23 hours agoThe Recount Joins The News Movement(Original Post on Searchblog) Four years ago this past summer my family and I decided to move to New York, and as I prepared, I called my best friend in Manhattan, the journalist John Heilemann. …Media3 min readMedia3 min read
Jan 23Member-onlyWhy ChatGPT Isn’t Scary For Writers(original post on Searchblog) How long have I been staring at a blank screen, this accusing white box, struggling to compose the first sentence of a post I know will be difficult to write? About two minutes, actually, but that’s at least ten times longer than ChatGPT takes to compose…AI4 min readAI4 min read
Jan 20Member-onlyWill ChatGPT Make Us All “Centaurs”?(Original post at Searchblog) Watching the hype cycle build around OpenAI’s ChatGPT, I can’t help but wonder when the first New York Times or Atlantic story comes out calling the top — declaring the whole thing just another busted Silicon Valley fantasy, this year’s version of crypto or the metaverse…Entrepreneurship4 min readEntrepreneurship4 min read
Jan 16Member-onlyCan TikTok Ever Be “Managed”?(original post at Searchblog) Today let’s think out loud about TikTok, perhaps the most vexing and fascinating expression of Big Tech power since Google in the early 2000s. I’ve written about TikTok several times, and today’s news, from the Wall Street Journal, raises fresh questions that feel under-appreciated. First, the…Tiktok App4 min readTiktok App4 min read
Jan 9Member-onlyCan Neeva Beat Google? (And Microsoft…and Time?)(original post at Searchblog) The Very Hardest Thing What’s the hardest thing you could do as a tech-driven startup? I’ve been asked that question a few times over the years, and my immediate answer is always the same: Trying to beat Google in search. A few have tried — DuckDuckGo…Artificial Intelligence7 min readArtificial Intelligence7 min read
Jan 5Member-onlyWill OpenAI Be an Arms Merchant?(original post on Searchblog) Just last week I predicted that Google would leverage ChatGPT to create a conversational interface to its search business, and that Microsoft would do the same in the enterprise data market. I briefly considered that I might have gotten it exactly backwards — Google has a…Artificial Intelligence4 min readArtificial Intelligence4 min read
Jan 5Member-onlyHow To Ask A Question?(original post on Searchblog) Today I’d like to ponder something Kevin Kelly — a fellow co-founding editor of Wired — said to me roughly 30 years ago. During one editorial conversation or another, Kevin said — and I’m paraphrasing here — “The most creative act a human can engage in…AI3 min readAI3 min read
Dec 30, 2022Predictions ’23: AI, Advertising, Crypto, Twitter (sorry), and Trump (double sorry)The 20th (!) anniversary of my annual predictions. I’ve used the image above for many years, mainly because I love how surprised the guy looks as he gazes into the crystal ball. Or maybe he’s just sat on something unpleasant. In any case, it pretty much sums up my approach to this, my 20th edition of annual predictions…Technology15 min readTechnology15 min read
Dec 27, 2022Member-onlyMy Predictions 2022: How’d I do?Pretty, pretty good, actually (Original post at my site here, you can get my newsletter at the top right) I’m planning something different for my annual predictions this year — I’m going to take the balance of this week and write an individual post for each one of my prognostications. Then I’ll write a…Technology7 min readTechnology7 min read
Apr 7, 2022Member-onlyIs Conversational Media Dead?Caveat: This will likely be one of my longish, link-heavy Thinking Out Loud pieces, so I invite you all to pour yourselves a glass of your favorite adult beverage or rustle up a fine cannabis pairing, should you care to indulge… As The Recount prepares for a major launch this…Marketing10 min readMarketing10 min read