> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://spyglass.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Feature Creeps 📧 - URL: https://spyglass.org/feature-creeps/ - Published: 2024-10-16T18:46:27.000Z - Updated: 2024-10-22T06:33:32.000Z - Description: Trump/Google • Qualcomm/Intel • AMD/Intel • Slow Horses/Apple • Color/Kindle • Threads/Status - Author: M.G. Siegler - Tags: newsletter I feel like [**the promise of a color Kindle**](https://spyglass.org/color-kindle/) has been out there for at least a decade, if not longer. It's sort of wild that it has taken this long, but Amazon says they finally feel confident in the e-ink technology – or their own tweaks on it – to make it a colorful reality. Now we can all start hoping for foldable Kindles. Not like foldable phones, but more like newspapers, [perhaps](https://500ish.com/plateau-kindle-before-peak-kindle-96f8948bd880?ref=spyglass.org). Or, you know, books. [A crease](https://spyglass.org/pixel-fold-versus-iphone/) is a feature! Speaking of features. I don't know what Meta was thinking in rolling out [**status indicators to let others know when a Threads user is actively online**](https://spyglass.org/threads-chat/), but I know there are at least 100 features that the community would have appreciated more. Like, you know, *direct messages* if you want to make this a chat service? 🎵 Listening to ["Got To Give" by Pearl Jam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghxh8yP0AME&ab%5Fchannel=PearljamVEVO&ref=spyglass.org) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/2024/10/SGgreenWHITE.png) Subscribe to Spyglass Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. --- ### Some Thoughts... 🚩 [**Trump v. Google**](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/15/us/politics/trump-google-monopoly-china.html?ref=spyglass.org) — In a rambling, meandering [interview](https://www.youtube.com/live/api9V-jaxYg?si=6VQ1GNt7F3SqIOA1&ref=spyglass.org), Trump both said he didn’t think [breaking up Google](https://spyglass.org/the-google-break-up/) was the right action (because it would help China) but also that *something must be done* because the search engine has not been fair to him. [*The Verge wrote up*](https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24271297/google-donald-trump-bananas-breaking-up-bananas?ref=spyglass.org) some of the truly crazy quotes, including “How they became a power is really the discussion.” Which is telling because it’s the *opposite* of the discussion from the antitrust perspective, and just shows that he of course has no idea what he’s talking about in these rants. But hey, look at it from his perspective: vague authoritarian threats [basically worked](https://spyglass.org/dear-zuck/) with [Mark Zuckerberg and Meta](https://spyglass.org/mark-zuckerbergs-totally-neutral-very-political-letter/), so why not take the same approach with *all* the tech giants and see if they’ll also [kiss the ring](https://spyglass.org/vcs-for-trump/)? \[*NYT*\] **🇺🇸** [**Qualcomm Said to Wait for US Election to Decide Intel Move**](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-15/qualcomm-said-to-wait-for-us-election-to-decide-intel-move?ref=spyglass.org) – Speaking of politics, Qualcomm taking a wait-and-see approach is [hardly a surprise](https://spyglass.org/qualcomm-intel/) given the proximity to the election and given how different such a deal could look depending on the government in power. It's also hard to know which side Qualcomm would be "rooting for" here. A Harris administration may be okay with such a deal if it keeps Intel inside, as it were. But a Trump administration may [ease the current M&A restrictions](https://spyglass.org/vc-crisis/), making such a deal more feasible. Or they may make it *harder*. It's just a total wild card. Qualcomm is clearly doing all the prep work though – including pinging China for thoughts about such a deal (which also seems to be waiting to see how everything unfolds before answering). [You reading all of this, Microsoft](https://spyglass.org/intels-white-knight-microsoft/)? \[*Bloomberg* 🔒\] **⚔️** [**AMD, Intel, and a Slew of Companies Team Up to Fend Off ARM**](https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24271080/amd-intel-x86-advisory-group-lenovo-arm?ref=spyglass.org) – In tangential news... [x86 Avengers: Assemble](https://www.amd.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-10-15-intel-and-amd-form-x86-ecosystem-advisory-group-to-accelerate.html?ref=spyglass.org)! How rough are things out there for the x86 architecture at the moment? [So turbulent](https://spyglass.org/microsoft-knifes-intel/) that even Intel and AMD are willing to work together to combat the CPU assault from Apple and yes, Qualcomm. Microsoft, naturally, [is playing both sides](https://spyglass.org/microsofts-copilot-qualcomm/). Lenovo and several other PC-makers obviously makes sense backing this given the state of the industry, but Google and Meta are also on board for reasons? Chromebooks, I guess. But Meta? Anyway, none of the software players are going to turn their backs on Qualcomm anytime soon. And if they were to acquire a certain x86 chip maker... \[*Verge*\] **🐴** [**‘Slow Horses’ Reins in Season 6 Renewal at Apple**](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/slow-horses-season-6-renewed-1236032367/?ref=spyglass.org) – This is good news for me, [as a huge fan of the show](https://www.threads.net/@mgsiegler/post/DA%5F0d6VIAXk?ref=spyglass.org), but also for Apple, [which has needed a bonafide hit post-*Ted Lasso*](https://spyglass.org/apple-tv-plus-minus/) (at least until it [inevitably comes back as well](https://spyglass.org/ted-lasso-potential/)). Apple doesn't release numbers, but at least from a critical acclaim perspective, *Slow Horses* would seem to be [the best thing they have going right now](https://spyglass.org/its-not-tv-its-apple-tv-plus/). And given that there are at least nine books in the series, there's some more room to run here – with Gary Oldman seemingly happy to do this for as long as they'll let him (there's some chatter about a spin-off movie and/or prequel series about his Jackson Lamb character as well). \[*THR*\] --- ### Some Analysis... [The Color of KindleA ‘Colorsoft’ Kindle and an AI-ready Kindle Scribe leak out…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/Spyglass-Rings---Multi-52.