Media & Entertainment

It's the end of an era: New York City removed its last public payphone on Monday. The city began removing street payphones in 2015, replacing them with kiosks that offer free phone calls, Wi-Fi, and device charging. The boxy enclosures were once an iconic symbol across the city, but the rise of cellphones made the booths obsolete. Continue Reading →

I’m thrilled to announce the public beta launch of Metacademy: a free-to-use, risk-free, hands-on website that will teach you about blockchain, cryptocurrency, NFTs, smart contracts, Web3, and other associated technologies. You’ll learn about the world of Web3, decentralized finance (DeFi), the correct way to set up a crypto wallet, how to mint your own NFTs, and how to buy and sell them. Continue Reading →

Yesterday, in an SEC filing regarding Elon Musk's bid for the company, Twitter said it is "committed to completing the transaction on the agreed price and terms as promptly as practicable." Continue Reading →

Earlier this morning, Elon tweeted a reply about his upcoming purchase of Twitter to @Teslarati: "20% fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be *much* higher. My offer was based on Twitter's SEC filings being accurate.Yesterday, Twitter's CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%. This deal cannot move forward until he does." Continue Reading →

HB 20, a new Texas law, prohibits social media platforms with more than 50 million users in the U.S. from moderating content on the basis of “viewpoint.” It creates a catastrophic new liability for tech platforms serving Texas, which the law says cannot be excluded from service. This is headed for SCOTUS. Continue Reading →

This past week, DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) invited me to keynote at SportsInnovation 2022. With the football (soccer) pitch at Düsseldorf’s Merkur Spiel-Arena as the backdrop, rival teams played live games as various technologies were demonstrated in real time. Here’s a look at some of my favorite tech from the event. Continue Reading →

As you know, there are only three business models: I pay, you pay, or someone else pays. While everyone says they hate commercials, ad-supported business models simply refuse to die. Why? "Free" (aka "someone else pays") is very compelling for both consumers and shareholders. So compelling, in fact, that our friends at Netflix are looking to introduce their lower-priced ad-supported tier by the end of the year. Continue Reading →

Elon Musk has an option to purchase Twitter for $44 billion. For argument's sake, let's say Twitter has 300 million monthly active users (MAU). If so, he is paying approximately $147 per MAU. Telegram, on the other hand, has approximately 550 million MAUs. Using the same math, Telegram should be worth approximately $80 billion, but Twitter and Telegram are apples and oranges. Twitter is a publicly traded company with a traditional corporate form. Telegram is something completely different. Continue Reading →

Netflix says that roughly 100 million households use a shared password. For years it encouraged the practice because the network effect (more people watching Netflix) had a positive impact on subscriber acquisition. That was then. Now, Netflix is facing headwinds. It is losing subscribers and share prices are heading in the wrong direction. So, among other things, Netflix is going to try to increase revenue by cracking down on password sharing. Will it work? And, how will it work? Let’s explore. Continue Reading →

Citing competition from Discovery+, Disney+, Paramount+, AppleTV+, and the advent of CNN+, we are excited to announce ShellyPalmer+. “Everyone else has a plus,” said Shelly Palmer, founder of the soon-to-be-launched service. Continue Reading →