People vs Algorithms

This week Brian, Troy and Alex discuss Substack, why it's turning into a platform, and why e-mail may or may not be its future. Some links:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterAlex Schleifer's Universal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on TwitterThe Humble Co. Compostable Dental Floss Sticks This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Today Brian, Troy and Alex ask themselves "what is premium"? They also discuss bundling in its many different forms. How it changed internet media and how AI will change the entire concept of a bundle. Plus: Alex hates advertising, Brian remains in Comfort+ and Troy loves his dog.RankerVideo: "I tried using AI. It scared me." by Tom ScottTroy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterAlex Schleifer's Universal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Software has eaten the world, and for publishers that means a continuous battle to fend off second-order impacts of decisions made by tech companies battling each other or governments attempting to rein in tech companies. This week, we discuss the second-order impacts cascading through the industry from attempts to regulate digital privacy and from, of course, the development of AI. Also, what does Vice owing Ranker money say about media today?RankerVideo: "I tried using AI. It scared me." by Tom ScottTroy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterAlex Schleifer's Universal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Troy, Alex and Brian discuss what's next for interfaces and how we will be getting our media in the future.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesDonks by Felix ColgraveCrown Royal x Super Bowl LVII - Thank You Canada (this is the video Troy mentions at the end of the episode)Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Troy, Alex and Brian discuss differentiation or uniqueness and what it means as the algorithmic age moves into new territory.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal Entities"Kids in the 60s..." tweetFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

In this episode we discuss the virtues and misuses of optimism. We dig into how optimism gets applied to the way we build strategies, teams, and products in tech and media. We cover a lot in this near hour-long episode but we try to stay upbeat.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesLaid Off by @AiyyoShraddha on YouTubeFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Topics discussed include the trade-off between data and conviction, challenges faced by media companies, layoffs and leadership challenges, making trade-offs in decision-making, and the frustrations of hotel room designs.

We're still in January so we thought we might as well slip in a late predictions episode. Everyone came prepared.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Brian's fresh off CES, where he saw no robots at all but definitely got a coffee behind a guy just wrapping up a big night. We’re going to talk about CES, both from a tech angle, as well as from a media and advertising angle, since it has become a go-to event for media executives to go and spend nearly all of their time in suites doing meetings. We’re also going to dip into AI, which is set to be everywhere this year and is already eliciting excess excitement. Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

This week, we consider whether we’re on the cusp of the end of the link era. The web was built on links. It connected the disparate nodes of the web and, crucially, brought some measure of serendipity to the internet. But the link is fading from its central role. Just this week, The Information broke news that Microsoft plans to bring ChatGPT to Bing, offering the tantalyzing possibility of Google feeling real competition for the first time in a long time – and bringing up the question of whether how people find information will change forever. The rise of walled gardens and apps made links less important. The advent of AI could very well be the final nail in the coffin for the link, and along with it another blow to the open web, which has already been under threat.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on TwitterThe Information: Microsoft and OpenAI working on ChatGPT-Powered Bing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com