3 minutes estimated reading time
UK China relations
What to know about UK China relations in 2021 — Quartz – interesting that the author frames UK China relations in terms of Brexification. The reality is much more nuanced
Culture
The Gen X Culture Warriors Who Never Grew Up | The New Republic – interesting take on things, though I disagree with a good deal of it
Design
Jeff Bezos and Amazon: A complicated design legacy – A major part of design’s value proposition is the process. Designers identify problems to create solutions. Amazon, on the other hand, has often identified solutions before naming the problem. Sometimes that approach worked. But often, it didn’t. And it created an ecosystem with a surprising number of hidden costs. “Amazon will never be a design-led company. It’s evident in the quality of the products they ship. And although the design is still thriving there, I don’t believe it’s fundamental to the core DNA of the company,” says a former Amazon designer who worked closely with Bezos on several products. “Just because there’s ‘customer obsession’ doesn’t mean there’s an investment in quality and design rigor.”
Right to repair’ law to come in this summer – BBC News
Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s UA Cinemas lowers curtain for final time amid ‘devastating pressure’ of coronavirus pandemic; theatre chain had operated in city since 1985 | South China Morning Post – this felt big to me. Hong Kong has cinema attendance per head of population far over what you’d get in Europe which makes a city with the population of Denmark being historically the fourth largest cinema market. Some of the best times I had in Hong Kong revolved around trips to the cinema
Japan’s SBI plans Hong Kong pullout on concerns over security law | Financial Times – I was surprised Yoshitaka Kitao came out so unequivocally against the national security law with the statement that ‘without freedom, there is no financial business’ – most companies have pussyfooted around the issue, like they have done around Brexit. SBI are also reviewing their presence in London
StanChart tries to navigate moral minefield | Financial Times – really interesting read about he challenges that Standard Chartered is facing and how they are trying to manage them. It provides an unfavourable contrast for HSBC though both are a right mess
Luxury
Are Supercars a Good Investment? Experts Say Vintage Cars Are Risky – Bloomberg – interesting article
Why No Other Luxury Company Compares To LVMH | Jing Daily
Dior Names Blackpink’s Jisoo New Global Fashion and Beauty Ambassador | Business of Fashion
Marketing
Tymbals : The Agency of the Future – new agency conglomerate is financially engineered
Media
Netflix Begins Test to Crack Down on Password Sharing Outside Your Household – The Streamable – Netflix‘s next stage of growth
Security
The UK is secretly testing a controversial web snooping tool | WIRED UK – police and internet companies across the UK have been quietly building and testing surveillance technology that could log and store the web browsing of every single person in the country. The tests, which are being run by two unnamed internet service providers, the Home Office and the National Crime Agency, are being conducted under controversial surveillance laws introduced at the end of 2016. If successful, data collection systems could be rolled out nationally, creating one of the most powerful and controversial surveillance tools used by any democratic nation
Technology
Why I was wrong to be optimistic about robots | Financial Times – really interesting piece on the state of robotics in warehouse environments
How Line built fact-checking into its encrypted messaging app – Rest of World
iCloud allegedly locked out a user over her last name | Engadget – I wonder if this affects other Oracle mail server instances