Poor Prioritization Creates Riches The rapid rise of Silicon Valley technology companies inspired a new capitalist paradigm. Software no longer needed to be mature or devoid of bugs before ending up in the hands of consumers. With venture capital to burn and dreams of exponential returns, founding technology teams raced as fast as they could to grow their customer bases. The “Internet 2.0” business model seemed perfect. Technology teams focus on growth at all costs with the ultimate goal of monetizing their users. Monetization is primarily done through targeted advertising. In exchange for the use of a company’s products and services, users are subjected to advertisements. The … [Read more...] about Technology Companies Will Become More Transparent Over Time
technology
How to Keep the US-China Cold War From Getting Hot
The Battle for World Supremacy China's rapid growth over the past few decades has positioned it as a global economic and technology leader. As the world's second largest economic power, China has the capital to invest in its technology sector. These investments have proven to come at a cost to China's homegrown companies. Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications firm, provides the Chinese government with "backdoors" to its networks. These backdoors provide China with intelligence about the countries in which the networks are operational. While it's easy to point the finger at China for these practices, Eric Snowden showed that the US has been engaged in similar practices as well. The US has … [Read more...] about How to Keep the US-China Cold War From Getting Hot
How to Survive Fake News
What's Real Anymore? Ninety percent of the world's data was generated in the last two years. That's an insane fact! Internet searches, news publications, text messages, phone calls, social media posts, and millions of other types of content are produced every single second. With all of this content out in the world, competition for our attention has become fierce. Clickbait headlines like "Cuba Claims Justin Trudeau is Fidel Castro's Son" are now common on the Internet. FYI, Cuba made no such claim. Stories like this are then shared on Facebook and other social media platforms, ultimately helping them go viral. Efforts to stop the distribution of fake news are being thwarted by the … [Read more...] about How to Survive Fake News
The Future of Warfare
A Renewed Arms Race The US recently withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which was an arms control agreement between the US and Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) that had been in place for over 30 years. Both the US and Soviet Union had abolished intermediate-range ballistic missiles, thereby ending the Cold War arms race. While the INF had largely been adhered to for decades, Russia has allegedly been developing intermediate-range missiles over the past few years. With the decision to formally withdraw from the treaty, the US may be once again engaging in an arms race with Russia. Autonomous Weapons Tensions between the US and Russia have escalated due to … [Read more...] about The Future of Warfare
The Cost of Efficiency
Automated Out of Existence U.S. companies have become far more efficient in the way they operate their businesses. Investments in automation have borne fruit. The S&P 500 hit an all time high this year as the longest bull market in history continues. Products and services are becoming cheaper and it's easier for consumers to make purchases. Much of the business processes that formerly required human intervention have been replaced with technology. Customer service representatives, for better or worse, are now "chat bots," engineers work alongside machines on the factory floor, and heavy lifting in fulfillment centers is done by robots. All this automation comes at a steep … [Read more...] about The Cost of Efficiency
