From Afar
The Spyglass Column
Thoughts and analysis around various topics. These are linked to in the Spyglass Dispatch and always sent directly to members of The Inner Ring. Columns which are exclusive to paid members are denoted below, outlined in SEA GREEN.
December 2024
America Has Been Acquired
This has felt less like an election and more like a deal…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Apple’s Next Question: Hold ‘Em or Fold ’Em?
An ‘iPhone Fold’ or a massive ‘iPad Fold’, that is the question…
M.G. Siegler
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Comcast
YouTube TV is becoming the cable package we all hated…
M.G. Siegler
Might Microsoft Make Another Run at TikTok?
A deal makes more sense in 2024 than it did in 2020…
M.G. Siegler
Apple Made the Right Call and a Stupid Decision with ‘Wolfs’
The movie would have flopped in theaters but still…
M.G. Siegler
Tim Cook’s Clock
A great interview quietly reveals quite a bit…
M.G. Siegler
Intel Inside, Gelsinger Outside
Dealt a bad hand by a board who wouldn’t give him enough time, Intel’s next leader needs full control to think different
M.G. Siegler
Moana Two-Hundred-and-Twenty-Five Million
Disney almost didn’t know how far ‘Moana 2’ would go…
M.G. Siegler
A Call to More ARMs
The need to embolden the European startup landscape…
M.G. Siegler
November 2024
Meta Launches a Bluesky Competitor
It’s called ‘Threads’ -- perhaps you’ve heard of it…
M.G. Siegler
“Just a Big iPad”
Imagine if the imaginary Apple Television was a massive touchscreen…
M.G. Siegler
Apple Pisses Off Hollywood
Did their self-own with “Wolfs” just torch their film division?
M.G. Siegler
Forget the Fate of Chrome, Focus on the Fate of the Browser
In debating what undoubtedly won’t happen, we’re looking past some key things that are -- and might…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
I’ve Been Here for Years
But where, has changed -- too often, I’m afraid…
M.G. Siegler
Zig-Jag
10 tips for Jaguar’s bizarre re-branding
M.G. Siegler
Chrome Alone
If Google were to sell off Chrome, who would benefit? Anyone?
M.G. Siegler
Has Apple “Finally Cracked It”?
Apple Television... now, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Vision Pro Starts to Come Into Focus
We’re starting to cook with fire. I’m writing this about the Vision Pro, in the Vision Pro. Which I really only did for a post or two for the novelty of it right after the device’s initial release. But now I’m doing it because it’s actually a good way to
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Netflix’s Nickel on Apple TV’s Dime
Apple needs to tell us where to stream something -- even if it’s on Netflix.
M.G. Siegler
Bluesky is Twitter’s Heir Apparent
Sorry Threads, you blew it. In real-time.
M.G. Siegler
The Race for AI Independence
Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft all wish to break away from each other. As does OpenAI. With everyone needing to break free from NVIDIA.
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Apple Admits the Obvious
There’s no topping the iPhone. As a business, there may never be.
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
PaidPals
Elon Musk will battle with Trump eventually. As Peter Thiel can attest.
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Tim Apple, Engage!
Apple seems poised to appeal to Donald Trump on their EU issues…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Can Barbie Break Netflix?
More pressure is applied to Netflix’s anti-movie-theater stance…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
October 2024
Do You Feel In Charge?
On bending the knee to Donald Trump…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Bezos Needs to Address the WaPo’s Broken Back
The decision is fine in a vacuum, the timing makes it anything but…
M.G. Siegler
Netflix’s Next Backtrack: Movie Theaters
As growth naturally slows, Netflix needs to think bigger picture -- literally
M.G. Siegler
Apple Claps Back
Apple Intelligence is about to be an “every day” product, so it needs to be the “best”, fast
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The War of the AI Roses
Microsoft and OpenAI increasingly make strange bedfellows…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Is ‘Remarkable Alexa’ Ready for a Prime Time Debut?
Does the “romantic” Kindle event offer a cupcake clue?
M.G. Siegler
Tesla’s Tomorrow Never Knows
Cybercab is believing, but it needs to be being…
M.G. Siegler
‘Submerged’ Plunges Us Into a Possible Spatial Movie Future
The Edward Berger short film for Apple is good, but points to something great…
M.G. Siegler
And Like That... He’s Gone.
