With Aaron away, this is a solo episode of the News Roundup by Jan. Because there’s only one of us talking, there are more topics than usual on this week’s episode: six, to be precise. These are: the controversial Google memo; Uber board shenanigans; Netflix and Disney’s announcements this week; Facebook’s new Watch tab; Consumer Reports’ decision to withdraw its recommendation of two Surface models from Microsoft; and the conclusion of the recent SoundCloud funding saga.
As always, you’ll find links to these stories and other things we discussed underneath the SoundCloud player embedded below.
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Show notes:
Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise stated):
- Google Memo:
Two pieces from Jan:
https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/07/google-employee-pens-memo-arguing-against-diversity-initiatives/
https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/11/google-cancels-diversity-town-hall-over-harassment-and-threats/
Business Insider on the cancelation of the Town Hall:
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-cancels-diversity-town-hall-2017-8
Motherboard’s original reporting on the memo:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kzbm4a/employees-anti-diversity-manifesto-goes-internally-viral-at-google - Uber Board:
Jan’s piece on the Benchmark lawsuit:
https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/10/uber-investor-benchmark-sues-kalanick-over-fraud-to-remove-him-from-board/
Axios’s scoop on this story:
https://www.axios.com/benchmark-capital-sues-travis-kalanick-for-fraud-2471455477.html - Netflix and Disney:
Jan’s take on the Netflix Millarworld acquisition:
https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/07/netflix-acquires-millarworld-comic-book-company-to-hedge-against-loss-of-marvel/
Jan’s take on Disney earnings:
https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/08/★-disney-reports-earnings-will-acquire-bamtech-launch-streaming-services/
Disney’s announcements:
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/walt-disney-company-acquire-majority-ownership-bamtech/
Netflix announcement:
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/3667621494x0x952713/155017DE-F0EF-47FA-972C-F9B002997979/PDF_Netflix_Acquires_Millarworld_-_Final_1_.pdf - Facebook Watch:
Jan’s take for Tech Narratives:
https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/09/facebook-launches-watch-a-new-tab-for-video-including-original-content/
Jan’s Techpinions column: https://techpinions.com/the-risks-of-facebooks-video-pivot/50781
Facebook’s announcement: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/08/introducing-watch-a-new-platform-for-shows-on-facebook/
Variety on some of the new shows: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/facebook-premium-shows-launch-1202521520/ - Consumer Reports and Surface:
Jan’s take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/10/consumer-reports-withdraws-surface-recommendations-over-reliability-issues/
USA Today story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2017/08/10/consumer-reports-pulls-recommendations-surface-laptops/554302001/ - SoundCloud saga:
Jan’s take on the latest news:
https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/11/soundcloud-closes-new-investment-shuffles-management-pivots-business/
TechCrunch article:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/11/soundcloud-saved/
Bloomberg interview:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-11/soundcloud-gets-new-life-with-fresh-170-million-investment
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