stratechery.com

2026.36: Friction and Feedback

That conversation ultimately echoed a very early Stratechery riff on the society-altering implications of tech that removes friction; 13 years later, our generation is still catching up.

whyisthisinteresting

The Quartz Crisis Edition

The Swiss, suffering from hubris, didn't appear to realize they were enmeshed in a war with the Japanese at all, even after the Astron debuted. They also seemed to hold Japanese watchmaking in contempt. As one Swiss industrialist said at the time, "[The Japanese] were not even irrelevant, because irrelevant implies that they had been noticed."

stratechery.com

2026.29: Mainframes and Main Characters

AI's ability to port the essential backend programs that run on archaic technology will mean those missed sales never come back.

stratechery.com

The SpaceX IPO and Data Centers in Space

Musk companies at their best don't win the game; they change the rules through scale, such that billionaires buy economy cars because they actually drive themselves (with supervision), and airlines transform the consumer experience on their own dime.

noahpinion.blog

All non-drone militaries are obsolete

The reason is cost. Drones are simply so cheap to produce in huge numbers that they can overwhelm any more expensive system.

noahpinion.blog

Salarymen, specialists, and small businesses

So far, AI is replacing tasks, not jobs. Alex Imas and Soumitra Shukla have written that as long as there are a few things that only humans can do, this pattern can be expected to hold.

platformer.news

Grammarly turned me into an AI editor against my will and I hate it

I've long assumed that before too long, AI might take my job. I just assumed that someone would tell me when it happened.