ZD 26.02: Compute Uber Alles
AI is just a function of compute and other interesting ideas for this week.
Welcome to the Zeitgeist Distilled — a hand-curated weekly journal of the dozen or so most interesting stories from the wide world of newsletters and thought leadership.
Compute, Compute, Compute
💻 The Compute Theory of Everything (MBI Deep Dives)
It seems that AI improvements closely track computing improvements.
💵 The Price of Intelligence (Cash & Cache)
What if you could buy and sell GPU-hours like megawatt-hours?
📱 AI Has Left the Chat (The AI Creator Drop)
Powerful compute driving local AI was the name of the game in Las Vegas.
🤖 CES 2026: Running With Robots (The Zeitgeist Distilled)
There were a lot of robots at CES.
Economics
🛑 The No Hire Economy (Apricitas Economics)
The economy seems fine by most numbers, but job creation has not followed. Why?
🛢️Venezuela’s Excrement (Uncharted Territories)
Oil has been Venezuela’s curse. Thomas Pueyo explains how it has come to dominate the economy, the government and life in the country.
📺 How did TVs Get So Cheap (Construction Physics)
The manufacturing tricks that let a 50” 4k TV land in best buy for $200.
Work
👀 Work Will Feel a Lot Different Next Year (Kris Abdelmessih)
Claude code, feral kids and AI property rights.
🗣️ Leadership by Extreme Ownership (The Influential Project Manager)
How to succeed as a new leader by owning everything, blaming no one and building relationships for the win.
Culture
🎙️ How Video Podcasts Took Over Streaming (Daniel Parris)
Video Killed the radio star, again.
💄 How To Build a Girl in Modern America (The Face)
Spend a weekend with University of Alabama influencer-student megastars Kylan and Izzy Darnell.
🏠The McModern (Architectural Digest)
Introducing the glassy, boxy current iteration of the McMansion.
The Look
Box office returns are declining. Via we have the data:
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