News that Apple's new podcast subscription service is being delayed until June because Apple needs to tweak the Apple Podcasts app is a good reminder of how important the user experience is and ensuring it delivers on expectations. It's also a great illustration of how a market moved. In the early homebrew days of podcasting, it was common for many podcasts to sound like they'd been recorded in the back of a garden shed on a rainy day, or the recording was somehow transmitted from the far … [Read more...] about Moving the podcast market
Small Data Forum
SDF 45: The vaccination mess in Europe
When Sam, Thomas and I recorded the 45th episode of our Small Data Forum podcast two weeks ago, who would have imagined that the major topic for us then - the EU's COVID vaccination mess - would continue to be a major topic today, one that's evolved and morphed into something even more alarming than it was then. We were pretty critical of the European Commission, how it is managing the vaccine rollout across the 27 member states, and its communication. The World Health Organisation calls it … [Read more...] about SDF 45: The vaccination mess in Europe
SDF 44: Facebook and the robber barons are at it again
Last week Facebook announced that it had decided to up the ante in its fracas with the Australian government and ban mainstream media news on its platform. The move meant that all Facebook users - not just Australians - would not be able to share or view news on Australian news Pages on Facebook. This move by Facebook was in response to the Australian government introducing a new law that would force Big Tech to pay media companies a fee to include their news in their users' news … [Read more...] about SDF 44: Facebook and the robber barons are at it again
SDF 43: The wearing away of trust
In the first episode in 2021 of our monthly Small Data Forum podcast, Thomas, Sam, and I discussed the big picture of Trump and what's next for him, Joe Biden and America post-Trump, and in the context of our predictions in episode 42 in December. Those predictions weren't that shabby, as it turns out. We considered what social media is: platform, publisher, or leech, which provoked some lively and trenchant opinion. We pondered the consequences and outcomes of the Capitol riots or … [Read more...] about SDF 43: The wearing away of trust
SDF42: 2020 Caught in the Gaslights
Last week, we published the 42nd episode of the Small Data Forum podcast. As this is December, this is our Christmas Special that, in previous years, we have recorded live from the Olivelli restaurant in south London where Sam, Thomas and I enjoy some outstanding Italian cuisine and wine, during which we put the world to rights, analysing and dissecting the uses and abuses of data big and small that have dominated politics, business, and public life in 2020. This year, the pandemic put … [Read more...] about SDF42: 2020 Caught in the Gaslights