Featured · Money · 5 min

The Loyalty Program Has Become a Private Currency

Retail rewards increasingly act like money, except the issuer writes the exchange rate and can revise it after you have earned it.

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Retail rewards increasingly act like money, except the issuer writes the exchange rate and can revise it after you have earned it.

Sep 1 · 5 min read

Updates now decide which devices remain ordinary possessions and which become temporary tenants of their makers.

Aug 31 · 5 min read

The small tests meant to separate people from bots now reveal a stranger arrangement: machines hiring humans to prove machines are not machines.

Aug 30 · 5 min read

A color e-ink notebook makes writing feel deliberate again, while charging a premium for the privilege of fewer distractions.

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Digital receipts promise less paper, but increasingly turn an ordinary purchase into a request for a durable customer record.

Aug 28 · 5 min read

Shared calendars now coordinate modern households with the stern efficiency of a small logistics company.

Aug 27 · 5 min read

Electricity networks are now deciding which projects can exist, often before planning, finance or construction get a vote.

Aug 26 · 5 min read

Earned-wage access promises flexibility, but it also turns the timing of pay into a billable consumer product.

Aug 25 · 5 min read

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