February 12, 2024
what we've been watching...
empowering you with insights and information from the edge of today’s headlines
Business
Don’t dunk on the dinks: The American dream used to be a white picket fence in the suburbs, married with 2.5 kids. But the Yuppies are all grown up, and our priorities have changed. Meet the DINKs — Double Income No Kids. DINKs are embracing a lifestyle that prioritizes financial freedom, personal growth and experiences, and while a double income may provide for a lot, it certainly doesn’t seem to provide for home-buying in today’s economy. (A recent survey, showed that almost half of US households don’t have children.) With concerns about climate change, affordability, and the future of democracy, why not spend on experiences, rather than children, and be the cool aunt?
The EU gets serious: This week the European Commission announced that it will adopt new definitions to its Market Definition Notice. The rule used to enforce antitrust disputes hasn’t changed since it was created in 1997. The new definition might allow the commission to consider the impact of free products and digital ecosystems (aka big tech).
The Etsy of SaaS: We are a big fan of dual-sided marketplaces, and with the creator economy flourishing, of course, someone created a marketplace for creators to sell digital goods and services. Whop is a platform that caters to entrepreneurs, traders, and individuals interested in the digital economy, hosting about 3000 sellers, 2M purchases and approximately $100M in transactions. The goal is to be the one-stop solution for anyone looking to participate in the digital economy. Whop was created by 3 entrepreneurs whose first iteration was a sneaker bot (software that buys sneakers before they get sold out), so they know the bot/scamming experiencing from both sides.
Gap goes Bold: The Gap which is often known for is accessible, affordable and often bland American fashion style, has shifted gears and hired Zac Posen as its new creative director. Posen will serve as the chief creative officer as Old Navy, so although The Gap also owns Athleta and Banana Republic, for some reason, they’ve pointed the luxury, red-carpet designer toward the bargain bin? The Gap is also known for its marketing and design snafus: in 2010, the brand switched its iconic blue square logo for just one week due to its overwhelmingly negative response; in 2022, the brand ended its relationship with Kanye West which was supposed to make the brand more “street”; and in 2020, The Gap stiffed Telfar Clemens by pulling out of a planned collab. Hopefully, Posen will have better luck bringing us back to the mall, or at least we have a new challenge for the next season of Project Runway.
Disney goes Epic: Disney already has a lock on the toddler demographic, and now they are extending their reach by investing $1.5BN in Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. Disney and Epic have already collaborated through the game with sponsored events, and Epic’s Unreal Engine is used to power many of Disney’s content. With Netflix moving into gaming, and Disney entertaining the idea of selling off ESPN, Disney seems to be looking for a new channel to hook its audience: video games.
Taco Bells goes Más: We know that tech companies now throw huge public parties when they release new consumer products, and we are used to seeing columnists and influencers waiting on line for special product drops (like the Apple Vision Pro or even the CyberTruck). But did Taco Bell have to create a 2024 Live Más Event? The live event in Las Vegas unveiled their full 2024 marketing calendar, which included tasting opportunities, performances, and celebrity appearances (the event was also live streamed). So if you came for a Superbowl tailgate, you got a Cheesy Chicken Crispanda and Baja Blast ice cream. Hold on to your stomachs folks!
Technology
Staggering Stats: Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, had some staggering thoughts this week. First, the CEO aims to raise $5-7TN on a new project to produce semiconductor chips. Since AI chips are rather scarce at the moment, why not spend the equivalent of a quarter of the US GDP to boost your own company’s capacity to grow? Altman also wrote that OpenAI generates about 100BN words per day compared to the total volume of words per day at 100 TN, and the only thing stopping OpenAI from taking over our collective voice is GPUs. We aren’t sure where these calculations come from, but this gives us one more reason to believe that our phones are always listening.
Vision Bros: This month Apple launched its highly anticipated Apple Vision Pro spatial computing device, aka the face computer. The headset was met with mixed reviews (our favorite is by Casey Nesitat who boldly wears the device all over NYC who also recommends MKHBD’s). What we were struck by the most, was that of all of the IRL posts of people wearing the device, we could not find one post of a woman wearing it (that wasn’t a tech columnist). Pretty much defines our review and the world we will be living in.
Smart Frames: If you are looking to drop about the tenth of the price on some smart lenses (Apple Vision Pros retail for about $3500), Brilliant Labs has announced its Frame glasses which look more like something Elvis Costello would wear, and at $350, they don’t break the bank. The glasses are also equipped with AI powered by Perplexity and OpenAI and controlled by your voice.
Naming the Moons: Have you ever walked by a map and seen a country or city and think, that can’t possibly be named that? Well, Latif Nasser, a producer for RadioLab, was putting his son to bed and noticed a strange moon of Venus on his map of the Solar System. What struck Nasser as strange was i) it was named ZooZve, and ii) Venus has no moons. Nasser went on a delightful trek to solve the mystery of the science of finding and naming quasi-moons which is told in RadioLab’s incomparable style here.
Zoom Fraud: Happy 3rd anniversary to the Zoom cat lawyer incident to those who celebrate! While most of us have gotten used to the mute button or Zoom filters, be ready for the Zoom deepfake. One finance worker in Hong Kong was duped into transferring more than $25M of funds after being on a Zoom conference call with what he thought was his company’s C-suite, and unfortunately, everyone but him was an AI-generated fake. Another man used AI to talk to 5,000 women on his behalf, on dating apps, found his perfect mate, and they are now married. We have definitely passed through The Truman Show and we’re not sure if this is The Matrix, or some trick to make us all touch grass.
Culture
Herstory: If you know us, you know we are huge fans of AI, and love to ask the LLMs to chat with us in different voices regardless of what they are summarizing or discussing. This week, the internet decided to bring Ru Paul into the equation, having ChatGPT use the voice of Ru to breakdown complex or difficult lessons in history. Maybe if we started all of our Zoom lectures with “Honey, let me spill the tea..”, our students would have better recall.
Fashion Runway or Cultural Moment: Fashion shows are becoming miniature movies with moments made to go viral, and Maison Margiela’s 2024 Couture Show took this new trend to another level. The collection, designed by John Galliano was presented in Paris under the Alexandre III bridge, with transformative makeup created by Pat McGrath. The show seemed to transport the models and the audience into Paris of the 1920s. We can’t imagine anyone actually wearing the corsets and the exaggerated hips, but we loved seeing Gwendoline Christie (aka Brienne of Tarth) closeout the show.
Fashion goes Collective: Saint Laurent has opened Babylone, a bookstore in Paris. The bookstore showcases records, magazines and of course books and is meant to highlight the brand’s Parisian roots. We’ll be waiting for the first book reading or livefashion show.
Build-a-Bear: Aged out of Build-A-Bear workshops and Make Your Own Pottery, but still have the urge to create something without too much work. Head on over to Be Bearz (now in Paris and Milan), where you paint your own ceramic bear with the “pouring” technique while sipping on bubble tea.
Coke goes Hot: While Pepsi may have had most of the headlines as a sponsor of the Superbowl, Coca-Cola is making waves by releasing its first permanent addition in 3 years: Coca-Cola Spiced. We hope this goes better than the AI-generated Y3000.
UK Draft: We are not up to date as to what is exactly going on with the UK military, but apparently, a general sent out an appeal encouraging citizens to get prepared for a potential draft. As you can imagine, the youngens weren’t too pleased, and the push by former PM Boris Johnson just added more fuel to the fire.
— Lauren Eve Cantor
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