I write about technology and photography, and have been noted in Fast Company, Wired, Time, MIT Technology Review, Nieman Lab, and more.
In a world where our inboxes are chock-full-of information, Taylor Davidson’s newsletter brings perspective, context and, most importantly, insight. I always expect Taylor’s newsletter to teach me something, and he has yet to disappoint.
Lenny Lebovich, CEO and Founder, PRE
Quick Links
- “When we want something to be simpler, what we truly need is a better conceptual model of it. Once we know how to use them, complex tools end up making our lives simpler because they provide the precise functionality we want.” →
- “First the internet made it easy for people to conduct their lives online. Then it made it possible to monetize the attention generated by that online life. Now the digital exhaust of all that life online is poised to become an asset class for speculative investment, like stocks and commodities and mortgages. … It is, in a way, the most honest turn of the internet epoch. From the start, online businesses have presented themselves as making culture, even as they really aimed to build financial value. Now, at last, the wealth seeking is printed on the tin.” →
- “When looking at older portraits (first painted, then photographed) you would notice that very few subjects smile. As this piece explains, up to the beginning of the 20th century, “a grin was only characteristic of peasants, drunkards, children, and halfwits”. In the first half of the 21st century, camera company Kodak tried to make the experience of having your photo taken less awkward and more fun, and thus created a marketing campaign to emphasise the pleasure of photography. The photographic smile became a byproduct of an increasingly sophisticated advertising culture focused on telling cheerful stories about products.” →
- “Doing nothing – simply savouring the miracle of our existence in this world – is a luxury afforded only to the respectably retired, or children.” →
- “We believe the future of travel will include meaningfully more trips that remain shorter in distance and duration but deliver higher value for time and money invested. We call these Tiny Trips.” →
- “If life is a steady march toward a better future, it makes sense to burn the candle at both ends to reach that destination more quickly; if not, we should make sure to get nine hours of sleep every night and exercise and meditate regularly” →
- “If producing ideas becomes a symbol of work (having to think about stuff all day), rather than leisure (freedom to think about stuff all day), I wonder whether basic behavior will start to become covetable. Instead of signaling how much we’re thinking, maybe we’ll start to signal how much we’re not thinking.” →
- Often we get worried and fearful when we see the structures around us beginning to shake and fall apart, and yet it’s often a sign of the required loosening up before the jump to a new state of operation or being. While the change in patterns seems unpredictable, you might notice that the way they shift from one state to the next can be quite similar each time. →
- Quick links are starting points for letters →