Author: Björn Jeffery

No one wins in a lawless land for tech companies

February 8, 2021
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on January 15th, 2021. The uncertainty about what applies when infrastructure giants such as Amazon Web Services shuts down individual companies benefits no one. In August 2017, after the riots in Charlottesville, USA, Cloudflare decided to shut down the Nazi site The Daily Stormer. Cloudfare is a company that provides cloud services and in a blog post, its CEO, Matthew Prince, explained his actions: Like a […]

The storming of the Capitol is a failure for Twitter and Facebook

January 14, 2021
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on January 11th, 2021. The fact that Twitter and Facebook closed down Donald Trump’s accounts doesn’t only reveal how arbitrarily their own policies are enforced – it also shows the failure of politicians in regulating them. With two weeks left of Donald Trump’s presidency, what critics have constantly asked for over the past four years finally happened: his accounts on Facebook, Twitter and a number of […]

Opened 300 restaurants in one day – without any kitchens

December 26, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on December 24th, 2020. An American Youtube star opened 300 new restaurants in one day. Without either staff or premises. The phenomenon “ghost kitchens” is expected to reshape the restaurant world – and already exists in Sweden. “Ghost kitchens” – or “cloud kitchens” as they are also called – can simply be described as a restaurant kitchen without its own front of house. Instead, the owner […]

The situation for Apple resembles a two-front war

December 26, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
comment 1
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on December 18th, 2020. “We’re standing up to Apple for small business everywhere.” That is what Facebook wrote in a series of full-page ads in American newspapers this week. The situation for Apple is now beginning to resemble a two-front war when both Silicon Valley and the media world attack from different directions. In recent years, Apple has taken an increasingly clear stance on transparent data […]

Dylan has millions of reasons to thank Spotify

December 26, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on December 9th, 2020. Artists often complain about the payouts from Spotify – but this week Bob Dylan had reason to thank them instead. Spotify has boosted the value of his song catalogue, which has been sold for around $300 million. During the early 2000s, the music industry looked rather gloomy. They had major problems with illegal downloads, and record sales went downhill. From 1999 to […]

Acquired for $27 billion – but Slack loses out

December 26, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on December 2nd, 2020. $27.7 billion may sound expensive. But it is not the buyer Salesforce who pays the really high price in this deal – it is the seller, Slack. It is notoriously difficult to sell enterprise IT to large companies. The sales processes are long, the agreements are large, and the integrations are complex. The communication tool Slack has experienced this in recent years. […]

Apps are abused – and it’s their own fault

December 13, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on November 29, 2020. SvD’s exposé of the app companies shows how difficult it is to prevent and catch those who exploit children. But the fact that the technology is used in a way that was not intended is no excuse. Instead, it should be the starting point for a larger process of self-criticism. “We can do better,” say Facebook and Twitter. “We have tightened security,” […]

Here’s the Trump fans’ new favorite app – without “censorship”

December 13, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on November 22, 2020. Censorship. Oppression of opinion. Freedom of speech. The American right does not mince words after Twitter started marking inaccuracies from Donald Trump. As a counterforce, a new wave of radical social networks is emerging – with its own rules that better suit their opinions. Should social networks allow untruths on their platforms? This issue has been topical and hotly debated for several […]

Apple’s response is a cynical move with no effect

November 18, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on November 18, 2020. The Apple Tax. That’s what critics usually call the fee that the company charges developers when they sell through the App Store. Now it is cut in half for the smallest players, all to appease the court of public opinion. The cost for Apple? At best, it can be seen as a rounding error on their bottom line. The dispute with Epic […]

Closing Discobelle.net

November 16, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
Leave a comment
The Daily

About eleven years ago, a few friends of mine and I started a music blog called Discobelle.net. It was a spin-off from what was originally a house music club, a radio show, and then eventually a Swedish house music blog. The .net-version was in English, and thus had the possibility of reaching a bigger audience. And it did. In fact, it was a part of launching a whole genre of electronic dance music. This was […]