The holidays were great for Amazon and lousy for UPS. The two are linked and are a good illustration of two problems we’ll face more often as the web meets the real world.
Hey cord cutters! Are you searching for a holiday yule log to brighten your Christmas morning and maybe warm up your New Year’s Eve? I checked out the options and wish I could get these in 4K.
Rdio named Anthony Bay as its new CEO Tuesday. Bay joins the digital music subscription service from Amazon(s amzn), where he was working as Global head of Digital Video. That’s an interesting background, considering that Rdio also is operating a digital video service called Vdio — but for now, Bay seems to be concentrated on Rdio’s music business, as the company’s press release doesn’t mention Vdio with a single word. Of course, it’s not like Rdio won’t keep Bay busy: The company has been trying to catch up with Spotify by partnering with radio network Cumulus to launch free, ad-supported services. But making the numbers work hasn’t been easy for Rdio, which recently laid off a reported 35 employees.
Amazon is measured when it comes to revealing its future plans and is reticent to share details. And when it does, it does so with its own ends in mind. That begs the question: why did Jeff Bezos pre-announce Amazon drone delivery so early?
A raft of AWS partners used day one of the AWS re:Invent show to blast out new products and services.
What to expect: Keynotes by Amazon Web Services bigwigs (minus Jeff Bezos); Netflix, NASA; a scrum of partner announcements; and lots of counter programming from cloud rivals.
Kevin Kelly, is a great role model for any and every technology writer. Former editor of A Whole Earth Catalog, co-founder of The Well (an online community) and founding executive editor of Wired Magazine is a man of ideas. My reflections after meeting him last week.
Andreas Weigend, formerly chief scientist at Amazon, has some ideas for how businesses can do more with their customers’ data. A few come from his old employer, while others stem from personal experience.
Folks looking to browse or buy on Amazon.com’s site are getting a blank page.
Although some believe the death of brick-and-mortar retail is inevitable, Mark Sigal, CPO of Unicorn Labs, thinks we all have a vested interest in seeing the industry reboot itself for the modern age. He outlines three paths for physical retail stores to avoid extinction here.
