Reminds me of Foxconn's "$10 billion" factory investments in Wisconsin in 2017 that turned out to be just another tax dodge. In 2022, the investment amount and jobs created estimates were reduced by more than 90%.
How else do you propose selling the idea of giving a foreign company years of tax breaks in exchange for a minuscule number of jobs while slashing public budgets because there isn't enough tax revenue coming in?
At airports and drugstores, the magazine racks will usually have a "Guide to iPhone/Android" type publication with a ton of pictures that are aimed at this market. I picked one up and realized while flipping through it that there is way too much for a brand new user to be able to absorb. The gestures needed on iOS to pull up options that are otherwise invisible in the UI will be nonsensical to someone whose UI/UX frame of reference is an ATM screen or a gas pump (or self-checkout kiosk which they might not use) where every option is shown on screen without needing additional navigation. Just like the first iPhone, come to think of it.
Silicon Valley valuation numbers are entirely made up to boost their IPO. Actual value is only determined after these companies go public.
Allbirds, the shoe brand, went public at $4bn in 2021 and sold its assets last week for $39 million.
> Neil Saunders, the managing director of the consultancy and market analysis firm GlobalData said: “Allbirds has gone from being a high flyer to a dead parrot.” He said its early success “was driven by Silicon Valley hype, more than deep popularity with consumers in the American hinterland”.
Uber doesn't have to convert hundreds of millions of users to a paid plan - it was paid to begin with. Much easier to raise prices from a low base than to raise them from $0. When push came to shove, Uber also cut payments to drivers and replaced them with a tip screen. Is Nvidia going to accept tip annuities on ChatGPT responses instead of full payment on its chips?
Most importantly, Uber did not have fast-depreciating cars on its balance sheet - OAI meanwhile is planning to spend the GDP of a mid-size nation on owning fast-depreciating datacenters, which they deem necessary to cope with the demand for their services.
PWAs make little sense at this point as most apps are useless without an active internet connection. You can't cache Uber ride searches, Amazon product listings or food delivery options.
The vast majority of apps come from companies where the app developer has little to no say in how things work. Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, Uber, Ebay, Shein, etc are certainly not paying Apple 30% for purchases made inside the app. They also operate at a scale where they get bulk rates from MC/Visa on processing fees.
Germany changed its constitution, banned its former ruling party, and actively explores and teaches their school kids about their crimes. The US on the other hand has a chunk of its electorate flying Confederate flags and voting for politicians who think US history textbooks should be more "pro-American".
We need a first reconstruction. We voted in Confederate sycophants ASAP to undo the very first, and spent the next 100 years pretending that slavery wasn't still happening.
Yet again we have instead voted in people who for some reason think the literal aristocracy system of the antebellum south was anything worth protecting, despite the southern US being so dysfunctional it could barely support a war of it's own making.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/21/foxconn-mostly-abandons-10-b...
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