Iterate Weekly - Issue 156
This week we're talking about a rare AI collaboration between Apple & Google, when a bad economy equals good health, Fisker may be finished, Facebook resurrects The Poke, and reading "The Future"!
Welcome to issue 156 of Iterate Weekly.
Hope you’re all doing well. This is just a friendly reminder that you can always reply directly to these messages or leave a comment on the Substack post. Feedback is highly encouraged and I’m happy to answer any and all questions that come up.
Thank you as always for reading!
🤖 Tech
Would Apple actually use Google’s Gemini on the iPhone?
Apple and Google rarely play nice together.
That’s why I was so surprised to read that Apple may be interested in letting Google’s Gemini software power the AI of future iPhones.
Hmm, why would Apple do such a thing? It’s likely that they don’t feel it’s worth it to develop their own homegrown AI solution to run natively in the iPhone just yet. It’s also a major win for Google as they try to play catch-up to OpenAI in this space.
This race to be the AI brain behind tech products is akin to the great search engine wars of a few decades ago. Google ultimately emerged victorious and became the default search engine in dozens of products including the Safari browser on the iPhone. We could be seeing a similar gold rush to power the AI capabilities of the next wave of popular devices.
So what’s the downside here? Well, any partnership between giants like Apple and Google will be looked at quite closely by US regulators. Could this discourage competition that this nascent field could surely benefit from? Maybe. But these are the discussions that will really lay the foundation for the next few decades of how we interact with our devices. So needless to say, we should all keep a watchful eye to see how this plays out.
🎓 Education/Productivity/Work
How a struggling job market can be good for our health
Recessions and unemployment get such a bad rap don’t they? Maybe they don’t have to be such negative things at all.
Apparently these bumps in the economic road can actually be good for human health.
Data has shown that periods of economic downturn can actually increase a person’s lifespan. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but it makes total sense when you dive deeper. The study linked above detailed the great recession of 2007-2009 but the data would likely be similar in other downturns.
Sure, there may be an initial spike in stress when someone loses their job or feels the sting of lagging economy. But ultimately, their are benefits that often come with unemployment. You may be getting more sleep than you did when you were unemployed. Perhaps you have more time in the day for exercise or cooking healthier meals. Aside from potential financial stress, your day-to-day life will likely be less stressful that it was when you were working all day. The mental benefits of cutting out a potential traffic-filled commute every day are huge. And on top of all those personal benefits, a slower economy tends to mean that people travel less. Less travel results in less air pollution. That means better air quality, and healthier people breathing that air.
Amazing how this all works out right? There no doubt will be more studies like this on the way. It also reminds me of the early days of the pandemic when traffic disappeared and air quality suddenly improved overnight. Sure, plenty of people were out of work and the economy took a dive, but those other benefits shouldn’t be overlooked.
♻️ Health/Environment/EVs
Could Fisker finally be finished?
Fisker Automotive has had a troubled history to say the least. After being one of the first electric car makers to get off the ground in 2007, the company failed to meet their delivery goals of their first car the Fisker Karma. By 2012, they were a laughingstock who were closing up shop.
The Fisker brand sort of lived on after being purchased by a Chinese conglomerate in 2014. But then original founded Henrik Fisker launched his own new company known as Fisker Inc. in 2016. Still following?
So the new Fisker which was technically not the original Fisker, went on to raise a whole bunch of cash and then IPO. Using these funds, the company got to work on a new electric SUV known as the Fisker Ocean. Meant to compete with Tesla, Rivian, and others, it promised over 300 miles of range and all the luxurious amenities that were expected in this competitive category. The standout feature for me was “California Mode”. A deceptively simple yet ingenious way to put down all windows and open the sunroof with one button.
Anyway, California mod could not save the Fisker Ocean. Just as the car was finding its footing and gaining publicity, it was dealt a harsh blow by YouTuber Marques Brownlee. He referred to it as “The Worst Car He’s Ever Reviewed”. And while most of his issues stemmed from the software on the vehicle and maybe could be fixed with an update, the bad press was obviously problematic.
So jump ahead to today and Fisker has halted production of the Ocean and their other vehicles (with great names) that will likely never see the light of day.
What’s next for Fisker? They’re going to try to acquire some more cash to stay afloat but it isn’t looking promising. One rumored savior is Nissan who could potentially revive some of the above designs under its own struggling EV line. That acquisition still seems like a long shot to me. I think the Ocean is a good looking vehicle and the Pear looks even more versatile in a smaller package. So I’m rooting for them to survive this, but I’d recommend we all hold off on placing those pre-orders right now.
🛍 Grab Bag
Can Facebook resurrect The Poke?
Those of a certain age may have fond memories of the Facebook poke.
I often used to joke that I really stopped using Facebook once the poke became less prominent. I suppose the poke never fully died from a functionality standpoint (it was still buried deep in the software) but it absolutely died in spirit.
Well, let all the pokers rejoice because Facebook is trying to make poking cool again!
For the uninitiated, the poke was an early function of Facebook that was always a bit ambiguous. You could poke a friend, you could poke a potential love interest that you wanted to get to know better, you could poke an enemy just to annoy them. Basically it was just a notification that someone was looking at your profile and wanted to get your attention for one reason or another.
The ambiguity of the poke is what made it so much fun! It didn’t require a ton of thought. You couldn’t necessarily poke someone the wrong way or right way. You didn’t have to think of a clever way to do it. It was just a gateway to further interaction if both parties wanted it to be.
And now Facebook is hoping to lure back fans of the poke by making it much more accessible in the software. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the network, they’re resurfacing poke prompts in searches and recommending it as a way to say hello to old friends. It seems to be catching on even with younger users who maybe never even poked in the first place as they claim more than 50% of pokes are coming from 18-29 year olds.
Lookout, 2024 may still be the year of the poke!
💬 Quote of the Week
"Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out."
-Robert Collier
📕Content Recommendation
The Future
It’s time to recommend some fiction for those of us who typically prefer non-fiction.
“The Future” by Naomi Alderman is a gripping novel about the not-to-distant future and the technological forces that shape it. Without giving away a ton, the story focuses on fictitious companies likely modeled after some combination of Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
The plot features characters who are very close to the heads of these companies and have insight into some of the questionable choices those CEOs have made, and how those choices have impacted society.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely going to love “The Future”. I’ll say no more, go check it out for yourself.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.
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