Questions of the Week

For much of our history, the Question of the Week was one of several segments we featured in most episodes, but as of March 2017, the Question of the Week is now a standalone episode most weeks, starting with Week 87.

This page lists the various questions we’ve answered as part of our Question of the Week segment, and links to the episodes where you can find the answers.

We try to draw on our expertise where possible – for example, Aaron has done several QoTW segments based on his legal training and others based on the fact that he’s a business school professor who specializes in ethics among other things, while Jan often draws on his tech research and consulting work.

  • Episode 4 – How do Apple’s beta programs work, and what else should you know about them? (Aaron)
  • Episode 5 – How is Apple’s PR strategy changing? (Jan)
  • Episode 6 – What do I need to know about Apple earnings in general, and what should I expect next week? (Jan)
  • Episode 7 – How is the Apple Watch more like the iPod than the iPhone? (Aaron)
  • Episode 8 – What is the story behind Windows 10, and how will it impact Microsoft and its partners? (Jan)
  • Episode 9 – What is the law of large numbers and how does it apply to Apple? (Aaron)
  • Episode 10 – How do the major smartphone platforms approach privacy, and how does this affect their ability to provide effective cloud services? (Jan)
  • Episode 11 – What’s the Apple-Samsung patent litigation really about, and why are Google and Facebook getting involved? (Aaron)
  • Episode 12 – What is the current state of in-car technology and how will Apple’s role in it evolve over time? (Jan)
  • Episode 13 – How would the new Apple TV compete as a gaming console? (Aaron)
  • Episode 16 – How will content blockers in iOS 9 affect advertisers and site that host ads? (Jan)
  • Episode 17 – How do Apple’s A-series chips help it build competitive advantage? (Aaron)
  • Episode 18 – What’s going on in the US wireless market, and who’s winning? (Jan)
  • Episode 19 – To what extent is Elon Musk’s remark that “You can’t just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: Build me a car” true? (Aaron)
  • Episode 20 – What should we be expecting from Apple’s earnings next week? (Jan)
  • Episode 22 – How does the payments industry work, and how do new players like Square, Apple, and Google fit in? (Jan)
  • Episode 23 – What are the prospects for the Apple Watch and Apple TV respectively? (Jan and Aaron)
  • Episode 24 – Why does Facebook have so many apps beyond the main Facebook app? (Jan)
  • Episode 25 – How is Apple’s relationship with resellers changing? (Aaron)
  • Episode 26 – Is the Zuckerberg announcement (about the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative) really philanthropic? (Aaron)
  • Episode 29 – Why has Fitbit’s share price taken such a dive recently? (Jan)
  • Episode 30 – Should big tech companies expect to be able to fix their streaming video rights issues by acquiring media companies? (Aaron)
  • Episode 33 – Should Apple turn iMessage into a platform, and what that would mean? (Jan)
  • Episode 34 – Why does Apple borrow to finance its stock buybacks, and how does this relate to Apple’s growing cash pile outside the US? (Aaron)
  • Episode 35 – What’s the state of the global smartphone market? (Jan)
  • Episode 36 – What’s the broader significance of the Orenstein court order? [This was a New York District Court order in the Apple-FBI battle, and we used it as a jumping-off point to explain the All Writs Act, a key lever on the FBI side of the case] (Aaron)
  • Episode 37 – What is 5G? And should you care? (Jan)
  • Episode 40 – What’s the role of corporate social responsibility efforts at Apple, Google, and other tech companies? (Aaron)
  • Episode 41 – What is Apple News like for a small publisher? (Jan)
  • Episode 42 – What is corporate venture capital and is it worth doing? (Aaron)
  • Episode 43 – What should we make of the European Union’s antitrust action against Google? (Jan)
  • Episode 48 – What’s the state of consumer technology in Africa? (Aaron)
  • Episode 49 – What’s the state of the smart home, and how will it change? (Jan)
  • Episode 52 – How can differential privacy make my life better? (Aaron)
  • Episode 53 – How is Apple doing in India, and how can it do better? (Jan)
  • Episode 54 – What new health sensors should we expect in Apple Watch 2 this fall? (Aaron)
  • Episode 55 – What do the economics of the mobile gaming industry tell us about the future of Pokemon Go? (Jan)
  • Episode 57 – What do you need to know about business ethics? (Aaron) [this segment was based on a book Aaron recently coauthored on business ethics)
  • Episode 58 – Why does Twitter seem stuck, and how can it unstick itself? (Jan)
  • Episode 59 – How should we view Tim Cook’s first five years as Apple CEO? (Jan).
  • Episode 62 – What is [Alphabet’s life sciences subsidiary] Verily, and what does it do? (Jan)
  • Episode 63 – “What can the research on past product recalls teach us about the Samsung Galaxy Note7 recall?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 64 –  “What is Snapchat [as an app and as a company]?” (Jan).
  • Episode 66 – “What is the human impact of mineral sourcing in consumer electronics?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 67 – “What should we expect from tech earnings in Q3 2016?” (Jan)
  • Episode 70 – “What are your first impressions of Google’s Pixel, Home, and Daydream View?” (Jan)
  • Episode 71 – “What are the implications of Samsung buying Harman International?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 72 – “What is the state of cord cutting in the US pay TV market?” (Jan)
  • Episode 73 – “Should Apple change from a functional organization to a divisional structure?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 74 –  “How is streaming changing the music industry?” (Jan)
  • Episode 78 – “What is the state of autonomous driving and where does it go from here?” (Jan)
  • Episode 79 – “Are the recent departures from Apple a sign of trouble?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 80 – “What are narratives in tech and where do they come from?” (Jan)
  • Episode 81 – “What role should businesses play in political and social change?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 82 – “Who is investing in original video content and why?” (Jan)
  • Episode 83 –  “What is the true state of online advertising?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 84 – “What is AWS and why are so many people so dependent on it?” (Jan)
  • Episode 85 – “Can Uber be saved from itself?” (Aaron)
  • Episode 86 –  “What is the state of AI?” (Jan)

An automated listing of all the standalone QotW episodes from Week 87 onwards follows: