Every Audio Essays

Jack Tramiel, a Holocaust survivor-turned-tech titan, revolutionized computing by making it accessible to everyday families. His ruthless business tactics and vertical integration strategy at Commodore created the Commodore 64, the home computer that launched the next generation of tech careers and shaped our digital present.  This piece, published first on Every and now adapted for audio, is the...

From IBM’s backwater offices in Boca Raton, Florida, Don Estridge ushered in the era of personal home computers. He was a corporate misfit who broke all of the company’s rules in order to change the world. This piece, published first on Every and now adapted for audio, is the latest in a series by the writer Gareth Edwards on the history of the personal computer—and the individuals responsible for...

ChatGPT is changing what it means to feel uniquely human. Large language models have the ability to mimic human creativity and spout human knowledge at record speeds—and they’re getting more powerful by the day. But while this technology might seem scary, it doesn’t need to be. Every CEO Dan Shipper puts it this way: “ChatGPT doesn’t replace me. It just changes what it is that I do.” In this essay...

Lore Harp McGovern was one of the most influential women in the history of computing, but her story, and her company, haven’t been given their due. Harp McGovern spurned the life of a housewife and built a multimillion-dollar personal computer company, called Vector Graphic, from scratch.  In this essay, published first on Every and now adapted for audio, writer Gareth Edwards tells the story of H...

Ads subsidize our entire information ecosystem, keeping content free and accessible for everyone. AI may change all that by reducing both the amount of ads being served and the amount of time that people spend browsing—a one-two punch that will be devastating for the revenue of internet-reliant businesses.  In this essay , Every lead writer Evan Armstrong argues that the result will be an entirely...

In the early 1980s, two rivals waged a public war for the soul of home computing: Adam Osborne and Steve Jobs. Yet only Steve Jobs is remembered today. This is the forgotten story of the Osborne 1, the world's first mass-market portable computer, and of its charismatic and visionary creator, Adam Osborne. Osborne’s computer company seemed set to rival Apple itself—until a spectacular collapse into...

Reddit is a special place on the internet that happens to be a mediocre business. However, its recent S-1 document revealed something interesting: It could potentially build a business licensing user data to AI companies. Is this the future, or a fiction? Listen to this essay by Every lead writer Evan Armstrong to learn about this new potential revenue stream for companies. If you found this episo...

Everyone is hunting for the killer app—software so good that it justifies the purchase of new hardware. But the new tech platforms of AI and virtual reality may not even need a killer app. This isn’t a matter of semantics: Whoever gains power in the platforms of the future will garner more power than we’ve ever dreamed. Read this for an in-depth analysis of what kind of companies are best position...

Last weekend, a crowd of revelers in San Francisco’s Chinatown burned an autonomous vehicle from Waymo down to its frame. Tech is now the fifth least-trusted industry in America, having experienced a rapid loss in confidence by the American public after years of having been among the most admired. How did it come to this?  Evan argues that these incidents signal that tech needs to get realistic an...

Chris Dixon, the patron saint of crypto, is still preaching the gospel. In this essay , Every lead writer Evan Armstrong deconstructs Dixon’s new book, Read Write Own , in which the venture capitalist proffers his still-faithful argument for how crypto and blockchain technology can change the internet—and the world.  Evan isn’t convinced. “I finished it believing that blockchains can solve niche u...

Investing is easy. Investing wisely—well, not so much.  In this essay , Every lead writer Evan Armstrong helps you wade through the morass of hyped-up startups in your journey to invest in companies that are actually good businesses. Consider three things when making an investment: business quality, asset price, and portfolio construction. Following this framework could help savvy investors avoid...

In September 1974, Ed Roberts was $250,000 in the hole from a calculator business and begging the bank for a $65,000 loan. This money wasn’t going to calculators, but to something altogether different—an affordable personal computer. The price? $400.  The idea of selling a computer at that price—around $2,400 in today’s dollars—was inconceivable. But in a few short years, Roberts’s idea proved a h...

AI is both overhyped and underutilized. Every’s lead writer Evan Armstrong believes that we have crossed the AI rubicon, estimating that the technology has spurred a 20 percent productivity gain for him in just the past few months. In this essay, published first on Every and now adapted for audio, Evan provides tips, tools, and hacks to make ChatGPT useful for you—a reasonable person.  Let us know...