Sign in Subscribe

Topic

The Kernel

These were essays I wrote for the Kernel. 2011-2013.

Should McDonald’s fire everyone?

McDonald’s is symbolic of American industry, with a massive $95 billion market capitalisation, and could effect real change if it so chose. From its beginnings, McDonald’s embraced heightened efficiency in its kitchen, employing a Henry Ford-inspired assembly line for hamburgers. The early McDonald’s kitchen was largely mechanised

Was Michael Jackson a Patent Troll? Probably not.

Innovation is a beautiful thing and its benefactors are constantly the subject of an ad-hominem attack. It has become increasingly common among individuals in the tech startup ecosystem to demonise Patent Assertion Entities (PAE), referring to them as unsavoury “Patent Trolls” behind their backs and “Voldemort” to their faces. The

Healthcare Redux

“In truth, no private company would have been capable of developing a project like the Internet, which required years of R&D efforts spread out over scores of far-flung agencies, and which began to take off only after decades of investment. Visionary infrastructure projects such as this are part

Anatomy of a Scandal

The scandal of the week in the tech media industry is, of course, the Wall Street Journal’s intrepid reporting of Orbitz’s seemingly insidious practice of showing higher price hotels to owners of Apple products. The Atlantic’s Megan Garber called it a ‘scoop’ and defended the “discriminatory” practice.

Why Amateurs Won't Solve Healthcare

Innovation in healthcare technology is best left to the professionals.

The Commoditisation of the Entrepreneur

It seems as though every young person with a laptop and an idea is encouraged to set up a business these days. But there are dire consequences for those who don’t make it, and for the economy at large.