Jack Linshi

It would reduce our empathy to a click

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg isn’t too keen on adding a “Dislike” button to the service, he said in a Q&A event Thursday. But Zuckerberg did float the idea of a new button for “sad moments” when pressing “Like” just doesn’t feel right. That’s why Facebook engineers recently toyed with a Sympathize button, a concept well-received by Facebook’s staff as well as the larger public.

But Facebook hasn’t implemented “Sympathize” yet. It’s still thinking about “the right way” to go about adding such a feature, Zuckerberg said, leaving users hanging. What’s taking so long?

It could be because implementing another Facebook button is a terrible idea — particularly to represent an emotion deeper than “Like.”

Ever since the Like button launched in 2009, the blue thumbs-up icon has become a symbol recognizable by nearly anyone who’s used the Internet. But the Like button’s mega-popularity also resulted in something that wasn’t so stellar: Like Anxiety, which strikes when your posts aren’t getting as many Likes as you think they deserve. While the Like button has made it easier to quickly express emotion on Facebook, Like Anxiety has turned the platform into a popularity contest and insecurity hotbed.

Now try imagining posting about something emotionally crippling — say, the passing of a loved one — and not getting enough “Sympathize” clicks. While most of us can get over when a positive post’s Likes plateau too soon, it would be far harder to move past our sadder missives getting Sympathy-snubbed. Hitting Sympathize is literally the least your friends could do for you in your time of need. If they didn’t click, that would feel pretty awful — you might even start checking which of your friends hit “Sympathize” and which didn’t bother, which wouldn’t be healthy for your friendships.

Facebook’s core mission, as Zuckerberg has put it, is promoting meaningful communications. That goal helps explain why Facebook Messenger was pushed into its own standalone mobile app and why disabling read receipts isn’t an option. Both moves are meant to encourage us to respond to our friends more quickly.

But if Facebook adds a Sympathize button, it would actually make our conversations less meaningful. How? It would override the only way to currently express sympathy on Facebook: Writing a personal comment to a friend, even if it’s only a few words.

The reality, then, is that ‘Sympathize’ is already on Facebook. So is “Dislike.” And “Love.” And “Thanks” — and any other emotion. They’re just not buttons. You have to write those emotions out yourself, and that surely means more than any button ever could.

Xiaomi is known for its cheap smartphones — but its low prices are affecting its bottom line

While the popularity of Xiaomi’s smartphones have earned it the nickname of “China’s Apple,” its profits don’t come close to those of the Cupertino, Calif. company.

China’s Xiaomi, the world’s third largest smartphone company, pulled in only 347.5 million yuan ($56 million) in net profits from a revenue of 26.6 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) in 2013, Reuters reported Monday based on regulatory filings made by the company.

Meanwhile, Apple reported $25.4 billion of net sales during 2013 in Greater China, where nearly all Xiaomi smartphones are shipped. Apple’s profit margins stood at about 33%, towering over Xiaomi’s 1.8%.

Investors are continuing to question whether Xiaomi’s strategy of selling smartphones below what’s considered market price is sustainable. Xiaomi’s earnings, which Reuters confirmed with a Xiaomi spokeswoman, rebuke a November report in the Wall Street Journal which cited a “confidential document” saying Xiaomi had netted $556 million in profits in 2013, which would have been a massive spike in earnings.

[Reuters]

All 48 states in continental U.S. had average prices below $3

Gas prices fell under $2.oo in 13 states across the U.S. this weekend, sending the nationwide average down to $2.55 per gallon — a low Americans haven’t seen since Oct. 2009.

Oklahoma, Louisiana and Ohio had at least one gas station each with regular gas prices below $1.90 per gallon, CNNMoney reported Monday, citing data from GasBuddy.com. Another ten states had stations with prices below $2.00 per gallon: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia.

Meanwhile, all 48 states in continental U.S. had statewide average gas prices below $3.

The nationwide decrease in gas prices is due to falling oil prices, as economic downturns and the rise of fuel efficient vehicles slash demand for oil.

[CNNMoney]

A new front has opened in the console wars

The Chinese video game market is in for a major shake-up. Two of Sony’s mega-popular consoles, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, will be sold in China starting next month, the company announced Thursday. Sony’s move comes three months after Microsoft debuted its Xbox One in China.

Why did it take so long for Chinese gamers to get the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One? For 14 years, China banned video game consoles over fears violent games would lead to moral decay. That ban was just lifted in January, opening the door for Sony and Microsoft.

