August 14, 2020

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Technology

Apple has traditionally held tight control over the apps within its App Store. Apple claims this is to allow it to vet each app, so that none of its guidelines are violated and customers are protected. This feature, however, also allows Apple to charge developers a 30% fee for any sales which take place through the App Store, and it is one of the reasons Apple is in hot water for possible anticompetitive behavior.

This week the battle over the App Store gained more steam. Microsoft (and Google’s Stadia) is set to release its cloud gaming service in September, but it won’t be available on iOS. Apple wants each game to “follow the same set of guidelines applicable to all developers, including submitting games individually for review, and appearing in charts and search.” What is notable here is that Apple is also launching its own cloud gaming service, Apple Arcade, raising even more antitrust concerns.

Bringing a Gun to a Knife Fight: You may have heard of Fortnite, the online, multi-player game that took the world by storm in 2017 and has over 350M worldwide players. Fortnite is owned by Epic Games, and while Fortnite itself is free to play, the game offers in-app purchases. (Fortnite was estimated to bring in over $1.8B in revenue in 2019.) Epic decided to pick a timely fight with Apple and its 30% toll. Fortnite announced the “Fortnite Megadrop” with a new payment screen that allows users to pay within the iOS App or pay on its website with a 20% discount. Apple did not take kindly to the move, and immediately kicked the game off the App Store.

Epic knew this was coming and came prepared. The company first filed a lawsuit against Apple, and then proceeded to throw a party inside Fortnite. “The Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” was a parody of Apple’s famous 1984 ad, with Apple playing the part of the villain. With Fortnite’s large audience and Apple under the gun for antitrust behavior across the globe, we are hoping Tim Cook has learned to do his own version of the Electro Shuffle.

Shifting our Focus: While Apple is battling it out with the developers and regulators, it announced a new consumer product this week: Apple One subscriptions. The service will allow users to bundle their Apple Music, Arcade and TV under one payment plan. The service is also expected to contain a new fitness service in the hopes of rivaling the Peloton App. No word on the cost of the plan or the tiers of service, but we’re hoping it comes with hardware subscriptions as well (since we seem to lose an AirPod once a week.)

California Contracts: Both Uber and Lyft are threatening to leave the state of California if their drivers have to be classified as employees. California passed a new gig economy rule earlier this year, and a referendum that could possibly exempt the ride sharing apps is up for a vote this November. Both Uber and Lyft have threatened to leave markets in the past when they weren’t comfortable with regulation. (Uber temporarily left Austin, TX after the city required more rigorous background checks for its drivers.) California is a large market for both ride sharing companies, estimated at around 16% of Lyft’s trips. While the pandemic has certainly put a lot of drivers out of business, shutting down in California will add to the pain. However, if your business model is only sustainable when you don’t pay your employees, something is wrong with your business model.

Data Markets: The European Union has been a first mover when it comes to data privacy. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has led to a radical revamp in how companies treat consumers and their data. Now the EU has decided to become an active player in the monetization of its citizens’ data by creating a market for that personal data. The market will be implemented by 2022 under the Trusts Project. Citizens will collect dividends when their data is sold, but their data will be held in a global platform, and it is unclear whether citizens will have more control or transparency over the use of their data. The system is modeled after Australia’s digital privacy system. This should cause an interesting tension between data privacy regulations and monetization by the regulators themselves.

What Can We Say?

National Treasure: While we aren’t a big fan of country music, we are a big fan of Dolly Parton. Parton, who tends to shy away from political statements, decided to make a bold one yesterday regarding Black Lives Matter:

Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!

While Dolly Parton has put significant funds behind COVID vaccine and treatment research, she is an American treasure: there is even a petition calling for a statue of Parton to replace the confederate ones in Tennessee. For a lively history of Parton’s life and music, check out Dolly Parton’s America Podcast.

National Treasure2: A bald eagle attacked and destroyed a government drone above Lake Michigan. The drone was on an environmental monitoring mission when it raised the ire of the bird. The drone “lost” one of its propellers and has not been recovered from the Lake. Score another one for mother nature.

Shower head: President Trump seems to have a fascination with water pressure: he’s talked about the toilet flushes and shower heads in the White House, which apparently need a plumbing update. Instead of calling his “friends in construction,” Trump has decided to ask the Energy Department to relax water efficiency standards. Apparently, Trump can’t wash his hair properly under current regulations.

Sputnik Vaccine: Philippine President Duterte has accepted an offer from Russia to do nationwide clinical trials on Russia’s new COVID vaccine. Russia is beginning mass vaccinations in October, although there is still some concern as to whether such a rushed treatment will work or will have side effects. (So far the vaccine has only been tested on 76 people.)

Culture

Ready to Rubik: This weekend begins the Rubik’s Cube World Cup. The World Cup “advocates speedcubing as a professional mind sport and gives cubing athletes the opportunity to compete in new formats.” We are not sure how the speedcubing will unfold online, but the gamers will have access to the Connected Cube which will display analytics while they solve this 40 year old puzzle. While the World Cup is sponsored by Red Bull and in its third year, we won’t hold our breath for it to be added to the Olympics.

Netflix goes Political: Sarah Cooper, our favorite presidential lip syncer, has signed a deal with Netflix. The project will be directed by Natasha Lyonne and produced by Maya Rudolph (if she has time off from her Kamala impressions on SNL). For a sneak peek, have a look at Cooper’s monologue from her stint as a guest host on Jimmy Kimmel.

— Lauren Eve Cantor

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