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/aa-oct24-newkindlelineup-standard-hero-v1-600kb-2000x1125-1.jpg)](https://spyglass.org/color-kindle/) [Threads Is Not ChatYou want real-time? Shove a status indicator on that shit!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/10/Spyglass-Rings---Multi.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/2024/10/in-the-matrix-1999-the-character-switch-said-not-like-this-v0-lvv0m6i9a2fd1-1.webp)](https://spyglass.org/threads-chat/) --- ### Some Links... - Kate Clark’s **5 key red flags for VC** from *PitchBook’s* latest quarterly report all clearly point to an exit bottleneck. There are now 57,674 private companies, a record, per the data, and yet capital deployment has been *slowing*. Something’s gotta give. [A crisis](https://spyglass.org/vc-crisis/), you might say. \[[*The Information*](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/five-red-flags-hanging-over-venture-capital?rc=lsmcir&ref=spyglass.org) 🔒\] - **Amazon** follows [Microsoft](https://spyglass.org/a-beige-take/#:~:text=%E2%98%A2%EF%B8%8F%20Microsoft%20Brings,Financial%20Times%20%F0%9F%94%92%5D) and [Google](https://spyglass.org/on-a-string/#:~:text=Google%20puts%20in,need.%20%5BFT%20%F0%9F%94%92%5D) by diving into **nuclear power** with AWS investing $500M into three different projects... \[[*CNBC*](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/16/amazon-goes-nuclear-investing-more-than-500-million-to-develop-small-module-reactors.html?ref=spyglass.org)\] - Great news for **Xitter**, they **EU** has ruled that they don't consider them to be "an important gateway for businesses to reach consumers" and as such they don't have to adhere to the DMA. This plus [the ouster of Thierry Breton](https://spyglass.org/red-red-whine/) could be enough to make Elon Musk move the company to Europe. \[[*TechCrunch*](https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/16/elon-musks-x-dodges-eus-dma-as-bloc-decides-platform-isnt-important-enough-for-fairness-controls/?ref=spyglass.org)\] - **Android 15** is officially here for those [with](https://spyglass.org/pixel-fold-versus-iphone/) **Pixel** phones \[[*Verge*](https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24268043/google-android-15-pixel?ref=spyglass.org)\] - It sounds like ***The Washington Post*** is on the hunt for content (and technology) **acquisitions** with the backing of Jeff Bezos. What will Will Lewis buy? *NYT* reports of talks with *Punchbowl News*, which obviously makes sense, but even easier may be simply picking off some popular newsletters from Substack and the like if subscription growth is really the goal... \[[*NYT*](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/15/business/media/washington-post-dealmaking-will-lewis.html?ref=spyglass.org)\] - It seems like **Spotify** is actually expanding the **audiobook** market, giving Amazon's Audible some competition. It's apparently already ahead of Apple! More importantly, it may be helping Spotify to continue their quest to diversify the business away from its crappy margin music roots. Did Spotify leak these numbers? \[[*Axios*](https://www.axios.com/2024/10/15/spotify-audiobooks-publishers?ref=spyglass.org)\] - **Warner Bros** made **Christopher Nolan** whole from the money he gave up in order to ensure *Tenet* would be released in theaters during the pandemic in 2020\. But the gesture of goodwill wasn't enough to woo him back from **Universal**, where he'll be making a movie with Matt Damon that apparently isn't sci-fi ([boo, no *Interstellar* prequel](https://spyglass.org/the-anti-big-tech-drumbeat/#:~:text=Christopher%20Nolan%27s%20next%20film%3F%20Well%2C%20we%20have%20a%20studio%3A%20Universal.%20A%20star%3A%20Matt%20Damon.%20And%20a%20date%3A%20July%2017%2C%202026.%20Oh%2C%20and%20a%20format%3A%20IMAX.%20No%20other%20details%20yet%20though%20%E2%80%93%20too%20much%20to%20hope%20for%20an%20Interstellar%20prequel%3F%20%5BDeadline%5D)) but may be a spy film (which may help scratch that James Bond itch without doing *Bond* itself). \[[*Variety*](https://variety.com/2024/film/news/christopher-nolan-new-movie-rejected-warner-bros-1236179734/?ref=spyglass.org)\] --- ### A Golden Oldie... [Without Real Time Information, Threads is PointlessUnleash the feeds![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/10/Spyglass-Rings---Multi.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/size/w1200/2024/05/ChatGPT-Image-2.webp)](https://spyglass.org/real-time-threads/) --- ### And I Quote... > "This isn’t some hack who happens to have delivered 'Look Who’s Talking No. 38' or 'Sharknado'. This is Christopher Nolan." \-- **Stephen Galloway**, the dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, [talking about](https://variety.com/2024/film/news/christopher-nolan-new-movie-rejected-warner-bros-1236179734/?ref=spyglass.org) the power the director has over the industry at the moment. (And why Warner Bros would pay him back money they weren't legally obligated to in order to try to win him back, per the link above.) --- 💰 ***Disclosure:** *I hold shares in Amazon, Apple, and Spotify discussed above* ## Sign up for Spyglass Insight from afar by M.G. Siegler Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.