A look at some of the challenges of zero-trust systems that can create friction for users and employees, as businesses increasingly adopt them to fight hackers (Christopher Mims/Wall Street Journal)

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
As car makers cede control of their auto-operating systems to Apple and Google, the limited choice in the duopoly of smartphone OSes may soon extend to cars  —  In the future, your choice of smartphone ecosystem—Android or iPhone—could determine which make and model of car you choose

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
Amid a downturn, tech companies may shift their focus from “gee-whiz” projects, like self-driving cars and metaverses, to truly useful products that make money  —  History shows that downturns are when the industry shifts focus from flashy novelties to things that are truly useful

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon pauses hiring for roles in its corporate workforce after announcing last month that it would freeze hiring for corporate roles in its retail business  —  KEY POINTS  — Amazon is pausing hiring for roles in its corporate workforce, the company announced in a memo to staff Thursday.

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
International Federation of Robotics: 500K+ industrial robots were installed in 2021, an all-time high, bringing the number of global installations to 3.5M  —  Robots are spreading at a record pace, from their traditional strongholds like making automobiles into nearly every other human endeavor

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Cloudflare announces Zero Trust SIM, a US-only, device-specific eSIM for iOS and Android that uses VPNs and DNS filtering, and Zero Trust for Mobile Operators  —  Are smartphones ever entirely secure?  It depends on one’s definition of “secure,” particularly when dealing with corporate environments.

Clive Thompson / UX Collective:
A look at Mastodon’s “antiviral” design and culture, where users push back at features and behaviors that promote virality, and embrace things that add friction  —  Back in 2017 I wrote a short column for Wired about “antiviral” design.  —  I’d recently been using some fun …