June '25

Early adoption, unexpected beauty, and quitting Amazon

Shot By: m_poluchowicz

Early Adoption

Amazon and Apple scaled Alexa and Siri well before the dawn of modern AI. And while newer models continue to disrupt, that doesn’t change the fact that Amazon and Apple now have billions of users simply because THEY WERE THERE FIRST.

• Meanwhile, ChatGPT continues to dominate the AI marketplace

  • (even though Google and Anthropic have released models that outperform Chat in almost every way)

  • So why does everyone still use ChatGPT?

  • _because they were there first_

  • Ever tried convincing someone to try something new?

  • Point made.

• Yet in the long run, first-to-market doesn’t always win per se

  • Google wasn’t the first internet browser, yet they still became the most dominant search engine…why?

  • Luck? Timing? A better product?

  • (or all the above?)

• Big Tech inherently has a parachute with these new technologies

  • Can operate on a loss while developing a new product

  • All while funneling profit from existing businesses into said R&D

  • (this is a big reason why the Feds want to break up Amazon fwiw, makes inordinate profit on AWS and rolls that $$$ into new technologies at years’ end)

  • (which means they can claim “zero profit” on their taxes, which isn’t entirely true)

— On a Related Note —

ChatGPT is an echo chamber to some degree (given how it emulates your subconscious thought). Same reason why we see it as a therapist. Telling us what we “need” to hear.

Yet something I’ve been thinking about more recently, is that these AI companies are incentivized to drive adoption. Especially right now — given the sheer number of options available. So what does that imply about their product?

Maybe there’s a reason ChatGPT is such a good therapist. Its been instructed to sycophant. Tell us what we want to hear (even at the expense of what we should be told).

Scary thought.

Subtle Perspective

A funny thing, beauty.

Sometimes the harder you search for it the more evasive it becomes. And when you do find it, it doesn’t always hold up to expectations. Especially those reminiscent.

Yet a friend of mine recommended that I get a cheap camera for my trip to California. And throughout the trip, I found myself stopping. Backing up. Seeing lighting and angles and shots of film everywhere I looked.

Beauty in unexpected places.

Quitting Amazon

Where do I even start.

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Amazon for a long time (and I’ve written about it several times on this platform). On one hand, I got to spend 5 years solving difficult problems with brilliant people and got paid very well to do so. On the other, the work itself has failed to interest me of years now — and constantly left me feeling stressed and burned out.

Fast forward to 2025 and its been the same song and dance. A failed promotion and five days a week back in-office. Even more incentive to quit.

And for the first time in 5 years, I took myself up on it. Gave notice with no immediate job lined up. Walked away from six figures and health insurance simply because I could.

So what’s next? you may ask. I’m not entirely sure.

I’ve got a few interviews lined up. Recruiters with my resume and number on their line. But nothing certain. Nothing set in stone.

And you know what? That’s what I like about it.

Some Literature

I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. 

What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room.

—Raymond Chandler (Farewell, My Lovely)