Amazon is ramping up to release its gen-AI powered Alexa (unless it gets delayed again).

Pricing model is up in the air at this point, but $5 to $10 month sounds pretty locked in.

This is the make or break moment for voice assistants.

You get personalities out of the shop and all that’s left is the retail experience.

You need the crust of the human.

Scale necessitates the removal of personality.

Which means personality becomes a differentiator.

How long until we’re asked to measure return on attention and return on personality? And how will we do it?

via the Weird Studies podcast

Life gets better as you replace transactions with relationships.

-Kevin Kelly

So do brands and customer experiences.

Everything is customer service.

Here is my summary of a 1-Minute summary of a massive social media trends study for 2025.

• Instagram is more than stories & Reels, posts are making a comeback
• LinkedIn is (still) having a moment
• Pinterest is not for videos
• Facebook Reels aren’t dead yet

How much of the resilient consumer spending trend is due to buying before Trump’s Trade War increases prices?

Buying before the promised / threatened tariffs hit.

If a meaningful %, purchase pull forward + lower purchasing power from higher prices could mean a rough year (or more) ahead.