Weekly Links #18
Here is a weekly selection of important information bits, thoughtful opinion pieces and interesting analyses from the digital and technology world. Published every Thursday.
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- Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley
There are reasons to be skeptical about the European Commission’s plan to create a single digital market in Europe (one reason: Günther Oettinger), but since this is the only hope we have, I want to remain optimistic. And there are a couple of important aspects and milestones included in the plan. - Our Mobile, Networked World Is Ushering in a New Victorian Age
A nice little analogy. - Mark Leslie: “The Key to Enduring Growth Is Strategic Transformation”
More important than ever, because change is happening so much faster: Companies need to transform themselves and their business before somebody else comes along, destroys the old market, creates a new one and nets the profits. - Facebook’s Zuckerberg Thinks Aggressively Violating Net Neutrality Is Fine…If You Just Mean Well
The Indian debate about net neutrality and Facebook’s Internet.org initiative has received lots of international attention this week. - Why Startups Like Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX Succeed, While Others Fail
Great post about the factors that decide the most about whether a startup becomes a success, based on actual experiences. The no 1 thing: Timing. - News Organizations Try to Grab Readers by Their Wrists With the Apple Watch
Poor news organization: As if they do not already have enough to worry about. Now the even are expected to create custom solutions to bring tiny one-sentence headlines onto the Apple Watch. - Facebook, eBay, Vice News And Others First To Support Chrome’s New Push Notifications
For the first time, native web apps will be able to generate push messages on people’s smartphones – at least if these people use the Chrome browser for Android. Until now the push capability was one of the major advantages of native apps over web apps. - The Incredible Jun: A Town that Runs on Social Media
This is a rather unconventional implemention of the “e-government” philosphy: A Spanish mayor who uses Twitter as his principal medium for citizen-government communication. - Homeless Millennials Are Transforming Hobo Culture
Something most of us probably do not think too much about: Smartphones transform the lifes of the homeless. Fascinating read. - Jay Z’s music-streaming service Tidal struggles despite celebrity fanfare
Turns out that the declared opportunity to make music superstars a bit richer does not convince consumers to join a new music streaming service. - What the hell is an MVNO, and why is Google building one with Fi?
About Google’s intriguing attempt to become a wireless carrier (which puts another nail into the coffin of expensive roaming charges – at least for customers in the U.S.). - Why journalists should (at least sometimes) be activists
I think this nails it. Especially about some technology topics such as net neutrality or surveillance, remaining neutral would not make any sense. - The War Nerd: The Art of Turf War
This pretty interesting article about the recent anti-immigration “riots” in parts of South Africa has very little to do with the topics covered here. With one exception: The author notes how cell phones are being utilized to organize the fight against foreigners. This made me think: Since smartphones are about to become the global computing device of people everywhere, we might see increased tension and conflicts caused by the mobile revolution’s new possibilities of organizing people and distributing (mis)information. - Startup Amsterdam: can the Dutch capital catch up to Europe’s top startup hubs, London and Berlin?
In Europe, every bigger city seems to have ambitions to become a startup hub. Amsterdam has not been too much in the spotlight though. Robin Wauters takes a closer look. - How the Internet Became a Shame-Storm
Unfortunately true. - The next tech bubble is about to burst
Likely. Although it is hard to predict how much pain this burst will cause. It does not need to get very painful for most.
And recently on meshedsociety.com: