Palantir Makes Clear That Its Aggressively Marketed Systems May Not Work as Advertised
December 21, 2022
The real journalists at the Wall Street Journal has made painfully clear that Palantir’s smart software and sophisticated platform for functioning like the seeing stone in Lord of the Rings does not work.
You can read the real news analysis in “Palantir Misfires on Revenue Tied SPAC Deals.” The main point of the write up is that Palantir, equipped with proprietary technology and oodles of seeing stone expert, lost a great deal of money quickly.
The article says:
The bets have backfired.
So what? No big deal. Tens of millions gone, maybe hundreds of millions. The bigger loss is the exposure of the shortcomings of smart software. What did Palantir’s spokesperson say:
The market has turned an it is now clear that these investments were unsuccessful. It was a bet on a group of early stage companies that, with the benefit of hindsight, we wish we did not make.
But Palantir’s marketing since the firm open for intelligence analysis in 2003 or almost two decades ago has pitched the system’s ability to reveal what ordinary intelware cannot identify. In my files, I have some Palantir marketing material. Here’s an example:
Who doesn’t want data sovereignty? ©Palantir Technologies
Several observations:
- The Palantir management team presumably had access to Gotham and other Palantir technology. But the Palantir system did deliver massive financial losses. Some seeing stone.
- In my opinion, Palantir made big bets in order to get a big payoff so that the company’s financial strength and the excellence of its smart software would be evident. What’s evident is that even Palantir’s software and its wizards cannot get the Palantir systems to be right about “bets.”
- Intelware and policeware vendors typically sell to government and selected financial services customers. Converting intelligence software tuned to the needs of a three letter agency has not worked in the past, and it is now evident Palantir may be failing in its commercial push now.
- Intelware works because no matter how slick the intelware is, governments also rely on old fashioned methods before taking action.
- Palantir’s technology is almost 20 years old, based on open source, and highly derivative. There are better, faster, and cheaper options available from Palantir’s competitors.
Net net: Palantir has embraced full throttle marketing. The company has done some interesting things regarding the IBM Analysts Notebook file formats. Palantir’s investment were, in my opinion, investments which made it attractive to the recipients of Palantir’s funds to become Palantir customers. As I write this, Palantir’s marketing is chugging along, but Palantir’s share price is a stellar $6.43 a share. A blind seeing stone? Hmmmm. Good question.
Stephen E Arnold, December 21, 2022
Over the Holidays Learn Algospeak
December 19, 2022
Internet content has evolved its own set of coded words and emojis called algospeak. Though often discernable from context, the meanings behind these terms and symbols can easily escape the uninitiated. Lifehacker supplies a list of such terms in, “All the Social Media ‘Algospeak’ You Don’t Understand.” But wait, you might ask, what is wrong with clarity and accurate wording? Writer Sarah Showfety explains:
“If you’ve ever created content for internet consumption, you know the number one rule: Don’t upset the algorithm. Modern-day social media algorithms are like the Wizard of Oz—cloaked, all-powerful puppeteers who can seemingly perform miracles for the right creators, instantly propelling their content in front of millions of eyeballs. But they are as fickle as they are promising, often trapping content in a dungeon of 53 views for no discernible reason. While the inner machinations of algorithms are largely unknown, being blackballed by one can suppress your content and seal your doom—and one of the quickest ways to do that is to use language that could be flagged as a violation of the platform’s content guidelines or terms of service. So internet content creators have developed a growing glossary of terms designed to circumvent automated brand safety filters. This evolving lexicon of euphemisms, abbreviations, deliberate misspellings, symbol insertions and emojis known as ‘algospeak’ is used to disguise sensitive and potentially problematic words having to do with polarizing political topics, controversial global events, cultural taboos, death, drugs, and just plain sex.”
Ah yes, the almighty algorithm. Readers may want to bookmark the post in case of future confusion. A few of the PG-rated euphemisms include “bink in lio” for “link in bio,” “swimmers” for vaccinated people, and the sunflower emoji to symbolize Ukraine. Showfety points out one entry is particularly unfortunate, at least for this charismatic kid who suddenly found himself famous for his love of maize: “Corn” is algospeak for “porn.” Really? We don’t make these choices, we just try to keep you informed, dear reader.
