Author: Björn Jeffery

Twitter’s headache after Trump leaves

November 14, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on November 9th, 2020. Polarizing. Accusatory. Seditious. The unfiltered outbursts on Twitter have long been Donald Trump’s main channel of communication. The question for Twitter going forward is not only how to deal with Trump after he loses power – but also the actors who engage in disinformation. Tech companies are often accused of negatively affecting democracy by facilitating the spread of falsehoods. Often the accusations […]

Laughing at Amazon is a mistake

November 14, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on October 29th, 2020. Unintentionally funny translations and poorly rounded prices. But those who base their conclusions on linguistic details have not only misunderstood what type of creature that has landed among the Swedish e-commerce players. They have also underestimated Amazon. “Men’s luggage compartment” instead of boxer shorts. “Waist lamp” instead of panties. Prices stated to the exact penny, and also, not necessarily lower prices […]

A historic lawsuit – but only the beginning of the tech fight

November 13, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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SvD Näringsliv

This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on October 27th, 2020. He that seeks – he shall find, with the help of Google. That is why the company is getting sued in what has been called a historic case in the United States. What is striking, however, is everything that the lawsuit does not focus on – that which will constitute the real conflict between politics and technology. When you search directly […]

Writing for SvD Näringsliv

October 27, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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The Daily

I’m happy to announce that starting today I will be a contributing tech analyst to Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish daily newspaper. Their business section, Näringsliv, is going through a transformation where they focus more on companies that you use, rather than own or work for. This is a change that I wanted to contribute to. Business journalism is ripe for a new take. I have previously been a contributing analyst to SVT, Swedish National Television, […]

My new areas of interest

September 23, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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The Daily

You get known for what you have done; rarely for what you would like to do. This is a problem because it captures people in an incorrect assumption: that they would like to do – and would be best at – continuing to do exactly what they did before. This is often wrong. Expertise and capability is in the eye of the beholder, so this is a tricky thing to adjust. But many years ago […]

Designing with asymmetry: Enabling people to share an experience in different ways

July 15, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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The Daily

Letting everyone have the same experience sounds good and fair. In reality, this way of designing excludes people that are different, or have different circumstances. Allowing experiences to be asymmetric can be a way of sharing without having to be identical. When I worked in media research many years ago, a common consumer question was “What kind of TV do you watch?“. The answer was almost always “documentaries“. You could then place an ethnographer in […]

Next stop: Malmö, Sweden

July 8, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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The Daily

In the spring of 2012, I moved to San Francisco to start the US office for Toca Boca. My wife, Miriam, followed shortly thereafter and we sent ten boxes of stuff with UPS. We didn’t know how long we would stay and took one year at a time. A few weeks ago, I moved back to Sweden. To Malmö, next to Copenhagen, more specifically. A little more than eight years after I left. This time […]

Joining the board of Rovio

May 22, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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The Daily

A few weeks ago I was elected to join the board of Rovio, the gaming and entertainment company most known for Angry Birds. I am an independent board member in the company that is listed on the NASDAQ Helsinki stock exchange ($ROVIO). Rovio is a company I have followed and admired for many years. They were pioneers in building the first global family brand through mobile. In later years, they have gone through a big […]

The double edged sword of success: Understanding Naspers and their Tencent investment

February 19, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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The Daily

“The investment strategy at the time was to find a replacement revenue source for its traditional print media business – which it forecast would decline in the advent of digital media” That’s a quote from an article describing Naspers, a South African media company, in the 1980s. Koos Bekker – now the Chairman – had suggested that there was potential for a new type of pay TV in South Africa, similar to HBO. The narrative […]

A tribute to Joan Ganz Cooney

February 4, 2020
by Björn Jeffery
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The Daily

As a celebration of Joan Ganz Cooney’s first report on kids and media (re-issued here), I wrote a post for their blog. It is about finding a spark of inspiration in times where things might seem a little bleak. A bit like the kids app market today. Here’s my attempt to remember the big picture and the great opportunities that are ahead: At times like this, it is important to remember the big picture. We […]