Consumer Tech Update

Did you know that as a Facebook user, you have a certain monetary value? Facebook makes its money by selling advertising and, of course, all sorts of data about you. So, if you have a cash value to them, what is it?

It's tempting to write off this week's shooting at YouTube headquarters as just another random workplace shooting. The reality is, it was far worse and more dangerous. YouTube is trying to keep a lid on it but the emerging picture reveals a frighteningly different kind of anger.

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg held a rare news conference. He usually doesn't expose himself to reporters' questions because no one can control what reporters may ask, and quite frankly, hasn't really had to, until now. And wait until you hear what he has to say.

If you’re like most adults, you assume that young people never experience boredom. Which shows just how disconnected you may be. Let's call generation Z the people born between 1998 to 2010 who have never lived without internet, smartphones and constant connectivity. Yet, they're bored. But why?

You don’t need me to tell you that Americans are angry. Whether they’re Liberal or Conservative, there’s one place where they all come together: They’re angry with Big Tech – especially Facebook. Millions would love to launch a boycott. Except, there’s one tiny problem.

The latest revelation about Facebook sounds more like a plot from a low-budget, direct-to-video, Hollywood flop with a supervillain and a plan to take over the world. In a nutshell, as long as Facebook continues to grow, it doesn't matter what harm comes from bad guys.

Whether you work for big tech or not, the sky really is falling and it won't be a soft landing. The Tiangong One is coming to Earth. The Chinese space station isn't the first to fall out of orbit and disintegrate, either!

The closest analogy that describes all of social media right now is this: Looking out across the social media horizon, there’s nothing but warehouse fires: So many blazing so hot that the firefighters don’t know where to begin. And whatever they try, nothing works.

Well it’s another day with yet another revelation about how Facebook intrudes in our lives. Not only have they sold all your personal information to Cambridge Analytica, and anyone else offering them cash; They’re also quietly labeling every user a liberal or conservative, whether you tell them or not. How are they doing it and are they right?

It was only ten months ago that Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, ditched his standard gray T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers for a business suit and tie, and headed off on a road trip across America. With his wife and baby in tow, he visited small towns, family farms, black churches, and struggling factories. What was his purpose? Meanwhile the board at Facebook has been selling your information. 

Uber recently published videos of passengers riding in self-driving cars. None of them were paying attention or noticed anything outside the car. Now with the accident in Tempe, Arizona, one of those Uber cars struck and killed a pedestrian as she was pushing her bicycle across the street. The so-called safety driver wasn’t paying attention! This fatal accident should be a wake-up call.

Facebook is at a crossroads. Its survival as the “king of social media” is, for the first time, in question. Yet, its management doesn’t get it. Can Facebook overcome this?

In the world of business, there are the three major hallmarks of good management: Fairness; Transparency; and Responsibility to the public. Now, consider America’s biggest tech companies. Do any of them have even one of these traits? Let’s take a quick look at some of the most recent examples of misbehavior by Big Tech.

Facebook's management doesn't seem to understand why daily use on the site is continually falling. It may be because of all of the false promises Facebook has made about fixing problems like fake news and conspiracy videos. Facebook would do well to remember the fall of Myspace and what happened to Nokia and Blackberry.  

Your smartphone can give away more information than you think