No more cookies for you. No, not the ones you snack on and blame for your weight-gain. We’re talking about the miniature files that your browser stores every time you visit any website. Everyone on the Internet wants to keep track of your browsing habits and history. Everyone wants to sell you something. You are the data and money source for all of them. Especially for the websites which offer you seemingly free services. Think…the Facebooks of the world.

In that spirit, as Christmas approaches, let’s see who made the tech nice and naughty list this year. What organization provided us with tech that made a positive difference? What company is working on a better future?

Alexa is fighting to get to your living room so you can spend more time together.

Amazon has unveiled its latest device - the Amazon TV set. It’s called the Fire TV Omni Series.

Does Amazon make the TV? Of course not. That's beside the point. It is a TV with Alexa built directly into it. 

There’s business strategy… and then, there’s execution. Netflix is showing what a company can do when it does both well and continues to adapt. That’s how a company can win, even against the most powerful competition around.

Recently I got asked a question by a regular reader of this newsletter: where do I get my news (so I can think about it and share my insights with you every week)? Or to put it another way, how do I support my learning?

In the world of technology, there are things which are getting better, faster, bigger with every new release. Our computers are faster. They have more memory, more storage, more pixels. And then there are things which swing like a pendulum.

When the swing takes long enough, people forget about what came before. They claim that this time, things are completely new or different.

Netflix wasn't always in a great position -- and digital transformation helped it survive (before it was even called digital transformation). First, it disrupted Blockbuster with DVD renting, and then with a streaming service. Today, it contends with Disney and Amazon.

Enter the world of graph databases. This is where you can connect data from various sources and discover the hidden connections. Start solving problems faster.

Amazon is joining Netflix in the ‘all-you-can-eat’ model. It will start in the US market, where Kindle (device or app) customers will be able to sign up for this service. The initial offering starts with 600,000+ titles. It is the ongoing battle between the content providers and content distributors.