Weekly Links & Thoughts #104

Here is this week’s edition of meshedsociety.com weekly, loaded with thoughtful opinion pieces, interesting analyses and significant yet under-reported information bits from the digital and technology world. Published and annotated every Thursday (CET), just in time so you have something good to read over the weekend.

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Reading time indicator: 1 = up to 3 minutes, 2 = 3 to 10 minutes, 3 = more than 10 minutes

• The Machine to free us all (2)
  
  Sometimes a bit utopia is necessary to define the direction. Inspiring food for thought.
• Davos: Technology poses new risks to jobs, economies and society (2)
  
  Without the optimistic mindset from the previous text, technology increasingly will be considered a threat…
• The Coming Tech Backlash (2)
  
  …which inevitably will lead to a massive backlash. Actually we are already seeing it.
• Medium, and The Reason You Can’t Stand the News Anymore (3)
  
  Probably the best analysis I’ve read of how the current business and incentive models of online journalism are destroying journalism and some of the foundations of an educated society.
• The Web Divided (3)
  
  The web might be world wide, but it’s highly fragmented due to language barriers. Thanks to machine translation, these barriers might disappear soon.
• The reality of VR/AR growth (3)
  
  An excellent, comprehensive and critical investigation of the state of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, and what to expect next.
• Peter Thiel, Trump’s Tech Pal, Explains Himself (3)
  
  When it comes to Peter Thiel, there is a lot I disagree with. However, reading this made me get a better understanding of his urge to be contrarian. On a more moderate level, I do recognize myself in this philosophy. There lies a certain allure in not following herd mentality (although obviously, no matter which way one chooses, there is always a new herd one joins in with).
• Cars as feature-phones (2)
  
  A very helpful analogy to describe what is going to happen with cars and the car industry.
• A Rant Against Maximization (1)
  
  I would not call this a rant. It is an introspection which I completely can subscribe to. This is exactly my philosophy: Improvements are awesome and necessary, but maximization is not.
• “Side Hustle” as a Sign of the Apocalypse (1)
  
  This on the other hand does certainly deserve to be called a rant. About the tech industry’s glorification of the need of second or third jobs.
• Spotify Payments (2)
  
  Music industry Bob Lefsetz says that artists who complain about small payouts from streaming are screwed by the labels, not by the streaming services. And Spotify can’t say this, because the labels are their partners.
• How the Most Successful Leaders Will Thrive in an Exponential World (2)
  
  Exponential developments require leaders who think and act accordingly.
• Snapchat has changed Venice, and the neighborhood isn’t changing back (2)
  
  What happens when a fast-growing tech startup keeps taking over the commercial real estate of a vibrant Californian beachside town.
• Too early for check-in? No worry, Tokyo cafes offering ‘Airbnb of baggage storage’ (1)
  
  Simple and good idea. As a frequent traveler I can easily see the value in such a service, especially if it helps you to plan and book ahead.
• S&*!t! I’m Locked Out By Google Authenticator and I Can’t Get In! (2)
  
  Two-factor authentication is great, until it locks you out from your favorite apps and services. Good to plan ahead.
• These Are the World’s Most Innovative Economies (1)
  
  Sweden second. Doesn’t surprise me too much. Germany ranking on 3 does surprise me (but that’s probably because I’m too much focusing on Germany’s notorious lack of innovation in the digital space).
• European Tech Funding Report for 2016: last year saw 3,420 deals totalling €16.2 billion (1)
  
  Summarizing in two words: FinTech & France.
• Techdirt’s First Amendment Fight For Its Life (1)
  
  A person named Shiva Ayyadurai claims to have invented email. The well-known tech policy blog Techdirt has been questioning this claim in its coverage. Now Ayyadurai is suing the site for $15 million, which could mean its end. This is how the free press slowly dies.
• The Inside Story of BitTorrent’s Bizarre Collapse (3)
  
  I was completely unaware of the continuous struggle of the company founded in 2004 by the inventor of the BitTorrent protocol, although it was hard to miss that while the company kept releasing new services, those never seemed to catch on with the masses.
• Tribal, systematic, and fluid political understanding (3)
  
  This essay has nothing to do with technology but it is simply brilliant.

Recently on meshedsociety.com:

• Saving obsolete jobs
  
  Does it really make sense to artificially save jobs that technically become obsolete? For politicians apparently it does. For society? Most likely not so much.

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