Down Round

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com This week we’re tackling not one but two topics. And they’re both kind of related to Elon Musk. First we’re giving you an update on what’s been going on with Twitter, which despite our unshakeable faith Musk’s stewardship seems to not be doing so well. Then we dig into some new developments in the world of AI, inc...

For the past few years we’ve had to listen to Western governments repeatedly threaten to ban TikTok and then ultimately not do much about it. But it does seem like the conversation is heating up. Will they do it? Or will an army of Zoomers addicted to those videos where a robot voice reads Reddit posts over Minecraft footage stop them? We discuss. Links • Project Texas: The Details of TikTok’s Pla...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com We’ve alluded a few times on the pod to the weird developments in tech industry politics over the last few years. Bitcoin! Conservatives! New societies! Things are getting weird. In today’s ep we go a little deeper, diving into the political tendencies currently driving Silicon Valley. See omnystudio.com/listener...

Shein is one of the world’s most insane companies, and yet flies weirdly under the radar. One of the most popular shopping platforms in the world, it is revolutionising the fast fashion industry with its incredibly vertically integrated manufacturing, marketing and e-commerce machine. We’re joined this week by writer, podcaster and former Triple J host Veronica Milsom, who recently hosted Threads...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Every time we think we’re done with AI episodes, they release something else. Can we catch a break? Last week, OpenAI dropped GPT-4, the latest version of the large language model which powers ChatGPT. It’s now more creativ and less frequently wrong, and it’s caused another minor freakout online. Is it all that? W...

Recent reports have indicated Apple is gearing up to announce its mixed-reality headset, which the company wants to be the next iPhone. CEO Tim Cook reportedly wants it to be his product legacy. So, we thought it was a good time to take a look at Apple in 2023. At the precipice. What are they up to? And are we ready to put big clunky headsets on and enter the Cookverse? Links - Tim Cook bets on Ap...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Down Round listeners who don’t work in software development or associated fields are always asking us about Atlassian. What the hell do Atlassian do? Why do devs complain about Jira all the time? Why do I have to see Mike Cannon-Brookes on TV? Well, we’re here to answer your questions, and slightly more. If you kn...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Silicon Valley Bank imploded last week, becoming the second-largest bank collapse in US history. This led to an insane meltdown within the tech industry and beyond. In this ep, we explain what happened, what it means, and offer 1-2 prolonged rants along the way. This was recorded on Monday March 13, so if anything...

This is part two of a two part episode, for subscribers only. In the second part of our AI doom episode, for subscribers only, we dive into the nitty gritty. What are people actually saying when they claim AI is going to kill us all? (They can be pretty vague on the specifics, after all.) Are they right? Is ChatGPT going to end your life? Let us answer these questions, and perhaps a little more. T...

This is part one of a two part episode. With the end of a long AI winter and the rise of large language models and platforms like ChatGPT, we’re experiencing a renaissance of AI doomerism, and people making wild and bold predictions of the incoming robot apocalypse. It’s almost quaint, in a way. Charming. This week, we’re looking at the AI doomer movement, who predict we’ll all be dead at the hand...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com For hundreds of years, newspapers had a pretty good business model: you’d buy the paper, and it would have ads in it. Not bad! Unfortunately, computers occurred. Now, our friends in the lying news media have been forced to adapt. In today’s episode, we dig into the uneasy marriage of news publishers and the intern...

Over the past decade, we’ve successfully outsourced romance and human reproduction to a series of apps, most of which are owned by Match Group. Pretty cool! But it’s starting to look like Tinder and its many clones have lost their spark. What does the future hold? This week: a dive into the sick, sordid world of dating apps. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Unlike other tech podcasts – who we won’t name – Down Round is ruthlessly committed to accountability and self-critique. On today’s ep, we revisit a handful of topics we’ve covered over the last six or so months and evaluate whether we got it right or wrong. And we have a few laughs along the way. This is exactly...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Gaming, which was considered a nasty little hobby for maladjusted dweebs as recently as 2018, is now as important to the global economy as healthcare and the natural resources industry. OK, maybe that’s not true. But anyway. Gaming is big business, and it’s become deeply intertwined with the rest of the tech indus...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com The history of tech is littered with rivalries. Apple vs. Microsoft. Netflix vs. Amazon. PlayStation vs. Xbox. IBM vs. HP. Raph vs. Henno. Microsoft vs. Google is one you hear about slightly less. But it’s been thrust to the forefront of the discourse now as the two companies battle in the world of AI and Google t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Sports betting. It’s an enduring part of Australian culture, where having a flutter on your sport of choice is as natural as breathing oxygen, or putting your paycheque through the pokies, or having a flutter on something else like the dishlickers at Wentworth Park. But sports betting is even more topical now that...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Reddit. Once infamous as a haven for libertarians, endless arguments about video games and borderline illegal porn, it has managed to survive the last decade of internet development as one of the last genuinely useful online communities. We dive into the history, the culture, and why ‘Reddit’ has become one of the...

Instant grocery (also known as instant commerce, 10-minute grocery, ultrafast delivery and a million other names) was one of the hottest categories globally at the tail end of the last investment craze. It seemed every major city had 3-5 companies trying to be the one to deliver you a bag of oranges at superhuman speed. Now it doesn’t look so hot. In Australia, only Milkrun is left, with Voly and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com The creator economy was one of the most hyped sectors at the tail end of the last boom, promising that anyone with an iPhone and a $15 ring light could become a phenomenally wealthy celebrity if they just believed in themselves. It even convinced two crazy-ass white boys from Sydney they could become successful Su...

The tech industry has had a long-time obsession with revolutionising food and the way we eat. From Soylent, the nutrient slurry intended for lifehacking programmers to optimise their sad lives, to the current obsession with plant-based and cell cultured meat, there are always venture-backed startups trying to disrupt the crap we stuff into our chompholes. We dive in. Links * Fake Meat Was Supposed...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Since the last time we did an episode about AI, there’s been enough movement that we are being dragged back in. Join us… A few updates we dive into: – Microsoft is deepening its investment in OpenAI, and integrating it into its cloud computing offering and software like Office. – Google has called a “code red” and...

It’s Down Round’s 50th episode. We’re celebrating this momentous occasion by discussing a real upper of a topic: the avalanche of layoffs which have hit the tech industry over the past several months. So what’s going on? Is the world economy about to collapse? Or are these hugely profitable big tech companies working themselves into a tizzy? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Fans of tech scams will enjoy the first big one of the year. Frank, the student loan startup acquired by U.S. bank JP Morgan, turned out to be less of a business and more of a fraudulent Excel spreadsheet. We discuss how it fits in among the greats. Links * JP Morgan Says Startup Founder Used Millions Of Fake Cust...

One of the buzziest sectors over the past half a decade is micromobility: e-scooters, e-bikes and the various rental apps which shell them out. Is it actually a good business? Or are they doomed to sink to the bottom of our various urban rivers? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Unfortunately much like stocks, crypto, rare sneakers, NFTs, classic Nintendo games and vibes, Pokemon cards have crashed in value. This week, the collectable boom and bust cycle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.