The hottest Technology Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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World of Glass

Material World • 87 implied HN points • 20 Jun 23
🔬 Science Technology
  1. Glass is a crucial material in modern civilization and advanced technology.
  2. The world's scientific and cultural advancements have been heavily influenced by the use of glass.
  3. The production and use of glass have played significant roles in historical events and technological developments.

In Memoriam: Legendary Journalist And FIN Founder James Ledbetter Dies at 60

James Ledbetter's FIN • 25 implied HN points • 31 Oct 24
📰 News Technology
  1. James Ledbetter was a talented journalist who understood complex topics and wrote about them clearly. He had a way of explaining things that made them easy to grasp.
  2. He founded the newsletter FIN, focusing on fintech and important trends in finance. His insights helped many people stay updated on the fast-changing financial world.
  3. Ledbetter was also a great mentor and friend to many. His warm personality and generosity made a lasting impact on those around him.

Why Won’t Baseball Let Us Submit to Our Robot Overlords?

I Might Be Wrong • 7 implied HN points • 17 Jul 25
🎾 Sports Technology
  1. Baseball has started using a robot system to call balls and strikes, which many fans believe is more accurate than human umpires. This technology is similar to systems in other sports, which helps avoid bad calls.
  2. Despite testing this system, Major League Baseball still relies on human umpires for regular season games, leading to frustration among fans who see the technology but can't use it.
  3. In a world with so much misinformation, having a clear and objective way to decide calls in baseball feels important. It represents a small truth amidst broader chaos in society.
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The War on Informality

Altered States of Monetary Consciousness • 59 HN points • 19 Dec 23
🎭️ Culture Technology
  1. London's environment is becoming increasingly surveilled and formalized, with corporate and technology influences dominating the city.
  2. The push towards cashless transactions and automation in London is gradually eroding the informal economy and individual freedoms.
  3. The struggle between formal, commercialized spaces and informal, community-driven areas in London reflects broader societal shifts towards conformity and consumerism.

Financing the AI Boom

Net Interest • 17 implied HN points • 31 Jan 25
💼 Business Technology
  1. The demand for data centers is skyrocketing due to growth in AI and cloud services. Companies and investors are putting big money into building these facilities to meet future needs.
  2. Major tech companies like Meta and Microsoft are planning to invest heavily in AI infrastructure this year. This indicates that there's a big race to develop the necessary resources for AI technology.
  3. Recent developments suggest that new AI models can be produced with less infrastructure than before. This raises questions about the future profitability of data center companies, as they might not be as essential to AI advancements.

Tech-Financial-VC Bubbles

Turnaround • 158 implied HN points • 04 Apr 20
💰 Finance Technology
  1. Financial bubbles follow a pattern of phases - starting with intense innovation funding, moving into financial speculation, and finally reaching maturity before a possible burst.
  2. Technology and financial bubbles can be compared to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, where we continually build and push bubbles until they burst, repeating the cycle.
  3. The current tech bubble seems concentrated within private and venture capital, driven by factors like low interest rates, leading to bigger deal sizes and a shift from IPOs to unicorn aspirations.

The Bank of Starbucks

Of All Trades • 9 implied HN points • 27 May 25
💼 Business Technology
  1. Starbucks makes a lot of money, earning about $36 billion in revenue in 2024. This shows that their business is not just about coffee, but also a serious finance player.
  2. By allowing customers to load money onto their app for purchases, Starbucks essentially acts like a bank. They hold this money without needing to give customers cash back, making it a profitable system for them.
  3. Starbucks holds more customer deposits than about 80% of U.S. banks, even though it's primarily a coffee company. This highlights how big their banking-like system has become in the consumer market.

📏 When machines start calling the shots

Reboot • 5 implied HN points • 20 Aug 25
🎾 Sports Technology
  1. Tennis is moving to electronic line calling, which uses computers for making calls instead of humans. This could change how games are played, as players won't have human judges anymore.
  2. Human judges add a personal touch to games by enforcing rules based on their own experiences. With machines making calls, something important might be lost in terms of fairness and connection.
  3. Machines can make mistakes too, even if they are often called more accurate than humans. Trusting technology completely has its risks, especially when it comes to close calls in sports.

My Podcast With Jim Rutt

From the New World • 16 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
🎙 Podcasts Technology
  1. The timing of reactions to a key December paper about AI was off because people didn't realize its importance until much later.
  2. A new executive order on AI aims to reduce government red tape, which could change how tech companies work with the government.
  3. Since 9/11, there’s been a shift in counterterrorism tactics that creates suspicion among everyday people, leading to distrust in society.

