Ged Carroll

Category: korea | 韓國 | 한국 | 韓国

Annyeonghaseyo – welcome to the Korean category of this blog. This is where I share anything that relates to the Republic of Korea, business issues relating to Korea, the Korean people, Korean culture and the Korean language.

At the time of writing this category descriptor its been about 10 years since I have last been able to visit Korea. In that time the country has risen on the world stage.

There have been continual disputes with Japan and more recently continual bitter disputes with China. The Japanese disputes are related to history and territory. Korea had been occupied as part of the Imperial Japanese empire. Independence came with the end of the second world war.

The Chinese disputes are more complex. Chinese investors are buying up Korean property particularly in Seoul, Busan and Jeju island, while many Koreans can no longer get on the property ladder. Chinese tourists blitz Korean shops in a similar way to what they’ve previously done in Hong Kong.

Chinese nationalism has seen claims made on Korean cultural assets from the national dress to kimchi. Finally China has interfered in Korea’s efforts to defend itself from the threat in the north.

Often posts that appear in this category will appear in other categories as well. So if Samsung launched a new smartphone that I thought was particularly notable that might appear in wireless as well as Korea. If there is Korean subjects that you think would fit with this blog, feel free to let me know by leaving a comment in the ‘Get in touch’ section of this blog here.

  • 2021 blogs that inspire me

    I wrote a blog post back in February 2014 that highlighted 40 blogs that inspired me, revisiting this post I decided to write about 2021 blogs that inspire me. But first how did the original list hold up in 2021?

    Original list in 2021

    Name / CategoryDescription
    Analysis 
    Wall Street Journal Corporate Intelligence blogNo longer exists, the link defaults to the Wall Street Journal front page.
    Edge Perspectives with John Hagel– No longer exists
    Monocle MonocolumnMonocle has kept the archive online, but the Monocolumn is no longer updated. It has been abandoned in favour of the Monocle Minute
    Organizations and MarketsOrganizations and Markets have their archive online but wrote their last post in 2016, ten years to the day when they first started writing posts
    Asia 
    AnalectsThe Analects last post was in November 2014
    Asia blogThe Asia Society have a blog which alternates between amazing photography from the region and analysis pieces with an academic / think tank type feel. It is still maintained
    Asian Security BlogStill sporadically posted to by Robert Kelly a Korean-based professor of international relations, it has some interesting posts analyzing the complex relationships across APAC. In 2017, became better known when his children gatecrashed a television interview he was doing via Skype with the BBC
    Bytes of ChinaNo longer available
    China Real TimeThe blog has disappeared and now diverts to the WSJ’s Asian news section.
    ChinaTechNewsChinaTechNews seems to have stopped at the end of 2020
    Hong Kong HustleStopped in 2017, but the archived posts are still available
    Jing DailyAll things luxury sector related in China.
    Jottings from the Granite StudioNow diverts to Jeremiah Jenne’s personal site
    May DailyMay Daily no longer exists
    Scene AsiaNo longer exists, instead it diverts to the WSJ home page
    Business 
    Andy KesslerBlog of the business author and former Wall Street analyst, mostly just posts the copy from his Wall Street Journal articles there now.
    Bronte CapitalAustralian authored blog with some interesting analysis on some of the business stories of the day with a very strong focus on US companies
    Strategyprofs.netThe archive is still available. The last post was written in 2016
    Union Square VenturesA mix of curated content and original analysis by staff from a New York-based venture capital firm
    Design 
    Cool ToolsKevin Kelly’s website which is a spiritual successor to the Whole Earth Catalog.
    designboomGreat new product site which cover product design to architecture products, handy to look through for inspiration
    DezeenSimilar to designboom but more focused on architecture
    IDSA Materials and Processes SectionNo longer active
    Thinking and SharingHasn’t been updated since November 2020
    Ideas 
    BBH LabsRandom assortment of posts from the innovation team at BBH, always something to think about
    ExcapiteIdeas of exploration in the network economy
    PARC blogBlog no longer active
    Insights 
    CEB Iconoculture Consumer Insights BlogMerged into GartnerGroup’s other blog posts
    Creative Culture InternationalNuggets of consumer behaviour insights from around the world
    GfK Insights BlogGlobal market research agency posts based on some of the research they carry out, has a mixed bag of content
    The comScore Data MineNo longer active
    WPP Reading RoomNo longer active
    Online 
    China Internet WatchThink Techcrunch for China
    China Social Media blogNo longer active
    Facebook Developer BlogLess of a pleasure, more of a professional necessity to try and keep with up with the latest developments on the Great Satan of social
    Technology 
    FluxxNo longer running a blog
    Infinite LoopArs Technica’s Apple-focused channel, quality analysis
    Michael GeistCanadian expert on intellectual property and online privacy. Blogs analysis with a North American focus
    Tech-On!Blog no longer published in English
    The WirecutterA ‘best of ‘ website that looks at different technology categories

