You might have noticed that ‘the daily surprise’ has just been updated to the ‘when I remember it - and have time surprise’.

๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ๐Ÿ”Ž Surprise - surprise - surprise



๐Ÿ”— Goldman Sachs Boosts Apple Inc. with Positive App Store Trends

NB: No meaningful (or perhaps even measurable) impact from off-Appstore payments alternatives. Turns out adding friction to a frictionless business is not an attractive option for the customer.

๐Ÿ’ฌ Horace Dediu

โ€˜Easeโ€™ replaces โ€˜Priceโ€™ in my ๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ 4 E Model for the Age of Engagement.


Adam Tinworth … ๐Ÿ”— Journalism isnโ€™t dying

Less than a week after massive layoffs at the Washington Post which have sent shockwaves through the media world, this seems like a strange thing to say, but journalism is not dying. In fact, itโ€™s in no danger of dying. It’s being reborn all around us, right now.

Me back in 2018 : ๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ Musicians Only Made 12% of the Music Industry’s Revenue

I think itโ€™s a related argument - add in the argument about ‘saving the planet - we are killing it’. Yes we are - but that os not the problem.

In all three cases we are looking at the wrong thing.

It was the music industry that was dying - not music - as that headline in 2018 highlights and as we see today. Not saying it isn’t hard. It is - but it is very much around.

As for Climate Change - sure - it might wipe out humanity - but the planet will be just fine. Its a bugger what we are doing to it - but in all honesty if we werent around - the planet would recover.

So too journalism.




I Agree With โ€˜The Callโ€™. I Totally Disagree With What That Means

As a regular reader of Scottโ€™s newsletter, I opened this one in eager anticipation because he seemed to be making the same observations as I have been over the last couple of years โ€ฆ but I was wrong.


Today’s Surprise From History - ๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ We are unfinished products up until the end.

.. on reflection - I am not sure I agree. The implication being that at the end we are suddenly ‘complete'โ“ On the other hand - as far as the body is concerned - finished is definitely the conclusion.

๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ๐Ÿ”Ž Other Surprises


๐Ÿ”— Anthropic Just Sent Shockwaves Through the Entire Stock Market by Releasing a New AI Tool

๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ Me - just yesterday

Engagement platforms amplify whatever thinking you’ve put into them. If the thinking is clear and explicit, they amplify coherence. If it’s fuzzy and fragmented, they amplify fragmentation - but at scale. Everyone having AI tools doesn’t create coherence. It accelerates fragmentation.

Be careful out there. Itโ€™s not easy.


Today’s Surprise From History - ๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ Road Trip

.. and it was a good - if short one - across the high desert - North of Palm Desert - other side of Joshua Tree - and beyond.

๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ๐Ÿ”Ž Other Surprises


Pace Layers - Redux

Climbing the โ€˜pace layersโ€™ leads to fewer and more specialized sources of information.







Back On To Content Again.

Chris Lockhead posted ๐Ÿ”— this on LinkedIN

It’s LinkedIn oatmeal.

Chris is right, so I replied:

Content is homogenous, undifferentiated and fully interchangeable with any other content - like any other โ€˜grainโ€™ that sits in a silo.

  • Can you really tell one grain of wheat from another?
  • Is your post/comment really interchangeable with every one elseโ€™s?

If so - content it is. If not - guess what - it is not content. So donโ€™t call it content.

Content is a horrible, generic, cheap, ‘anything will do’ kind of word and so - like a grain of wheat - any individual piece of โ€˜contentโ€™ has no value. The value is in the total silo.

It is also important to know that it is in the best interests of the ‘buyers’ (I use the term loosely) of our sweat, labour, thought and time to create our IP - to keep their costs down. So, content is what THEY will continue to call it. Donโ€™t fall into that trap.

Our costs are not kept down. Our net earnings do suffer. They are suffering badly.

Oh - and a quick reminder - been saying this for years. As have others - like ๐Ÿ–‡๏ธ Will Arnett talking to Dana Gould



๐Ÿ“บ The Chelsea Detective โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…

The Chelsea Detective

Originally Published: Jun 6th, 2025
Updated: Jan 30th, 2026

Read More โ†’


๐Ÿ“บ Run Away โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…

Harlan can be great. This is good.