Yamato Express
JTB, Panasonic, Yamato eye paperless luggage transport service for tourists | Japan Times – this looks awesome. Yamato Express is a logistics company that will do everything from parcel delivery to helping you to move house. The Yamato Express business philosophy is embodied by our symbol of a mother cat carrying her kitten. Yamato Express look to deliver the same level of care to every customer relationship – and believe in our responsibility to contribute to their customers’ wellbeing and prosperity. I have experienced their service in both Hong Kong and Japan and Yamato Express is a level above UPS, Fedex etc.
Business
WSJ City – City of London Office Rents to Slide – if its steep enough, will there be new office opportunities for agencies priced out of West End over past decade or so?
Culture
The tables are turning: Now that anyone can be a DJ, is the art form dead? | The Economist – not so sure about this article, Phonica and the like are still doing well on vinyl. Also a good deal of the DJs skill is in programming which is distinctly different from making a good Spotify playlist.
Tinker, tailor, writer, spy: the many lives of John le Carré, in his own words | The Guardian – always liked Cornwell, this makes me like him more
Design
Italy’s Fertility Day posters aren’t just sexist – they’re echoes of a fascist past | The Guardian – regardless, Italy (and other EU countries) have an ageing population that needs to be addressed or planned for
Calm Technology – reminds me a lot of Dieter Rams principles of design adopted for a digital age
Ideas
Mike Jay – Paranoid Android | Literary Review – especially pertinent given my re-reading of Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sleep
Japan
Japan’s message to the UK and EU – Japanese ministry of foreign affairs – interesting technical document that highlights how fucked the UK could be, this outlines the red lines that drive Japanese companies out of the country to another EU country instead. Unfortunately it will be too subtle for UK politicians (PDF) More Japan related posts here.
Media
Yes, the News Can Survive the Newspaper – The New York Times – One day many decades hence, when your grandchildren ask you, “Grandma, what was a newspaper?” you can direct them back to Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016. Because it may well go down as the day the American newspaper as we’ve known it moved out of intensive care and into the palliative wing on its way to the Great Beyond
The Twilight of Fox News – The Atlantic – interesting demographic cliff challenge, I would imagine that newspapers face a similar if less extreme challenge?
eBay Receives Positive Results From Branded Podcast | IPG Media Lab – interesting case study on podcast advertising
Brands Cling to TV Advertising | L2 – because mass reach is 500 times more expensive on digital than on TV
Retailing
Amazon.co.uk: Dash Buttons: Kindle Store
Will Amazon Kill FedEx? | Bloomberg – reminds me of Alibaba in China. The key difference is Amazon’s belief that they will always have the cheapest capital
Security
Governments and nation states are now officially training for cyberwarfare: An inside look – TechRepublic – no real surprises given how every product category seems to have a processor and connectivity, but an interesting read
Software
PaddlePaddle – Baidu’s open source deep learning code
Smartphone apps now account for half the time Americans spend online | TechCrunch – interesting data points. More on smartphones here.
Technology
Tech Billionaire’s Data Startup C3 IoT Raises $70 Million – Bloomberg – just as the heat is leaving the IoT market and going into fintech, cryptocurrency and blockchain based verification / recording systems
JK Scheinberg: Apple engineer rejected from job at Apple store Genius Bar – Business Insider – Apple can add ageism in recruitment to its woes
Details Emerge On China’s 64-Core ARM Chip | NextPlatform – ARM as RISC server processor. ARM is more optimised as a client processor, whilst the power reduction focus is good, this isn’t necessarily the slam dunk that it appears on paper
Softbank has completed its £24B cash acquisition of ARM Holdings | TechCrunch – expect a big IoT play. I don’t get what SoftBank really bring beyond money.
Customer Letter – Apple (IE) – relates to EU tax finding against Apple
Web of no web
Alcatel’s standalone VR headset is a tough sell | Engadget – really smart product design in terms of weight distribution. I suspect a good deal of the issue is access to compelling content and that consumers have been educated to do everything on/with their smartphone
Wireless
Total Recall | CCS Insight – Samsung’s Note 7 battery issue will be forgotten (like Dell and Sony’s laptop battery issues in the past). They will take a bit of a hit on their quarterly results, but business insurance will probably cover it