Weekly Links & Thoughts #35
Here is a weekly selection of thoughtful opinion pieces, interesting analyses and significant yet under-reported information bits from the digital and technology world. Published and commented every Thursday, just in time so you have something good to read during the weekend.
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- Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
This is insightful. However, I think the key question is this: Will this time be different, or will it be the same as always? Nobody really knows, and there are plenty of contrary predictions. Also, maybe what primarily needs to change is what we consider to be “jobs”. - Can you work at an Amazon, Uber or Google and have a life?
That is this week’s big questions after an intense debate about working conditions at Amazon’s headquarter. In my eyes too many people chase money and power and make sacrifices that they’ll regret later on. On the other hand, everybody is different. - The Rise of Phone Reading
The rise of the smartphone does not really come as a surprise. However, its multi-talent character and the extent to which it is changing the game can be astonishing. - The realities of a $50 smartphone
Except if your name is Apple, you should probably think twice about whether you want to manufacture smartphones. There are better ways to earn money. - One nation under CCTV: the future of automated surveillance
The UK is probably the society in the West with the most advanced surveillance of its citizen. Combine all those cameras with big data and you get a real surveillance state. It’s a shame. - Scarlett Johansson, Facebook MoneyPenny and Corporate Productivity
This article has opened a new perspective for me: I have never thought of Slackbot, the personal assistant that comes with the widely loved team-communication service Slack, as being a serious future contender of Siri, Cortana etc. But yeah, why not! - Kik Takes $50 Million Investment From WeChat Parent Company Tencent, Hits $1 Billion Valuation
This is a quite interesting development. Kik has managed to stay relevant for years despite the massive growth of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Now who knows, maybe Tencent will try to turn it into the Western version of its massive Chinese messenger hit WeChat. - Paul Graham is wrong, and your name is fine
Fair point: Domain names hardly matter anymore. That Google decided to launch its new holding company Alphabet without the alphabet.com domain could be taken as proof. - Why advertising can’t quit Flash
Flash was supposed to be dead years ago, but it is still around. Here is why. - Location, Sensors, Voice, Photos?! Spotify Just Got Real Creepy With The Data It Collects On You
That sounds rather questionable. As a paying premium member I do not expect to give up all my privacy – or at least I want to be informed in a transparent way about changes. Instead the app just forced me into accepting, announcing that after 30 days I won’t be able to use Spotify otherwise. Oddly enough I just accepted, without thinking to much about the implications. So I am at fault here too for being not critical enough.
And most recently on meshedsociety.com