I've long been fascinated by the music economy, one of the earliest blogs I ever wrote covered this very topic over ten years ago. Much has changed in the last ten years. At the time of that original post, only a quarter of Spotify's subscriber base
china
Dan Wang's Breakneck reframes the US-China rivalry not through capitalism vs socialism, but through a far more human lens: engineers vs lawyers.
AI
The personal computer made us faster without making us passengers. The question is whether AI will do the same, or whether the sparkly prompt box is just too convenient to resist.
AI
Voice AI is impressive. But are we just engineering our way around problems databases solved decades ago? A breakdown of conversational computing, general AI, and the tech industry's obsession with over-solving.
Technology
Moore's Law told us technology gets cheaper. Gilder told us networks grow forever. So what happens to orthodox economics when scarcity stops being the point? A look at digital networks, network effects, and why consumer attention is the only constraint left.
blockchain
Firms exist because transacting with strangers is expensive. Blockchain makes it nearly free. A look at transaction cost theory, decentralisation, and why intermediaries should be paying very close attention.
ecommerce
What Amazon did to books, it's doing to everything. A look at aggregation theory, ecommerce disruption, and which retailers actually have a shot at surviving it.
apple
Being late to market isn't the same as losing. A look at Apple's product strategy, market entry timing, and why framing a new product around an existing need beats being first almost every time.
apple watch
Swatch wants to build a smartwatch OS. But the real question isn't whether they can compete with Apple — it's whether the wrist is even the right place for wearable tech anymore.
Internet of Things
Smartphone innovation has plateaued. So what comes next? A look at IoT, AI, and the race to own the platform at the centre of our connected world.
uber
Network effects don't just reward the biggest player. They actively punish everyone else. A look at why the internet is structurally designed to produce monopolies, and whether that's actually such a bad thing.
social media
Snapchat didn't just change how we share photos. It changed what a photo is for. A look at mobile-native design, social currency, and why the camera is a much bigger deal than anyone in social media is admitting.