SiriusXM scooped up Stitcher, Pandora, and Team Coco in recent years, but satellite radio in cars still drives the business.
Apple’s new don’t-call-it-a-VR-headset is the best riff on some very familiar ideas, but still searching for a purpose.
Microsoft is putting AI Copilots in everything. Will it change the way we use computers?
I’ve used Gmail in Mailplane for years but it’s been getting slower ever since official support went away. Mimestream is a native Mac app so the speed is a huge relief and — crucially — the app lets me navigate my inbox just by hitting the delete key. I’m in love.
The Washington Post charts the startling increase in laws that threaten school librarians with prison for distributing books the government doesn’t like. Librarians. Prison. Don’t take the bait about free speech on platforms without bringing this up, you know?
In addition to Idaho and Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma enacted laws mandating fines or imprisonment, or both, for school employees and librarians. Tennessee has passed two measures, one that targets schools and another that targets book publishers or vendors selling to schools.
[Washington Post]
The Dynamic Island is a potentially good idea that’s waiting for the next step
In the Instagram era it was colorful food designed to pop on camera. In the TikTok era? Food that moves, baby.
Wherever the influencers land, once they are in a dining room, they’ll need something to record. The more action that can happen in front of them, the better. “It’s part of the reason why a lot of restaurants are embracing, like, Caesar salad that’s made tableside,” says Alex Delany, a former Bon Appétit editor who is now a food-and-beverage consultant (with 280,000 followers on Instagram). “They’re going to do something that’s maybe an extra step, logistically, but it generates some kind of potentially viral action.”
[Grub Street]
Khan joined Kara Swisher for a chat about all the ways the FTC can regulate AI now, without having to wait for that pesky Congress to stop swooning over Sam Altman.
It’s been years in the making, but “online” brands like Warby Parker are turning to physical retail stores as a core marketing strategy because the customer acquisition cost (CAC) is cheaper than ads on platforms like Facebook. And, hilariously, easier to track.
Digital advertising costs exploded during the pandemic, as people were stuck at home and companies shifted their marketing to screens. Apple’s decision in 2021 to allow phone users to opt out of tracking by apps such as Facebook further increased costs, Mr. Lai said, by making it more difficult for apps to gather data on consumers’ interests. That limits advertisers’ ability to efficiently target potential customers.
