Meta's Threads viewed as serious threat to Elon Musk's Twitter: 'Cage match has started'

Published

10 months ago

July 13, 2023

admin

Meta’s Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, emerging as the first real threat to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.

Dubbed as the “Twitter-Killer,” Threads was the top free app on Apple’s App Store in the UK and the US on Thursday. Its arrival comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Musk have traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.

“The cage match has started, and Zuckerberg delivered a major blow. In many ways, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Meta: Stellar execution and an easy-to-navigate user interface,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said.

Twitter responded on Thursday by threatening to sue Meta, according to the publication Semafor, citing a letter delivered to Zuckerberg by a lawyer for Twitter.

Numerous competitors to Twitter have sprung up following Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the social media platform last year, which was followed by a series of chaotic decisions that have alienated both users and advertisers. Musk’s latest move involved limiting the number of tweets users can read per day.

Twitter’s stumbles make room for a well-funded competitor like Meta Platforms, analysts and experts said, particularly because of its access to Instagram users and its advertising strength.

“Meta’s release of Threads came at the perfect time to give it a fighting chance to unseat Twitter,” said Niklas Myhr, professor of marketing at Chapman University, referring to the turmoil at Twitter after it limited the number of tweets users can see.

“Threads will be off to a running start as it is built upon the Instagram platform with its massive user base and if users adopt Threads, advertisers will be following closely behind.”

Other competitors have found limited success. Mastodon, another Twitter-like app, has 1.7 million monthly active users, according to its website, while Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky has about 265,000 users.

Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk’s buyout.

While Threads is a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials, which makes it an easy addition for Instagram’s more than 2 billion monthly active users.

Threads’ launch was clearly a first stab at a service as it currently lacks the bells and whistles of Twitter.

“There should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will,” Zuckerberg said on Threads, where he now has a million followers.

Threads does not have hashtags and keyword search functions, which means users cannot follow real-time events like on Twitter. It also does not yet have a direct messaging function and lacks a desktop version that certain users, such as business organizations, rely on.

Some users including tech reviewer Marques Brownlee posted about the need for a feed that only consists of the people one follows. Users currently have little control over the main feed.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, who was hired by Musk in May to shore up advertiser confidence, said in tweet on Thursday that “everyone’s voice matters” on the app. “We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated.”

Currently there are no ads on the Threads app and Zuckerberg said the company would only think about monetization once there was a clear path to 1 billion users.

Existing ad relationships from Instagram and Facebook should help Threads’ revenue, said Pinar Yildirim, associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

“Facebook is a less uncertain bet compared to Twitter and a bigger player in the ad market.”

Some analysts said Threads was reminiscent of Meta’s success in integrating crucial features of platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok in the case of Instagram’s Stories and Reels.

At least four brokerages raised their price target on Meta, whose shares have already more than doubled in value this year.

On Thursday, Meta shares were down 0.2% amid a broader market selloff, after rising 3% on Wednesday ahead of Threads’ launch.

The app is available in over 100 countries, but Bloomberg News reported that it won’t be launched in the European Union as of now as Meta works out how data sharing between the new platform and its Instagram app will be regulated.

Entertainment

Steve Albini, producer of Nirvana and Pixies albums, has died aged 61

Published

18 mins ago

May 9, 2024

admin

Steve Albini, producer of Nirvana and Pixies albums, has died aged 61

US musician and rock producer Steve Albini, who has worked with acts including Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Pixies, has died aged 61.

The “punk legend” recorded Nirvana’s third and final studio album In Utero, released in 1993, as well as Pixies’ debut studio album Surfer Rosa, which came out in 1988, and PJ Harvey’s second studio album Rid Of Me, in 1993.

Pixies were one of late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain’s favourite bands.

Albini also recorded and mixed the 1998 record Walking Into Clarksdale, the only album by surviving Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

He also performed in his own bands including Big Black and his most recent project, Shellac.

Shellac had just finished recording a new album, To All Trains, due for release next week, and the group were set to tour the record prior to Albini’s death, according to the music website Pitchfork.

In 1997, he opened his famed Electric Audio recording studio in Chicago.

He told The Guardian last year: “The recording part is the part that matters to me – that I’m making a document that records a piece of our culture, the life’s work of the musicians that are hiring me.

“I take that part very seriously. I want the music to outlive all of us.”

Brian Fox, an engineer at the studio, said Albini died following a heart attack on Tuesday night.

Speaking in 2018, Albini said he had worked on more than 2,000 albums, mostly for underground or indie bands.

Among the tributes, Pixies posted a photo of him on X, with the caption RIP Steve Albini.

The Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood wrote: “Ugh man, a heartbreaking loss of a legend. Love to his family and innumerable colleagues. Farewell, Steve Albini.”

Rough Trade, a retail chain of record shops in the UK and US, wrote on X: “Musician, studio engineer and the mastermind behind some of rock’s greatest albums. A hero to us all. Thank you for setting the standard so high. RIP Steve Albini. Deeply missed, forever loved.”

Born on 22 July 1962 in Pasadena, California, he grew up in Montana and went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied journalism.

He became a fixture on the Chicago punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he began performing with various bands and engineering albums.

Albini remained a prominent figure in the Chicago music scene after his time at Northwestern, owning and operating Electrical Audio.

Pitchfork reported he did not take royalties from records he worked on, and he kept his day rates for artists comparatively low, especially as a producer with his pedigree.

