Jeff Bezos on space, free speech and creating shows to sell more shoes

 When it came to discussing Peter Thiel’s involvement in the ongoing Gawker trial that’s raised questions surrounding free speech, Jeff Bezos quoted Confucius: “Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself.” Bezos, naturally, should have strong opinions when it comes to free speech: he’s the owner of The Washington Post. With Gawker locked in a… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/31/jeff-bezos-on-space-free-speech-and-creating-shows-to-sell-more-shoes/?ncid=rss

Xiaomi inks Microsoft patent deal and agrees to pre-install Office apps on its phones

 Xiaomi is moving closer to launching its smartphones in the U.S. market. Today the Chinese company announced a partnership with Microsoft that includes a cross-license and patent transfer agreement and the pre-installation of Skype and Microsoft Office products on Xiaomi devices. Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/31/xiaomi-inks-microsoft-patent-deal-and-agrees-to-pre-install-office-apps-on-its-phones/?ncid=rss

Xbox One price drops to $299 just in time before unveiling slim Xbox One at E3

 Microsoft just dropped the price of its gaming console. The Xbox One now costs $299 in the U.S. with a 500GB hard drive, or €299 in Europe. For $319, you get a 1TB hard drive. And bundles also get a $50 price cut. Interestingly, this news comes right before E3. Microsoft is set to announce a new, slimmer Xbox One. Rumor has it Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/31/xbox-one-price-drops-to-299-just-in-time-before-unveiling-slim-xbox-one-at-e3/?ncid=rss

Wasting our technology surplus

When someone handed you a calculator for the first time, it meant that long division was never going to be required of you ever again. A huge savings in time, a decrease in the cognitive load of decision making.

Now what?

You can use that surplus to play video games and hang out.

Or you can use that surplus to go learn how to do something that can't be done by someone merely because she has a calculator.

Either way, your career as a long-divisionator was over.

Entire professions and industries are disrupted by the free work and shortcuts that are produced by the connection economy, by access to information, by robots. Significant parts of your job are almost certainly among them.

Now that we can get what you used to do really quickly and cheaply from someone else, you can either insist that you still get to do that for us at the same fee you used to charge, or you can move up the ladder and do something we can't do without you.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/156443163/0/sethsblog~Wasting-our-technology-surplus.html

Microsoft confirms Microsoft Ventures VC arm, renames old one ‘Microsoft Accelerator’

 As Google moves ahead to develop its Area 120 in-house incubator program, Microsoft is also looking to get more of its startup ducks in a row. On Monday, the company quietly, officially unveiled Microsoft Ventures — a new arm that will focus on “Series A and beyond” investments in North America and Israel, with the first investments to be revealed in the coming weeks. If… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/31/microsoft-confirms-microsoft-ventures-vc-arm-renames-old-one-microsoft-accelerator/?ncid=rss

The possibility of optimism (the optimism of possibility)

Is the glass half full or half empty?

The pessimist sees what's present today and can only imagine eventual decline. The glass is already half empty and it's only going to get worse.

The optimist understands that there's a difference between today and tomorrow. The glass is half full, with room for more. The vision is based on possibility, the future tense, not the present one.

Pessimists have trouble making room for possibility, and thus possibility has trouble finding room for pessimists.

As soon as we realize that there is a difference between right now and what might happen next, we can move ourselves to the posture of possibility, to the self-fulfilling engine of optimism.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/156288752/0/sethsblog~The-possibility-of-optimism-the-optimism-of-possibility.html

Problems

Avoiding a problem with foresight and good design is a cheap, highly leveraged way to do your work.

Extinguishing a problem before it gets expensive and difficult is almost as good, and far better than paying a premium when there's an emergency.

Fretting about an impending problem, worrying about it, imagining the implications of it... all of this is worthless.

The magic of slack (a little extra time in the chain, a few extra dollars in the bank) is that it gives you the resources to stop and avoid a problem or fix it when it's small. The over-optimized organization misunderstands the value of slack, so it always waits until something is a screaming emergency, because it doesn't think it has a moment to spare. Expensive.

Action is almost always cheaper now than it is later.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/156185614/0/sethsblog~Problems.html

The originality paradox

There are a billion people trying to do something important for the first time. These people are connected by the net, posting, creating, daring to leap first.

It's hard, because the number of people racing with you to be original is huge.

The numbers are so daunting that the chances that you will create something that resonates, spreads and changes the culture are really close to zero.

But it's also certain that someone will. In fact, there's a 100% chance that someone will step up with an action or a concept so daring that it resonates with us.

Nearly zero and certain. At the same time.

