Digigram Newsletter of July 2020!
The first part of this edition continues the topic from the last newsletter, and identifies two additional marks of disruption:
The first part of this edition continues the topic from the last newsletter, and identifies two additional marks of disruption:
Amazon bought a self-driving car company. Zoox, the company that gave me my first-ever autonomous car ride (unforgettable, even though it wasn’t the wild ride shown here). Congratulations to the entire Zoox team — I’m very, very happy for you! So why did Amazon buy Zoox? Amazon gave this rationale: “We’re acquiring Zoox to help bring their vision of ride-hailing to reality.” And further down in the press release: “Zoox is pioneering the future of ride-hailing by designing autonomous technology from the ground up with passengers front-of-mind.” I don’t buy that Amazon would “help” to pioneer the future of ride-hailing by passengers. Amazon simply doesn’t strike me as a company that altruistically helps others achieve their visions. Furthermore, Amazon isn’t in the people-moving business, a space with already fierce competition, and lots of controversies. I don’t think they’d touch that business with a 10-foot pole. However, Amazon’s own business is plagued by problems that could be solved by self-driving cars: Cost of last-mile deliveries: Amazon has traditionally used the U.S. Postal Service for many of …