In this week’s episode Ben and James follow up on last week’s episode, introduce the Toilet Bowl philosophy of career development, and then dive into the future of publishers in the world of Facebook. Due to some technical issues there is a rather abrupt stop at the end – sorry a … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss why California is unique, diversity and inequality, James’ work on “How Will You Measure Your Life”, making decisions, and whether or not business school was worth it for us. Links Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, Karen Dillon: How … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss the recent Apple Event, including the MacBook and Apple Watch Links Ben Thompson: Mobile First – Stratechery Ben Thompson: “Geeks are not just unqualified to explain the new MacBook, they’re anti-qualified” – Twitter Ben Thompson: How … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss tradeoffs in the context of net neutrality, AT&T’s new gigabit service, and Lenovo’s Superfish debacle Note: when talking about the history of cable, Ben kept saying “companies” instead of “communities.” Sorry for the confusion! Links … | Continue reading
We apologize for the late delivery of this podcast! In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss why Apple is so fascinating, why the Mac lost to Windows, debate whether or not Google should have open-sourced Android, and discussed the implications of Apple’s new market – your en … | Continue reading
This is the story of Stratechery, presented with much sheepishness on Ben’s part. How Ben thought about the market, his business model, and more. We apologize that this is a little long and perhaps a bit choppy. It’s hard to talk about us! Links Andrew Sullivan: A Note to my Read … | Continue reading
We discuss Apple’s recent results, why analysts get Apple wrong, the fraught nature of fans, epistemic closure, and whether the iPhone can continue to grow. Links Ben Thompson: Bad Assumptions – Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple the Black Swan – Stratechery Ben Thompson: Best – Str … | Continue reading
Note: I originally uploaded the wrong file. The correct file is 1:07 long, not 1:17. I am reposting this as many podcast clients download the file immediately. We briefly follow-up on last week’s copyright discussion, discuss Ben’s article on what the technology adoption curve ge … | Continue reading
James thinks the idea of copyright is outdated and should be abolished. Ben is, well, see the title. Hosts Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback | Continue reading
Ben and James discuss Xiaomi’s ambition to own the home, why we’re frustrated with patents, why the West is unfair to the developing world, and what makes China unique. Links Jordan Lewis: Exponent Bingo – Twitter Ben Thompson: Xiaomi’s Ambition – Stratechery Ben Thompson: Handic … | Continue reading
Ben and James discuss the problems with drones, how they could be used for terrorism, and how you balance upside and downside. Links Felix Salmon: Whither Nanopublishing? – Medium James Allworth: Thinking Twice About Drones – Stratechery (Members-only) FBI: Man plotted to fly dro … | Continue reading
Ben and James discuss the recent App Store controversy and how a person – or company’s – greatest strength is also their greatest weakness. Plus a special 2nd recording about the Harvard business school professor and the Chinese restaurant. Links Cabel Sasser: Transmit iOS 1.1.1 … | Continue reading
Ben and James follow up on last week’s Uber discussion, talk about the problem with regulation, and worry about stagnation and the different cultures of Europe, America, and Asia. Links Nicole Campbell: What Was Said at the Uber Dinner – Huffington Post Lane Wood: Here Ego Again … | Continue reading
Ben and James briefly discuss Ben’s belief in the Internet opportunity for content creators, and then dive in to the recent Uber controversy. Links Publishers and the Smiling Curve: Ben Thompson – Stratechery Differentiation and Value Capture in the Internet Age: Ben Thompson – S … | Continue reading
Ben and James discuss Twitter and its strategic options, as well as YouTube’s new music service, Taylor Swift and Spotify, plus the special return of the garbage truck song. Links Twitter Sharpens Its Strategy to Win Over Investors – Wall Street Journal Ben Thompson: There are Tw … | Continue reading
The idea for Exponent was hatched when Ben and James were arguing about Ben’s article What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong a year ago. In this episode, we finally reach a resolution to the question about how Apple escapes disruption. Plus, whether or not Xiaomi is a threat to Apple … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss Apple Pay and its impact on retailers and banks. Links Glenn Fleishman: A Week of Apple Pay: Chips, PINs, and…signatures? – Six Colors Ben Thompson: The Problem with Payments – Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Apple Pay was Blocked, Why A … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss Ben’s article “Peak Google” and the future of advertising. Links Ben Thompson: Peak Google – Stratechery Benedict Evans: The Irrelevance of Microsoft – Ben-Evans.com Peter Kriss: The Value of Customer Experience, Quantified – Harvard B … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss why Ben thinks the Internet is totally overreacting to HBO’s announcement that they will sell subscriptions directly to customers, and then delve into what might be the underlying motivations behind Gamergate. Links Ben Thompson: The C … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss the problems with Ello’s business model, James’ discomfort with Facebook, and why Social Networks always have ads. We also talk about incentives and something surprising Ben learned from the notorious Episode 18. Links Ben Thompson: El … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben and James reflect about last week’s episode and the personal feedback that resulted, then move on