    What surprised me about the 2012 list is how many blogs covering different aspects of China in terms of the technology scene, culture and online life have disappeared or stopped being updated. Despite the fact that now, more than ever, they are needed.

    Major media outlets have walked back from building blogs based on interest areas or personalities ( like a traditional newspaper columnist).

    By comparison, I have a compiled an exemplar list of inspirational 2021 blogs. I look at more but that would be ludicrously long to compile.

    2021 blogs that inspire me

    Name / CategoryDescription
    Analysis 
    Marginal RevolutionEconomics blog of Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, both of whom teach at George Mason University
    Naked CapitalismNaked Capitalism is an educated critique of post Reagan / Thatcher Chicago School of economics
    Global Risk InsightsA mix of current affairs and economics from an international team of policy wonks and economists
    LawfareCurrent affairs analysis in association with the Brookings Institute
    ProMarket A curated newsfeed of articles on the intersection of technology, policy and economics
    VoxEUEU focused policy blog under the auspices of the Centre for Economic Policy Research
    Asia
    Asian SentinelAsian Sentinel is edited by a couple of veteran Asia based journalists. The content comes from a number of experts in the region in specialisms such as finance, economics and policy.
    Chosun IlboEnglish language Korean newspaper
    Hong Kong Free PressThe Hong Kong Free Press is an English language online-only new site focusing on Hong Kong
    MetropolisEnglish language online magazine focused on life in Japan – culture rather than policy and news
    Jayne StarsEnglish language blog that collates Hong Kong celebrity news from Cantonese language media. It is was important for me to keep an eye on this when working in Hong Kong. It is also a good way to track the slow death of the Hong Kong domestic media industry.
    Nippon.comOnline magazine ran by the Nippon Communications Foundation
    PingWestChina-based English language site that specialises local technology sector news
    SoraNews24English language version of a Japanese news site that focuses on ‘fun, weird, and intriguing news from Asia, particularly Japan’. It has some great Japanese consumer insight content including retail experiences
    South China Morning PostThe South China Morning Post historically was the paper of record for Hong Kong. It’s medium-to-long term usefulness looks in question with the National Security Act and the Chinese government pressure for Jack Ma to divest media ownership
    Tech in AsiaEnglish language site that is focused on the South East Asian and East Asian technology sector 
    What’s On WeiboEnglish language site that provides insight into the top stories and memes trending on Chinese social media
    The Wire ChinaSubscription-based online Chinese news magazine covering business, policy and economic issues
    HKU Legal Scholarship BlogHong Kong University faculty of law blog on local developments
    Design
    Cool Hunting A mix of the unusual and cool from around the web
    Cool ToolsKevin Kelly’s website which is a spiritual successor to the Whole Earth Catalog.
    designboomGreat new product site which cover product design to architecture products, handy to look through for inspiration
    DezeenSimilar to designboom but more focused on architecture
    Core77Curated design and architecture
    Retro To GoProducts with a retro design and sensibility
    1Granary A magazine focused on profiling designers and artists
    ColossalColossal in their own words – “an international platform for contemporary art and visual expression that explores a vast range of creative disciplines.” 
    Design milkAn online magazine and e-commerce site focused on modern design
    DexignerOne of the OG design blogs started back in 2001
    Retro To Go Retro To Go curates vintage and new products that are retro influenced product designs
    Ideas
    Ad AgedGeorge Tannenbaum is a 40 year creative veteran in the advertising industry. His blog is a mix of smart thinking and ranting about ageism and other isms in the ad industry (there’s a lot of them to rant about)
    AeonAeon is a smart digital magazine run along the same principles as PBS or NPR in the US
    BaekdalManagement consultancy type content on the media industry, primarily aimed at publishers, but useful for ad people like yours truly
    Clot MagazineAn online magazine about art that uses ‘science’ as its media – full of interesting curios
    Creative Culture A mix of academics and consultants covering a wide range of cultural issues. I am never sure what I’ll find here, but it’s seldom dull.
    FuturismCuration of interesting stuff
    Hello FutureFrance Telecom has a blog about the bleeding edge of technology. Alongside the usual 5G flag waving you’d expect from a major mobile network operator there’s some thoughtful content
    Kellogg InsightArticles from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Many of which are well written
    KnowledgeArticles written by INSEAD teaching staff and alumni 
    Union Square VenturesVenture capital fund who write about some of the thinking that underpins their investment themes
    Yale University Press BlogA blog that covers the central ideas in the books that they publish. The articles go from current affairs to art, history and science.
    Technology
    Radio Free MobileDespite the name, covers technology and does some interesting business analysis. I really like the way everything is delivered in succinct bullet points
    Semiconductor DigestSemiconductors are the most overlooked, yet important part of technology today. Well worth keeping up with the latest developments here
    Chilling CompetitionAnalysis of the intersection between legal and technology, with a particular focus on anti-trust and competition law
    Tech.euEurope based technology and innovation news

