Gone in 60 Quibis

The fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction . Or call it scrolling or swiping or wasting time or whatever you want. But it’s not art or entertainment, just ceaseless activity.

The key is that each stimulus only lasts a few seconds, and must be repeated.

there is also a ceiling of finances and attention. Who has time or money to consume 100 substacks a month? The redundancy question, and lack of coordination between different creators to divide up responsibilities and admin, I think also eventually exhausts the medium and ultimately the audience.

The problem with quantifying everything is that we can’t ever rest. Our end state is a growth state — a philosophy that defines corporate America boardrooms and shouldn’t inhabit our bedrooms or morning coffee. As I wrote last week:

“It’s the philosophy that guides modern capitalism. You aren’t ever profitable enough. You aren’t ever big enough. Yo... See more

“The screen experience is so reductionist,” Casimiro said. “It just flattens the world, so that a Pulitzer Prize-winning story feels the same as spam. Some things deserve better.”

the main thing I got wrong was the last point. Quibi really was competing with Netflix, even if they wanted to compete with TikTok and Instagram.