Why Skyscrapers Became Glass Boxes - by Brian Potter - ”Ultimately, it was economics (or at least perceived economics) that drove developers to embrace this style. Glass curtain wall buildings were cheaper to erect than their masonry predecessors, and they allowed developers to squeeze more rentable space from the same building footprint. Ornate, detailed exteriors were increasingly seen as something tenants didn’t particularly care about, making it harder to justify spending money on them. And once this style had taken hold, rational risk aversion encouraged developers and builders to keep using it.”
Measuring Productivity: All Models Are Wrong, But Some Are Useful - ”Measure Speed, Ease, and Quality Different facets of productivity warrant the use of different metrics. We typically think of productivity as a balance among speed, ease, and quality.”
I’m Tired of Pretending Tech is Making the World Better - Try to avoid tools that require you to acquire new tools to use the first tools.
America Voted For Chaos. The Markets Are Feeling the Punch. - Dumb disruption: “Disruption can be a positive force. But over the last decade, it has become a hand-wave that forgives and excuses irresponsible governance, poor decision-making, and financial incompetence. The reason you can’t run the government like a startup is simple: 90% or more of startups fail. That’s a risk threshold that should be unacceptable to anyone serious about the responsibility of America’s stewardship. Productive disruption in the context of an economy or a nation is possible. But there is no evidence of anything productive in Donald Trump’s current approach to economics. Just more deliberate and collateral damage, more flagrant disregard for common sense, and more policies designed to shake things up while shaking the monetary baby to death."
The difficulty level of children - ”It also runs the other direction. If you have two kids, and one kid is away (with a grandparent), it feels like having zero kids.”
Four Marketing Principles That Redefine Markets from Klaviyo’s CMO - ‘“Creating fear never works, because in the immediate, you can probably prompt people to take action because they’re like, ‘Oh my! I must do something,’ but it leaves a negative perception in their mind.” “You don’t become a beloved brand over a period of time."'
Skype is dead. What happened? - Ode to Skype, and complaining about Microsoft having no imagination to evolve it. It’d be helpful to read a detailed analysis of how and why.
ServiceNow’s newest AI agents bring intelligent automation to telecommunications firms - SiliconANGLE - ServiceNow’s AI agents analyze network data to diagnose and resolve issues, predict disruptions, and provide real-time explanations for unusual usage patterns, improving customer service and reducing complaints. // ”For instance, some of the agents are designed to service, test and repair networks by analyzing network data to diagnose any problems that occur. This analysis takes place in seconds, and they’ll immediately be able to work out the best way to fix things and coordinate the repair operation by scheduling tasks for the engineers responsible. // In addition, there are AI agents specifically designed to analyze network incidents. They respond to network alerts as soon as they happen and quickly dig down to understand the root cause. Once they’ve identified the problem, they’ll generate a resolution playbook that predicts any possible network disruptions that might occur before they impact customers. // The company also talked about its billing resolution agents, which can autonomously identify any unusual usage patterns and provide real-time explanations of the associated charges, as well as recommendations for customers to switch to a more cost-effective plan. ServiceNow says this can help telcos to improve transparency and reduce unexpected charges for customers, and will help to reduce the volume of billing complaints and call center volume.”
How AI ‘Reasoning’ Models Will Change Companies and the Economy - Lots of good thinking here, not least of which is a very delightful writing style. There’s about five quips in there that are fun. // Also notice that the benefits are accruing the individual here, the enterprises have yet to figure it out.
AI’s productivity paradox: how it might unfold more slowly than we think - The case that productivity effects of AI in the macro economy will be slow. Micro-economy (individuals) still looks good.