Some thoughts on Cullen Hoback’s new Satoshi Nakamoto doc
M.G. Siegler
Venture Capital’s “Crisis”
A go-go decade morphs with opportunity and danger…
M.G. Siegler
Microsoft’s Awkward AI
There’s a Copilot for that…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Apple Becomes the Pupil
Snap and Meta teach Apple a lesson…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
September 2024
The Art of the OpenAI Deal
Thinking through their numbers and those deal terms…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Apple Knew Where the Puck Was Going, But Meta Skated There
Meta’s “Orion” points to the vision of an Apple “Visor”…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Pixel Fold Makes the iPhone Look Old
Google figured out when to fold em -- Apple is still thinking on it…
M.G. Siegler
An AI Call to Arms
Sam Altman wraps a plea in some grandiose (and vague) promises…
M.G. Siegler
Meta’s Frenetic Connect Keynote
Weird pacing, awkward timing, cool products, and eternal optimism…
M.G. Siegler
Evan Spiegel’s Spectacle
Snap’s presentation was arguably more impressive than the product…
M.G. Siegler
Should Microsoft Ride in to Save Intel?
The white knight that once saved Apple can mount that steed again…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Apple Needs an Editor 2
Repeating Steve Jobs’ old points of view is not an actual point of view
M.G. Siegler
Does Microsoft Have an AI Problem?
It’s early, but there sure is a lot of smoke billowing…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Apple Should Sign Howard Stern and Launch ‘Podcasts+’
They may not care about podcasting, but they *do* care about Services…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
August 2024
ESPN’s Path to Be *the* Streaming Sports Bundle
It’s not exactly “clear”, as Amazon may battle them along the way…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Mark Zuckerberg’s Goal is to Be Neutral in Not Being Neutral
Is Meta going MAGA or GAGA?
M.G. Siegler
Google Isn’t Lazy, It’s Timid. As It Sadly Must Be.
Provocative soundbites aside, it’s obvious why Google isn’t OpenAI…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
We Don’t Need Another iPod for Streaming TV, We Need An iTunes
One service to rule them all. And in the darkness, bind them.
M.G. Siegler
Reminder: What Actually Disrupted Microsoft
It was not the Justice Department, despite the rhetoric this week…
M.G. Siegler
OpenAI Generates More Turmoil
It’s probably time to change that non-profit structure for good…
M.G. Siegler
Dear Zuck
This shit is embarrassing…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
July 2024
Never Tweet Your Heroes
Also maybe never tweet, period.
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Mark Zuckerberg’s “Thoughts on Open Source AI”
A page out of Steve Jobs’ playbook to go after... Apple (and everyone else)
M.G. Siegler
When Steve Jobs Called the Design World to Arms
And basically talked about the 2024 state of computing in 1983
M.G. Siegler
Apple Should Buy HBO
And basically all of Warner Bros Discovery, which is selling…
M.G. Siegler
Backing the Winner
Attention VCs: going for Trump is no longer the contrarian bet…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
How to Scale Paramount
Can Skydance finally, actually bridge Silicon Valley and Hollywood?
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Almost All A.I. Investments are Going to Zero
Seemingly every investor I talk to these days is struggling with the same basic thing: they believe AI is going to be one of the most transformative technologies of the past several decades – and perhaps ever – but they have almost no idea how to invest in the space. And yet
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Love Cinemas, Actually
Saving movie theaters needs to be about more than nostalgia…
M.G. Siegler
The EU Plays Itself
The DMA is the latest in the series of stupidity that will doom the region
M.G. Siegler
Nothing Boring About OpenAI’s Board
Apple’s role rescinded, Microsoft’s role renounced…
M.G. Siegler
About That AI PC “Supercycle”
Redmond, do we have a problem?
M.G. Siegler
Inventing the Future vs. Extrapolating It
We predict obvious and silly things, but look right past the big ones…
M.G. Siegler
Epic’s Poke-the-Bear Strategy
Epic and Spotify sure seem to like to taunt Apple in front of the EU…
M.G. Siegler
Comparing Oranges to Apple
Forget MacBooks, the ‘Copilot+ PCs’ played themselves, quite literally
M.G. Siegler
The Real Life Bananaphone!