  • China crackdown + more things

    MACAU DAILY TIMES 澳門每日時報 » Hong Kong | Thousands flee for UK, fearing China crackdown – What’s surprising is not the content of the article itself. There are plenty of pieces in the English language media around the world about the fear of a China crackdown due to the Hong Kong National Security Law driving Hong Kongers away. (The reality is less likely to be a China crackdown and more likely to be a progressive anaconda-type squeeze.) I am surprised to see this article in the usually tame Macau media. Which left me with the question why? My initial thoughts were that space constrained Macanese could take up some of the slack in Hong Kong as locals vacate? If so it would solve problems in the housing market and the need to build additional infrastructure in Macau.

    Hong Kong Bar Association’s new chair on national security law and China ｜ Apple Daily – I can’t see Mr Harris’ tenure ending well, given his lack of alignment with the line of travel on Hong Kong’s national security law. We might see a more forceful China crackdown on the legal sector, than just the mainland media criticism so far

    Next generation of horseshit | The Ad Contrarian newsletter – more on why life stage is more important than generations

    Merrick Garland Wants Former Facebook Lawyer to Top Antitrust Division | Prospect – this could be good for Facebook

    Majority of B2B advertising is ‘ineffective’ | Marketing Week – Of the 1,600 B2B ads shown to a sample of 6 million people worldwide over the past four years, 75% scored one star or less on System1’s FaceTrace emotional measurement tool – so ineffective in brand building, but potentially effective in terms of performance marketing? We don’t know

    QAnon Is Alive and Well in Japan – The Diplomat 

    China-Australia clash may be more about Beijing’s economic fears than a coronavirus probe | South China Morning Post 

    Today’s jet fighter designers don’t get the point – Asia Times – the cockpit itself is “beautiful,” full of screens that allow you to bring up an incredible amount of information about the fighter with just a few finger swipes, and customize the data to tailor it for the particular mission. The F-35 is the first to use touch screen technology. Unlike switches, which take up permanent cockpit space, touch screens allow the same LCD screen space to be instantly repurposed, the report said. One minute, a display could be used to pull up data on an aircraft’s fuel reserves, and the next, it could help target an enemy position on a mountainside. That goes a long way toward simplifying the cockpit and not overwhelming a pilot with wall-to-wall physical switches, dials, and single-use displays, the report said. But the problem with touch screens, the pilot explains, is a lack of tactile feedback. Switches have a nice, satisfying click that instantaneously lets the user know they were successfully flipped, the report said. The anonymous pilot reports failing to get a result from a touch screen about 20% of the time – the need for haptics has never been clearer

    China Raises Threat Level Over Rare Earths — Radio Free Asia – “Rare earth ore exports are limited in value, and the global demand for raw materials is relatively low,” said Liu Enqiao of Anbound Consulting. But Liu added that the decline “might be partly due to China’s tightening of regulations on strategic resources” under the country’s new export control law, which took effect on Dec. 1.

