Iterate Weekly - Issue 87
This week we look at another Twitter challenger, how do we teach math? Hyundai wants to be the center of your electrified home, Oversharing about the sharing economy, and a Kevin Hart pep talk!
Welcome to issue 87 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
Leaving Twitter? Join the Hive!
It’s another week and another chance for us to examine a new social network that is hoping to catch folks who are jumping off the Twitter bandwagon.
In case you missed it, go back a few issues and check out my story about Mastodon who seemed to be in the pole position to gather steam while Twitter’s demise continues.
Today we’re looking at another promising platform called Hive.
You can think of Hive as a mashup of Instagram, Twitter, and Myspace? I’m sure that last one through you off but if you’re of the right age you will remember just how important it was to get the perfect music for your Myspace page. Hive has music on your profile too!
Much like Mastodon, Hive will not rely on an algorithm to serve you content. Anything posted on Hive will be presented in chronological order. And there also is no advertising allowed. You’re likely seeing a trend here in this new world of social media. You can imitate whatever other platforms you’d like, but people seem to be done with ads and algorithms, at least for the time being.
Numbers are steadily rising on the platform with over 733,000 users at last check. It’s interesting to note that 86% of these users are outside of the US with Canada and the UK seeing high numbers. Maybe the most interesting number is 3. As in the company currently has only 3 employees (2 developers and the founder). That’s likely to grow over the coming months if the surge in usage continues.
Anyone out there already using Hive? Do we think it has staying power or just another social media flash in the pan?
🎓 Education/Art/Productivity
How do we Teach Math to Kids?
Americans like to think we’re pretty smart in plenty of areas. You don’t become a global super power without getting a few things right. But times are changing and one area where Americans are falling behind is in education, especially when it comes to math.
Writer Jay Kaspian Kang (I’ve long been a fan of his writing going back to his days at Grantland) has recently examined this subject in a story in The New Yorker. The title says it all. “What do we really know about teaching kids math?”
Well, we may not know very much at all. If you’re a product of the American education system you know that there is typically a sequence when it comes to math class. You learn the basics in elementary school, you graduate up to learn basic algebra and continue on your path until you’ve masted the grandaddy of them all…calculus.
But who’s to say this is the best way to consume this information? Are there elements of calculus that could be introduced to toddlers? How do we really quantify the mastery of one topic before jumping to the next? The entire system is littered with assumptions that don’t have a ton of weight behind them.
There are schools who are looking to tackle this problem in different ways (one such school in Escondido, CA is called out in Kang’s story). And while it’s great to see experimentation on a small scale, it seems more likely that wide-scale reform is needed. Enter the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, they’ve recently announced that they’ll be spending more than a $1 Billion on improving math education in the United States.
It’s a complex issue to be sure, but the Gates Foundation believes that technology will be a huge part of the improvement plan. You can imagine software that tracks and monitors the success of various teaching techniques over others. A system like this could help A/B test different methods against one another. It won’t improve scores over night, but it can give educators more hard data to make informed decisions.
I’ll be curious to see how math education changes for my own daughter as she grows up. Math was never my strongest subject and I can only imagine things being tougher these days. Let’s hope that we see more studies being done that can help close learning gaps and give us more confidence in answering that question “What do we really know about teaching kids math…and any other subject for that matter?”
♻️ Health & Environment
Hyundai is doing more than just making EVs
Hyundai is endearing itself as a top car brand for environmentalists.
On the heels of the all-electric Ionic 5 being named Motortrend’s SUV of the year, they are announcing a new initiative to help consumers make sense of all the environmentally-conscious products flooding the market.
No, this won’t just be a place for people to buy Hyundai products, it will be a place to find subjective reviews of things like solar panels, batteries, and other things to decrease your carbon footprint. It’s called Hyundai Home and it was announced recently at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
As someone who has been intrigued by Hyundai’s new EV models, it comes as a welcome resource. Navigating all the different new technologies can be a struggle. And Hyundai Home also promises to help Americans price out options to take advantage of state and federal rebates and discounts for buying green products.
It’s a fantastic idea that positions Hyundai as a leading resource in this emerging space of electrified homes and automobiles. They even go as far as to connect you with a personal “energy advisor” that can help you decipher which products are available in your area while also adhering to local guidelines and restrictions.
Sure, it may be a move to boost sales of Hyundai EVs (despite the high praise for the Ionic 5, it still has a long way to go to match traditional SUV sales) but it’s also a noble cause on its own. If we’re going to hit some of the lofty carbon emissions goals over the next few decades, consumers need to be better informed about their options. Kudos to Hyundai for making this happen.
Anyone else interested in buying a Hyundai EV?
🛍 Grab Bag
Oversharing
This week I wanted to give a shout out to another excellent publication on Substack. It’s called
by and it examines everything going on with the sharing economy.It’s a subject very near and dear to my heart. I was a very early Airbnb host in San Francisco and even wrote a book about my experience. I also worked for a company that was acquired by Fiverr (surprisingly one of the few sharing economy IPO success stories). While I’m not as active of a participant in the space as I used to be, I still find the subject extremely fascinating.
Ali is also growing the publication to cover things like micromobility and sustainable urbanism. These are two things that absolutely need more mainstream coverage.
If any of these topics are of interest to you at all, I encourage you to go check out
today!
💬 Quote of the Week
"Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent, and original manner possible."
-Richard Feynman
📕Content Recommendation
This is How We Do It - Kevin Hart
![This Is How We Do It: A Pep Talk by [Kevin Hart]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bU_3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3036c8c4-1fd8-4e9c-bc31-bb8d5e2d6569_333x500.jpeg "This Is How We Do It: A Pep Talk by [Kevin Hart]")
I’ve written about Kevin Hart before. You remember me talking about his new vegan fast food chain? Yeah, it seemed odd to me at the time too. But I really didn’t know a ton about this guy. Most of his movies are pretty forgettable and his standup comedy has never really done it for me.
When I stumbled upon his new book/audiobook/Amazon Original Story “This is How We Do It” I had to give it a shot. This isn’t really a book, the subtitle refers to it as a “pep talk” and that feels accurate. Whether you read it or listen to it, it’s more like Kevin Hart just giving you a list of the things that helped him get to where he is today.
The writing isn’t going to knock your socks off. It’s really informal, just like you’re actually sitting down with the comedian 1-on-1 to get some advice. It’s a short read, but I really couldn’t put it down. There is nothing here that is super revolutionary (many traditional self-help topics are mentioned) but I enjoyed it.
I didn’t know that Kevin Hart would be the perfect person to give me a pep talk but his candor and surprising relatability was refreshing. I highly recommend checking it out if you find yourself looking for entertainment within the Amazon ecosystem.
Hey! I’m testing out some polling tools. Keep your eyes on this section and please help me get some feedback by taking a second to choose an answer in my poll. Thank you!
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
P.S. - Hey, it’s almost the end of the year! Could you use some help reviewing what worked for you this year and what could be better for 2023? Need some help building positive habits or ditching negative ones? Iterating on a new business idea and need some guidance? Or maybe you just want to say hello and pick my brain for a bit, that’s fine too! If you’d like to chat, feel free to book some time with me here!
I've heard about Hive as the trendy Twitter alternative, but knew about how few employees it has at this point so decided not to jump on board yet. The Twitter alternative I'm currently most interested in is Post, which is still in beta testing and has a long wait list (which I'm on) to join.