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The US is fundamentally rethinking its approach to regulating competition, and M&A, and tech, and big tech buying startups. The FTC’s attempt to block Meta from buying Within is a test case for all of this. So, how many interesting problems can we count?
over a year ago

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More from Essays - Benedict Evans

AI’s metrics question

With every platform shift, we want to measure the growth but we’re confused about what to measure. That’s partly a problem of data and definitions, but it’s really a question about what this is going to be.

2 months ago 32 votes
GenAI’s adoption puzzle

Generative AI chatbots might be a life-changing transformation in the nature of computing, that can replace all software, but so far, most of its users only pick it up every week or two, and far fewer have made it part of their lives. Is that a time problem or a product problem?

2 months ago 43 votes
What kind of disruption?

Software ate the world. Uber and Airbnb didn’t sell software - they disrupted and redefined markets. But what kind of disruption are we talking about ?

5 months ago 45 votes
Apple innovation and execution

It matters that Apple’s new Siri will be late, and it matters more that Apple didn’t realise. Is it more than that?

5 months ago 49 votes
The Deep Research problem

OpenAI’s Deep Research is built for me, and I can’t use it. It’s another amazing demo, until it breaks. But it breaks in really interesting ways.

5 months ago 53 votes

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How Does GPT-5 Work?

Welcome to another premium edition of Where's Your Ed At! Please subscribe to it so I can continue to drink 80 Diet Cokes a day. Email me at ez@betteroffline.com with the subject "premium" if you ever want to chat. I realize this is before

yesterday 5 votes
America has only one real city

We need a few more of them. How can we get them?

yesterday 3 votes
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yesterday 4 votes
South Park and The Greatest TV Contract Clause Ever

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2 days ago 8 votes
Marketing’s misleading metric

Perverse incentives, and the unintended consequences that flow from them, can be found on every continent, in every time, and in every industry. And marketing is no different. This article argues that a malevolent metric sits at the heart of many marketing discussions and decisions. I believe that the many marketers who prioritise this metric seek to capture value, but unintentionally destroy it.

2 days ago 7 votes