    Asian Fans Turn Their Back on Korean Pop Culture – The Chosun Ilbo – a lot of the problem seems to be down to overexposure and the Black Sun club scandal

    Mystery surrounds huge rise in Huawei executives’ social media followings | Financial Times – they aren’t the first corporate to be apparently caught astroturfing and won’t be the last. The New York Times tackles this from a different angle point out how accounts like this were used to lobby against 5G decisions against Huawei in Belgium – Inside a Pro-Huawei Influence Campaign – The New York Times 

    Facing the Jackpot with William Gibson | Ploughshares at Emerson College 

    The EU must protect the right to privacy and not attack end-to-end encryption – interesting that so many vendors came together on this. Its also interesting that its missing big tech names

    US-China tech war: former Google chief and others call for action to handle ‘asymmetric competition’ from Beijing | South China Morning Post – US tech group, formed in July 2020 to tackle ‘the most difficult questions regarding US competitiveness with China on technology’ also includes Jared Cohen. Report calls for determined action to tackle tech competition with China and says a certain amount of ‘bifurcation’ is inevitable

    Elderly woman DJ becomes online sensation in China | South China Morning Post – to be fair she’s about the same age as a number of big name DJs in the west. Pete Tong is 60, Carl Cox is 58, Junior Vasquez is 71, DJ Hell is 58 and Georgio Moroder is 80.

    Artificial Intelligence Will Define Google’s Future. For Now, It’s a Management Challenge. – WSJ – most of Google’s problems related to AI are rooted in the company’s approach to managing staff, adding that science, and not ideology, should guide ethical debates. “Google is the coddler-in-chief,” he said. “Their employees are so coddled that they feel entitled to make more and more demands” regarding how the company approaches AI and related issues. – TL;DR – millennial and gen-z Googler snowflakes preventing the company from creating amoral shareholder value

  • Brazilian data breach + more things

    Massive Brazilian Data Breach – Schneier on Security – some 220 million people affected in the Brazilian data breach. So it is one of the biggest data breaches to date. I do wonder why the Brazilian data breach has not a lot of coverage outside of Portuguese language media? More related content here.

    Why Ericsson took on its own government to defend rival Huawei | Financial Times – China’s support of Huawei, through cheap funding and much else, is well known, and has led to a commercial advantage that Ericsson and Nokia can find hard to counter on their own. Will Europe, for which 5G is a rare technological sector where it enjoys a clear lead over the US, stand up for its homegrown talent?

    Intel reveals ‘hacked’ earnings release was on guessable URL | Financial Times – that isn’t a hack, its good journalism

    North Korea hackers use social media to target security researchers | Financial Times – this is good espionage practice and similar to the Chinese MSS in mode and method

    Facebook sparks anger after shutting socialist pages | Financial Times – it makes sense that an algorithm would see far right and far left organisations as similar

    Should Universities Try to Capture More Value from Their Research? – Knowledge@Wharton – university research has produced pathbreaking innovations across many disciplines, many of which have been commercialized successfully. Yet, on average, universities capture 16% of the value they help create through licensing revenues or equity stakes in the startups their research spawns. Furthermore, some researchers and universities are much better able to commercialize their discoveries compared to others, even holding constant the discovery itself

    How China’s delivery apps are putting riders at risk | Financial Times – in legal disputes, a high level of management by the platform can be taken as evidence that it has a labour relationship with the driver. In 2018, a Shansong courier who had been injured while driving won a court ruling on this basis. One might place some of the responsibility on the engineers who maintain the apps. But they too are victims of labour exploitation, working the infamous “996” shift of 9am-9pm, six days a week. Like delivery drivers, they have decided such an occupation is, so far, their best option. But a country that prides itself on its tech innovation and its booming economy should be able to provide better choices

  • Ahistoric technology & things that caught my eye this week

    Wired magazine had an interesting article on revisiting old technology magazines. The idea was that while in some ways technology has progressed. In other ways, good ideas got bypassed. There are a number of Good ideas that might have more currency now. There is a contrasting ahistoric technology view held by some Silicon Valley luminaries.

