200 billion dollars & other news

2 minutes estimated reading time

200 billion dollar markets

Upgrade to 5G Costs 200 Billion Dollars a Year, May Not Be Worth It | Advertising Age – this will be interesting. 3G mobile networks were in a similar position at launch. I remember going to a Cap Gemini conference at the time, where research from European mobile operator c-suite opinions was presented. TL;DR no one knew how it was going to make money. Some like Three had ideas of making money on short form media like sports highlights.  Three didn’t manage to build a business selling football clips. None of the current ideas look worth $200 billion a year. Not even at the inflated values that we currently have, nothing close to 200 billion dollar markets. More related content here.

Culture

Outlaw Appeal: The Yakuza in Film and Print | Nippon – nice analysis of the Yakuza in popular culture

Design

Why Is There No Freighter Equivalent of the Airbus A380? – this is explains why Airbus made non-cargo optimised design decisions (like a cockpit on the lower flight deck so you can’t fit a cargo door in the nose). I would be very surprised if Airbus doesn’t make the same mistakes in the future. 

Ethics

Jaron Lanier interview on Silicon Valley culture, #MeToo backlash, AI, and the future – Business Insider

FMCG

Family Greatly | Kraft Brand – YouTube – classic planner driven creative targeting important family moments. Textbook FMCG advertising

Japan

No news, just snooze: Japan’s paper deliverers enjoy press holiday | World news | The Guardian – I love that Japan still values print

Luxury

Hiroshi Fujiwara Explains Why Fragment Sneakers Are So Hard to Get | GQ  – There’s many shoes out there. I want everyone to have it who wants to have it. But it’s hard because so many people buy them just to make money. And I don’t like that. And sometimes it’s good to work hard to get a sneaker, because otherwise you won’t buy it – Fujiwara-san on point as ever

Security

China unveils satellite network plan for round-the-clock lock on South China Sea | South China Morning Post

Chinese woman offered refund after facial recognition allows colleague to unlock iPhone X | South China Morning Postwhen you have a huge population like China even small odds become significant – I do have a nagging doubt about if the story is true though

Technology

Telling AI to not replicate itself is like telling teenagers to just not have sex | Quartz – runaway singularity?

Wireless

FT Opening Quote – Dixons Carphone profits fall 60% – UK consumer upgrade cycle stretched. More people going for SIM only deals and upgrades are pretty meh (paywall)