Down Round

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To hear more, join Down Round Premium. Over the past few weeks , BuzzFeed News shuttered its doors and Vice made deep cuts to its news product. They followed the collapse of other digital news brands like Gawker, which fell apart for a second time. All these platforms were highly representative of the digital media era of the 2010s, which has come to what looks like a screeching halt. In toda…See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In March, we tackled the AI doom prophets who argue that rapidly advancing artificial intelligence will kill everyone on its journey to sentience.That was cool. But obviously people have more pressing concerns — like, “are these new AI systems going to take my job?” Today, we’re digging into the discourse on AI and automation, and whether you personally are headed straight for the breadline. (Spoiler: you specifically are in serious trouble, but we’re fine.) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To hear more, join Down Round Premium. Last year, Microsoft announced it would buy video game publisher Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion, making it the biggest tech deal literally ever. Last month, the UK competition regulator blocked the sale on antitrust grounds, arguing it would hurt competition in the nascent cloud gaming sector. In this ep, we discuss Microsoft, Xbox, cloud gami…See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anyone who spent any time online over the past few years will be intimately familiar with the constellation of cool ways to get rich online. Youtube grindset hustlers have been promising us for years that dropshipping and affiliate marketing are your ticket to financial freedom.In this ep, we dive into this weird world. And hell, maybe you’ll learn how to become a billionaire along the way. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To hear more, join Down Round Premium. It's been a little while since we opened the dusty Down Round mailbag and answered some listener questions. Today we're answering a range of inquiries we got via Twitter and Substack, on everything from Linktree and Twitter to online booze subscription services and AI Drake.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the most underrated battles currently emerging in the tech world is the fight over who will control your in-car experience.Apple and Google have already made serious headway into controlling car entertainment systems, but now they want more. Now, some car companies are openly wondering whether they should ditch the big dogs altogether and go the Tesla route of owning the whole experience.For James, proud owner of a 2012 Hyundai Getz with zero screens, this is barely relevant. But for Raph, an even prouder owner of a 2022 Skoda Kodiaq… it’s personal. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Instagram was undeniably the most influential social network of the 2010s, and certaibnly one of the most important generators of 2010s culture.But it’s looking a bit worse for wea these days. This week we dive into Insta, where it’s been, and where it’s going.Editor’s note: we apologise for conflating Marilyn Manson and Slipknot. Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Discord has gone from being an ultra low latency voice platform for League of Legends heads into one of the major social platforms of 2023.We talk about its rise through the pandemic, its challenge to both Slack and traditional social media, and we give Raph ample space to evangelise Microsoft Teams, his favourite piece of software on Earth. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To hear more, join Down Round Premium. In the second part of this week’s topic, we talk about the current state of the microchip industry. Thanks to the insane complexity of making them, chip supply chains are incredibly fragile, and it’s dominated by a tiny handful of companies. This is highly unfortunate, because we need microchips to do things like drive to the shops and watch TikTok for …See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Microchips. They’re extremely tiny and very cool. (You can quote us on that.) This week, we’re doing a two-parter on the modern world’s most important technology.In the first part, we chat through the development of the microchip and how we got where we are today. In the second half, we’ll go into the incredible weird, fragile state of the industry today. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.