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Down Round

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Sep 26, 2023 • 28min

Phone Cameras: But like... what is a photo, man?

The smartphone camera arms race seems to be a little less intense these days, but the quality of a phone camera remains one of the major reasons people choose to upgrade – especially when most iPhone and Android devices have been basically the same black glass rectangle for a decade now.  But there's only so much circuitry and lens technology you can cram into a phone. So much of the development has been software level, with machine learning and AI doing heavy algorithmic work to make your photos pop. This ranges from automatic red eye removal and saturation adjustment all the way up to faked photos of the moon. So we ask the bold question: where does smartphone photography go from here? And does it really matter if the photos your phone is taking don't really reflect reality? Links Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon - The Verge Artificial intelligence and the future of smartphone photography - ZDNet Your smartphone photos are totally fake – and you love it - Washington Post See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Sep 21, 2023 • 5min

Flexport: Container go on ship (PREVIEW)

If you pay any attention to tech or VC Twitter, Flexport will have crossed your radar. A freight forwarding business which wants to do for supply chains what Stripe did for payments, Flexport (and its founder Ryan Petersen) has become one of the most hyped startups among a certain flavour of tech poster. Petersen also became a well-known talking head during the COVID supply chain crisis. The company is in the news because Petersen sacked his successor, former Amazon logistics boss Dave Clarke, and has returned to the helm amid a revenue collapse. In this ep, we talk about Flexport, logistics, and what the heck's going on. Links Flexport CEO Dave Clark resigns from logistics startup after one year in the role - CNBC Can Ryan Petersen Fix Flexport? - The Information See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Sep 19, 2023 • 30min

Unity: How to piss off developers with one simple trick

Unity is one of the most popular game engines in the world, powering everything from a solid chunk of the mobile gaming universe to bigger console and PC games. Last week, it managed to annoy basically all of its customers by announcing a new, highly extractive pricing model. In this episode, we dive into what a game engine does, the rise of Unity, and why making everyone who uses your product homicidally angry is the bold marketing move of 2023. Links Unity plan pricing and packaging updates - Unity Unity plans to change its disastrous new pricing program - The Verge See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Sep 14, 2023 • 6min

Social Audio: Kicked out of the Clubhouse (PREVIEW)

This is a preview of a premium episode. To sign up for Down Round Premium and get an extra episode every week, go here.  This week brought news that Clubhouse, the social audio streaming platform endlessly hyped during the early pandemic, has pivoted away from its original purpose and is now trying to become sort of a group chat for audio instead. It's as good a time as any to talk about social audio, the way people share audio online, and why it's such a tough nut to crack. Links Clubhouse reinvents itself as an audio messaging app - The Verge See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Sep 13, 2023 • 53min

Wikipedia: Leave your citations at the door (feat. Richard Cooke)

Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites on earth, and an example of a quasi-utopian internet project which has kind of worked out in the end – and managed to stick around too. Despite some evident problems, it all works surprisingly well. To help us understand Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation which manages it – and the weird world of the editors who keep it functional – we're joined by author Richard Cooke, who is currently writing a book about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Sep 7, 2023 • 6min

Canva: Graphic designers, your terrible reign is over (PREVIEW)

This is a preview of a premium episode. To sign up for Down Round Premium and get an extra episode a week, go here.  Canva is one of Australia's most successful tech companies. It has proven pretty disruptive to the global design landscape, with its template-based offering making it relatively easy for even novices with zero taste to make stuff that looks pretty good. In this ep, we talk about Canva's effect on design, and where it might go next to justify its sky-high valuation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Sep 5, 2023 • 52min

MrBeast: Staring into the YouTube abyss (feat. Max Read)

MrBeast is the most popular individual YouTuber, with over 180 million subscribers. He makes a lot of sleekly produced videos where he gives away money, cars, islands and life-altering surgeries. To some, he is history's greatest philanthropist. To others, he's deeply evil in a way that is hard to articulate. Which side of the divide you fall on is mostly a generational thing. To help us understand the man, the business and the phenomenon that is MrBeast, we're joined by writer Max Read, who formerly edited Gawker and has written for New York Magazine, The New York Times, and The New York Times Magazine. (And possibly other New York related publications.) Max recently authored a feature article for the NYT on MrBeast, making him well-placed to take us on this dark odyssey into the heart of YouTube. Max also writes a newsletter called Read Max, which you should subscribe to.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Aug 31, 2023 • 6min

What's up with the anti-ageing vampire billionaire? (PREVIEW)

This is a preview of a premium episode. To sign up for Down Round Premium and get an extra episode a week, go here.  A fun one for you this week. Over the past few weeks, we've been blessed with many news stories about Bryan Johnson, the tech billionaire who is putting his considerable wealth towards becoming functionally immortal through a weird diet, militant sleep schedule, and injecting himself with his son's blood. Pretty neat! On this episode, we discuss Johnson's quest, and where it fits in with recent Silicon Valley fixation on biotech and the physical sciences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Aug 29, 2023 • 40min

Snap: We're bringing the dog ears filter back

Snapchat was one of the major social media platforms of the 2010s, and still remains pretty popular with the kids. It helped create much of the modern social media landscape, but hasn't been able to turn that into lasting wins -- in no small part because every innovation it comes up with is pretty quickly cloned by its biggest rival, Instagram. Now it finds itself in a precarious position, with parent company Snap Inc reporting a decline in revenue and the company trying just about every pivot Down Round loves to see, from AI to augmented reality. Links Snap plunges on first-quarter revenue miss - CNBC Snapchat is releasing its own AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT - The Verge See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Aug 24, 2023 • 5min

Should Apple buy Disney? (PREVIEW)

This is a preview of a premium episode. Sign up for Down Round Premium here. One of the most enduring rumours in tech markets and investing subreddits is that Apple is on the cusp of buying Disney and integrating its IP and content into Apple's tech and distribution network. It's like a sick fantasy for guys with no lives and ZERO swag. It seems pretty unlikely. But with news that returned CEO Bob Iger could be planning to break up the empire and sell off assets like ESPN, the rumour mill is kicking back into gear. We ask the question: should Apple buy at least PART of Disney?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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