John Herrman

1 week ago | nymag.com | John Herrman

Typically, when a major consumer technology company announces a partnership with the military, it does so carefully. In some cases, it might be worried about pushback from the public, the press, or its own employees and will word things cautiously, change policies quietly, and keep the spectacle to a minimum, like a university might (see Google).

1 week ago | nymag.com | John Herrman

Say you run a relatively new but quite massive e-commerce operation built around the thesis that customers in relatively wealthy economies would be comfortable buying goods more directly from Chinese manufacturers. You've spent billions of dollars on this bet, building an Amazon-like platform and advertising heavily in America, the largest and wealthiest consumer market.

1 week ago | nymag.com | John Herrman

By now, there's a good chance you've encountered Google's AI Overviews, possibly thousands of times. Appearing as blurbs at the top of search results, they attempt to settle your queries before you scroll - to offer answers, or relevant information, gleaned from websites that you no longer need to click on.

2 weeks ago | nymag.com | John Herrman

Last year, in a what's-that-guy-been-up-to profile in the New York Times, legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive explained how he'd been filling his time. He'd founded a small design firm, LoveFrom, which was working on projects including a "Christie's auction stand, Airbnb graphics and a Ferrari interior," and expanded his real estate holdings in his favorite neighborhood in San Francisco. He'd attempted to reinvent the jacket button for Moncler.

2 weeks ago | nymag.com | John Herrman

The gradual consolidation of America's telecom companies is a classic regulatory concern. They're large, geographically entrenched firms with anticompetitive tendencies. Customers often don't have many options, so when two companies become one, they might lose their ability to switch.