China’s ban didn’t totally eliminate consoles there — a grey market of smuggled and home-grown consoles has long existed there. But analysts say the rule caused China’s gaming market to be dominated by PC and mobile games. That means Sony and Microsoft now have to convince Chinese gamers they should buy a console, too.

Sony and Microsoft could be in for a windfall if they can turn China’s gamers into console jockeys. Lewis Ward, research director of gaming at IDC, said his firm found that China’s current console penetration rate is in the “single digits.” But given China’s 1.3 billion-person population, that low rate actually translates into millions of potential customers already — and that’s before the companies’ marketing machines kick into action.

“In PC [gaming], you have Internet games like Starcraft, Warcraft and Defense of the Ancients. So how [do Sony and Microsoft] win back those groups?” said Roger Sheng, a Shanghai-based consumer electronics research director at Gartner.

The answer lies not in hardware, but in software. Game selection will be biggest reason a Chinese gamer decides to buy a PlayStation 4 (RMB2,899, or $468), an Xbox One (RMB3,699, or $598) or any other game console, analysts said. But while China is letting foreign consoles through the front door, whether or not they can bring along Call of Duty or Titanfall is another question. Each game sold in the country has to win the hard-to-earn approval of China’s Ministry of Culture, which prohibits everything from blood to touchy political topics.

“[Xbox One’s and PlayStation 4’s] prices are similar enough — both of them are expensive for a typical consumer in China,” said Lisa Hanson, managing partner at Niko Partners, an Asian games research firm. “The tricky regulatory landscape is always the biggest barrier to success for foreign companies in China.”

The key for Sony and Microsoft, analysts say, is for them to build partnerships with Chinese game makers, who enjoy pre-existing relationships with regulators and whose games have already passed the lengthy approval process. For now, Sony and Microsoft can entice Chinese developers to port their pre-approved games to the Xbox and PlayStation. If consoles take off with Chinese gamers, local developers are likely to start making dedicated games for them.

When it comes to building relationships and selling games in China, Sony has a leg up on Microsoft: As a Japanese company, it’s geographically and culturally closer to China than its American rival Microsoft. That means many Chinese gamers are already more familiar with Sony’s titles, a big advantage for the company. Sony hasn’t said which PlayStation games it’s bringing to China, but Microsoft is so far only selling 10 — a sign it might be having trouble connecting to the Chinese audience. Sony is also leading in terms of developer partners, with 26 to Microsoft’s 13.

Ultimately, the small size of Microsoft’s current catalog combined with the Xbox’s higher price may give Sony the edge in the Chinese console wars, analysts said.

“[Xbox’s catalog size] is bordering on negligence — I assume Sony is going to have a significantly larger catalog than that,” Ward said. “Make no mistake, people buy consoles because of the games.”

Wal-Mart wants to lure in more shoppers before Christmas

Wal-Mart is slashing its iPhone 6 prices by $50 to attract customers in weeks leading up to Christmas.

The retailer will reduce the price of the 16GB iPhone 6 from $179 to $129, while the 16 GB iPhone 6 Plus will be reduced from $279 to $229, Bloomberg reported Friday. Those prices are with two-year contracts, while available carriers are AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.

The cheaper iPhones are only one incentive for shoppers to visit Wal-Mart between Black Friday and Christmas. Other deals include the iPhone 5S reduced from $79 to $49 with a contract, and the Samsung Galaxy S5 reduced from $139 to $79.

Less than 10% of shoppers have completed their holiday shopping, according to Wal-Mart.

[Bloomberg]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein oversaw the compilation of the 6,700 page report — and has a license to fact-check

It had been expected to sell between $400,000 to $600,000

An early Apple computer purchased from Steve Jobs’ parents’ garage was auctioned off Thursday at Christie’s for $365,000.

The 1976 Apple-1 Computer is the only known surviving Apple-1 documented to have been sold from Jobs’ parents’ garage, where the computers were built, Christie’s said in a statement. The “Ricketts Apple-1 Computer,” named after its first owner, Charles Rickett, was estimated to be worth between $400,000 to $600,000.

Another Apple-1 computer was sold for $397,750 last year at Christie’s.

She's still a 17-year-old, after all

Sure, Malala Yousafzai just became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, but she’s also a 17-year-old. And that means the Pakistani education activist knows a thing or two about selfies, and — believe it or not — takes selfies, too.

