Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!
Ten year futures Benedict Evans, a16z
I’m a huge fan of Benedict Evans at the VC firm a16z. His latest blog post covers a range of industries that undergoing massive change due to advanced in machine learning and pervasive connectivity. Notably, retail & advertising are inexorably linked; the more that buying shifts, the more that ad budgets will shift.
Sent to Prison by a Software Program’s Secret Algorithms NY Times
The headline definitely caught my attention, is Minority Report finally here? It seems that software is already passing on judging on recidivism in certain states
I’m an ex-Facebook exec: don’t believe what they tell you about ads The Guardian
Granted, the title is a click-bait. That being said, we are seeing a greater concentration of power into the hands of a few large tech companies; notably Facebook that is essentially the world’s largest media company. There are quite a few unanswered moral questions that are raised by the author in this piece.
Paying for news: Why people subscribe and what it says about the future of journalism American Press Institute
I really believe in the following statement, “The future of journalism will increasingly depend on consumers paying for the news directly”. The business model of advertising is essentially owned by Facebook & Google, which is contradictory to most media organizations’ interests. This article from the API provides some fascinating insights on how American citizens are increasingly paying for journalism.
Can Wal-Mart’s Expensive New E-Commerce Operation Compete With Amazon? Bloomberg
An in-depth view of Wal-Mart’s effort to counter Amazon. Wal-Mart recently purchased Jet.com for a whopping $3 billion dollars. They then made Marc Lore in charge of Wal-Mart’s ecommerce efforts. Will it succeed? This Bloomberg provides some insights into how the retail giant is countering the unstoppable Amazon.
BONUS
You’re not gonna believe what I’m about to tell you The Oatmeal
Why does fake news work? This simple (yet long) illustration provides some details about human behaviour – and why we’re wired a certain way.