    The ahistoric technology viewpoint ignores things that are right in front of us. Fuzzy logic and early machine learning (based on software neural networks) desktop software do much the same things (with less computing power and network bandwidth) that Google and Apple do now.

    Bret Victor gave a presentation ‘from 1973’, showing the fallacy of the ahistoric technology viewpoint. These ideas will be of more relevance to the audience of programmers, but you can grasp the gist of what’s going on.

    One of the reasons I stuck with the Mac platform was that small development houses and lone programmers built useful software based on similarly niche concepts.

    Now these software applications, alongside web services that have been developed in a similar way, like Newsblur and Pinboard are a key part of my workflow.

    McDonalds Japan have a reputation for doing localised products to appeal to Japanese consumers. The flavours and the marketing are grounded in Japanese culture. They have tapped a well loved manga Touch (published during the 1980s) for an advert to promote the 30th anniversary of the chicken Tatsuda burger.

    https://youtu.be/vFJE_7atc30
    McDonalds Japan

    More on Touch here.

    The Oxford Union is trying to keep its programme of speakers going via online sessions. Including Hong Kong exiled dissident Nathan Law.

    Oxford Union

    Finally Asian Boss appealed to viewers for donations as they are struggling financially and are likely to shut down soon without money. This raises questions about the effectiveness of monetisation on YouTube, even with a lightweight structure media organisation like Asian Boss.

    Should you wish to do so, you can donate directly to Asian Boss here.

  • CES 2021

    CES 2021 – the Consumer Electronics Show usually sets the tone at the start of the year for consumer-oriented technology. It usually fills up Las Vegas’ hotels and conference facilities.

    CES 2021 went online only. Like attending online conferencing the experience was lacking. Networking and informal conversations aren’t something that technology has managed to solve.

    Consumer electronics manufacturers didn’t let the virtual nature of CES 2021 put them off though. LG and Samsung went gangbusters rolling out new products. One can understand their enthusiasm based on CTA research for US TV sales in 2020:

    Televisions: Households channeled discretionary dollars into upgrading TVs in a record-setting year for shipments in 2020. CTA expects steady demand for displays in 2021 as TVs remain the centerpiece for entertainment in homes. Television shipments will drop 8% to 43 million units in 2021, the second-highest volume on record, while revenues will decline just 1% to $22 billion. Growth areas for TVs in 2021 include sets over 70-inches (3.3 million units, up 6%) and 8K Ultra High-Definition TVs (1.7 million units, up 300%).

    U.S. Tech Industry Revenue to Jump 4.3% in 2021 After Record Year in 2020, Says CTA

    According Parks Associates, smart TVs were the most popular devices for streaming content. This has been on the rise since 2018. This offers a business opportunity for TV manufacturers and also a potential point of differentiation.

    2101 - CES 2021
    Based on research by Park Associates

    TV vendors were looking at differentiating their products from the increasing amount of competition.

    Looking at the change in TV design; where there is less distinction from the display technology, cabinet or frame design, even OS (with Android) has become commoditised – new sources of differentiation become important.

    LG has been soldiering on with with version 6 of webOS, originally derived from Palm’s attempt to meld HTML 5 web service based apps on top of Linux during the mid to late noughties. (It was also interesting that Samsung didn’t do a similar thing with their Tizen OS; which is derived work done by Intel and Nokia on Linux for mobile and consumer electronics applications.)

    Google Duo tried to get a jump on Zoom by having support in smart TVs. TVs were found to be supporting multiple voice assistants which implies that there has been a stalemate amongst the major players. Whether or not that will result in voice service customer us promiscuity in the home is an interesting question.

