The key to resisting the metaverse
The past 2021 can be said to be the "first year of the meta-universe", and the square dance aunts have to chase after their children and ask what the meta-universe is. Those who can't explain it will usually use the analogy of two movies, one is Spielberg's "Ready Player One" and the other is the Wachowski brothers (now sisters) "The Matrix", which is usually considered to be the final form of the metaverse - the posterior intubation (brain-computer interface).
Imagine how high expectations would be when Warner announced that he would be filming The Matrix Resurrections (The Matrix 4).
On January 14, this Friday, "The Matrix 4" officially landed in domestic theaters, and because it has already been released abroad, there have been clear pirated videos released in China, so IMDB and Douban have already had a large number of ratings. If you look at the 5.7 ratings of the two websites, it is obvious that the audience is not satisfied.
Fast forward to 2000, when a classmate who had seen The Matrix personally interpreted the line in which the traitor Sever ate steak in the film: "I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put him in my mouth, the mother will tell my brain that this thing is tender and juicy." Probably everyone who saw the movie, also known as the 22nd Century Killing Network, at the time, was impressed by its intimidating mixed philosophy and stunning visuals.
After all, at that time Silicon Valley's ". Com" bubble sweeping the United States is about to explode, in the Chinese portal began to emerge, Ma Yun just got Sun Zhengyi's big money full of ambition, Ma Huateng is still pretending to be a female user for the newly born QQ to improve daily life, for the "Matrix" depiction of the ultimate network world, people in addition to lamenting "bullet time", there are not many references, far less than the current metaverse touts to the point where "Avalanche" is the Bible.
Now, 20 years later, although technology has not yet developed to the back of the brain, smartphones have occupied most of people's daily lives, becoming the umbilical cord connecting people and the Internet. From this point of view, the latest Matrix movie may be able to give some of these philosophical inspirations, or directivity, like the first part of the year, and even inherit the "cool" energy and special effects level of the year.
Unfortunately, when director Lana Wachowski gives that the love of two men and women who add up to nearly a hundred years old is the only answer to resisting the mother, the audience chooses not to accept it.
In the first third of the film, there is a scene of the game company evacuating all the staff, facing Neo played by Keanu Reeves, and the one on the far right is John Gaeta, the creator of the "Bullet Time" special effects of that year, the former industrial light and magic technology master. The god later jumped to magic leap, the hottest AR company of the year, and the later story is known to everyone, magic leap spent more than $2 billion to invest, becoming a "meta-cosmic martyr".
I wonder if the metaverse will have been realized when "The Matrix 5" is released?
Box horse looking for spring
In the past year, it has not been very friendly for "vegetable sellers", specifically referring to the once vigorous community group buying and the revival of fresh tracks.
This week, Dingdong grocery shopping, Meicai network and other fresh companies respectively sent out a large number of layoffs of news, especially the main B-end fresh delivery of the U.S. dishes, in the previous rumors of layoffs of 50%, and then out of the news of layoffs of 40%, if the news is true, inside and outside cut 70% of the U.S. dishes, in order to go public is really too hard.
On the other hand, even if it is a small fresh giant with its back to the giants, the challenges may not be much better than those of friends. Recently, according to Bloomberg news, Ali's fresh food company Hema is working with investment banks to list an exclusive list of potential strategic and financial investors who will be invited to join this round of financing, which may start in February.
It is worth noting that the financing plan is still in the review stage and it is uncertain whether it will be implemented, and the valuation of $10 billion is also preliminary and may be adjusted as subsequent negotiations progress.
For this news, some insiders said that they "have not heard of this news", and some industry insiders are convinced that this matter is true. But in any case, it can be seen that the giant's view of the fresh track has changed.
In the past two years, when the community group buying was on fire, Ali did not enter the vegetable market in time with Meituan and Didi, but tested the water by investing in companies such as ShihuiTuan in accordance with the custom. On the other hand, Ali's many lines, including Hema and Cainiao, are actually in the community group purchase.
In March 2021, the media reported that Ali established the MMC (Buy Grocery) Division, headed by Dai Shan, President of Ali B2B Business Group. This move is seen as a signal for Ali to officially enter the community group buying. After the establishment of MMC, community group buying faced double pressure from policy and market, and there was a trend of collapse.
