Articles & Podcasts of Note (Week of 01/06/2020)
- Apple AirPods: iPhone Accessory or the Next Big Thing? (kevinrooke.com): If audio and voice-enabled operating systems are the next-big-thing then Apple’s fast growing business unit is well-positioned.
- Ask HN: Are Books Worth It? (ycombinator.com): I ran across a couple of similarly themed conversations recently around the validity of books in the current age of twitter and short-form content. I find it hard to understand the view of the questioners in these threads, but I am always eager to understand contrarian views.
- The End of the Beginning (stratechery.com): Ben Thompson draws parallels between the automotive industry and the technology industry as a means for prognosticating the future.
- History of Pad Thai: How the Stir-Fried Noodle Dish Was Invented by the Thai Government (scmp.com): “In the late 1930s, Thai prime minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram was committed to establishing a national identity to unite the nation through culture.” How Pad Thai became the beachhead for a nation’s successful efforts at “gastrodiplomacy.”
- How to Be Successful (samaltman.com): Ycombinator’s Sam Altman offers up a short-list of critical skills for a better you.
- How to Be Successful (Twitter Edition) (threadreaderapp.com): Sam Altman’s slightly different Twitter version of critical success skills.
- It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders: Jimmy O. Yang Interview (npr.org): Podcast interview with the actor who plays “Jin Yang” on HBO’s Silicon Valley. Explores the Asian immigrant experience and cultural assimilation.
- Lax Security and Moderation at Goodreads Allows Trolls to Spoof People, Harass Authors (pattern.com): Goodreads (and Amazon) fails to enact the most basic levels of security and moderation to maintain the integrity of its community. Disappointing.
- People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige (bennettnotes.com): On the perils of the “prestige trap” and our habit of caring about what others think of us.
- Products I Wish Existed, 2020 Edition (eladgil.com): Elad Gil offers up some great business opportunities for free.
- The Strange Saga of Kowloon Walled City (atlasobscura.com): This former city-within-a-city in Hong Kong has always fascinated me as a glimpse of the types of dystopian futures science fiction likes to present.
- Where Did Americans Move in 2019? (taxfoundation.org): Data from United Van Lines “2019 National Movers Study” suggests that Vermont, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, and South Carolina were the states with the highest number of “inbound moves” in 2019.
- White Silence Podcast (stuff.co.nz): Podcast mini-series about the tragic crash and subsequent cover-up of Air New Zealand flight 901 in 1979 in Antarctica.