Some thoughts on the Clicks physical iPhone keyboard
M.G. Siegler
Threads is Thinking and Acting More in Real Time
Which is great, but one year in, what needles Threads?
M.G. Siegler
Apple Set to be in the Room Where OpenAI Happens
Apple entering OpenAI’s boardroom is all sorts of interesting and wild!
M.G. Siegler
Almost All A.I. Investments are Going to Zero
Seemingly every investor I talk to these days is struggling with the same basic thing: they believe AI is going to be one of the most transformative technologies of the past several decades – and perhaps ever – but they have almost no idea how to invest in the space. And yet
M.G. Siegler
Talking His Own Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg takes on the sinners in the hands of an AI God
M.G. Siegler
June 2024
Behold: the Hackquisition
An acquisition by any other name…
M.G. Siegler
The Entrapment of Apple 📧
The EU would like Apple to roll out their products, just not their version of their products
M.G. Siegler
Being Too Early Is Worse Than Being Late
Amazon owned the AI assistant space -- until the space changed
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Netflixification of Russell Crowe
Hollywood has morphed around the great actor
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s Vision
Can a stripped-down, less expensive headset save ‘Spatial Computing’?
M.G. Siegler
The Race to Restore Content Distribution
The ActivityPub work being done by Ghost and others is getting compelling…
M.G. Siegler
Stick to Stick Combat
Apple and the EU enter the next phase of the DMA battle…
M.G. Siegler
The Vision Pro No
The questions mount about the viability of Apple’s Next Big Thing™
M.G. Siegler
‘OpenAI Original’
Technically, Ilya Sutskever’s new startup is called ‘Safe Superintelligence’ but come on, this is anti-OpenAI.
M.G. Siegler
AI DIVINE
NVIDIA becomes the most valuable company in the world
M.G. Siegler
The Envy of Everyone
A 2017 profile of Jensen Huang is even more incredible in 2024
M.G. Siegler
Of Tadpoles and Tentpoles
A 10 step plan to save the movie theater business
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Problem *Was* Jon Stewart
“There’s a mantra we all have to remember: Corporations are pussies.”
M.G. Siegler
With AI, is Apple Getting the Vapors?
Dancing with the ‘vaporware’ devil…
M.G. Siegler
Can Microsoft Build ‘Apple Intelligence’ in Reverse?
The countdown to ‘Microsoft Intelligence’ feels on. Sorry, OpenAI.
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Is Disney Forcing It?
‘The Acolyte’ looks to be in trouble…
M.G. Siegler
Did Apple Just End AI’s First Era?
AI’s performance arms race yields to the product arms race…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Why So Siri-ous, Indeed
How new Siri parallels old Siri…
M.G. Siegler
The Voice Assistant Who Cried Wolf
Can Siri meet the moment this time?
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s Artificial Approach to ‘Apple Intelligence’
Apple is doing “AI” their way, in ways likely good and well, TBD
M.G. Siegler
Roaring Pity
Has the game stopped?
M.G. Siegler
As Apple AI Arrives, Will Wall Street Buy It? 📧
‘Apple Intelligence’ is a good name, but it is a good narrative?
M.G. Siegler
The Impressively Infuriating M4 iPad Pro
Perhaps Apple’s best hardware, forced to use limited software
M.G. Siegler
People at a Premium
AI will change Hollywood -- for the better
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
NVIDIA’s Last Laugh with Apple
NVIDIA hits $3T market cap and soars past Apple
M.G. Siegler
Instagram Hijacks Your Scroll
To inject ads you cannot skip into your eyes. JFC.
M.G. Siegler
Can NVIDIA Become Intel Faster Than Everyone Becomes NVIDIA?
As money pours into AI, can NVIDIA stay ahead?
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Problem Apple Had with The Problem with Jon Stewart
“The Daily Show” ratings surge where they didn’t for Apple…
M.G. Siegler
May 2024
Will OpenAI Bite the Microsoft Hand That Feeds?
A sense of tension between the two sides is inescapable
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Incredible Shrinking Movie Theater
Hollywood keeps fighting the change needed in movie theaters, but it’s inevitable
M.G. Siegler
Ready or Not, Here Apple AI Comes
Will slow but not fully steady win the race?
