Scott’s Newsletter #31

I firmly believe tech companies have a better chance of publishers embracing their platforms through 1. licensing; 2. creating unique story formats. Looks like Google is trying to do that with AMP.

Facebook always said they aren’t prioritizing Instant Articles in the News Feed. Recently, they basically said that they are, if your mobile website isn’t fast enough.

Speaking of Facebook: the company is working on a smart speaker to rival Amazon’s Alexa Show.

Meanwhile, Apple is making their first foray into augmented reality next month. This is just the start of something much bigger: glasses.

Love what Nike is doing with high-tech scavenger hunts. Mashable has all the details.

Disney is going DTC, pulling its content from Netflix. I go back and forth on the move. A lot of people paying $9.99 per month vs. a lot more people paying Netflix $9.99 and Disney gets a cut.

Looking back at the path that led us to where we are today is always enlightening. What didn’t make sense at the time, often does later on. This NYTimes feature on former Sony boss Amy Pascal fits that exact mold.

I can’t decide, after reading this GQ feature, if making it big in Hollywood is easier or harder than it once was.

Finally, I’ll be appreciating my bananas much more in the future.

Rock and Roll.

My last newsletter had an open rate of 33% (-5.2%) – the #s should be over 50%, but I’m inundated with spam sign-ups. What spam email addresses want real email?

Sign up for my bi-weekly email newsletter where I’ll share what I’ve written about or read from around the web related to mobile, digital, emerging media + tech and more. The newsletter is sent 8 p.m. ET on Sunday nights and appears on ScottStanchak.com 10 a.m. ET on Monday.

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