Cynthia Murrell, December 19, 2022
Fried Dorsey: Soggy, Not Crispy
December 15, 2022
I noted an odd shift in Big Tech acceptance of responsibility. For now, I will call this the Fried Dorsey Anomaly.
First, CNBC reported about a letter the MIT graduate and top dog at FTX wrote to employees. The article has the snappy title “Here’s the Apology Letter Sam Bankman-Fried Sent to FTX Employees: When Sh—y Things Happen to Us, We All Tend to Make Irrational Decisions. The logic in this victim argument and the use of a categorical affirmative are probably interesting to someone who loved Psychology 101. Here’s the sentence which caught my eye:
“I lost track of the most important things in the commotion of company growth. I care deeply about you all, and you were my family, and I’m sorry…”
This is the “Fried” side of making or not making certain decisions. Then there’s the apology.
Now let’s shift to the Dorsey facet of the anomaly. The estimable Wall Street Journal published “Dorsey Calls Twitter Controls Too Great.” The write up appeared in the December 15, 2022, dead tree version of the Murdoch output. The online, paywalled article is at this link. Here’s the statement I noted:
If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions.
These quotes are somewhat different from the “Senator, thank you for the question” and “We will improve…” statements from what we can think of as the pre-Covid era of Big Tech.
Now we have individuals accepting blame and demonstrating a soupçon of remorse, regret, or some related mental posture.
Thus, the post-Covid era of Big Tech is now into mea culpa suggestions and acceptance of blame.
Will the Fried Dorsey Anomaly persist? Will the tactic work as the penitents’ anticipate. Wow, I am convinced already.
Stephen E Arnold, December 15, 2022
Microsoft and the London Stock Exchange: Lock In Maybe?
December 12, 2022
I believe everything I read on the Internet. That’s one way I keep in touch with my inner GenZ self. Sometimes, however, stories ring true; for example, “Microsoft buys Near 4% Stake in London Stock Exchange As Part of 10 Year Cloud Deal.” I read the title via my dinobaby translation system and understood, “Yep, lock in, kiddo. Oh, Amazon AWS and Google Cloud professionals. Do not bother to call us. We will call you, okay.”
You may disagree with my dinobaby translator. That’s okay. I let many flowers bloom, unlike the London Stock Exchange which goes at life in what appear to be 10 year contracts. That’s a long time in techno-cloud land in my opinion.
The write up says:
Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s executive vice president for the Cloud and AI Group, will be appointed as a non-executive director of LSEG.
I wonder if he will demo Microsoft Teams egames features and the security systems for Microsoft Exchange Server? Will he offer helpful inputs to those who might want to give an off the shelf AWS Sagemaker system a spin? What about the ever reliable Google VPN service which is super reliable and in demand right now?
The answer to these questions strike me as obvious. Azure is better, faster, cheaper, more reliable, and easier. I wonder if these benefits entered into the negotiation. (Personally I like the security angle and the cheaper plus.) My instinct has a tiny voice too. It is whispering to me, “Microsoft will deliver premier service to the London Stock Exchange when (which is unlikely) the system Azure system hiccups.
I noted this passage too:
Microsoft and LSEG will also work together in developing new professional collaboration tools. LSEG has developed a product called Workspace, a data and analytics platform. The two companies will be working on advancing this product and integrating it with Microsoft Teams, the firm’s messaging app.
I am tempted to reference the source of the stake, but I won’t. The parties involved make content marketing hay around the “trust” word.
I have a couple of observations:
- Microsoft has added a neon underline to the old marketing concept of “lock in.”
- The Redmond security giant can point to a big time financial customer and market its secure cloud solutions. Well, they are secure… at this time.
- The Amazon and Google cloud professionals will definitely find a way to respond.
