Morning Read, Feb 26; Zoom Stocks Rise, WhatsApp Banned At EU And A Beautiful Tribute To Kobe
Good morning everyone, here are a few articles to start the day with on entrepreneurship, tech, Gadgets and general interesting news + of course as always, my two cents. Interested in more daily updates? Follow me Remco Livain
In today’s update: Tech companies like Zoom profit from the Coronavirus, the EU bans the use of WhatsApp for its staffers, and a beautiful tribute to Kobe Bryant by non-other than Michael Jordan.
Zoom Stock Jumps Up Due To Coronavirus
It is facinating to see that some companies flourish during the coronavirus; Zoom is one of them and for obvious reasons.
- Many people are afraid to work with others in person (especially with colleagues from China) and meet in larger groups
- Travel bans are apparent to- and from China and any country that has has a couple of recent events with the virus (eg. Italy)
- The Coronavirus is highly contagious and even-though it should not be deadly or bad for those who are half-way healthy, you do not want to be one of the spreaders of the virus
So as most companies, brands and retailer especially, are not too fond of the virus — some others definitely are! Who said that tech does not bring the world together? It feels like the 1990s all over again- with one major difference: far superior internet connections.
European Union Employees Cannot Use WhatsApp, Anymore
Privacy is a hot topic in Europe and the EU is not taking it lightly. The dependency on large american-based tech companies and the privacy scandals in 2019 are slowly but steadily starting to show their effects. The EU has requested all employees to ditch WhatsApp and other secure messaging services in favor of Signal — an open source messaging platform.
The main advantage in using Signal is that the open source nature allows “us” to check how data is secured and used. Even-though WhatsApp (and it’s parent company Facebook) claim to be open about how the technology works and what it can or cannot see, this does not suffice for the EU, anymore.
WhatsApp Usage On The Workfloor
It is a hard thing to do, though. Nearly every single person in the EU has installed the WhatsApp messenger on their phone.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a group of dentists, who explained that they use WhatsApp-Chat Groups to ask each other questions on difficult cases. They share images and quick voice notes on WhatsApp. The group has grown to close to the maximum (of roughly 250 people), who use the chat.
“Yes, it would be possible to use another messaging app, but the reason the group has grown so organically, is that everyone has WhatsApp on their phones,” one of the participants told me. “It is nearly impossible to introduce a new messaging tool for our group.”
I wonder how the EU-staff is going to do this.
Within our GANDT Ventures Group, we have introduced Slack for 90% of our communication. It would like a charm, but I am 100% certain, that some of our employees still use WhatsApp or iMessage for a quick chat or client update… It is really hard to unlearn something or use a new tool, exclusively; especially when WhatsApp and Co. are so incredibly convenient to use.
Michael Jordan’s Tribute To Kobe… Legendary
Yesterday we saw one of the most impressive memorials, ever. The biggest baller in the business, and legends in their own right, were there to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant.
I would like to end this Morning Read with a few beautiful words by Michael Jordan; arguably the greatest basketball player of all time — as much as I hate to see a man cry (or anyone for that matter, really), his words were profound, beautiful and came straight from the heart.
I hope you enjoyed this morning update and I wish you all a great day. Remco Livain
