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Thoughts on digital, running rambles and photos

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Thomas Karbe

Husband. Dad. Trail runner. Very happy when Arsenal or Germany win at football. Geek. Digital product person for Ascential. Views my own.

Taylor Swift & Apple – perfect PR stunt?

This week, Taylor Swift posted an odd letter to Apple to her site: “To Apple, Love Taylor”

It included such fawning language as

  • … Apple has been and will continue to be one of my best partners in selling music and creating ways for me to connect with my fans. I respect the company and the truly ingenious minds that have created a legacy based on innovation and pushing the right boundaries…
  • … because we admire and respect Apple so much…
  • … this incredible company…
  • … I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done…

But, amongst that was the clear message to Apple that not paying artists during the three months free trial period for Apple Music was just not on. Hours later, Apple surrendered.

Continue reading “Taylor Swift & Apple – perfect PR stunt?” →

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Long run: Newlands Corner to Old Woking via North Downs Way and Wey Navigation

What better way to celebrate my birthday than heading out for a long run. Well, it also helps that the Chilterns 50k is but a few weeks away and I need to up my mileage if I want to stand a chance of finishing in one piece.

Continue reading “Long run: Newlands Corner to Old Woking via North Downs Way and Wey Navigation” →

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Thoughts on why Twitter isn’t making any money – is Snapchat to blame?

A friend asked if I took requests for my bits and bytes. He’d just read the news about Twitter CEO Dick Costolo standing down and wanted to know why Twitter wasn’t making any money.

Continue reading “Thoughts on why Twitter isn’t making any money – is Snapchat to blame?” →

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Apple Watch’s turn by turn navigation is dangerously distracting

A quick though on Apple Watch’s turn by turn navigation.

It’s not only very annoying, it’s also dangerously distracting when cycling.

Continue reading “Apple Watch’s turn by turn navigation is dangerously distracting” →

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Some bits from WWDC and the best Apple Watch review yet

The big event in tech this week was Apple’s annual World Wide Developer Conference. In a two hour keynote, the top brass at Apple talked about almost every one of their products (no mention of the iPod or Apple TV – the latter expected by some commentators due to the design of the conference featuring a square with rounded edges, much like the Apple TV device).

Continue reading “Some bits from WWDC and the best Apple Watch review yet” →

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Long run: Hohenneufen Loop

This weekend we travelled to Neuffen, a little town near Stuttgart famous for its ruined fort on top of a mountain, appropriately named Hohenneuffen.

Continue reading “Long run: Hohenneufen Loop” →

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A summary of Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2015

Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends is one of those annual must reads if you work in digital. So, I’ve had a look at the 196 page deck and picked out some of my stand-out bits. The full deck is embedded below, but you can also download it here.

Continue reading “A summary of Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2015” →

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POTUS hits 1 million Twitter followers in five hours

POTUS joined Twitter (again) last week and his first Tweet quickly flew across the social networking platform. In fact, President Obama set a new record for reaching 1 million Twitter followers in five hours – it took previous record-holder Robert Downey Jr. 22 hours to hit 1 million followers.

Continue reading “POTUS hits 1 million Twitter followers in five hours” →

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Long run: 12.6 miles around The Sands with a stop over at Waverley Abbey

We kicked off the Bank Holiday Weekend with a long run through The Sands in Surrey, with a stop over at what’s left of Waverley Abbey, the church and monastic buildings of the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128. 70 monks and 120 lay brothers lived there until the 14th century. You can find out more about Waverley Abbey on the English Heritage website.

Continue reading “Long run: 12.6 miles around The Sands with a stop over at Waverley Abbey” →

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