Terry Storch Dispatch w.16.2020
Dispatch w.16.2020
Why are people afraid of getting older? You feel wiser. You feel more mature. You feel like you know yourself better. You would trade that for softer skin? Not me! - Anna Kournikova
When Apple and Google partner, it makes people pay attention. These bitter rivals are typically at each other’s throats, fighting over market share and innovation. Maybe you didn’t realize this but if you round up a bit, you’ll see that Google's Android and Apple's iOS have 100% mobile OS market share. That’s around 3 billion combined users!
Last Friday, this press release came out: Apple, Google to harness phones for virus infection tracking. It appears these giants are partnering up to assist and help with COVID-19 contact tracking and tracing. I really liked how Ryan Duffy described this on the Morning Brew.
The plan
Phase 1: Next month, Apple and Google will release application programming interfaces. Health officials will build third-party apps that leverage the cross-platform APIs.
Phase 2: "In the coming months," the companies will develop OS-level changes that allow users to turn on a contact tracing setting.
How It Works
Alice and Bob meet in a park. With Bluetooth and the app running in the background, their phones broadcast anonymous identifier beacons that cycle out every 15 minutes. Alice's iPhone logs the beacon from Bob's Android and vice-versa.
Later, Bob is diagnosed with COVID-19. He reports this to the app and consents to sharing the past two weeks of beacon logs with central servers. Bob's data is held for around two weeks as the system identifies close encounters with other beacons. Alice gets an anonymous alert she's potentially been exposed and is sent resources with more information.
So, hearing that, what do you think? A few anecdotal surveys I’ve done lead to the same responses, which is something along the lines of, “Heck no, I don’t trust them with my data!” This does lead us to wonder what new data these companies would actually have. What is the line or situation that would move us to a society that would openly embrace this type of tracking? Apple just launched this anonymous dashboard that shows walking, driving, and transit activity. It’s very interesting!
As technology becomes more pervasive and integrated into our lives, what should we really expect with our privacy and data? Should we just bury our heads in the sand and just hope for the best? Who can or should we trust? I have a lot more questions than answers. We’ll eventually live in a post COVID-19 world, and I just wonder how this will shape our online behaviors and our tolerance with personal data and security.
So, where will the United States and other countries land on this issue? I completely recognize the difference between China and the United States, but this absolutely fascinates me on so many levels. If you haven’t seen what China is doing, watch this short 4-minute video.
Click to play video
It’s true. I am now closer to 50 than 40 because today is my 46th birthday. A huge thank you to my brother who sent me this book — I’m excited to read it! I’m also looking forward to having these in my ears and this in my hand on the tennis court. But I am still delaying this, although I plan to have it one day.
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Toward Better. That sounds like a very simple two-word phrase, doesn’t it? As I think more about it, those two words together, as a sentence, are beautiful. Seth has some great wisdom in this short but power-packed article. Read more.
This read is also power-packed, but much longer. Maggie Leung, NerdWallet VP of Content, writes about how to thrive as a large team working remotely. I can’t tell you how many text messages, emails, and DMs I’ve received about working remotely. Leaders are looking for tips, tricks, and help with this new reality of the workplace. I think this article does a great job unpacking the ins and outs of working and leading remotely. It also highlights the current conditions we are faced with in a COVID-19 world. They aren’t typical, and shouldn’t be confused with working remotely in general when there’s not a pandemic limiting our activities. Read now.
Are you watching anything new that you’re enjoying? Robin and I have watched some Agatha Christie series on Amazon Prime (The ABC Murders & Ordeal by Innocence) and we’re enjoying Little America on Apple TV+. I think I’ve talked her into trying Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime, so we’ll see how that works out. I would love to know what you’re watching on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or Apple. Hit reply and let me know!
Here are a few of my thoughts and writings from the week. You can see them all here, subscribe to the daily RSS feed, or you can have them sent to your inbox.
Holy Week Reflections: