Welcome back to Else – I took a week off for Spring break, so this covers two weeks of the best stories related to the work I’m doing on the book. Reflecting an increased focus on Google, this edition of Else is flush with Google news, from its purchase of Titan Aerospace to its unusual willingness to show us a peek behind the curtain of Google X. Google also had a confounding earnings release, took steps to consolidate power in the hands of its founders (again), and had an entertaining wrinkle in its ongoing tiff with European publishers.
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To the links:
In fact, Google is growing – earning prove it – but the point here, cribbed from asymco, is that as goes Internet penetration, so goes Google, and the Internet is growing far more slowly than it used to. This points to two things – one, the need to own “the next 2 billion” people who have yet to get on the Internet – this is why Facebook and Google are buying drone makers – and two, the need to get into entirely new lines of business – which explains Nest, among other things.
Matt Ingram takes a strong POV on recent moves by the Internet giants to insure shareholders don’t have much power. It’s all legal, and it’s also unsettling. Are we putting too much faith in companies that have cheery mission statements and trustworthy CEOs? At what point do we need more influence over them, or do we?
Google, once disdainful of lobbying, now a master of Washington influence – The Washington Post
A very detailed overview of how Google has become a very large player in DC. A timely piece.
Why Google and the Music Industry Want a YouTube Hit – The Information
YouTube is the largest music app in the world, but no one sees it that way. Soon, we will. It’s critical that Google get this one right.
A German business model – Buzz Machine
Jarvis takes off the gloves and beats up Axel Springer, a company for whom I have far more sympathy, even if I do agree, in the end, you can’t cry in your beer. All of this keys off a very public back and forth between Eric Schmidt and the CEO of Axel.
Station to Station – Pitchfork
A very well done article “experience” about the future and present of streaming music. Bravo.
The Naked Android – VisionMobile
A history of how Google tried to put the Android genie back in the bottle.
Google to Buy Titan Aerospace as Web Giants Battle for Air Superiority – WSJ
Take that, Facebook!
Surveillance, Good and Evil- Random House
An overview of the recent book Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread—The Lessons from a New Science. This is now on my reading list – seems to be an important new work on the impact of data on our society.
Amazon Ad Business Sparks Controversy—and Growth – The Information
Amazon strikes me as the most natural competitor to Google, not Apple.
The Truth About Google X: An Exclusive Look Behind The Secretive Lab’s Closed Doors – Fast Company
It’s unusual to see Google open up like this. Seems part of a larger strategy worth watching.
IAB Report: US Internet Ad Revenue Grew To $42.8B In 2013, Overtaking Broadcast TV – TechCrunch
A historic year – until you realize, the distinction between TV ads and “internet” ads is false. TV is an app of the Internet, or soon will be.
900 Years of Tree Diagrams, the Most Important Data Viz Tool in History – WIRED
Fascinating to see how this approach to visualization has informed our understanding of data.
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