Not long ago, in the latest structural adjustment in December 2021, Dai Shan, as the president of the group, was in charge of the first layer of organizations such as Taobao (including Taobao, Tmall, Alimama), B2C Retail, Taocaicai, Taote and Domestic Trade (CBU), jointly forming a "China Digital Commerce Sector". It is worth noting that in the new "China Digital Business Sector", there is no mention of Hema.
After 6 years of growth in the Ali system, Hema has opened 257 stores in China, mainly concentrated in first- and second-tier cities, aiming at white-collar workers with strong purchasing power, which also makes Hema different from the general fresh delivery friends, free from the pressure of community group buying and supervision.
The independent financing news that came out this time is not only related to Ali's own organizational and structural considerations, but also related to the development law of the fresh food industry itself - sometimes the expansion of Agni cooking oil is effective, and in the context of different eras, doing a good job in the existing market in hand, the development of fine water and long flow, may be a better answer.
$12.7 billion! The largest acquisition in the game industry was born
At the beginning of 2022, the game circle has shaken. GTA parent console gaming giant Take-Two announced it will acquire mobile game maker Zynga in the form of approximately $12.7 billion in cash and stock.
On Jan. 10, Take-Two announced that Take-Two would acquire all of Zynga's outstanding shares at $9.86 per share — Zynga's $3.50 cash and $6.36 worth of Take-Two stock, a 64.4 percent premium to Zynga's closing price on Friday.
The deal is expected to close in Take-Two's fiscal first quarter of 2022. Upon completion of the acquisition, Zynga will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of Take-Two, continuing to be led by the current CEO and holding two seats on the Take-Two Board of Directors.
The deal is no small deal, surpassing not only the $8.6 billion that Tencent acquired Supercell in 2016, but also the $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax, the parent company of Society B, in 2020, making it the largest acquisition in the history of global gaming to date. If the transaction is completed, Take-Two will become the largest mobile game vendor, and the game market pattern may change. (Source: Beijing Business Daily)
A slight increase of 6% year-over-year in 2021 in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions heralds a return to normal in society
Rhodium estimates that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased by 6 percent year-over-year last year. It's a seemingly small but significant rise that suggests the world is starting to return to normal, at least in terms of fuel demand.
Emissions in 2021 are still down across the board compared to the days leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019. During 2019, the U.S. released far more than 1,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in terms of transportation alone. In 2020, that number has been falling all the way down to below 1600, but in 2021 it will rebound to more than 1700 metric tons – still significantly lower than the 2019-2020 figure, of course.
Rhodium Group noted that emissions in 2021 are putting the U.S. "further off track" in meeting its Paris Agreement environmental goals. Of course, given that 2020 is an unconventional year, it is not entirely reasonable to expect the country to continue its trajectory of declining emissions after that year.
Still, as Rhodium points out, the goals of the Paris Agreement require the United States to reduce emissions by 50-52 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. By 2020, the U.S. had reached the 22 percent target, but in 2021, the economic recovery had reduced its progress to 17.4 percent. (Source: cnBeta)
New energy vehicles produced and sold more than 3.5 million units last year, and are expected to increase by 42% year-on-year this year.
On January 12, the latest statistics released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as "CAAM") showed that in 2021, China's automobile production and sales reached 26.082 million units and 26.275 million vehicles, an increase of 3.4% and 3.8% year-on-year, respectively, ending a three-year downward trend.
At the same time, China's new energy vehicle sales reached 3.521 million units, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years; among them, the new passenger car market equipped with combined driving assistance systems accounted for 20%.
In 2021, China's new energy vehicles will continue to lead the world, and the sales of new energy vehicles will rank first in the world for 7 consecutive years. Among them, the annual market share of new energy vehicles reached 13.4%, 8 percentage points higher than that of the previous year.
Among them, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles reached 2.942 million units and 2.916 million units, respectively, an increase of 1.7 times and 1.6 times year-on-year, respectively; the production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles were 601,000 units and 603,000 units, up 1.3 times and 1.4 times year-on-year, respectively; and the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles were 0.2 million units, showing year-on-year growth. (Source: Securities Daily)