Pick your odds, decide what you care about and act accordingly.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/156073798/0/sethsblog~The-originality-paradox.html

Comixology CEO shows off new Unlimited subscription service

 Comixology recently launched Comixology Unlimited, a subscription plan that offers unlimited access to thousands of digital comics for just $5.99 per month. Given the “all you can read” model, it’s natural to compare the new service to Netflix, but CEO David Steinberger told me that Amazon Prime’s video offerings are a closer match — and no, not because of the… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/27/comixology-unlimited-interview/?ncid=rss

Amazon puts Alexa in the browser with Echoism.io

 Amazon has put Alexa, the voice-powered AI software found in the Echo, Dot, and Tap, right inside the browser with the launch of Echoism.io. After logging in with an Amazon account, anyone can start asking Alexa questions by clicking and holding on the mic button. Amazon’s Alexa is able to answer basic questions around information, weather, news, music, and control other gadgets in the home. Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/27/amazon-puts-alexa-in-the-browser-with-echoism-io/?ncid=rss

Beware the gulf of disapproval

As your new idea spreads, most people who hear about it will dislike it.

               (click to enlarge)

Start at the left. Your new idea, your proposal to the company, your new venture, your innovation—no one knows about it.

As you begin to promote it, most of the people (the red line) who hear about it don't get it. They think it's a risky scheme, a solution to a problem no one has or that it's too expensive. Or some combination of the three.

And this is where it would stop, except for the few people on the blue line. These are the early adopters, the believers, and some of them are sneezers. They tell everyone they can about your new idea.

Here's the dangerous moment. If you're keeping track of all the people who hate what you've done, you'll give up right here and right now. This is when the gulf of disapproval is at its maximum. This happened to the telephone, to the web, to rap music... lots of people have heard of it, but the number of new fans (the blue line) is far smaller than the number of well-meaning (but in this case, wrong) people on the red line.

Sometimes, if you persist, the value created for the folks on the blue line begins to compound. And so your fans persist and one by one, convert some of the disapproving. Person by person, they shift from being skeptics to accepting the new status quo.

When the gulf of disapproval comes, don't track the red line. Count on the blue one instead.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/155949362/0/sethsblog~Beware-the-gulf-of-disapproval.html

The circle is complete: Minecraft is getting a deathmatch mode

 Minecraft, a game that skyrocketed to unprecedented levels of popularity among all ages because of its open-ended gameplay, infinite worlds, and limitless possibilities for creation and collaboration, is getting a deathmatch mode. Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/26/the-circle-is-complete-minecraft-is-getting-a-deathmatch-mode/?ncid=rss

Microsoft and Facebook are building the fastest trans-Atlantic cable yet

 Here is some news you don’t read every day: Microsoft and Facebook today announced that they are teaming up to build a subsea cable across the Atlantic that will connect Virginia Beach, Virginia, with Bilbao, Spain. The companies say the so-called MAREA cable will allow them to “meet the growing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/26/microsoft-and-facebook-are-building-the-fastest-trans-atlantic-cable-yet/?ncid=rss

ACLU moves to join Microsoft lawsuit against Justice Department

 The American Civil Liberties Union wants to help Microsoft challenge government gag orders that prevent it from telling its customers when it receives warrants for their information. Microsoft sued the Justice Department in April, claiming that the government’s demands for silence were unconstitutional. The company said that Outlook.com and Office365 were the products most often… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/26/aclu-moves-to-join-microsoft-lawsuit-against-justice-department/?ncid=rss

Microsoft could introduce not one, but two new Xbox One consoles

 Microsoft is playing catch up when it comes to console sales. But it looks like the company doesn’t want to give up on dedicated gaming consoles. According to multiple reports, Microsoft is about to announce a new, slimmer Xbox One around E3 in June, and a more powerful Xbox One next year. In April 2016, FCC filings showed that Microsoft was Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/26/microsoft-could-introduce-not-one-but-two-new-xbox-one-consoles/?ncid=rss

Pretty, cheap and well-rounded (three misunderstandings)

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need to be prettier if you want to be an actor or actress. It turns out, though, that most important thespians aren't conventionally pretty (Marlon Brando, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Geena Davis, Morgan Freeman...)

It's easy for a retailer or a freelancer to believe that the best way to succeed is to be cheap. But just about every important brand (and every successful freelancer) didn't get that way by being the cheapest.

And anyone who has been through high school has been reminded how important it is to be well-rounded. But Nobel Prize winners, successful NGO founders and just about everyone you admire didn't get that way by being mediocre at a lot of things.

Pretty, cheap and well-rounded are seductive ways to hide out in a crowd. But they're not the path to doing work that matters.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/155824584/0/sethsblog~Pretty-cheap-and-wellrounded-three-misunderstandings.html