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Hello All –

Hope you all had a great Fourth of July. As we start the second half of the year, we look at some larger themes still permeating throughout technology. Tim Harford’s piece is another thoughtful piece upon the idea that innovation can be applied everywhere. That does not mean everyone has to work for a startup in Silicon Valley, much less Silicon Alley. A couple of good reads on perspective from the point of view of developers and designers, as well as sexism within the industry.

While Tesla’s influence looms large within the automotive industry, many manufacturers are catching up. Volvo’s announcement that all of their 2019 cars and forward will at least be hybrid cars poses a serious blow to the Internal Combustion Engine. I was somewhat surprised to see Jawbone calling it quits, though I was reminded of Andy Grove’s quote, “Only the paranoid will survive”.

How odd to think of iPods as nostalgic. Seems like only yesterday that they were released.

Have a great weekend.

M

1. Tim Harford: What We Get Wrong About Technology
“Forget flying cars or humanoid robots, the most disruptive inventions are often cheap, simple and easy to overlook.”
https://www.ft.com/content/32c31874-610b-11e7-8814-0ac7eb84e5f1?mhq5j=e1

2. 7 Things I Wished Designers Did More Of When Working With Developers
“How designers can put in that extra effort to help ensure a great final product.”
https://medium.muz.li/7-things-i-wished-designers-did-more-of-when-working-with-developers-2c6fb251fce

3. Here’s The Reverse: 7 Things I Wished Developers Did More Of When Working With Designers
“How developers can put in that extra effort to help ensure a great final product.”
https://medium.muz.li/heres-the-reverse-for-developers-7-things-i-wished-developers-did-more-of-when-working-with-4a334d0fa08e

4. Tech Tent: Sexism In Silicon Valley
“Silicon Valley and the wider tech industry have a problem with women. At least, that is what you might conclude after a week that has seen a leading tech investor resign after admitting his involvement in sexual harassment.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40535712

5. Tesla’s First Mass-Market Car, The Model 3, Hits Production This Week
“Tesla’s long-awaited mass-market electric car will begin rolling off the assembly line this week. But even as it moves ahead, the automaker is encountering challenges to its ambitious plans for growth.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/03/business/tesla-model-3-elon-musk.html

6. Volvo, Betting On Electric, Moves To Phase Out Conventional Engines
“Volvo Cars on Wednesday became the first mainstream automaker to sound the death knell of the internal combustion engine, saying that all the models it introduces starting in 2019 will be either hybrids or powered solely by batteries.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/business/energy-environment/volvo-hybrid-electric-car.html

7. Volvo Cars To Go All Electric
“Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, has announced that every Volvo it launches from 2019 will have an electric motor, marking the historic end of cars that only have an internal combustion engine (ICE) and placing electrification at the core of its future business.”
http://www.swedespeed.com/news/Volvo_News/volvo-cars-go-electric/

8. Jawbone Reportedly Shuts Down, CEO Launches New Startup
“Consumer hardware company Jawbone is being liquidated, according to The Information. The San Francisco-based company, which once was valued at $3.2 billion by private investors, has hired Sherwood Partners to handle the wind-down process and assume its ongoing litigation with rival FitBit.”
https://www.axios.com/jawbone-is-reportedly-shutting-down-as-its-ceo-sets-up-a-new-shop-2454560144.html

9. Germany Says Cyber Threat Greater Than Expected, More Firms Affected
“Germany’s BSI federal cyber agency said on Friday that the threat posed to German firms by recent cyber attacks launched via a Ukrainian auditing software was greater than expected, and some German firms had seen production halted for over a week.”
http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-attack-ukraine-germany-idINKBN19S1EU

10. As Elites Switch To Texting, Watchdogs Fear Loss Of Transparency
“In a bygone analog era, lawmakers and corporate chiefs traveled great distances to swap secrets, to the smoke-filled back rooms of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, or the watering holes at the annual Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/06/business/as-elites-switch-to-texting-watchdogs-fear-loss-of-transparency.html

11. ‘Baby Driver’ Stirs Nostalgia For iPods
“Last spring, Connor Gressitt, then a senior at New York University, traveled to Mexico with friends. As they cruised down back roads far from any cellular towers, the notion of accessing Spotify through their iPhones became laughable. Mr. Gressitt’s friends were desperate for some kind of soundtrack for their road trip, and they didn’t know what to do. That is, until Mr. Gressitt pulled out an archaic device.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/fashion/mens-style/ipod-nostalgia-baby-driver.html