to discuss why Minecraft is a big deal as well as a bit about Apple’s new focus on privacy. Links Ben Thompson: Why Now For Apple Watch – Stratechery Ben T … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode Ben explains why he has changed his mind about Apple Watch. James is not convinced. We go on for a while. Links Ben Thompson: What I Got Wrong About Apple Watch – Stratechery John Gruber: Apple Watch: Initial Thoughts and Observations – Daring Fireball Host … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode we follow-up on Episode 15’s console discussion, and then dive into the Apple Watch introduction. We cover why we were disappointed in the presentation, and discuss the luxury market in Asia and why the Edition will cost thousands of dollars. And then we go … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode we follow-up on Episode 15’s console discussion, and then dive into the Apple Watch introduction. We cover why we were disappointed in the presentation, and discuss the luxury market in Asia and why the Edition will cost thousands of dollars. And then we go … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode we discuss James’ first ever trip to Burning Man, ugliness in modern culture and on the Internet, the new divide in politics, and ultimately why we have hope for the future. Links Grover Norquist: My First Burning Man: Confessions of a Conservative from Was … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode we discuss whether or not consoles will be disrupted. This episode was recorded a week ago (immediately after last week’s episode), before Ben wrote his pieces Games and Good Enough and Games and New Market Disruption. Links Ben Thompson: How Apple TV Might … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode we spend a good bit of time revisiting the native ads discussion, then dive into the different ways that Twitter and Facebook have handled the news this week. From there we discuss Twitter’s timeline changes, the realities of venture capital, and whether or … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode we discuss feedback about Ben’s Android criticism, then dive into Andreessen Horowitz’s $50 million investment into BuzzFeed. Is there a real business here? We also discuss native advertising: Ben is quite a bit more optimistic than James. Links Ben Thompso … | Continue reading
In this week’s episode we discuss how the Internet is enabling not only big winners, but also small, focused niche players, and why that’s exciting. We also discuss the impact this transition will have on society, follow up on last week’s integrated/modular discussion, and in a s … | Continue reading
In this episode we discuss this tweet of Ben’s: Apple has a monopoly on the iOS market. And monopolies are profitable. — Ben Thompson (@monkbent) July 25, 2014 We also discuss the news that OKCupid and Facebook are running tests on their users. Links Fabian Giesen: What I mean wh … | Continue reading
In this episode we discuss feedback about Uber and pricing, then discuss Ben’s recent articles on Microsoft and Apple/IBM. Ben Thompson: It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft – Stratechery Ben Thompson: Big Blue and Apple’s Soul – Stratechery (Note: We recorded this show before this pi … | Continue reading
In this episode we first defend surge pricing before continuing our debate from last week: is society better off when corporations try to innovate, or would we be better off if we left the innovation to startups? Your answer to this question may change your opinion of Silicon Val … | Continue reading
In this episode we take on the validity of Disruption Theory in three parts: A discussion of Jill Lepore’s New Yorker article attacking disruption, as well as the debate that surrounded the article Ben’s article from last fall “What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong” A deeper discuss … | Continue reading
There’s a bit of a consensus building post WWDC: Apple has grown up, and it’s great. But is it great? Is it possible that something essential has been lost? After all, a lot of the praise being heaped on Apple and Tim Cook was once used for another company – Microsoft. In this ep … | Continue reading
In this episode we discuss why James was less excited by WWDC than was Ben, why the Beats acquisition may actually be a textbook response to the Innovator’s Dilemma, whether Apple has every truly faced disruption, as well as James’ review of Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys Links Ben Th … | Continue reading
This episode surprised us; through a discussion of who is at fault in the latest series of new vs old-world spats, we realized that not only has the Internet fundamentally changed winners-and-losers, but also the very nature of economic competition and the type of regulation that … | Continue reading
Are the recent debates on net neutrality, the protests of Google buses, even SOPA a sign of things to come? Building on Ben’s article The Net Neutrality Wake-up Call Ben and James discuss the intersection of technology and politics. Why do people in technology tend to dislike pol … | Continue reading
This episode is all about the (alleged) Apple Beats acquisition. While it may make a certain amount of business sense, does it signify a small but significant change in Apple’s priorities, and is it a cause for concern? Topics covered include: The rationale for the acquisition Th … | Continue reading
This episode was actually recorded on February 18; however, due to circumstances, we had to hibernate Exponent and the episode was never actually edited and posted. Now that the show is back – for good this time – we wanted to post the “missing episode” plenty of folks have asked … | Continue reading
In this, the first episode of the Exponent podcast, we talk about our background, Microsoft and disruption, and the meaning of culture. We also explore our goals for this podcast, and just a bit about Taiwanese garbage trucks. Show Notes: If Steve Ballmer Ran Apple link The Halo … | Continue reading