Ben and James discuss Microsoft’s reorganization, how Satya Nadella has managed the decline of Windows, and how it applies to Apple and services. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The End of Windows — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Stratechery 4.0 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Services, Not Devices — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Curse of Culture — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows and the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Microsoft’s Monopoly Hangover — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Redmond and Reality — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery The Seven-Year Itch: How Apple’s Marriage to Siri Turned Sour — The Information Ben Thompson: The Disruption of IBM — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Facebook’s current crisis, and why almost everyone misunderstands what the company did wrong: the problem isn’t advertising, it was Facebook’s desire to be a platform. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links James Allworth: What the F*** Was Facebook Thinking — Medium Ben Thompson: The Facebook Brand — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Tim Cook’s Unfair and Unrealistic Privacy Speech — Stratechery Mark Zuckerberg’s Reckoning: ‘This Is a Major Trust Issue’ — The New York Times Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Good News — Stratechery Nicholas Thompson: Mark Zuckerberg Talks to Wired About Facebook’s Privacy Problem — Wired Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss President Trump’s intervention in Broadcom’s takeover of Qualcomm, the problem with patents, and whether or not markets inherently overvalue short-term thinking. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Qualcomm,National Security, and Patents — Stratechery Dr. L. J. Hart-Smith: Out-Sourced Profits — The Cornerstone of Successful Subcontracting — Boeing Paper Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Spotify’s F-1, why Spotify isn’t Netflix, and why record companies are doing well even though they are acting sub-optimally. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links James Allworth: Why I’m Not Going Near Spotify (and Why You Shouldn’t Either) — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: Lessons From Spotify — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Great Unbundling — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Could Spotify Be Netlix — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Increasing Power — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Dropbox’s S-1 and why the company is a success but still a disappointment. Plus, why companies should go public sooner. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Dropbox Comp — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dropbox’s Cost of Revenue — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Battle of the Box — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dropbox Leaves AWS — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Does Uber Have a Strategy Problem — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Google’s recent moves around blocking ads and promoting AMP and whether they raise antitrust questions. Plus, why Microsoft couldn’t have stopped Google, and why cryptocurrencies are aggregator kryptonite. NOTE: The previous version of this episode was not edited in the middle. There is no new content in this episode, but it should be easier to listen to. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Aggregation Paradox — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Case Against Google — Stratechery Daily Update Charles Duhigg: The Case Against Google — The New York Times James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium Ben Thompson: Ends, Means, and Antitrust — Stratechery Terry Crowley: Complexity and Strategy — Hacker Noon Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James answer reader questions. Topics include business school, career advice, the nature of strategy, creating the next Silicon Valley, and how governments should deal with the disruptions caused by the Internet. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Books to Blogs — Stratechery James Allworth, Karen Dillon, and Clayton Christenson: How Will You Measure Your Life? — ClaytonChristensen.com Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel — W. W. Norton & Company Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens — HarperCollins Phil Rosenzweig: The Halo Effect — Simon & Schuster Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Apple’s strategy of monetizing its customer base, how that explains HomePod, and whether or not it is a problem. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books to Blogs — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple and the Oak Tree — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Lessons and Questions of the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple is Not a Services Company — Stratechery Daily Update NOTE: Apple has taken down the supplemental financial information from Q1 2016 that I referred to on this podcast. You can see the old link in this press release Ben Thompson: Is HomePod Late? — Stratechery Daily Update James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium Ben Thompson: Beyond the iPhone — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple at Its Best — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Amazon’s health care announcement and why the industry is so challenging. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to partner on U.S. employee healthcare — BusinessWire Ben Thompson: Amazon Health — Stratechery Aaron E. Carroll: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance — New York Times The Best Health Care System in the World: Which One Would You Pick? — New York Times Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Amazon Go and what it says about the economics of tech and how Amazon is building multiple monopolies. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Amazon Go and the Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com