COVID and New Product Introduction
In March I wrote about the impact COVID was going to have on new product introduction (NPI). Google delayed the release of its new Pixel smartphone by several months. The newest iPhone line-up was a month later this year. And last week Ford announced they would be delaying next year’s Bronco launch. So even some […]
Growing Unemployment Across States
Roughly one in ten workers have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks. Here’s a look at estimated unemployment by state: Three states might have unemployment rates over 20% right now: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. 15 states (and the District of Columbia) likely have unemployment rates over 15%: Alaska, California, District of Columbia, […]
The Fed’s Growing Balance Sheet
Over the last two weeks, the Federal Reserve has added over $500B a week to its balance sheet. Until March 2020, the largest weekly increase in the Fed Balance sheet was $292 billion (October 2008). There were two weeks in October 2008 that saw the Fed’s balance sheet increase more than $200 billion. Until March […]
Making Sense of the Unprecedented March 2020 Job Losses in the Hospitality Sector
The loss of hospitality jobs in March 2020 is unprecedented. When we have April data in a month, we’ll see the U.S. economy suffered more hospitality job losses in two months than during the entirety of the last recession. The leisure and hospitality sector includes businesses like hotels, restaurants, bars, casinos, amusements parts, museums. Some […]
When Nearly Every Astros Game from 2017 is on YouTube
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Tony Adams watched 8,274 pitches thrown to Astros hitters during 58 home games from the 2017 season. He logged his results on signstealingscandal.com. Adams broke down every pitch to Astros hitters, noted if he discerned a bang, and included a direct link to each pitch.
Near-term LCD/OLED Disruption from Coronavirus
From Ross Young: In 2020, Wuhan is expected to account for 6% of worldwide mobile OLED capacity, 3% of mobile LCD capacity and 2% of LCD TV capacity. In 2021, these figures should rise to 9% of mobile OLED capacity and 4% of LCD TV capacity…Since the display industry is still in a period of […]
AI: Feature versus Architecture
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about where AI fits into corporate strategy and structure. Marc Andreessen recently suggested …there’s two obvious business models… one is to be a horizontal platform provider [or] infrastructure provider, analogous to the operating system or the database for the cloud. The other opportunity is in the verticals, the applications […]
U.S. Department of Commerce Imposes Export Limitations on AI Software Designed to Automate the Analysis of Geospatial Imagery
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an interim final rule that imposes a license requirement for the export and reexport of software specially designed to automate the analysis of geospatial imagery. The rule applies to exports and reexports to all countries beyond Canada. The rule is scheduled to be published on Monday January […]
Thursday’s Links
In 2020 we will see more disinformation. Deceptively edited videos and photos (“dumbfakes”). Synthetic media (“deepfakes”) will follow in the years to come. A deceptively edited video of Joe Biden signals what’s coming. Mind control for the masses – no implant needed Statement by T.S. Eliot on the opening of the Emily Hale letters at […]
U.S. Demographic Shifts
Earlier this week the Census Bureau released national and state population estimates. Some key take-aways: U.S. population continues to slow. U.S. Population increased 0.48% between July 1, 2018 and July 1, 2019. This is the slowest growth rates since 1918. Nature increase (births minus deaths) continue to slow. S. births fell 0.9 percent in 2019, […]
