Weekly Digest of Must-Read Articles (27.09)

Every week we meticulously browse through tons of articles, read a variety of editorials and features to find 10 most interesting pieces you can’t miss on any occasion. This week you’ll find out how AR kills the hologram tech. Learn what’s really left of privacy in a digital world. Get stunned with the stories about a $1 billion venture fund and 5G race. Discover the top five DOOH trends of 2019. Read all of this and more in our new weekly digest of 10 articles we’d like you to like.

The World Wants Less Tech. Amazon Gives It More. – The Atlantic

“Silicon Valley created a more hectic world when it turned the too-long in-person meeting into a concise email, then trimmed that down to a Slack message, which demands an immediate response—along with the daily torrent of Twitter DMs, appointment reminders, and news updates on the latest viral TikTok and CEO resignation. But Amazon has a solution: still more products, more ways to be notified. The company’s play to survive the tech backlash is to double down.” Read the article.

Start-Ups Like WeWork and Peloton Feel a Chill on Wall St. – The New York Times

“On the stock's first day of trading Thursday, it ended 11 percent lower than its I.P.O. price. Such a sharp drop in a first day is a rare occurrence for a new listing. “It's becoming a tough time to go public, there's no question,” said John Foley, chief executive of Peloton.” Read the article.

The One Word That Lets Politicians Get Away With Breaking the Rules on Social Media. – The Washington Post

“Facebook called the policy sparing politicians from fact checks part of its “newsworthiness exemption.” Basically, if something on Facebook is newsworthy, or in the public interest, but violates its community standards, the website can keep the content up by citing the exemption. The newsworthiness exemption, introduced shortly before the 2016 elections, is a loophole in the company’s moderation rules that was inspired by a very different kind of content: Facebook had caused a scandal by censoring a famous photograph of a girl fleeing a U.S. bomb strike during the Vietnam War because the girl was naked. At the time, Facebook’s policy contained few details on how it would be enforced or precisely where it applies.” Read the article. 

How Is the China Trade War Impacting Digital Signage? – Digital Signage Today

“The trade war with China is still ongoing, with no signs of resolution. On Sept. 1, President Trump imposed a 15% tariff on finished consumer goods from China, with another 15% tariff going into effect on Dec. 15. The Chinese government has hit back with tariffs as well, and has refused to buy certain American goods, such as agricultural goods, according to a report by Yahoo Finance.

Some economists expect the trade war to get much worse before it gets better, with China possibly boosting tariffs on U.S. goods by as much as 20%. This ongoing showdown between the U.S. and China is also impacting the digital signage space. As a result, many manufacturers have had to up their prices.” Read the article. 

Top 5 DOOH Trends of 2019. – MTC

“Out-of-home advertising gives a brand-safe environment with unmatchable viewability. The best part about this kind of channelization is that the ads are 100 percent viewable. Along with this magnificent visibility, it also adds data feeds, several programmatic capabilities to make for a powerful social media ad.

Without wasting any further time, let us dive into the top five DOOH trends that are currently ruling and are here to stay in the innovation space.” Read the article.

The Elusive $1 Billion Fund That’s Rattled Venture Capital. – Bloomberg

“It’s always nice to get invited to a party. Especially when the host is planning to hand out $1 billion. It was an odd place for the event—a hotel bar in The Hague, a Dutch city of bureaucrats and home to the International Criminal Court. Still, the 50-or-so attendees looked past the unconventional locale and the lack of polish and mingled among silver balloons, waiting to hear from Ellie Cachette, the woman with all the money.

Many of those gathered on that Friday night in June of last year were venture capitalists who had been promised backing from Cachette Capital, a fund of funds -- an investment company that places clients’ money with other investment firms, charging a fee along the way. Others hoped to curry favor with Cachette. They had flown in from New York and London to find out more about someone they knew hardly anything about. And there was the hope of meeting Cachette’s own backers, including pension funds with trillions under management, and Howard Morgan, former hedge fund manager, renowned venture capitalist and the highest-profile investor in Cachette Capital.” Read the article.

Who’s Winning the Race to 5g? Uh, No One. – Quartz 

Even if you’ve absorbed nothing else about 5G, you almost certainly know these three things: There’s a race to build it. China is winning. And that should make you afraid. (Or if you’re in China, thrilled.)

That framing has arisen in no small part because of the US trade war with China. Though the Trump administration calls it a “trade war,” the confrontation it has drawn China into swivels mainly on disagreement over technology policies—and 5G is a major piece of that. “We cannot allow any other country to out-compete the United States in this powerful industry of the future,” said Trump in April. “We are leading by so much in so many different industries of that type, and we just can’t let that happen. The race to 5G is a race America must win.” Read the article.

AR Killed the Hologram. – rAVe Pubs

“Real holograms aren’t a reality today, but there are a lot of technologies that use the buzzword to describe their technology. Volumetric displays and Pepper’s Ghost effects seem to be the two most prevalent methods to create the illusion of a hologram. These have been around forever, but continue to re-emerge. Some newer technologies utilize LED-bedazzled fan blades to create images that float in the air and resemble holograms and there are light field displays and lenticular screens that leverage multiple projectors to accomplish similar effects.

True holography, where a 3D image is produced in mid-air, has made slight progress as laser technology has progressed, but these still require some kind of steam, smoke, gas, volume, etc. and they’re either very small or monochromatic. The best example of one I saw was at SIGGRAPH funnily enough, but the images were simple and tiny.” Read the article. 

University Teaching and AV Costs Are Transformed. – AV Magazine

“Standing on the banks of the River Nene, the University of Northampton’s advanced new Waterside campus supports the education of over 15,000 students. Enter one of its five academic buildings and you soon spot signs of its digital transformation.

Dramatic multi-screen video walls display event information. Interactive wayfinding kiosks help you easily orientate yourself. Look around, and you see groups of students gathered around digital screens to share content, collaborating. Glance in any of the 116 teaching spaces across campus and you’ll see lecturers doing the same with students. It’s all part of a new digital IT/AV teaching platform designed to deliver the university’s ‘Transforming Lives + Inspiring Change’ vision.” Read the article.

Privacy in a Digital World. – Techrunch

“In the last decade, both governments and giant corporations have become data miners, collecting information about every aspect of our activities, behavior and lifestyle. New and inexpensive forms of data storage and the internet connectivity revolution – not only in content, but in fact – in just about everything (from smart appliances to nanobots inside people’s bodies) – enable the constant transmission of big data from sensors and data-collection devices to central “brains”; the artificial intelligence revolution has made it possible to analyze the masses of data gathered in this way.” Read the article.