Net net: Isn’t it wonderful that big tech innovation involves owning financial plumbing and access?
Stephen E Arnold, December 12, 2022
A Cheerful Look at Year End 2022 and Most of 2023
December 9, 2022
Year end and the New Year approach. It is time for reflection and prediction. I noted this Silicon Valley-esque real news write up titled “Tech Kept Talent Happy Doling Out Stock During the Boom. It’s Screwing Investors in the Bust.”
I circled this interesting chunk of prose:
In a period where investors are focused on profitability over growth, such retention and hiring efforts begin to look costly. Shareholders are still paying for the existing stock grants and now they’re going to pay for new grants…
Ah, ha. Presumably none of the high tech sector watchers noticed this?
Maybe in the midst of the 1998 downturn? What about 2008? And now stock based compensation is news.
What does this mean for 2022? Maybe a bit of gloom? And what about 2023? My thought is that MBAs and accountants will be beavering away in the grips of spreadsheet fever to make life better for themselves. I wonder if these folks keep their business school ethics lecture notes close at hand?
Stephen E Arnold, December 9, 2022
Zuckster Demonstrates Persistence: Admirable But Expensive
December 7, 2022
I read “Zuckerberg Will Continue Metaverse Plans, With or Without Employees.” [Note: If the link goes dead, that’s the nature of some Indian news services in today’s whiz bang world of online information.] Is the write up spot on or does it reflect some Silicon Valley “real” news wonkiness via India’s Daily Hunt? I don’t know, but let’s assume the write up is chock full of actual factual information.
The article states:
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, said, “skepticism doesn’t bother me that much.” He said that he is still optimistic about the metaverse. He said he has a vision of “5 to 10 years Horizon” during Wednesday’s New York Times DealBook Summit. Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to rebrand Facebook to Meta became the buzzword for the popularity of the metaverse worldwide.
Now what about the sticktoativity? The write up reports:
He said that the company is doubling down on the bet on an augmented and virtual reality-dominated future and accepted that it had received much criticism for losing billions in building its version of the metaverse.
But the most interesting statement in the report, in my opinion, was this one:
He [the Zuckster himself] admitted that the company needs to operate with more discipline and efficiency in the coming future due to macroeconomic laws that forced Meta to scale back on spending.
Will the metaverse have legs? Probably because adding “legs” to weird avatars is easy. Having legs for the metaverse business which has ingested a couple of bucks may be more difficult. The Zuckster won’t be able to walk back his position, metaverse legs or real world financial ones.
Stephen E Arnold, December 7, 2022
Super Apps: A Useful Discussion
December 7, 2022
Super apps are the equivalent of popping up a level. Think about Microsoft Word. Word became part of Office. Then Office became Office 365 and includes video functions and a number of baby apps like games. (Great for productivity, right?) The idea is that umbrellas are built to make multiple apps into one big, seamless app. The objective is to make life easier, faster, and cheaper. No one says, “Pick any two.” Few raise questions about centralization, monopolization, or termination of innovation.
“Could We Have One App for Everything? We Ask an Expert” does raise a handful of interesting points. Among the topics addressed are [a] Chinese vendors’ interest in super apps, [b] risk of centralization of large amounts of personal data, and [c] the appeal of convenience.
I want to focus on one point in the cited article. The write up quotes Esther Dyson who allegedly said, “The last example of successful convergence was the clock radio. Everything else has been a bad compromise.”
But what’s been lost? The write up does not probe Ms. Dyson’s thought. How about a few ideas?
- Meta plays can generate oodles of cash because the appeal of new, improved, and easy are what some call “thirst traps.” Meta makes the modern world go round because monopolies are good.
- More information means more opportunities to monetize user information. Money is good.
- Super apps facilitate concentration. Concentration means engineering efficiency. Efficiency yields alleged cost savings. Money is good.
Based on my understanding of the meta play benefits, super apps are inevitable. Now think about a Telegram-type service just for cyber crime.