He also became well-known for his commentary on the state of the music industry in the age of streaming.

Albini is survived by his filmmaker wife Heather Whinna.

UK

British girl’s hearing restored in pioneering gene therapy trial

Published

18 mins ago

May 9, 2024

admin

British girl's hearing restored in pioneering gene therapy trial

A British girl has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person worldwide to take part in a pioneering new gene therapy trial.

Opal Sandy was born totally deaf due to auditory neuropathy, which disrupts nerve impulses from the inner ear to the brain.

But the 18-month-old’s hearing is now almost normal – and could improve further – after having the one-time treatment.

Opal was treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and the head of the trial, Professor Manohar Bance, said results were “better than I hoped or expected” and he hopes medics might be able to cure others with this type of deafness.

“We have results from (Opal) which are very spectacular – so close to normal hearing restoration. So we do hope it could be a potential cure,” he said.

Auditory neuropathy can be caused by a fault in the OTOF gene, which makes a protein called otoferlin and enables cells in the ear to communicate with the hearing nerve.

Opal, from Oxfordshire, had an infusion of the working gene into her right ear during surgery in September – the treatment developed by biotech firm Regeneron.

Her parents noticed changes in only four weeks and the improvements were especially noticeable 24 weeks later.

Jo and James Sandy, both 33, said they were “gobsmacked” when she responded to sound tests at home without her cochlear implant, the usual way to treat the condition.

“I thought it was a fluke or like a change in light or something that had caught her eye, but I repeated it a few times,” said Mrs Sandy.

They say she now enjoys the sound of slamming her cutlery on the table and playing with toy drums and wooden blocks.

“We were told she had near normal hearing last time,” she added. “I think they got responses at sort of 25 to 30 decibels.

“I think normal hearing is classed at 20 decibels, so she’s not far off. Before, she had no hearing whatsoever.”

Opal’s surgery was very similar to fitting a cochlear implant, according to Prof Bance.

He said the inner ear (cochlea) was opened and the treatment infused using a catheter over 16 minutes.

“We have to make a release hole in another part of the ear to let the treatment out because it has to go all the way through the ear,” he said.

“And then we just repair and close up, so it’s actually a very similar approach to a cochlear implant, except we don’t put the implant in.”

He said the gene therapy potentially “marks a new era in the treatment for deafness”.

“It was just the fact that we’ve been hearing about this for so long, and there’s been so much work, decades of work… to finally see something that actually worked in humans… It was quite spectacular and a bit awe-inspiring really,” he said.

The treatment was developed especially for children with OTOF mutations, and a second child who has had the same surgery is also seeing positive results.

The trial has three parts – with three deaf children, including Opal, getting a low dose in just one ear.

Another three children will get a high dose on one side. Then, if safe, a new set of children will get a dose in both ears at the same time.

Up to 18 people from the UK, US and Spain are being recruited and will be followed up for five years.

Results of the study were presented on Wednesday to the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy conference in Baltimore.

UK

Patients forced into ‘pharmacy bingo’ – as survey says medicine shortages ‘beyond critical’

Published

18 mins ago

May 9, 2024

admin

Patients forced into 'pharmacy bingo' - as survey says medicine shortages 'beyond critical'

People are having to play “pharmacy bingo” – going from shop to shop to find stocks – as medicine shortages are worsening, experts have said.

Health leaders say some patients are even having to “ration” their drugs, with a new poll suggesting shortages are a “daily occurrence” for many of England’s pharmacies.

Treatments for ADHD, diabetes and epilepsy are among those affected this year, according to trade body Community Pharmacy England.

Its survey of more than 6,000 pharmacies and 2,000 staff found shortages are “wreaking havoc” on patients.

Nearly all (97%) of staff said patients were being inconvenienced, while 79% said health was being put at risk.

Some 98% said they were also giving out more “I owe yous” – where they can only fulfil part of the prescription.

Nearly all (99%) pharmacies reported supply problems at least weekly, and 72% said they were having “multiple issues a day”.

Another survey last month, by the Nuffield Trust thinktank, said drug shortages had more than doubled between 2020 and 2023 and that Brexit was likely to “significantly weaken” the UK’s ability to deal with the issues.

Shortages have also been a growing problem in Europe and the US in recent years.

However, the UK leaving EU supply chains is said to have added complications such as custom checks at borders and drug makers facing extra regulation.

The falling value of the pound after Brexit has also made it more expensive for the NHS to buy medicines.

Community Pharmacy England boss Janet Morrison said the supply problems were “beyond critical” and had become an “ongoing battle” for pharmacies.

“Patients with a wide range of clinical and therapeutic needs are being affected on a daily basis and this is going far beyond inconvenience, leading to frustration, anxiety and affecting their health,” she added.

“For some patients, not having access to the medicines they need could lead to very serious consequences, even leaving them needing to visit A&E.”

Ms Morrison said the survey was “yet another stark warning which must not be ignored”.

William Pett from Healthwatch England called it an “ongoing issue that continues to wreak havoc on patients”.

“Healthwatch England hears about how shortages can lead to rationing and desperate instances of ‘pharmacy bingo’, where patients must travel from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for stock,” he said.

Paul Rees, head of the National Pharmacy Association, urged the government “to sort out the UK’s fragile medicines supply system, so that pharmacies can do their job and patients can get their lifesaving medicines in time”.

The Department of Health and Social Care is yet to comment.