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Curious Case of ‘Furiosa’
It’s both a good movie and a spectacle yet didn’t resonate in theaters
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s Rightfully Boring AI Play
Apple is playing catch up, but doesn’t need to sprint
M.G. Siegler
The Overwhelming Chaos of AI is Underwhelming
The AI madness needs to settle to reach its potential -- and it will
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Who Is She in ‘Her’?
The curious case of Scarlett Johansson’s voice…
M.G. Siegler
Without Real Time Information, Threads is Pointless
Unleash the feeds
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Problem is Safari for iPad
Professional users hunt for a Mac-like Safari…
M.G. Siegler
Microsoft’s Copilots with Qualcomm
...to usher in Copilot+ PCs and take on Apple
M.G. Siegler
Ovation Inflation
What is going on at Cannes and *who* is counting?
M.G. Siegler
Think: Thin
A slimmer $1,500 ‘iPhone Ultra’
M.G. Siegler
(Not) Sent From My iPad 📧
The future of computing remains frustrating
M.G. Siegler
MacOS on the iPad: A Compromise
or: You Are Not Your Fucking iPad
M.G. Siegler
Venu, Hulu, Roku, Vudu
Streaming services have a name type, you might say…
M.G. Siegler
Comcast’s Bargain Bin Basement Bundle
StreamSaver! I cannot believe Apple and Netflix agreed to this name…
M.G. Siegler
OpenAI Changes the Vocal Computing Game!
No sarcasm, just enthusiasm for GPT-4o
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
GPT-4o & the End of ‘Her’
Must AI life imitate art about AI?
M.G. Siegler
These Are Not Two Separate Devices...
Apple leaves the door slightly ajar for an iPad running macOS…
M.G. Siegler
The GPT-4o Asteroid
Alexa and Siri look towards the sky and see their doom…
M.G. Siegler
The Netflix Football League
The inevitable marriage of the largest sport with the largest streamer…
M.G. Siegler
A Crushing Blow 📧
Apple needs to read the room in which they find themselves…
M.G. Siegler
Our Streaming Shitshow
Disney Lets a Hundred Bundles Blossom
M.G. Siegler
As the Apple Ternus...
Might John Ternus succeed Tim Cook at Apple?
M.G. Siegler
Give Me Back My Sunsets!
The time Instagram wrongly banned me and threatened to destroy my life. “Oops. Our bad.”
M.G. Siegler
Apple Invents a Laptop with a Touchscreen
The new iPad Pro is awesome. And a bit silly.
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The iPad Nano Air Pro
Thoughts on Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad Event
M.G. Siegler
Nintendo’s Bait-and-Switch
Well, they just Osbourne’d the Switch... What now?
M.G. Siegler
His Dark Matters
Pearl Jam’s latest album matters
M.G. Siegler
May the 4th, Rank the 4th
The ‘Star Wars’ movie rankings in 2024
M.G. Siegler
Dreaming of an ‘iPad Ultra’
Apple, let us boot iPadOS or macOS on the iPad
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s AI Strategy, At Your Service 📧
The relative calm before the “AI, AI, AI, AI, AI” storm…
M.G. Siegler
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Some decidedly unhelpful thoughts about investing in AI startups…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
What Are Hardware Companies Doing Here?
MKBHD on the annoying trend of half-finished products launching
M.G. Siegler
April 2024
Oh, the Humanity of Vision Pro
Apple really should have released the Vision Pro as a dev kit
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
I Think I’ve Seen This Film M4
If you squint, you can see a path to an M4 iPad to boost Apple’s AI narrative leading up to WWDC…
M.G. Siegler
Amazon’s Potential “Sportsnight”
The NBA streaming deal seems smart -- I’m surprised Apple didn’t push harder for it.
M.G. Siegler
Is AI Spend the New Streaming Spend?
Wall Street loves to reward arms race spending -- until they don’t.
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
The Chilling of TikTok
Ban or not, this is the end of TikTok as we know it
M.G. Siegler
Losing Sight of the Vision Pro
With sales looking weak, what is Apple’s strategy here?
M.G. Siegler
The ‘Going Direct’ Bullshit Debate
It’s driven by AI and it’s all PR anyway…
M.G. Siegler
The Inner Ring 🔒
Meta’s Quest Against Apple
Can ‘Horizon OS’ be the Android to visionOS?
