There is often lots of talk in American politics about the ‘real America.’ Suffice it to say, implicit in that is that everyone wants to be real and so even an assertion to the contrary is an insult. Truth be told, however, what many regional and local governments are interested in is whether their location …
Uber versus Google: Far from self-driving competition
So what happens when on the same day, Uber announces that it is investing heavily in self-driving cars and Google is rumoured to be developing a ride sharing app? Media chaos focussing on a forthcoming robot war between Google and Uber over travellers. The media decided Uber was going to replace its drivers with robots. …
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Why BlackBerry's app neutrality is crazy
Last night, BlackBerry CEO John Chen penned a blog post on net neutrality. He was in favor of net neutrality but in the last half of his post introduced a whole new notion of neutrality: “Application Neutrality” or app neutrality for short. Suffice it to say, the Internet decided this was crazy. And, I’m going …
To provide eyes or not to provide eyes
Be My Eyes is a clever app created by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a Danish craftsperson who is also visually impaired. I could explain it but you should really watch this video. https://player.vimeo.com/video/113872517 The design is quite clever. When asking people to contribute something voluntarily, it is always best to make people feel good about giving …
Something is wrong with Apple's International app pricing
Apple's App Store is a global platform for software developers to distribute apps to iPhones, iPads and Macs. As an institution it is phenomenal, reducing transaction costs and opening up many markets that were previously impenetrable to developers. This week Apple reported that the App Store made $15 billion for developers. But this week a problem …
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Is Kindle Unlimited Distorting Amazon Sales Ranks?
The integrity of sales rankings matters. It’s pretty well documented that bestseller rankings have direct effects on sales. In a world awash in titles, it’s hard to figure out what to read, so rationally lazy people rely on bestseller lists to learn what to read. Until recently, the Amazon top 100 was a meaningful ranking …
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The morality of price spikes
New Years Eve has come and gone and with it the annual discussion regarding whether Uber's 'surge pricing' is justifiable (for example, here is Slate and here is an excellent set of points from Tim B. Lee at Vox. For the uninitiated, 'surge pricing' occurs when Uber's algorithms automatically raise the price of rides to …
Top Posts of 2014
As is traditional, here are Digitopoly's top posts of 2014: 10 Reasons to doubt Tim’s Vermeer The easy target that is the Theory of Disruptive Innovation Tirole and Pasteur The Giant’s Shoulders: Suzanne Scotchmer The ownership of the machines No business built on teenager demand is sustainable Amazon: it’s not the power, it’s the lost …
Top Technology Events of the Year, 2014
It is time again for the best technology events of the year. We have quite a lineup this year, including Sony, Aereo, net neutrality, Home Depot, and a few surprise guest stars. As with prior years, the winner had to do something in the calendar year. The action had to involve information and communications technology. It had to …
Digitised Products: How about just giving up?
In a very interesting talk, music producer, Steve Albini, reviewed the impact of the internet on the music industry’s woes. I can’t do it justice in any summary but he basically said that, for bands, things were not very good prior to the internet. The reason for this is that recording was expensive, distribution was …
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