​​💰 Rich beyond reason

Yesterday, news broke that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is now not only the richest man in the world, but a whole $50bn ahead of second-place Bill Gates. Quite frankly, that kind of accumulation of wealth in an individual is unsettling.

Bezos’ $143.1 billion net worth isn’t all cash he can spend whenever he wants, but why should it sit on his balance sheet when there’s so much that needs improving about the world?

People should be able to do well from the businesses they build, and that means that some people who run particularly successful companies will become incredibly wealthy. But there comes a point where you look at that kind of wealth and think about what could be done with it if it was being put to use to make the world better.

Read more in today's Big Revolution: prs.pctvix.co/2NGANZC

Martin Bryant,
🚀 @PerspectiveIX

📰 #iXDailyBrief

STAT
⚡️ The ‘Gareth Southgate’ effect? M&S’ suit sales have been boosted so far for the 2018 World Cup with sales of waistcoats up by 35% YOY. (Source: Marks and Spencer)


INSIGHT
📌 #Pinterest's rudimentary consultancy gives retailers advice on in-store merchandising: prs.pctvix.co/2NJIVs3


OTHER NEWS
📈 Olio, the app that lets you share unwanted food items with your neighbours, picks up £6M Series A: t.me/iXNews/29108

📱 HTC’s blockchain-powered Exodus #smartphone is a risky bet that needs to pay off: t.me/iXNews/29106

👊 #YouTube is fighting fake news with $25M to promote journalism and more context in search results: t.me/iXNews/29001

🤝 #Snapchat moves beyond traditional publishing brands with latest partnerships: prs.pctvix.co/2NJzzN5

👻 Snapchat and #Amazon will team up on in-app shopping: prs.pctvix.co/2NIPag6

🕵️‍♀️ House Republicans demand answers from Alphabet following Gmail privacy scandal: t.me/iXNews/28988

—

Sorry about missing the Daily Brief yesterday. I was on a couple of flights with no internet access. And today, I'm trying to catch up 🙃
Ben, @iXNews

​​🥇 The apps with the most days as the No.1 free iPhone app since 2010

Messaging apps in general spent the most time at the top across all the App Store territories, accounting for seven of the top 10 in the ranking. Chief among them was the now Facebook-owned #WhatsApp, which was one of four apps in the top five under the social giant’s auspices, the other three being Messenger, #Instagram, and the core #Facebook app itself.

🚀 @PerspectiveIX
📖 via SensorTower: prs.pctvix.co/2N77232

🗣 Old solutions to modern problems!
by Dougal Shaw: prs.pctvix.co/2NGR2Wo

🚀 @PerspectiveIX

​​🍔 Rage against the burger maker

The Verge has an in-depth look at the burger-making robots that are the main attraction at San Francisco restaurant, Creator. The piece offers a balanced approach to the idea that these machines will replace human jobs, but there’s no escaping the fact that ‘burger bots’ are a very real frontline face of automation.

Optimists love to say that automation is nothing new, and that it only ever offers new opportunities for humans by giving us new roles.

But technological progress accelerates ever onwards, and the coming wave of automation may happen so fast that we can’t find enough jobs to replace those it devours. And what happens then?

When we talk about automation taking jobs, it’s often in the context if artificial intelligence – 'invisible’ software replacing existing human roles. Burger-making robots show that, if automation causes significant unemployment, there will be plenty of real machines to rage against.

Read more in today's Big Revolution: prs.pctvix.co/2NHvTeG

Martin Bryant,
🚀 @PerspectiveIX

📰 #iXDailyBrief

STAT
⚡️ Snapchat usage and engagement has gone down 15-40% since the release of Instagram Stories. Top creators used to get around 330,000 views per day on Snapchat in 2015 up until June 2016. Nowadays, they only get around 205,000 to 250,000 views per day. (Source: TechCrunch)


INSIGHT
🎾 How Wimbledon is using #AI to enhance the fan experience: prs.pctvix.co/2mdR3EY


OTHER NEWS
💻 Google’s #Chrome desktop browser is about to receive a major facelift: prs.pctvix.co/2mahE5D

🌱 This sun-chasing robot looks after the plant on its head: t.me/iXNews/29209

🔥 #Google introduces machine learning ad tools and brands are hot for them:

👁 #Xbox One is getting Dolby Vision support: t.me/iXNews/29203

💤 Casper opens a storefront for $25 naps: t.me/iXNews/29191

🌃 #Facebook testing #AR ads in the News Feed and new tool to help brands create video ads: prs.pctvix.co/2mdjS4a

🔎 Dirt Protocol raises $3M for a decentralized, #blockchain-based approach to information vetting: t.me/iXNews/29189
—
"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." — Winston S. Churchill

Have great day!
Ben, @iXNews

​​⛔️ The Marketing Disconnect

There is a significant disconnect between what marketers post to #SocialMedia and what consumers want brands to post, according to recent research from Sprout Social.

