AT&T bails on its streaming ambitions; they can’t undo the mistake of buying Time Warner, but merging WarnerMedia with Discovery is a nice recovery.
Daily Update
Archive of Daily Emails for Stratechery Members
AWS CloudFront Functions, AWS’s Data Residency Whitepaper, Muddles and Mirages
AWS’s responses to Cloudflare are still predicated on an assumption of centralizaion; the truth is in the middle, and the status quo is powerful.
Roku’s Earnings, Roku and YouTube’s Streaming Ads, Roku and YouTube’s Dispute
Both Roku and YouTube are winning in advertising; Roku, though, wants to win its negotiation with Google, and use PR to do so.
Market Making and Time Horizons, Clubhouse Struggling, What Did I Get Wrong?
It’s not enough to see the future; timing matters. Plus, Clubhouse is struggling, which means it time for me to take accountability for my analysis.
Facebook Earnings; ATT’s Impact; COVID, VR/AR, and Optionality
Facebook’s earning show why it is relatively well-placed to capitalize on ATT.
Epic v. Apple Trial Begins, EU Files Statement of Objections, Who Owns the App?
Why I expect Apple to win Apple v. Epic, even as they get themselves in more political hot water.
Fearing Spotify?, Apple’s Earnings, Margins and Chips
Why I’m not worried about Spotify, plus Apple’s earnings, including why the M1 might be helping margins.
Basecamp’s New Policy, Basecamp Versus Silicon Valley, Stripe Changes Vesting Schedule
Basecamp is banning politics at work, which is very much in-line with Basecamp’s bigger critique of Silicon Valley. Then, Stripe stops acting like a startup.
Netflix Earnings, Competition and Buybacks, Sony Signs Netflix Deal
Netflix grew more slowly than it expected because it had fewer hits than it expected; then, Sony is winning in streaming by not playing.
App Stores in Congress, Apple’s Arguments, Meta Points
Apple and Google had a difficult time defending their App Store policies in the face of developer complaints and a well-informed committee.