Platform Governance Matters: How Platform Gatekeeping Affects Knowledge Sharing Among Complementors

Platform Papers • 19 implied HN points • 15 Feb 23
💼 Business Technology
  1. Strong platform control can encourage complementors' innovation activity instead of suppressing it.
  2. Access control by platform owners shapes complementors' knowledge sharing activities and can impact innovation.
  3. Platform governance, particularly access control, plays a crucial role in motivating cooperative behaviors among complementors for innovation.

Our Great Opportunity

Daniel Pinchbeck’s Newsletter • 17 implied HN points • 21 Jan 25
🌞 Climate & Environment Technology
  1. Destruction can help us see a clearer path towards fixing our problems and taking better care of our planet. Sometimes, leaving behind old ideas and systems can lead to new and better ways of doing things.
  2. Moving towards a regenerative society needs big changes in how we think and how we do things together. Everyone needs to join in to create a powerful global effort that focuses on caring for the Earth.
  3. The current crisis isn't just about technology or politics; it's a deeper issue that involves our values and beliefs. We need to change the way we understand ourselves and our connection to nature to find real solutions.

Regressions

Venture Prose • 179 implied HN points • 03 Jan 20
💼 Business Technology
  1. Regressions happen when services fall below our standards or expectations. It's important to address and prevent them.
  2. As organizations grow, handling regressions becomes more challenging. It's crucial to manage engineering complexities and customer expectations.
  3. Preventing regressions requires setting high standards, holding people accountable, and remaining true to values. Prevention is key to maintaining a trustworthy product and service.

Toward Sympoietic Mycomusicology

Cybernetic Forests • 39 implied HN points • 12 Jun 22
🔬 Science Technology
  1. Mushrooms play a significant role in transforming materials to support life, showcasing a symbiotic relationship with the environment.
  2. The coordination and information exchange within mushroom bodies and networks can be likened to circuit boards, showing potential for capturing digital information.
  3. Exploring the connection between mushrooms and synthesizers delves into the concept of sympoiesis, highlighting the collaborative production and distribution of control and information.

Embrace Your Crookedness

The Convivial Society • 73 HN points • 27 Jul 23
📖 Philosophy Technology
  1. Embrace the crookedness of your heart, and don't let it destroy others in your efforts to do good.
  2. Crookedness doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong; it may just be part of human nature.
  3. Resist the push for total predictability and control; embrace the inefficiency and uniqueness that crookedness brings.

Capitalism and Schizophrenia

Daniel Pinchbeck’s Newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 14 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Technology
  1. Technology can have dark sides that lead to feelings of alienation and violence. Instead of making life better for everyone, it sometimes creates more problems.
  2. Some people believe that extreme actions, like violence, are the only way to deal with the damage being done to our planet and society. This shows how desperate some individuals feel about addressing big issues.
  3. There are mysterious reports of 'alien drones' in the sky, but no one knows where they come from. This makes us question what’s really happening around us and how much control we have.

A $113M seed round is a death sentence

Tech Ramblings • 19 implied HN points • 18 Jun 23
💼 Business Technology
  1. A big seed round of $113M can be a problem for a new startup if they don't yet have a product. This huge amount of money can create pressure to perform, making it harder to focus on what really matters.
  2. When a startup gives away nearly half of its company for funding, the founders might lose control over their vision. They could end up following orders from investors instead of pursuing their own ideas.
  3. It's a myth that having a lot of money leads to creativity. Successful companies usually start with a strong idea and a small amount of funding, not a huge pot of cash.

Battle Cards!

The Security Industry • 16 implied HN points • 24 Jan 25
💼 Business Technology
  1. Battle cards are useful tools for sales teams. They provide key information about competitors and help highlight your own product's strengths.
  2. Understanding your competition can help you sell better. Knowing what makes your product different can win over customers who are considering other options.
  3. There are now resources available that can help you create battle cards easily. Using tools like HarvestIQ.ai can make tracking competitor information simpler.

US Justice Department appoints its inaugural AI officer

philsiarri • 44 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Technology
  1. The US Justice Department has appointed its first AI officer, Jonathan Mayer, to focus on integrating AI into investigations and prosecutions.
  2. Attorney General Merrick Garland stressed the importance of adapting to technological advancements while ensuring the rule of law and civil rights are upheld.
  3. AI is viewed as a tool to enhance national security, but concerns about biases, election tampering, and cybercrime are also acknowledged.

Infinite Content. Zero Meaning.

Daniel Pinchbeck’s Newsletter • 6 implied HN points • 10 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Technology
  1. Technology is changing how we think and feel, making us more automatic in our thinking. It can lead to a world where everything feels boring and thoughtless.
  2. Just like in music, where sound can be flattened out, our thoughts and experiences might lose their depth due to constant digital stimulation.
  3. Despite these challenges, there's hope for a future where we break free from automation and discover new ways of being and thinking.