    On the hardware front, Japanese manufacturers Sony & Panasonic were promoting the use of onboard machine learning to optimise image processing in real time.

    SWAS – screen with a subscription

    LG expanded its support of content streaming services to include streaming games platforms. Looking at the Parks Associates data, one can understand why they think that the games console market is ripe for disruption.

    Samsung looked to get into the digital art market, with subscription based imagery available on its Lifestyle TV line, which look like a picture frame when off. This is only three decades after Bill Gates Xanadu 2.0 home was filled with digital art. He patented the e-picture hanging in 2003.

    Samsung has gone into coopetition with Peloton with new functionality within the Samsung Health function on its TVs. But also integrating with the fitness training service. The camera and machine learning provides guidance and advice on form for exercisers. This mirrors where Apple has gone with its fitness offerings that are included in the Apple One subscription.

    Sony doubled down on its content business with the Bravia CORE streaming service for its top of the range TVs. A few things with this announcement:

    • CORE uses up to 118Mbits/sec for ‘IMAX enhanced’ content
    • It is initially only a 2-year project, which implies that it might be a reaction to COVID limited box office numbers rather than an ongoing Netflix killer

    It is also interesting that Sony is still hamstrung by its different lines of business and hasn’t launched a streaming games service in its TVs for fear of cannibalising PlayStation sales.

    Other revenue streams on screen

    LG Shop Time 2.0 built on the Shop Time app launched late last year. ShopTime allows you to buy what you see on screen with 1-click in partnership with the Home Shopping Network. Korea has a large TV shopping culture, with mobile commerce and TV experience integration, so this move seems to be a logical progression.

    TV shopping integration with m-commerce - QR code
    Picture I took on a trip to Ulsan in 2012, TV home shopping integrated with mobile commerce by scanning QRcode to buy item currently being sold on the show.

    However the launch of Shop Time 2.0 is a decade on from the pioneering work by Japanese media house Girlwalker; that mixed live and streamed entertainment with 1-click shopping. Their Tokyo Girls Collection and Shibuya Girls Collection events set the standard in this kind of retail experience.

    Samsung TV Plus focused on new targeted advertising capabilities with its own DSP and DMP solution. Ad tracking provides a record of everything that you watch on TV for better ad targeting.

    SWAS and the other revenue streams change the game for TV manufacturers at CES 2021. Previously, a TV was once in a decade purchase. Now manufacturers have the opportunity in the upfront purchase and in multiple recurring revenue streams. The increased amount of technology in the devices, implies an expectation of faster upgrade cycles. However device security and data privacy still don’t seem to be issues on the radar of TV manufacturers.

    AIoT – artificial intelligence of things

    In the same way that fuzzy logic made its way into consumer electronics from rice cookers and cameras to lifts, connected machine learning is now taking a similar path with variable results. Machine learning seemed to feature in CTA Innovation Award Honorees across categories at CES 2021.

    The COVID-19 factor

    CES 2021 itself went virtual because of the pandemic. And two trends became apparent. Machines replaced service staff with devices like an autonomous shopping trolley that would follow the consumer around a supermarket. The second was disinfection, with UV light used as a the go-to germ-killing technique. LG had a number of robots for aiding in hotel room service functions such as delivering items including food packages. There was also a bot for sterilising empty rooms with UV. Accessories company Targus won an award for its UV-C desktop disinfection lamp.

    More information

    U.S. Tech Industry Revenue to Jump 4.3% in 2021 After Record Year in 2020, Says CTA

    CES 2021: TV Brands Seek Differentiation Amid Competition – Park Associates

    Technology autopsies – renaissance chambara – on the long suffering webOS

    Gates patents e-picture hanging | ZDNet

    Sony’s new Bravia CORE streaming service goes big on IMAX Enhanced movies – What HiFi

    Use Your LG TV to Make Purchases Directly From Popular Video Retailers QVC, HSN and Others – Yahoo! Finance

    Tokyo Girls collection: shopping with a Japanese mobile twist – renaissance chambara

    A few thoughts on innovation – renaissance chambara – primer on fuzzy logic

    CES Innovation Awards