Amazon makes second healthcare acquisition
Amazon has purchased Health Navigator, a company that helps physicians route patients to the correct care givers and a facilitator of telehealth. The company currently serves a number of companies but has informed them it will not renew its contracts after the Amazon merger. Amazon intends to make Health Navigator a part of its Amazon Care group, a division focused on providing care to its growing armies of employees. CNBC
dis-rup-shun: Amazon is building a new care model for its internal employees that makes use of remote care and physicians’ assistants and nurses to better apply the proper set of skills to the appropriate needs. While this is wonderful news for employees, one must assume that this is also a pilot for a new care model which would be rolled out nationally, perhaps with Amazon’s prior acquisition, online pharmacy PillPack. Given the direction of our healthcare industry, Amazon’s disruption could be a welcome catalyst to a more efficient and more affordable healthcare market.
Tesla earns a profit and scores in China
Tesla reported earnings for the quarter which show the company returning to profitability with a slim margin. At the same time, the company reported that its new Shanghai plant is up and running and will produce one thousand Model 3s per week.
dis-rup-shun: Elon Musk is a pioneer. Pioneers have to be tough as nails, have unbridled belief in their missions, and not be worried about others’ perceptions of them. Musk qualifies in these regards and is on a path to change the auto industry as well as U.S. – China trade relations. In a time when U.S. companies are moving production out of China, Musk has jumped in, taking advantage of a new Chinese regulation requiring foreign manufacturers to build products in country in order to avoid a 25% tariff. Tesla is in place to be a huge success in China, with high fuel prices and rising incomes. Success in China will help the company continue to win U.S. and global buyers as Tesla’s technologies will be better tested and better financed, continuing to entice auto owners to retire their gasoline cars.
License plate recognition technology: a good thing?
Axon, the company that makes the Taser and a host of other law enforcement technology has developed a dash cam capable of reading license plate numbers. Concerns about infringement upon civil rights accompany this new technology, as ethics boards determine the limitations of its application in law enforcement. TechCrunch
dis-rup-shun: Violating the law is one thing, but getting caught is another. How many times have you driven a car with an expired registration because, despite your best intentions, you were late sending in the renewal? Chances are you were not fined as police have far too many demands to scrutinize every window sticker. Axon’s cameras, however, could do the trick and quickly notify police persons that you were in violation of this or other crimes, like driving with stolen plates or that the car is registered to a criminal. If all laws were more systematically enforced thanks to technology, would that make for a better society or a call for fewer or less stringent laws?
The ladies on the hill rough up Zuckerberg
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairperson of the Financial Services Committee says candidate Elizabeth Warren has “opened up the opportunity” to consider breaking up Facebook. Warren has declared that she will break up Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon if elected. CNBC
dis-rup-shun: It could be Zuckerberg’s boyish looks, lack of contrition over election interference in 2016, or his extremely ambitious plans for the Libra private currency, but he is Congress’ favorite whipping boy. Congress’ disdain for Zuckerberg guarantees that Facebook will be the first of the Big Tech companies to take the beatings, fines, regulations, and dismantling, if that unlikely action comes to pass. Apple’s Tim Cook, on the other hand, has been making nice in Washington D.C. and building up political capital. Mark needs to take some fatherly advice from his Silicon Valley neighbor.