ZD 24.14: Information Bottlenecks
Solving for the limitations of human I/O.
In The Issue: 🍏 The brilliance of Apple Intelligence; 🏭 Fabs in Taiwan; 🏏 We are on a Cricket Tournament Run; 🧊 How the Refrigerator makes the Cheeseburger possible; 🔮 Three Bottlenecks of the Future.
The Distilled Spirit
🍏 Apple Intelligence For The Win (Stratechery)
Apple’s waiting game appears to be paying off. Ben Thompson explains how that strategy works so well for the company. Their strategy involves use a cloud of small models, keep control of the data and focus on making the experience seamless. This approach plays exactly into their wheelhouse. That place is exactly where OpenAI wants to be but can’t get because they don’t own the interface. Evan Armstrong explains the potential for ecosystem lock in they are creating in Cupertino. Execution is key but this is probably a good time to be long in $AAPL.
🏭 Why are the Fabs in Taiwan? (
Making semiconductors is tough. Creating blank wafers is an art unto itself. It takes $20 billion to make the fab to turn those into usable chips. Taiwan took this tough problem and used it to forge their way into wealth and prosperity. Explore the industry's development and its establishment in Taiwan, enabling companies like ARM and NVIDIA to build essential devices.
🏏Star Athletes from the Cube Next Door? (
)In case you missed it, International Cricket has a new, shorter format and they are holding the tournament in the US. We pulled together a team of office workers and uber drivers, beat one of the best teams in the world and advanced past the first round. Some executive at Willow TV is looking at a nice bonus.
🧊No Refrigerator, No Cheeseburger (New Yorker)
For most of human history food was highly seasonal. A food as simple as a cheeseburger was an impossible dream before refrigeration. The beef and cheese were not going to appear at the same time of year. If you wanted fresh tomato on that burger it is even more involved. Next time you have a sad quarter pounder with cheese from the drive-through, remember it was once a nearly impossible luxury.
The Weekly Zeitgeist
🔮 The Three Bottlenecks of The Future ( Jones)
TikTok can be a sea of propaganda, lunatic conspiracy theories, AI-generated slop and bad marketing content. It will possibly shortly be banned in the US for good reason. There is, however, a kernel of extremely interesting discussion on the platform. One such creator is Nate Jones, a veteran technology product leader. As a product leader your job is to identify bottlenecks and he is circling three that will determine our path in the near future. The first of these is really the one to circle — humans communicate at 40 bits per second, keyboards are the best multipliers we have had. Is there something out there that is faster? And is that what apple is working on?