Why is the Internet Becoming TV? - Cal Newport

Once we realize that these companies’ apps are essentially glorified TV, we should feel more comfortable ignoring them. There was a time when platforms like Facebook and Twitter wanted to convince you that they were part of a new social fabric; a fundamental technology that responsible citizens couldn’t ignore. Not any more. If they’re just TV, then we can respond the way we always have: by simply turning off the proverbial set.

On Paperbacks and TikTok - Cal Newport

Here we find a parallel to our current moment. As the platforms of the digital attention economy transition from social network models to providing maximally distracting short-form videos, more of the content available online is devolving toward that paragon of low-quality forgettability, commonly referred to as slop. Who will listen to a podcast or read a long essay, many now fret, when Sora can offer countless videos of historical figures dancing and X can deliver an endless sequence of nudity and bar fights?

If we return to the paperback example, however, we might find a small sliver of hope. Ultimately, the explosion of these cheaper, often lower-quality books didn’t lead to the elimination of more serious titles. In fact, the opposite happened. Vastly more hardcover titles are published today than they were before the Pocket Books revolution began.

A nice little history lesson here on paperbacks.

Understanding carriage by Seth Godin

Carriage is the term for the method that books, movies, TV shows and other media get from the producers to the public. It’s about who controls user access to the medium.

TIL. I did not know this word - not in this context at least.

Remote Work is Officially Dead, Says the World's Largest Recruiter - Slashdot

"You have to be very special to be able to demand a 100% remote job," van 't Noordende told Fortune. "That's increasingly the story. You have to have very special technology skills or some expertise." The equilibrium appears to be settling at a hybrid model of three to four days in office for most workers.

That has been my experience too.

Also even before the Covid pandemic, the fully remote option was there for high performers or edge cases, where people had specific requirements to work from home and were good enough that they could not be kicked out of the job.

Our interfaces have lost their senses by Amelia Wattenberger

Think about how you use physical tools. Drawing isn't just moving your hand—it's the feel of the pencil against paper, the tiny adjustments of pressure, the sound of graphite scratching. You shift your body to reach the other side of the canvas. You erase with your other hand. You step back to see the whole picture.

A beautifully illustrated thing.

Everything happens on screens. There is no variability in our experiences of doing different things.