Hey.com, Midnight Gospel & Happy Juneteenth
What I Learned at School this Week
Happy Juneteenth!
You might see another red, white and blue flag flying today, over state capitols and city buildings. The flag (and its symbols) represents the end of slavery on: June 19th, 1865.
Below are five areas I spent time exploring, this week…
HEY!
Two years of work comes alive today. Couldn’t be more proud of our team. It wasn’t easy, but it was incredibly fun. And today we get to show the world what we’ve been working on. Email’s new heyday is here. HEY:
Their homepage is worth a read, to see how they are re-thinking email in 2020. Which, from a high-level, I agree: it’s well overdue for a complete overhaul.
Here’s the description of just one feature of HEY (there are many other features too):
You screen your calls, so why can't you screen your emails? With HEY, you can. HEY puts you in complete control of who's allowed to email you. The first time someone emails you, you get to decide if you want to hear from them again.
But after just one day of being live, they were told by Apple that they wouldn’t be able to do any bug fixes or releasing new features on the App Store, unless they paid the 15-30% fee — everyone pays this today.
Which leads me to the second topic I spent time learning about this week…
Apple Gatekeeping
If you follow the latest trends in “tech”, you’re probably sick of this topic. If you don’t follow “tech”, you likely don’t care. Let’s see though.
The day after launching publicly, here is the drama that unfolded (“DHH” is one of the co-founders of Hey):
If you haven't been following how Apple has trying to use its monopolistic powers to strong-arm Basecamp's new email service hey.com, read this thread from @dhh. It's really messed up.Wow. I'm literally stunned. Apple just doubled down on their rejection of HEY's ability to provide bug fixes and new features, unless we submit to their outrageous demand of 15-30% of our revenue. Even worse: We're told that unless we comply, they'll REMOVE THE APP.
DHH @dhhSome are saying this has all been a PR stunt (doubtful). Others are jumping in to help them fight Apple. But most are just annoyed with the complaining. In any case, it’ll be interesting to watch it unfold.
Market Moves
After a big crash last week (S&P 500 lost over 5%, and the Dow almost 7%), the market has gained a bit back this week, about 1% by both the S&P and the DOW (as of the time I’m writing this).
Many folks continue to point to day-trading apps like Robinhood, for being partially responsible for the continued influx in cash in the market.
How to Slack Better
If you’re a Slacker, you should check out these shortcuts to get you even better at Slacking.
Here is my favorite:
Heavy as a Stone-r
The number two rated show on Netflix right now is The Midnight Gospel. The show takes interviews from Duncan Trussell’s Podcast (a self-proclaimed hippie, stoner, and mystic) and mashes it with animation and trippy visuals that were done by Pendelton Ward (Adventure Time, etc.).
In the last episode of “Season 1” (Episode Number 8), Clancy — AKA Duncan Trussell — joins his mother on an “emotional journey through the cycle of birth, life and death.”
After texting with a friend about how moved I was by the episode, here’s what he said about it:
The final episode transcends television. It transcends relationships. Life. The best. No joke. I have never seen anything like it.
I’ve never felt so hopeless and hopeful at the same time. People could found religions on that conversation.
My simple response: “nothing you just said felt like hyperbole after watching it.”
So, now that the hype is too high to actually enjoy it (sorry!), maybe you’ll stumble upon this show in a few weeks and it moves you in a positive way.
PS - yesterday I listened to this episode of his actual podcast. It is a beautiful and difficult conversation with Mehcad Brooks about racial inequality in America today. I highly recommend the listen.
I hope you create space today (if you had the day off for Juneteenth) or this weekend, to reflect, study and grow in empathy.
At the risk of being a cliche white dude, if you’re looking for something to read, I just started White Fragility and I’m really enjoying it so far.
With Love,
Brendan J Short