M.G. Siegler
An ‘iPhone E’ for ‘Emerging’
The case to re-release the three-year-old iPhone models elsewhere
M.G. Siegler
A Glimpse Into Modern News Consumption
At least via the Trump trial in NYC, which may not mean much -- still…
M.G. Siegler
Disney Invents the TV Channel
We’re working our way back to the cable bundle…
M.G. Siegler
Into Thin Airchat
Will the latest social thing be the next big thing?
M.G. Siegler
The Hard Thing About Hardware 📧
Will the rise of AI lead to new consumer hardware?
M.G. Siegler
Alexa, Are We Over?
Amazon to Stop Paying Developers to Create Apps For AlexaAmazon.com Inc. will no longer pay developers to create applications for Alexa, scrapping a key element of the company’s effort to build a flourishing app store for its voice-activated digital assistant.BloombergMatt Day End of... well, something: Amazon.com
M.G. Siegler
IMAX’s Big Picture
Film Fans Keep Splurging on Blockbusters in Imax, So Why Hasn’t Wall Street Gotten on Board?How Imax has quickly become the goldstandard in theatrical experiences.VarietyBrent Lang It’s easy to overthink it. With all the concerns about the future of cinemas – as in the actual buildings where you
M.G. Siegler
‘Snow’ Show No More
Game Of Thrones Jon Snow Spinoff Series No Longer In Development At HBO
The Game of Thrones Jon Snow spinoff series is no longer in active development at HBO, Kit Harington confirms in an interview. Screen Rant
Adam Bentz We will continue to know nothing... more about Jon Snow, it
M.G. Siegler
Meta’s Only Slightly Better Than Burning Books Plan...
How Tech Giants Cut Corners to Harvest Data for A.I.
Meta debated buying a publisher like Simon & Schuster for AI training data... The New York Times
Various There is a lot in this NYT report – bylined by five reporters: Cade Metz, Cecilia Kang, Sheera Frenkel, Stuart A. Thompson and
M.G. Siegler
Where is the Colorful MacBook?
I’m not the least bit ashamed to admit that I hate April Fools Day. First, I’m someone who values high quality information above all else.1 Second, it’s stupid. Yes, I’m a grinch or whatever. I just don’t find any of the jokes – especially the jokes by tech companies – funny.
M.G. Siegler
March 2024
Apple’s Vision PROblem
Apple’s Immersive Video problemOn Thursday Apple debuted its first immersive video since the Vision Pro launched, a five-minute-long compilation of highlights from the MLS Cup playoffs late last year. Without even seeing the vid…Six Colors Earlier this week, Apple finally – and I do mean finally, it took them
M.G. Siegler
A Decade Under the Influence of Satya Nadella
Exactly 10 years ago I sent the tweet above. First and foremost, it’s wild that it has been 10 years. So long ago, that they were still called “tweets”.1 Second, my god what a decade Satya Nadella and Microsoft have had. On that day, Microsoft held an event in
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s Practical Fight
At its core, the DoJ’s case against Apple seemingly would seek to undo a lot of what makes the iPhone the iPhone. Which is equal parts worrisome, weird, and wild. And so at the highest level, of course Apple is going to fight back against this. At the same time,
M.G. Siegler
Let’s Be Real About Consumer 📧
The recent reports that BeReal is struggling with either a fundraise or growth or both, is a bummer. I have no actual information about the round or company – nor am I even a regular user (I had sort of been there/done that with Front/Back back in the day!
M.G. Siegler
This is Expensive Coffee
Microsoft Agreed to Pay Inflection $650 Million While Hiring Its Staff
Microsoft doesn’t want its plan to hire two of Inflection AI’s co-founders and most of its 70-person staff to be seen as an acquisition... The Information
Jessica E. Lessin, Natasha Mascarenhas, & Aaron Holmes Just to follow-up on
M.G. Siegler
Quick Thoughts on DoJ v. Apple
U.S. Sues Apple, Alleges Tech Giant Exploits Illegal Monopoly
The US DOJ sues Apple, alleging the company blocked its competitors from accessing iPhone features, made switching to non-Apple devices more difficult, and more... Techmeme
Various Headlines With the very large caveats that I’m not a lawyer – let alone an
M.G. Siegler
Will ‘The Acolyte’ Be Too Zealot or Just Right?
