5th October 2016
Very sad events in Paris with the robbery of Kim Kardashian this week. Lots of talk about hotel security and bodyguards, but this piece from Vanity Fair suggests the real threat to celebrity security may be with social media – ‘ In an age where stars…update their Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat accounts with their every move, how can celebrities stay safe when their brands depend in part on seeming accessible and available, leaving their whereabouts open to the public often in real time?‘
Tech players entrench power in the 2016 Interbrand ranking of the world’s most valuable brands. ‘Apple and Google have once again topped Interbrand’s list of the 100 most powerful brands – while Facebook and Amazon have seen their value grow fastest. Coca-Cola (was) the only one of the top five to see a value decline.’ ‘The top five is completed by Toyota; the car brand has leapfrogged IBM, which falls to sixth. Samsung, Amazon, Mercedes-Benz and GE round out the top ten. Looking at the results, Manfredi Rice from Interbrand, observed that all brands are tech brands now.‘
Google had a big event Monday with news across a lot of products. From @digg, here are the the best bits , including Google Assistant, Google Hardware, The Pixel (Google’s New Phone) , Home Products and Virtual Reality.
Facebook launches Marketplace, in competition with Craigslist and Ebay; but runs into trouble almost at once, when some vendors are caught selling illegal items. ‘Facebook is betting big on Marketplace, considering it taking over a main spot in the navigation tab bar, replacing the Messenger shortcut in Facebook for iOS. That prime location could make Marketplace the digital version of impulse buys at the checkout counter.’ ‘Facebook continues its unending quest to eat the internet, creating its own versions of every popular activity on the web to absorb their engagement and profit potential. The more of the commerce experience it owns, the more it can earn indirectly through ads. It’s also working on a Shopping tab for buying from traditional retailers.‘
All happening in the US with the election, presidential and vice-presidential debates (the latter being last night) ; but this interview with Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, tops the lot. According to Gary, it’s good to not know stuff about other countries….. (short video)
The Value of Boredom. ‘The human imagination, one of our great gifts as a species, relies on the default mode network—daydreaming. Technology lets us wander, but in someone else’s world, through an often confused and seemingly random collection of hyperlinks, advertisements disguised as content, content disguised as journalism.‘
The US is to give up control of the Internet’s ‘address book’ after years of debate. ‘Many key players and analysts suggest that the newly implemented governance model for Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will actually strengthen the ability of the global community to challenge contentious decisions and ensure that control of the global internet address book never falls into the wrong hands.‘
This is the story of Supreme New York , the most influential streetwear brand in the world. ‘You might have seen its white-on-red rectangular logo on Drake, Kanye West, or Tyler the Creator. Or noticed the lines that form outside its stores on Thursdays. Or caught a glimpse of a sticker on a city lamppost anywhere around the globe. Today, Supreme is the sacred sigil of young skateboarders as well as the go-to office wear of hipster ad execs and other would-be culture creators, all thanks to James Jebbia, the self-made millionaire many times over, who launched the company in 1994′.
Great piece from @rosieyakob on the abiding myth of the lone genius. ‘There is an alternative, in the 1970s, Brian Eno posited instead the idea of Scenius. “Scenius,” he said, “stands for the intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. It is the communal form of the concept of the genius.”
This prize winning animation lets you fly through 17th century London.