The Talk Show With John Gruber - 291: ‘Algorithms, How Do They Work?’, With Nilay Patel

291: ‘Algorithms, How Do They Work?’, With Nilay Patel

07/31/20 • 141 min

Nilay Patel returns to the show to discuss this week’s House antitrust hearing featuring testimony from Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Mark Zuckerberg.

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Links:

Full 5.5-hour video of the hearing.
Casey Newton at The Verge: “Overdue, messy, and unsatisfying — but also a necessary part of a hugely important conversation”.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and famed character actor M. Emmet Walsh, who was born to play him.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) grilling Jeff Bezos on anti-competitive business practices at Amazon.
Lina M. Khan: “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox”. Seminal paper published in The Yale Law Journal in 2017.
The Verge on the 2010 emails between Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, and Steve Jobs that set the rules that keep Amazon from selling Kindle books in their iOS app.
Tim Wu’s The Curse of Bigness.

This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.

Nilay Patel returns to the show to discuss this week’s House antitrust hearing featuring testimony from Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Mark Zuckerberg.

Sponsored by:

Linode: Instantly deploy and manage an SSD server in the Linode Cloud. New accounts get a $20 credit with code talkshow20.
Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month and get your new plan shipped to your door free.
Stitch Fix: A personal styling company that makes getting the clothes you love effortless. Save 25% when you keep everything in your Fix.

Links:

Full 5.5-hour video of the hearing.
Casey Newton at The Verge: “Overdue, messy, and unsatisfying — but also a necessary part of a hugely important conversation”.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and famed character actor M. Emmet Walsh, who was born to play him.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) grilling Jeff Bezos on anti-competitive business practices at Amazon.
Lina M. Khan: “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox”. Seminal paper published in The Yale Law Journal in 2017.
The Verge on the 2010 emails between Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, and Steve Jobs that set the rules that keep Amazon from selling Kindle books in their iOS app.
Tim Wu’s The Curse of Bigness.

This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.

Previous Episode

290: ‘The Least Worst’, With Christina Warren

Special guest Christina Warren joins the show. Topics include the App Store and antitrust, the general crumminess of video streaming service UIs, and historical examples of when Apple gets something wrong.

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Links:

Steven Levy on the G4 Cube’s 20th anniversary.
Me on the Cube and lessons learned.
Report commissioned by Apple comparing the App Store to other “digital marketplaces”.
Rolling Stone TV Critic Alan Sepinwall: “Who Loses Big in the Great Streaming Wars? The User”.
Jason Snell pointing out that even the playback UIs stink for a lot of streaming apps.
Jonathan Mann on Apple (Steve Jobs) deciding to use his “Antennagate Song” to open their emergency press conference.
From the DF Archive: “Antennagate Bottom Line”.
“The Innocence Files” — outstanding series on Netflix documenting the work of the Innocence Project, which works to free those convicted of crimes they didn’t commit.
Rocket — Weekly podcast hosted by Christina, Simone de Rochefort, and Brianna Wu.
Christina on Twitter.

This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.

Next Episode

292: ‘Not the Batman We Want or Need’, With Rene Ritchie

Rene Ritchie returns to the show. Topics include Phil Schiller advancing to Apple Fellow, Microsoft’s simmering spat with Apple over Xbox Game Pass and the App Store’s ban on game streaming services, and Epic’s sizzling spat with Apple over, well, the entire concept of iOS as we know it.

Sponsored by:

Squarespace: Make your next move. Use code talkshow for 10% off your first order.
Feals: Premium CBD delivered directly to your doorstep. Get 50% off your first order with free shipping.
Raycon: The next wave in wireless audio. Save 15% with this URL and code talkshow.

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