Here are three of Malala’s best practices for taking great selfies:

1. Use selfies for good.

In an interview with the New York Times, Malala explained her approach to taking selfies. And it has nothing to do with angles or lighting:

I think it’s important that we use social media, but for a good purpose. For instance, it’s good to take a selfie to say ‘hey what’s up’ and those things, but I think it’s also important that we use it for the good purpose of highlighting the issues that children all over the world are facing.

One of those selfies-for-good was one GMA anchor Amy Robach snapped this summer of Malala, Ban Ki-moon and herself for the #showyourselfie campaign. The campaign, launched by the United Nations Population Fund, brought awareness to the importance of including young people in decision-making processes:

2. Learn from selfies.

Malala doesn’t think that selfies and hashtag activism should be dismissed as useless forms of advocacy. In fact, she credits the #BringBackOurGirls photo campaign for bringing awareness to the public — and to herself — of the Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram earlier this year. “I came to know about Bring Back Our Girls because it was on Twitter, you could see it,” Malala told the Times. “I think this is the way we can highlight what’s happening and we can speak for our rights.”

She even was inspired to take her own “selfie:”

3. Don’t be above taking selfies.

While Malala champions selfies-for-good, that doesn’t mean she won’t take one just to take one. But make sure to bring your own cellphone — Malala still doesn’t have one.

So this happened. #malalaselfie @forbes #under30summit #techgirls #nobelpeaceprize #malalayousafzai

A photo posted by Tiphani Montgomery (@tiphanimontgomery) on Oct 10, 2014 at 4:14pm PDT

A Selfie with Noble Peace Prize winner 2014 Malala Yousafzai. Congratulations Malala.

A photo posted by Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) on Dec 12, 2014 at 3:01pm PST

Uber will also partner with women's safety groups in India

The problem goes beyond Uber's breakneck growth

When Uber CEO Travis Kalanick categorized the rideshare company’s recent privacy controversy as “growing pains” last week, the term seemed to be a fitting description. Uber has moved with lightning speed in five years, going from a small startup to a company investors have valued at $40 billion — and any company with that kind of meteoric growth is bound to make missteps.

But Uber’s latest debacle — accusations that a driver in India raped a female passenger — is far too serious to brush aside simply as “growing pains.” Still, Kalanick’s response to the alleged assault, as apologetic and deadly serious as it begins, soon drifts into the “growing pains” argument.

“We will work with the government to establish clear background checks currently absent,” he wrote. That’s an admission that Uber, hungry to tap a new and potentially lucrative market, overlooked India’s low bar for driver checks.

If Uber had properly done its homework before barging into India, it would know that Indian transportation systems have long been dangerous places for women. As Facebook’s Sriram Kirshnan argued in a Medium post this week, India’s preexisting sexual violence problems — which spurred global outrage after a 2012 fatal bus gang rape — require not only tighter driver laws, but also an unspooling of history, culture and politics.

Those are problems that can’t be “outgrown” as simply as Uber can learn to avoid playing fast-and-loose with users’ privacy. But they’re also problems that should have slowed Uber from moving into India unless it was better prepared to keep its passengers safe.

Transportation violence isn’t solely an Indian problem by any means. Uber has had its passenger safety practices come under fire here in the states several times: when a Washington, D.C. driver allegedly raped a female passenger last year, for example, and when a San Francisco Uber passenger accused his driver of attacking him with a hammer in September. Those and other episodes have been enough to prompt lawsuits against the company regarding its background check process.

But while the American taxi industry employs strict background checks, it doesn’t have a perfect safety record either. In the last few months, cabbies have gotten slapped with multi-decade sentences, not to mention horror stories from victimized passengers. The background check lawsuits facing Uber, then — while beneficial for improving safety — reinforce a misleading notion: that if Uber just gets on par with the taxi industry’s safety standards, somehow nothing bad will ever happen on an Uber ride.

From the start, Uber had set out to define itself against the taxi industry’s historical image — overpriced fares, beaten cars, a unionized immigrant workforce — and to re-imagine the sector as offering cheap rides, hip vehicles and attractive side jobs for recession-hit Americans. That contrast led some to believe Uber has operated on a different playing field, unregulated by law. But as safety concerns —and lawsuits — have emerged, Uber now faces a choice: On one hand, it can simply meet pre-existing taxi regulations, skirting by with minimum effort. On the other, it can go one better and do to taxi safety what it’s done to taxi convenience, making rides simpler and safer.

Read next: How Uber Breaks the Rules (And Why You Should Care)