Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash
Hi, friends. Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.
Not a subscriber yet? Get it here.
Here are ten items worth your time this week:
🆕 1) News from Apple’s event on Tuesday: Apple Undercuts Rivals With Streaming Price [The Wall Street Journal]
My colleague Tripp Mickle has the big picture:
“Apple Inc. revealed a trio of upgraded iPhones, including a lower-priced model, and detailed its plans to enter the increasingly competitive video-streaming market with an offering that is cheaper than rivals.”
To wit:
“Apple set monthly prices for its TV+ video-streaming service and Arcade videogame-streaming service at $4.99, largely undercutting rivals. TV+ comes free for a year with the purchase of a new iPhone, iPad or Mac, a perk that could get more people to buy a new device or upgrade.”
That’s cheaper than Netflix’s $12.99 standard offering and lower than the $6.99 Disney’s new service will cost.
Meanwhile Wilson Rothman breaks down the new iPhones and other offerings:
“The company delivered upgrades to last year’s three iPhone models, plus some minor tweaks to the Apple Watch and iPad lines and an update on its coming subscription services.”
🔨 2) California Bill Makes App-Based Companies Treat Workers as Employees [New York Times]
“California legislators approved a landmark bill on Tuesday that requires companies like Uber and Lyft to treat contract workers as employees, a move that could reshape the gig economy and that adds fuel to a yearslong debate over whether the nature of work has become too insecure.”
⚖️ 3) Google under antitrust investigation by 50 attorneys general [The Verge]
“On Monday, 50 attorneys general from US states and territories signed onto an antitrust investigation into Google, placing even more pressure on the major tech firm that is already facing intense scrutiny over its market dominance from the government. ”
💰 4) Runaway Story or Meltdown in Motion? The Unraveling of the WeWork IPO [Musings on Markets/Aswath Damodaran]
“In a year full of high-profile IPOs, WeWork takes center stage as it moves towards its offering date, offering a fascinating insight into corporate narratives, how and why they acquire credibility (and value) and how quickly they can lose them, if markets lose faith. ”
📸 5) I Was Caroline Calloway [New York/The Cut]
“Seven years after I met the infamous Instagram star, I’m ready to tell my side of the story.”
🎵 6) Shot: Vinyl set to outsell CDs for first time since 1986 [NME]
“With vinyl revenue growing by 12% in the second half of 2018 and first half of this year, and CD rates barely changing at all, it could see vinyl revenue overtake that of CDs by the end of the year. If it does happen, it’ll be the first time that vinyl has generated more revenue than CDs since 1986.”
📚 7) Chaser: Why book reading is looking good [Irish Times]
“In the US, 2011 was the first year in which more ebooks were sold than hardbacks; by 2016, though, hardbacks were outstripping ebooks once again.”
🔪 8) 50 States of True Crime [New York Times]
“Every state has an infamous crime – and a book about it.”
🦝 9) Wildlife photographer of the year – highly commended images [The Guardian]
“The Natural History Museum has released a selection of highly commended photographs from a range of categories.”
Come for the hippos, stay for the raccoon.
🏍️ 10) Stunt pooch 🐶💫🔥 [Twitter: @SpicyWengz]
📖 Book I’m Currently Reading
Yesterday I finished “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Patricia Highsmith’s famed psychological thriller from 1955. I loved it. Fast-paced and beautifully written. And just a couple weeks back I read “Googled: The End of the World as We Know It,” a book on the search titan by The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta. Highly recommended for understanding the company’s history.
Next up, at long last: “The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age,” by my pal James Crabtree (whose newsletter you should subscribe to here).
Reminder: I keep track of all the books I’m reading on my website here.
💡 Quote of the week:
“The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
👊 Fist bump from New Delhi,