“Whatever You Think The Acolyte Is, It’s Not”: Star Wars Series Creator Leslye Headland Revels in the First Teaser TrailerThe showrunner behind the Star Wars Original series, debuting June 4 on Disney+, talks about her film influences and love of Legends lore.Disney NewsKristin Baver Feels a little weird
M.G. Siegler
ESPN’s Spaghetti-to-Wall Streaming Strategy
ESPN Boss Jimmy Pitaro’s Chaotic Race to Remake the Sports Giant
Cable TV’s collapse is forcing the Disney property out of its comfort zone, from hiring risky talent to a streaming gambit that ticked off the NFL Isabella Simonetti & Robbie Whelan Just in case you were wondering when
M.G. Siegler
Maybe Not Everything Needs an App Store
OpenAI’s Chatbot App Store Is Off to a Slow Start
Last fall, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sought to capitalize on the raging success of ChatGPT by launching an app store... The Information
Stephanie Palazzolo You get why everyone wants to build an “app store” – everyone wants to be a
M.G. Siegler
What Was the Point of Inflection?
Microsoft Hires DeepMind Co-founder Mustafa Suleyman from Inflection to Run Consumer AI
He’s reporting to Satya Nadella and bringing on most staff from his Inflection AI startup... Techmeme
Various Headlines So many questions about this Microsoft/Inflection deal. Wait a minute, strike that. There is no deal. Well, there may
M.G. Siegler
A Bond for the (Correct) Ages?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson Offered James Bond Role
Reportedly will “sign contract this week” The Sun
Howell Davies & Ellie Henman At last, some spy news on Spyglass. With the very real caveat that I’m linking to a UK tabloid (owned by News Corp) and that even they are couching this news with
M.G. Siegler
Tik-for-Tok
Once More With Feeling: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional & Won’t Do Shit To Deal With Any Actual ThreatsOver the last few days, we’ve had a few posts about the latest attempt to ban TikTok in the US (and to people who say it’s only a divestiture bill: there
M.G. Siegler
For Whom the Tik Toks
TikTok Turns to Creators to Fight Possible Ban
Dozens of popular figures on the app have traveled to Washington to urge lawmakers to oppose a bill that could result in the platform being blocked in the United States. NYT
Sapna Maheshwari & Yiwen Lu Riddle me this: if you’re a Chinese-owned
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s Trump Card
Apple finds itself in a weird spot at the moment. They long ago relinquished their beloved underdog status but now they’re nearing the full transition to “big baddie” in the eyes of many. “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” and all
M.G. Siegler
Cable’s Continued Collapse
Major Pay TV Operators Shed 5 Million Subscribers in 2023 - TheWrapThe figure brings the industry’s total net losses in the past five years to over 20 million, according to Leichtman Research GroupTheWrapLucas Manfredi Everyone knows by now (finally – I wrote this almost a decade ago) that cable TV
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s “Oh Shit, We Fucked Up” Epic EU Moment
Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account, clearing path for Epic Games Store on iPhone - 9to5MacAfter a whirlwind of events, Epic Games says Apple has reinstated their App Store developer account. The move clears the…9to5MacZac Hall Well, someone got to Apple. Either it was the EU or, perhaps
M.G. Siegler
A Few Thoughts After Dune 2 Viewings
And now, I must repent. Last week, after my midnight viewing of Dune: Part 2 I noted that while this new film is great and an absolute spectacle, I felt as if I still liked the first film more. Well, I just watched it for a second time, at a
M.G. Siegler
The EU Fines Apple Which Apple Is Not Fine With
The EU Commission Fines Apple €1.8B for Stifling Music Competition
iPhone maker hit by first-ever Brussels fine as competition watchdogs step up scrutiny of Big Tech Techmeme
Various Another day, another EU v. Apple situation. This fine, while more than triple what was expected, is not what matters here.
M.G. Siegler
February 2024
Behold: The Apple Television
A revolutionary new productivity tool. A truly amazing gaming device. And an insanely great content viewer. These were not three separate products,1 but instead, the promise of one product: the Vision Pro. Unfortunately, at least for now, it sure feels like only the last of those experiences is the
M.G. Siegler
Apple Rings and Things
Apple Ponders Whether to Develop Smart Glasses, Fitness RingApple has explored the idea of developing new wearable devices — including a fitness ring, smart glasses and even AirPods with cameras — to broaden one of its most important business areas. Also: Hear the latest on a HomePod with a screen, Apple’s
M.G. Siegler
Vision Pro’s Inconvenient Truth
If you start me up
If you start me up, I’ll never stop. The Rolling Stones song, incidentally the one used to launch Windows 95, is stuck in my head. Because it’s what I keep thinking about while trying to start using the Vision Pro. And I do mean “trying”
M.G. Siegler
There and Back Again, a San Francisco Tale
Tech Leaders Fled San Francisco During the Pandemic. Now, They’re Coming Back.
