Linked List: April 26, 2022

Tuesday, 26 April 2022

Matt Levine on Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal 

Matt Levine, in his Money Stuff column at Bloomberg, after running through a bunch of scenarios in which the deal might not go through:

Still I worry a little that Musk seems to conceive of “free speech” in mostly standard American billionaire terms. Yesterday Jeff Bezos pondered, on Twitter, whether the government of China will gain leverage over Twitter because Musk is buying it. The idea is that Twitter has no particular commercial ties to China (where it has been banned since 2009), so it is free to host criticism of the Chinese government. Other American businesses with lots of commercial ties to China — Hollywood, basketball, etc. — often do not tolerate criticism of China, to avoid angering its government and endangering their businesses. Tesla is an American business with deep commercial ties to China, where it makes cars, sells cars and buys parts; it is run by Elon Musk and makes up the bulk of his net worth. If he owns Twitter, criticism of China on Twitter is potentially his problem, and Tesla’s, and he might face pretty explicit pressure to censor critics of China on Twitter. This seems like a complicated set of issues for him to navigate. But soon he will own the company, and then I guess he’ll navigate them all by himself.

Bezos’s original tweet thread:

Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square?

My own answer to this question is probably not. The more likely outcome in this regard is complexity in China for Tesla, rather than censorship at Twitter.

But we’ll see. Musk is extremely good at navigating this kind of complexity.

Shitposting Elon Musk fans on Twitter jumped on Bezos’s remarks, pointing out that many (most?) of the goods sold by Amazon are made in China. And Bezos owns The Washington Post, so did China gain leverage over the Post? Clearly they did not. I don’t think Amazon is nearly as reliant on China as Tesla. Amazon doesn’t sell to consumers there; Tesla does and it’s their second-biggest market.

Apple is the more interesting comparison. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a TV+ series or movie or documentary that portrays China unflatteringly. There are Western companies that do big business in China, and there are Western companies that run media outlets that are critical of Chairman Pooh’s regime, but not much, if any, overlap between the two groups. But commissioning TV shows and movies to stream on your own service is very different from running the world’s biggest micro-blogging service.

The Talk Show: ‘Devastation, Pessimism, and Rage’ 

Glenn Fleishman returns to the show to talk about Elon Musk’s (apparently?) impending acquisition of Twitter, Apple’s credibility problem when arguing against being required to allow sideloading on iOS, and Glenn’s new (and much-needed) book, Take Control of Untangling Connections.

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Updated Studio Display Camera Firmware Is Available in MacOS 12.4 Beta 3 

The Verge:

When we reviewed Apple’s $1,599 Studio Display one thing immediately jumped out: its built-in webcam is bad. At the time, Apple told us that an update to improve the camera would be forthcoming, and now it appears to be here. Apple spokesperson Jennie Orphanopoulos tells The Verge that “an update to the Studio Display firmware is now available with today’s beta release of macOS Monterey 12.4. This beta update has refinements to the Studio Display camera tuning, including improved noise reduction, contrast, and framing.” [...]

Developers are able to install the Monterey 12.4 beta now; everyone else will be able to install it from Apple’s public beta program later today.

The public beta is now out. I installed the developer beta this afternoon, and my very quick impression is that image quality is at least somewhat improved. Center Stage feels more natural too. Full report forthcoming.

Apple TV+ Partners With Idris Elba on New Thriller ‘Hijack’ 

Apple Newsroom:

Apple TV+ today announced it has landed Hijack, a new seven-part thriller starring SAG-winning and Emmy Award-nominated Idris Elba (Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Luther), who will also serve as executive producer. This marks the first project that will hail from Elba’s first-look deal with Apple TV+ and his Green Door Pictures.

Told in real time, Hijack is a tense thriller that follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven hour flight, as authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Elba will star as Sam Nelson, an accomplished negotiator in the business world who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers — but his high-risk strategy could be his undoing.

The “thriller in real time” thing has been done before. First one I remember as a new movie was 1995’s Nick of Time, starring Johnny Depp, and the best-known is surely the Kiefer Sutherland series 24. And then there’s Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 classic Rope, which not only took place in real time but was staged and edited to create the illusion that it was shot in one continuous take.

But what really struck me about this announcement is that the first credit Apple listed for Idris Elba was Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I mean I get it — Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a huge hit and it’s very recent. But still, it’s Idris Elba — maybe list another serious role or two? The Wire, maybe? (At least they didn’t list Cats.)