Tech Roundup — Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and YouTube

I’ve got a spiffy feature image to work with now (thanks Jasmine Lynch). And I think want to comment on every story that I include going forward.

Jack Dorsey says social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook can be addictive — Mark Zuckerberg says the research is ‘inconclusive’ by Avery Hartmans

“‘I do think, like anything else, these tools can be addictive,’ Dorsey said. ‘And we should be aware of that, acknowledge it, and make sure that we are making our customers aware of better patterns of usage. The more information the better here.’ Zuckerberg said he hasn’t seen any internal research that points to Facebook being addictive for users.”

This perfectly summarizes the differences between these two CEOs. Dorsey acts like he cares. Zuckerberg is a liar.

Why Isn’t Susan Wojcicki Getting Grilled By Congress? by Evelyn Douek

“If there is a singular moment that defines YouTube’s intentional opacity and the lack of accountability this facilitates, perhaps it was in 2018, when Google (and therefore YouTube) provided the most limited data set of the three companies to the independent researchers tasked by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence with preparing reports analyzing the nature and extent of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: YouTube is a social network. It needs to be treated as such.

Microsoft’s Pluton chip upgrades the hardware security of Windows PCs by Igor Bonifacic

“When it comes to protecting you against future threats, Microsoft has an answer for that too. Pluton CPUs will get their firmware updates directly from the company’s servers over a secure connection.”

AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm are all apparently all on board. This sounds like Secured-core PCs, round 2.

Amazon jumps into the pharmacy business with online prescription fulfillment, free delivery for Prime members by Christina Farr and Annie Palmer

“Amazon Pharmacy, announced Tuesday, is the company’s biggest push yet into $300 billion market, and threatens the dominance of traditional pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, as well as other large retailers that offer pharmacy services, including Walmart.”

This has been a long-time coming and should surprise absolutely no-one.

Twitter launches 24-hour Fleets to make tweeting less ‘terrifying’ by Chris O’Brien

“‘What was stopping people from transitioning from their passive observation to being more actively engaged?’ Twitter head of research Nikkia Reveillac asked. ‘What we learned when we talk to people is that tweeting and engaging in conversation can honestly be incredibly terrifying.’”

This is just silly. Even if this were the case, ripping off Stories is never the solution.