✅ Monday briefing: Exiting Russia, brand vandals, war misinformation, niche podcasts, local media newsletters, Socially Mobile, Twitter downvote, Google Analytics, and more...

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 59 implied HN points • 21 Mar 22
📰 News Technology
  1. Over 400 companies have stopped doing business in Russia due to the war in Ukraine, but some still remain there. Yale researchers are tracking these corporate decisions.
  2. Niche podcasts are becoming popular and can make money through sponsorships and branded content. They offer creative and focused storytelling.
  3. Twitter has added a downvote feature to help users filter out unwanted content. This change is now available on both Android and iOS apps.

Alison.AI analyzes your creative to ensure real conversion

Startup Strategies • 42 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
💼 Business Technology
  1. Alison.AI, founded by Asaf Yanai and Koby Berkovich, uses AI to optimize video advertising by analyzing competitors' successful creatives. They offer a suite of tools for enhancing the video creation process from ideation to production.
  2. Alison.AI stands out by focusing on video creative analysis, providing data-driven insights for optimizing video ads and streamlining advertising campaign briefs with the SmartBrief feature.
  3. The startup secured a significant $5.1 million pre-seed funding round, with investors like a16z, and has shown impressive growth by analyzing millions of creatives, identifying key features, and working with major companies in the digital marketing space.

Box # 8

What Is Called Thinking? • 13 implied HN points • 21 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Technology
  1. Confidence in higher education has dropped a lot in recent years. Many people worry that colleges are too liberal and not preparing students for real jobs.
  2. Workplace politics are a big part of any job. Depending on the company, you might spend anywhere from 25% to 50% of your time dealing with office politics.
  3. Dostoevsky is gaining popularity on social media, showing a shift in what people are interested in today. It seems like deeper themes are resonating with a lot of people.

Rabbit Holes 🕳️ #97

Creative Destruction • 20 implied HN points • 13 Nov 24
🎭️ Culture Technology
  1. Civilizational anxiety is a common feeling that many people are experiencing today, and it's important to recognize it rather than let it divide us. It can bring us together in understanding our shared struggles.
  2. Our lives are increasingly ruled by numbers and data, which can make it hard to slow down and enjoy meaningful connections. We often focus more on achieving metrics than on actually enjoying life.
  3. We need to reclaim our autonomy and creativity in a world dominated by algorithms and the crowd. By making our own choices, we can rediscover what it means to be truly unique.

Stop Aiming at the Wrong Targets

Polymathic Being • 54 implied HN points • 12 Nov 23
🚌 Education Technology
  1. In war, success requires looking at targets in front of you and those over the horizon.
  2. In technology and business, it's important to focus not just on immediate targets, but also on targets further away.
  3. Systems thinking involves engaging deeply across domains to find solutions for complex problems, even those that are not immediately visible.

Chiếc iPad trong vụ án Nguyễn Đức Chung

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 59 implied HN points • 31 Dec 21
🌍 World Politics Technology
  1. The importance of digital evidence, like an iPad, in legal cases and the challenges of accessing and verifying such data.
  2. The complex legal implications around passwords, access to personal devices, and email privacy in investigations.
  3. The limitations of access to Gmail and iPad data by law enforcement, highlighting the need for strong security measures to protect personal information.

The Pleasure of (Virtual) Immortality

The Apéritif • 1 HN point • 08 Jul 24
🎭️ Culture Technology
  1. Digital memorials are changing how we remember loved ones. Instead of just gravestones, people can now share memories and stories online, making it easier for family and friends to connect with their memories.
  2. There's a worry that technology might take away the natural process of grieving. If people rely too much on digital ways to remember, they might find it harder to truly feel and work through their emotions.
  3. Using AI to connect with the deceased can create confusion about grief. While it seems comforting, it could prevent people from accepting loss and understanding the importance of real emotions in the healing process.

Anti-competitive Illumina

ASeq Newsletter • 14 implied HN points • 06 Feb 25
💼 Business Technology
  1. Illumina is lobbying the government to protect American genetic data, possibly in response to competition from China.
  2. The Biosecure Act started being developed before Illumina faced a significant loss to a Chinese company in 2022.
  3. Illumina spends a lot on lobbying, particularly about early cancer detection, but their focus has shifted over time.

50Y Progress Index

Fifty Years News • 49 implied HN points • 13 Dec 23
💼 Business Technology
  1. Our lives today are significantly better thanks to technological progress in various fields like energy, materials, and communication.
  2. A lot of startup innovation is focused on a few small areas, leading to missed opportunities for significant advancements.
  3. Identifying underfunded markets with huge potential for disruption could lead to substantial growth opportunities for entrepreneurs.