Stephen E Arnold, December 7, 2022
Apple Factoid or Why a US Company Shows Affection for Pandas (Digital and Furry)
December 6, 2022
I spotted an article with a killer title: “Apple Reaches Highest Ever Monthly Market Share in China.” What’s the factoid? The write up provides what may be a semi credible factoid:
One in every four devices sold in China during October 2022 was an iPhone.
Here’s a passage from the write up I found intriguing:
Apple has been reaching new heights in terms of market share in China during the last two years. It reached a record monthly market share in November and December 2020, and in October, November and December 2021. Notably, 2020 was also the year when US sanctions were imposed on Huawei.
The article provides no information about why a US company is thriving in an environment of restrictions on certain Chinese-US interactions. Perhaps there is information to be found, but it is not in reports of what appear to be significant sales by a US firm in the Middle Kingdom.
Stephen E Arnold, December 6, 2022
Hot Take Resulting from Google Method
December 5, 2022
I read “Hot Take: Google Has a Company Strategy, Not a Product Strategy.” The write up explains that Google thinks like this:
Hire all the smart people and let them build. Hire all the smart people so they can’t work at a competitor. Hire all the smart people even if we don’t have something important for them to work on. Google acts like a venture capitalist, investing in promising people with the expectation that most will fail. They invest broadly in search of the idea that will deliver 100x. Let 1000 flowers bloom, and see which are the best.
You may agree or disagree with this statement. It is probably helpful if one has worked as an employee at Google or a consultant to the firm. But that does not stop Silicon Valley types from expressing their views of the world as information gleaned from an Egyptian ruler’s tomb.
I noted this statement in the comments to the article:
romwell said: Hot take: Google doesn’t have a strategy, period. Neither company, nor product.
In numerous articles and my monographs about Google, I have emphasized one point which, to me, encapsulates the company’s remarkable 25 year trajectory.
The firm made use of ideas developed at GoTo.com, Overture.com, and Yahoo.com. Those ideas converted Google from a mechanism for searching the content on the Web into a platform for advertising. By keeping one’s eye on the advertising ball, it’s clear that Alphabet YouTube Google DeepMind has been struggling to find a revenue winner.
Net net: As romwell said, “Google doesn’t have a strategy, period.” Had Yahoo not settled the court case for a $1 billion prior to the IPO, Google would have become another AllTheWeb.com, Lycos.com, or one of the many other outfits indexing problematic content.
Stephen E Arnold, December 5, 2022
Google: Is This Like a Radio Payola Event?
December 5, 2022
In a savvy marketing move, Google worked with iHeartMedia to have social media stars promote the Pixel 4. Just one problem—most of those paid to extoll the phone’s virtues had allegedly never used one. Engadget reports, “Google Sued by FTC and Seven States Over ‘Deceptive’ Pixel 4 Ads.” Writer Jon Fingas elaborates:
“Promos aired between 2019 and 2020 featured influencers that extolled the features of phones they reportedly didn’t own — Google didn’t even supply Pixels before most of the ads were recorded, officials said. iHeartMedia and 11 other radio networks ran the Pixel 4 ads in ten large markets. They aired about 29,000 times. It’s not clear how many people listened to the commercials. The FTC aims to bar Google and iHeartMedia from making any future misleading claims about ownership. It also asks both companies to prove their compliance through reports. The states, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Texas, have also issued judgments demanding the firms pay $9.4 million in penalties.”
A Google spokesperson hastened to explain the company had settled with only six of the seven states. Oh is that all? Fingas reminds us phone companies have a habit of misrepresentation, from presenting stock DSLR photos as taken with their cameras to, yes, celebrities pretending to use their phones. He writes:
“However, the accusations here are more serious. The FTC and participating states are contending that Google set out to use false testimonials. It had a ‘blatant disrespect’ for truth-in-ads rules, according to FTC consumer protection director Samuel Levine. While the punishment is tiny compared to the antitrust penalties Google has faced so far, it could damage trust in the company’s campaigns for newer Pixels and other hardware.”
Perhaps. But are consumers paying attention?
Cynthia Murrell, December 5, 2022
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