Founders and investors who moved to Miami and elsewhere are returning to a boom in artificial intelligence and an abundance of tech talent. Wall Street Journal
Berber Jin & Angel Au-Yeung San Francisco is back! In 3 to
M.G. Siegler
Xbox (Every) Where?
The Verge had at least four articles focused on Microsoft’s Xbox announcement last week – there’s a joke in here somewhere about one for each of the whopping four games they’re bringing to other consoles – and upon reading each one, I still can’t quite parse what on Earth the strategy is
M.G. Siegler
True Enough
❗Warning: Spoilers ahead for True Detective: Night Country I loved, loved, loved the first season of True Detective.1 The second season was, as everyone knows, pretty bad, despite a great cast. The third season was better, but nothing that I can honestly say I remember too much about. The
M.G. Siegler
Uber Wasn’t Worth $17B. True. It’s More Like $150B. And Rising.
Uber Isn’t Worth $17 BillionEarlier this month, investors poured $1.2 billion into Uber, a tech company whose smartphone app connects taxi drivers to passengers. The share of the business …FiveThirtyEightAswath Damodaran One thing I’ve done for well over a decade: bookmark posts and takes that I find ridiculous
M.G. Siegler
Period?
Here we go again: “I don’t just think that Quest is the better value, I think Quest is the better product, period.” Look, I actually don’t disagree with Mark Zuckerberg’s overall stance here. Meta’s Quest, as it stands right now on February 13, 2024 is a better overall product
M.G. Siegler
The Stopgap Sports Bundle
Now that a couple days have passed since the seeming bombshell sports streaming announcement which would further blow up the cable bundle dropped, a slew of new little details have come along, as you might expect. First and foremost, the timing of that announcement was pretty clearly to get ahead
M.G. Siegler
What a Mess
Earlier tonight, I joked about Bluesky moving up in my social media power rankings. To position number 4 of the 17 sites and services that I now need to update in order to reach the audience that has now completely dispersed since Xitter shit the bed. This is actually not
M.G. Siegler
The Crunch
TechCrunch+ Termination
Layoffs hit TechCrunch... Lux Capital
Danny Crichton With the unfortunate news of layoffs at TechCrunch last week, this post attempts to look at the why – and in particular, what went wrong with “TechCrunch+”, the site’s premium tier. With the large caveat that I was at TechCrunch a decade
M.G. Siegler
Laptop Ban? In 2024? What About My Facetop?
The year is 2024, and I’ve just been kicked out of a cafe for using a laptop. Well, technically I wasn’t kicked out, but rather was asked to put my laptop away because with the new year, they’ve decided to implement a no-laptop-policy. So I was effectively kicked out. I
M.G. Siegler
January 2024
My 2024 iPhone Homescreen
Historically, I’ve used the start of the new year to post a screenshot of the homescreen of my iPhone. Each year, I’m late in doing so. And each year, I get asked when it’s coming. This year, I’m later than normal in doing so – sorry, I’ve been busy spinning up
M.G. Siegler
Let’s Face It
Happy Vision Pro Week to those who celebrate. The device ships on Friday.1 But we can expect the first official reviews to drop tomorrow. Those will be an interesting read for sure. Normally, reviews of Apple products are entirely predictable. This is not a knock on anyone who does
M.G. Siegler
Apple’s Deliciously Dripping with Disdain Press Release
Earlier today, I laid out why I thought Apple might end up taunting the EU with any changes they implement to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) laws set to take effect in March. And after a roughly 30 minute honeymoon period when folks thought Apple may actually be
M.G. Siegler
An Ode to the Volume Swipe
I said my second post would be another “meta” post, but I lied. The truth is that it’s late at night here in London and after a few hour delay launching this site earlier today (thanks for the help, Ghost), and during a “midnight feed” of a baby, I found
M.G. Siegler