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| The big idea | |||||
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The enormous impact of Stephen Wilhite, inventor of the GIF |
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Today, the looping clips known as GIFs are a cornerstone of internet expression. Their use is both an art form and everyday practice for many. But long before the fiery debate over their pronunciation made it to the Oval Office (yes, that happened), the Graphics Interchange Format was simply a technological solution developed by Stephen Wilhite. The GIF backstoryIn the 1980s, Wilhite was the lead engineer on a team at CompuServe tasked with finding a way to quickly distribute “high-quality, high-resolution graphics” in color. Developing this became an obsession for Wilhite, who would perfect the product at home. The result, GIF, was released in 1987, but its commercial success is due in large part to Netscape, which, in 1995 added the ability for GIFs to loop. GIF vs. JIFWith the rise of GIFs came a historic internet debate: whether it’s pronounced “gif” (with a hard G, like “gift”) or “jif.” In 2012, Oxford American Dictionaries named “GIF” its US Word of the Year, accepting both pronunciations. In 2013, Wilhite flat-out told The New York Times, “It’s a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story.” Then, at an award ceremony soon after, he displayed a GIF proclaiming the “jif” pronunciation correct to the iconic backdrop of Also sprach Zarathustra. It was a baller move, but despite his clarification, the debate seemingly continues to this day. The impact of GIFsThe most ubiquitous platform for GIFs today is Giphy, used by 700m+ people and said to come 2nd only to Google in search engine activity. According to Giphy, the 1st GIF ever uploaded to the internet, by Wilhite himself, was of a plane over rolling clouds. Sadly, Wilhite passed away last week at the age of 74. Messages from former colleagues on an obituary page refer to his positive soul and other tech contributions. Soon after his passing, Giphy’s website posted a tribute to Wilhite. The message, “Stephen Wilhite Creator of the GIF 1948-2022,” was displayed on top of an animated loop of rolling clouds — a GIF. |
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| SNIPPETS |
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That’s high: A study suggests US cannabis sales could exceed $72B by 2030 — but only if 18 states get on board with legalization. #ecommerce-retail Greener in Texas: According to a new study, Texas has enough wind and solar power infrastructure that it could almost replace coal. #clean-energy Cool: Researchers built a Pompeian house in VR to study Roman design and architecture. Pompeii was destroyed and buried in ash by a volcano in AD 79. #emerging-tech Apple picked up Credit Kudos, a British fintech startup that uses banking data to make more intelligent credit checks on loan apps, in a deal valued at ~$150m. #fintech-crypto Transit truce? Uber will add NYC cabs to its app this spring, onboarding ~14k taxis to the platform. Fares will be the same as UberX. #big-tech |
| Executive Perks | |||||
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Selina Lee |
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Meta’s execs are all-in on remote work |
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Meta wants to build the virtual world of the future. In the world of the present, however, the company’s executive team is working from all over the place, per WSJ. Meta’s HQ… … is in Menlo Park, California, but members of its top brass have been dialing in from Cape Cod to Israel. Even Zuck is getting in on the WFH action — in his case, the H stands for Hawaii. Critics are split on whether this is a good thing:
The correct answer? Any policy that gives us more pics of Zuck surfing on a hydrofoil cannot possibly be a bad thing. |
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| Opinion: Morgan’s Musings | |||||
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Why you don’t need a reason to save |
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The biggest economic stories of the last 2 years were a pandemic no one saw coming and a war in Ukraine no one saw coming. It always works like that. The biggest risk is what you don’t see coming. The fact that you’re not prepared for it is what makes it so risky. The biggest lesson here…… is that you don’t need a reason to save. Some people save money for a down payment on a house, a new car, or retirement. That’s great, of course. But saving does not require a goal of purchasing something specific. You can save just for saving’s sake. And indeed you should. Everyone should. Only saving for a specific goal makes sense in a predictable world. But ours isn’t. Saving is a hedge against life’s inevitable ability to surprise the hell out of you at the worst possible moment. Another benefit of savings without a spending goal…… is control over your time. Everyone knows the tangible stuff money buys. The intangible stuff is harder to wrap your head around, so it tends to go unnoticed. But the intangible benefits of money can be far more valuable than the tangible things that are obvious targets of our savings. Savings without a spending goal gives you options and flexibility — the ability to wait and the opportunity to pounce. It gives you time to think, and lets you change course on your own terms. Every bit of savings is like taking a point in the future that would have been owned by someone else and giving it back to yourself. |
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| TRENDS |
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How to monetize the neuroscience industryWe featured Andrew Huberman (on My First Million) in November 2021. Over 90 days, #neurosciencehacks searches snowballed 8x on TikTok. We tried to tell y’all. Our recent deep dive revisits the booming thirst for neuroscience, thanks to influencers like Andrew who repackage bizarre brain insights for the masses. 4 ways to help experts monetize:
The details of our research will cost you a buck. Explore niche market signals, business-building galore, and the network of 17k+ go-getters. |
| AROUND THE WEB |
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🦢 On this day: In 2001, Icelandic singer Björk wore a swan dress to the Oscars, a fashion statement so bizarre — and iconic — that people still talk about it today. 🤔 Cure boredom: In this simple game, you must turn every square the same color in as few moves as possible. 🥣 That’s interesting: Post Consumer Brands workers pack up 44m pounds of Fruity Pebbles cereal every year. Here’s how it’s made. 📅 Useful: Undock is a calendar app that makes suggestions based on your preferences and schedule. 🦥 Aww: Let’s end the week the way we began it — with sloth content. Here’s a baby sloth learning how to climb. |
| IN CASE YOU MISSED IT |
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(A roundup of our best reads from the last couple weeks…) |
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😴 Are advertisers going to infiltrate our dreams? LINK 🍪Products are literally shrinking, but prices are the same. LINK 🥗Lunchflation is real — and office workers are feeling it. LINK 🇨🇦Toronto is the next Silicon Valley, eh? LINK 👰Why Hinge may be your best bet at marriage. LINK |
| Shower Thoughts |
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| via Reddit |
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Business and tech news in 5 minutes or less
In 1994, Jeff Bezos discovered a shocking stat: Internet usage grew 2,300% per year.
Data shows where markets are headed.
And that’s why we built Trends — to show you up-and-coming market opportunities about to explode. Interested?
