for fostering optimal growth and development.

Philips Hue adds Google Assistant routines to smart lighting

Rob Williams

Signify, formerly Philips Lighting, for the first time added voice-powered wake-up and sleep commands to its Philips Hue smart-bulbs. Read more…

(PRNewsfoto/Signify)

Philips Hue also extended its product line to include flood lights, more wall-mounted lights and lanterns and a motion sensor, the Verge reported. The Hue Outdoor sensor, which can detect motion up to 39 feet away, will sell for $50 starting next month. Philips also will begin selling its new outdoor lighting for prices ranging from $110 to $150 next month.

Amazon tech workers more likely to say they’re depressed

Rob Williams

Blind, an anonymous community app, surveyed tech employees to see how many would identify themselves as depressed.

  • 38.78% answered with ‘True’ to a question asking if they were depressed.
  • Amazon led the way with 43.4% of employees answering with ‘True,” Microsoft (with 41.58%) and Intel (with 38.86%).
  • Apple had the lowest percentage of employees answering with 30.61%.
  • The two other companies with the lowest percentage of employees answering with ‘False’ are Google (with 33.11%) and Cisco (with 34.69%).

The survey ran from Nov 20 through Nov 28, 2018, and was answered by 10,081 users of the Blind app. Users could only answer once.

 

Company True False Count % True % False
Amazon 447 583 1030 43.40% 56.60%
Microsoft 380 534 914 41.58% 58.42%
Intel 68 107 175 38.86% 61.14%
LinkedIn 55 87 142 38.73% 61.27%
Facebook 149 257 406 36.70% 63.30%
Uber 80 143 223 35.87% 64.13%
Oracle 50 92 142 35.21% 64.79%
Cisco 51 96 147 34.69% 65.31%
Google 148 299 447 33.11% 66.89%
Apple 45 102 147 30.61% 69.39%

Source: Blind