A little more than a year ago, California seemed on the path to pandemic success, if there could ever be such a thing. COVID-19 case counts and deaths remained low compared with the devastation in New York, and even though a projected state budget deficit threatened to unravel California’s safety net , Gov. Gavin Newsom was basking in what felt like universal praise for his early decisive actions shutting down much of the economy in service of saving lives. So, in early May 2020, we asked readers to reimagine post-pandemic life in California , something that didn’t seem so far off. The response was overwhelming: Thousands of you sent us letters addressing racial and income inequality, environmental policy, urban design, education and other topics. Then, on May 25, George Floyd was murdered . In June and July, California experienced a devastating surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths that would be dwarfed by a winter surge that nearly brought the state’s healthcare system … [Read more...]

As Congress continues its interrogation of monopolistic practices of technology companies, states are getting into the game. Among the first targets on their list are Apple and Google, which together command 100 percent of the market for smartphone operating systems. New bills introduced in several states would threaten the companies’ dominance and represent an opportunity for state leaders to put fairness in commerce at the center of governance. All apps that iPhone users download pass through Apple’s app store, because Apple doesn’t allow alternative marketplaces. Google uses its own store, which is called Google Play and is preinstalled on most Android phones, to give preference to its own apps over similar apps from competitors. While Google does allow alternative app stores, users must download them. Both companies retain as much as 30 percent of the money consumers pay both for apps and for the purchases they make within those apps. (Credit card networks typically charge … [Read more...]

To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android . For those scratching their heads about the latest tech phenom called non-fungible tokens , or NFTs, I have one simple sentence to explain it all: Everything that can be digitized will be digitized. It was the same explanation I gave as the internet first went commercial in the early 1990s, when I started writing about the nascent medium. I was often asked the same questions by people who often thought of it as a fad: What exactly was on the internet? And why would I use it? Everything, I answered, to the first question. All knowledge. All communications. All entertainment. All movies. All commerce. To the second question, well, my answer was usually: Whatever. With NFTs, we’ve come yet another step closer to fully digitizing our lives. Like the internet, they are complex, but in the simplest terms, they are digital files that are stored using a technology … [Read more...]

The tech faceplant of the week goes to Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook chief executive, who recently released a video in which he and his wife said they were “deeply shaken and disgusted by President Trump’s divisive and incendiary rhetoric at a time when our nation so desperately needs unity.” It was a case study in how not to read the room, especially when you are in charge of a huge service that has been one of the main digital tools that has helped the president divide and set fire to the body politic. Mr. Zuckerberg is an easy go-to when it comes to pointing out the hypocrisy of the powerful playacting as the aggrieved. It’s irksome, and it’s also easy to mock, but in truth most of the battles between the digital Davids and Goliaths are much more complex. Consider, for example, the fight this week between Apple and a small tech company — a quarrel that you might want to pay attention to since the outcome could have a lasting impact on the power dynamic between Big Tech and the … [Read more...]

Public opinion sharply polarized in the United Kingdom on Monday as the smoke cleared after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. On one side were those who argued Meghan and Harry’s interview was a self-indulgent tirade of unsubstantiated allegations aimed at undermining the monarchy and enhancing their own profiles. On the other stood what appeared to be a stunned, shocked, and disbelieving majority appalled at the treatment Meghan said she had endured. Nowhere was the national psychodrama clearer than on Britain’s breakfast chat show, Good Morning Britain, anchored by Meghan troll-in-chief, Piers Morgan, who led the charge for those arguing that the interview was a “disgusting slur” on the royal family. As he did so, his aghast-looking co-presenter Susanna Reid made it clear this wasn’t happening unchallenged on her watch; she angrily accused Morgan of talking over her and not taking Meghan’s allegations with the seriousness they … [Read more...]

To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android . So Donald Trump wants to start a social network and become a tech mogul? Lucky for him, I am an expert in all things digital, and I’m willing to help. Tech is hard stuff, and new ventures should be attempted with extreme care, especially by those whose history of entrepreneurship is littered with the carcasses of, say, Trump Steaks. Or Trump Water. Or Trump University. Or Trump magazine. Or Trump Casinos. Or Trump Mortgages. Or Trump Airlines. Or Trump Vodka. Or the Trump pandemic response. Or, of course, the 2020 Trump presidential campaign. So, Mr. Trump, here’s my advice. Right from the start, I advise you to embrace your myriad failures as if they’re your best friends. Every failed venture actually went exactly as planned. Give up your distaste for being called a “loser.” Drop your tendency to blame others. Quit falling back on conspiracy theories — … [Read more...]