(Preview) Meta and Its Messaging Problem, The XBOX Reset, Q&A on Token Costs, American Soccer, Starlink in Nature

On today’s show Andrew and Ben begin with a look at the state of Meta. Topics include: Mark Zuckerberg’s sins of commission vs. omission as a messenger, Meta’s AI opportunity, directionally correct investments, the problems with Meta as a cloud provider, and the absence of religion in Menlo Park. From there: Why Microsoft should move on from the XBOX era, and the shift in gaming habits that doomed Game Pass from the outset. At the end: OpenAI introduces GPT-Live, a question about the cost of Ben’s vibe coding adventure spawns a digression on future token costs, the cost of youth sports, American soccer and learning Chinese, tech weirdos and the future of normie app building, and Ben gets castigated for bringing a Starlink on vacation.

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@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

A Script for Mark Zuckerberg — Stratechery

Meta’s AI Abundance — Stratechery

XBOX Cuts; Bundling and the Internet Solvent; Transaction, Coordination, and Sunk Costs — Stratechery Update

An Interview with Matthew Ball About Gaming and the Fight for Attention — Stratechery Interview

Introducing GPT-Live, a new generation of voice models for natural human-AI interaction. — X:@OpenAI

Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard — Pinyin

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