Based on data from a survey conducted in April and May 2018 among 1,253 consumers and 2,060 social media marketers, this report shows that what consumers value the most is discounts/sales posts (72% say so) and posts that showcase new products/services (60%).

But marketers say the types of social content they share most are posts that teach something (61% say so) and posts that tell a story (58%).

🚀 @PerspectiveIX
📖 via MarketingProfs: prs.pctvix.co/2me0G6C
⬇️ Download the full report: prs.pctvix.co/2m9JEGB

​​🗣 All Ears: Always-On Listening Devices Could Soon Be Everywhere

What the future of our voice-activated-everything world will feel like.
(illustrator: Peter Arkle)

🚀 @PerspectiveIX
📖 via WSJ: prs.pctvix.co/2ue9hKY

🥊 Winning the info-war

Yesterday, Facebook caused a stir by defending the fact that it hasn’t banned InfoWars from its platform.

People were rightfully annoyed by this. Infowars is a site that blatantly lies to its audience for financial and political gain. It said the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, it said Democrats in the US were planning to start a new civil war on Independence Day this year… it’s the very definition of fake news.

Facebook is right that some of what Infowars does is opinion and analysis based fundamentally in truth, but given its propensity for conspiracy theories, it’s indisputably a repeated and regular ‘fake news’ offender.

Actions speak louder than all the contrite TV and billboard ads in the world. If Facebook is genuine about wanting to fight fake news, it needs to bite the bullet and tell sites like Infowars it doesn’t want their advertising dollars.

Read more in today's Big Revolution: prs.pctvix.co/2uwwI1d

Martin Bryant,
🚀 @PerspectiveIX

📰 #iXDailyBrief

STAT
⚡️ PC sales are growing for the first time in six years. The PC market grew in the second quarter of 2018, with an increase of 2.7-1.4 percent. (Source: Gartner, IDC)


INSIGHT
🤖 Robot cognition requires machines that both think and feel: prs.pctvix.co/2Ne5Fzo


OTHER NEWS
👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 #Pinterest's new group boards are the most social feature on the platform: prs.pctvix.co/2N9ZQDm

💻 Apple’s new MacBook Pros have the latest Intel processors and quieter keyboards: prs.pctvix.co/2NcifiB

❌ Chrome now uses more RAM because of Spectre security fixes: t.me/iXNews/29228

🔦 #Twitter is testing Promoted Trend Spotlight ads: prs.pctvix.co/2NeI2af

#️⃣ #Twitter released a hashtag-triggered emoji for the 2018 MLB all-star game: prs.pctvix.co/2Nfrvmn

—

Have a great weekend!
Ben, @iXNews

​​🕰 Marketing Short-termism

Marketing for the long-term and the short-term is a constant balancing act. Pressure to show immediate results can lead marketers to focus on quick-hit sales conversation tactics, which can look good temporarily in marketing dashboards, but are far less effective in the long-run.

🚀 @PerspectiveIX
📖 via Marketoonist: prs.pctvix.co/2L897hz

​​🚀 Does Elon Musk need an intervention, or just a break?

As you may have seen, yesterday Elon Musk made a baseless allegation against a member of the team of divers that saved those Thai boys and their football coach. The storm of criticism that followed (eventually) led to Musk deleting his tweets.

It has gone beyond saying Musk is reckless and unprofessional; now it’s like the man needs an intervention to stop him tweeting. His fans will say I’m being unkind, that he just cares so much about changing the world that he’ll destroy anyone who gets in his way. His fans will ask why that is a bad thing. After all, the rest of us aren’t changing the world like Musk is, right?

But being a genius doesn’t give you a pass when you act like an idiot.

By recklessly throwing baseless accusations around, Musk establishing a pattern of outbursts that may worry investors in Tesla and SpaceX about his judgment.

Given these regrettable Twitter outbursts and other episodes are a relatively new phenomenon, maybe they’re a sign that the stress of simultaneously running a bunch of big-vision, high-stakes companies, with lots of expectations to live up to, is getting to Musk.

Maybe he needs to get some support from the people close to him. Maybe he needs to bring in a communications chief who he’ll listen to before making public statements. Maybe we can help by not paying so much attention to him.

One thing’s for sure; he should take a break from Twitter.

Read more in today's Big Revolution: prs.pctvix.co/2NionGp

Martin Bryant,
🚀 @PerspectiveIX

😐 Facebook's latest diversity report is as underwhelming as ever

Surprise, surprise: Facebook is still overwhelmingly white and male!

🚀 @PerspectiveIX
📖 via Mashable: prs.pctvix.co/2NionGp

📆 Happy World Emoji Day!

According to Facebook, 🇦🇺 & 🇨🇦 seem to be the most keen on birthday greetings!

🚀 @PerspectiveIX

Which one is your favourite?

​​😫 The most depressing job on the internet

It’s easy to get angry at social media companies when they make the wrong decision about allowing or banning a particular piece of content. But last night’s Channel 4 documentary in the UK made me spare a thought for the poor content moderators at Facebook.

