Antonym: Fear of Fitbits Edition
Antonym: Fear of Fitbits Edition
Five minutes to read — during which 104 days of YouTube video will be uploaded.
Dear Reader
Try not to throttle your driver in a rage at this week’s web weirdness and wonders. We have Google stopping its wearables snitching on American women, nuke-hotels above the clouds and something about parking cones to catch up on. Read on….
A NUCLEAR-POWERED SKY HOTEL THAT NEVER LANDS
Yes, it’s a concept video for the hotel of your dreams/nightmares…
It’s funny how if I’d read this concept in the Usborne Book of The Future in 1982 I’d have been all in favour. The 2022 me shudders.
As Dr Adam Rutherford put it…
ROE-v-WADE v YOUR BROWSER HISTORY
You may not care now if your internet history and app downloads are seen by corporate employees at Google or Facebook, but what happens when the goon squad turns up?
The overturning of Roe-v-Wade in the US has been a possibility for many years and then a probability and then suddenly, shockingly a reality.
Other than its encouragement the politicised institution gave to misogynists, the fuel on the flames of American civil strife, and the hollowing out of a once exemplary democracy, there’s the sudden and scary lesson in internet privacy it gives to us all.
The world’s largest search engine has said it will delete location data for people visiting abortion clinics. Google is also looking at how to protect users’ Fitbit data that shows their menstrual cycles, and other period-tracking apps are also suddenly having to consider the possibility of data they collected being used to prosecute women alleged to have ended their pregnancy. It’s also adding jeopardy to the dodgy data-sharing practices of some apps.
The nightmare scenario that privacy activists cite against corporate or government collection of personal data is a new authoritarian regimes getting access to it. Examples given include the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust in the Netherlands.
This is a strong counter-argument to “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you don’t need to worry” responses to government and corporate surveillance. Essentially, you have done nothing wrong in the legal and political context of today, but you may be breaking the law or becoming a dangerous extremist in the eyes of tomorrow’s authorities.
TALKING FAST IS NOT A BUSINESS MODEL
Super-VC A16Z’s web3 boosters have a hard time explaining crypto’s benefits vs. existing technology in simple terms in this article (with accompanying videos): The Petty Pleasures of Watching Crypto Profiteers Flounder | The Atlantic.
I’m sticking with the Kara Swisher position on crypto — “there’s too much innovation for some of it not to stick”—and continue to watch developments around the blockchain with great interest. But hype is not a strategy and talking fast with buzzwords won’t make any bovine ordure smell better.
THIS IS NOT A STRATEGY
As a strategist, a large part of my job has been saying “that’s not a strategy” and then explaining why not. I’m not going to lecture you on this now, but if a parking cone is your strategy, you don’t have one.
PRE-CRIME, FOR REAL
Whereas in the US, people now have to predict when the government will make them criminals, in China the government is using algorithms to predict when citizens may be about to commit a crime.
A New York Times report explains how Chinese mass surveillance is using algorithms to predict criminal behaviour and detain or deter people before it can happen. Actually, the techniques are extended beyond criminals to “ethnic minorities, migrant workers and those with a history of mental illness”.
They can warn the police if a victim of a fraud tries to travel to Beijing to petition the government for payment or a drug user makes too many calls to the same number. They can signal officers each time a person with a history of mental illness gets near a school.
The entrepreneur, Yin Qi, who founded Megvii, an artificial intelligence start-up, told Chinese state media that the surveillance system could give the police a search engine for crime, analyzing huge amounts of video footage to intuit patterns and warn the authorities about suspicious behavior. He explained that if cameras detected a person spending too much time at a train station, the system could flag a possible pickpocket.
This week I’ve been…
Reading
The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands
I love maps. I love books. Repeat this mantra while gazing at maps that sprang from writers’minds…
Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life
I’m not a cat person, mainly because I’m allergic to them, but that hasn’t stopped me from luxuriating in the philosophical challenges and consolations of this wonderful book by the philosopher John Gray.
Watching
Elvis (In cinemas)
Astoundingly good storytelling and art direction that are transporting and gorgeous. I grew up when Elvis seemed to be more often a tragic punchline than an inspiration, and this telling of his story gave me new insight and respect for his genius. The music and central performances were immaculate and while I think it’s a smidge too long, it’s one to see in the cinema or with an enormous sound system.
Kendrick Lamar. Glastonbury finalé.(BBC iPlayer)
Demonstrating that Kanye doesn’t have exclusive use of rap genius or messiah complexes, Kendrick Lamar dropped a showbiz brilliance bomb on the crowds at Glastonbury last weekend. The choreography and execution of the show’s dancers were worth the price of a ticket alone.
Kick-Ass. (iPlayer)
Twelve years after it was released Kick-Ass is still great fun, but has dated notably in the tech (MySpace and camera phones), and attitudes to sexuality (“gay” is a synonym for “lame” throughout and the main character pretends not to be straight to get semi-naked with the love interest).
Listening…
I’ve Confidence Man on loop. Mainly Holiday. I might need a holiday. It’s a great pop track, but the live performance at Glastonbury takes it up a considerable number of notches…
Writing…
What I have been writing, I’ve been writing longhand in this beautiful notebook from Papersmiths, that a kind friend gave me for my birthday, along with the pencil bandolier (there’s probably a better word for it).
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK
That’s all for this week, readers. I hope you enjoyed this edition of Antonym. If you did, pass it on, subscribe and say nice things.
Antony
P.S. Other things too good not to share…
This is actually a very annoying but good idea. Even When You Do Succeed, Sometimes It Pays to Try Again | Tim Harford, FT
How you know your app is super-successful: Facebook copies you: Facebook Groups are being revamped to look like Discord - The Verge
Most Covered Songs of All Time | Stacker (A lot of them are by The Beatles.)
The Gartner CMO Spend Survey 2022: The State of Marketing Budget and Strategy
A website to spot greenwashing: Greenwash – See what comes out in the wash