They have to look at the absolute worst of the internet all day, every day. Violence, abuse, hatred in all its forms – if they’re going to clean it up, they have to see it all. I hope they have access to psychological support; they must either become emotionally numb or bottle up all sorts of torment for later.

They have very little room for their own judgment. Facebook’s rules on what stays and what goes are very strict. Some content that a common sense reading would say should be banned, has to stay up on a technicality.

Unless an act of harm is being live-streamed, they can’t report it to the authorities. Imagine having that on your conscience – seeing a vulnerable person suffering and not being able to make sure they get the help they need.

Content moderators have one of the toughest jobs on the internet - and probably the most depressing. So next time you report some inappropriate content, spare a thought for the poor human who has to review it. It probably isn’t their fault if they make the wrong decision.

Read more in today's Big Revolution: prs.pctvix.co/2mnP6Wy

Martin Bryant,
🚀 @PerspectiveIX

👾 Nerds will love building their own game boy

Gamebuino META is a tiny handheld gameboy like system that allows you to program games as well as play unique video games.

🚀 @PerspectiveIX

​​🗝 Planning for the worst

The New York Times quietly announced a positive new security measure yesterday. Its Lock & Key system will keep an eye on public dumps of stolen usernames and passwords, and if any match your New York Times login, they’ll let you know and make you change your password.
In other words, if you’re using the same password across multiple services (not advisable), this makes you that little bit safer.
It doesn’t sound like that much of a big deal on its own, but it made me think about how too much online security work is reactive, rather than preventative.
Just think about the recent story about fitness tracking company Polar. A flaw in the way they’d set up their service meant anyone could browse through the activity records of all Polar users, simply by adjusting the URL in their browser.
That’s the kind of flaw that shouldn’t make it past the earliest stages of development. How did no-one at Polar think about that potential problem? Software developers have lots of different priorities to juggle, but security should underpin them all. It’s in the best interests of users, and also the software publisher’s legal budget.
I’m generally an optimist, but when it comes to planning or developing anything involving the public, I always assume the worst outcome. It probably won’t happen, but at least you’ll be prepared if it does.

Read more in today's Big Revolution: prs.pctvix.co/2uuMGd9

Martin Bryant,
🚀 @PerspectiveIX

​​📣 Heavy Social Media Users Most Receptive to Influencers

According to GWI, the effectiveness of influencer marketing varies with how long people spend on social media.

The trend in the chart is clear to see: the heaviest #SocialMedia users are the most likely to be discovering new brands via celebrities endorsements, vlogs and expert bloggers.

🚀 @PerspectiveIX
📖 via GWI: prs.pctvix.co/2LbD2GR

​​🐻 Watching out for bear traps

BuzzFeed made a big splash with its story yesterday that Mark Zuckerberg called a valued customer to congratulate him on his success. Yes, he called Donald Trump after his 2016 election win. Indeed, Facebook apparently views the Trump campaign as one of its best customers.

The story highlights an important point; many people increasingly want companies to take a moral stance – to be more ‘human’ and less impartial. And when it comes to the Trump presidency, with all the stories of Russian collusion, the poor treatment of immigrant children and all the rest, well – it’s hard not to take a stance. You’re either against Trump, or you wholeheartedly endorse him, in many people’s eyes.

In real life though, Facebook is like any big corporation. It has to 'cosy up’ to whoever is in office to make sure it is in the best position to make money for its shareholders. The big difference is, unlike 'Big Oil’ or 'Big Health,’ Facebook has the power to make or break a president by directly influencing the electorate.

If Facebook did take a clear anti-Trump stance, it would likely trigger a political storm of right-wingers calling for it to be broken up to limit its power. So, you can understand why Zuckerberg treads so carefully and appears so morally bankrupt.

His Holocaust denial misstep this week was an example of him focusing all his attention on treading so carefully that he missed where he was going and put his foot straight into a bear trap. He’ll have to hope that staying neutral on the Trump presidency doesn’t turn out to be the biggest, most painful bear trap of all.

Read more in today's Big Revolution: prs.pctvix.co/2zWgioT

Martin Bryant,
🚀 @PerspectiveIX

​​💸 The Price Tag Attached to Data Breaches

A recent poll showed that of major U.S. internet companies, Twitter is the least trusted when it comes to keeping data secure. Of course, no company has a fail-safe method of data protection and the consequences of a leak can be severe. As well as the negative effect on public image and reputation, the infographic below shows the average monetary cost of a data breach.

As reported by IBM Security and the Ponemon Institute, the costs are the highest in the U.S. with the average incident coming with a price tag of $7.91 million. Although one may assume that such leaks are always caused by criminal activity, 25 percent of the cases examined were actually due to human error.

🚀 @PerspectiveIX
📖 via Statista: prs.pctvix.co/2JE25N2

🌗 Walking on the Moon

49 years today (21 July 1969) 👨‍🚀 Buzz Aldrin & 👨‍🚀 Neil Armstrong made those historic first steps onto the Moon.

🚀 @PerspectiveIX