Verizon’s $20 billion Frontier acquisition wins FCC approval
Verizon’s $20 billion deal to acquire the fiber internet provider Frontier is officially happening. On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission signed off on the merger, which will allow Verizon to “upgrade and expand” Frontier’s existing fiber networks. Verizon expects to bring fiber to 1 million homes each year following the acquisition. The deal went through after Verizon “committed to ending DEI-related practices,” according to the FCC. Earlier this year, FCC Cha...
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Workday’s new head of product wants you to like Workday as much as he does
Today, I’m talking with Gerrit Kazmaier, the new president of product and technology at Workday, an enterprise software company. Decoder listeners probably know the name Workday; a lot of companies use its platform for HR and finance management, which the suits have started bundling into a phrase they call “human capital management.” I invite you to have whatever feelings you want about that. Anyhow, if you’ve been applying to jobs lately, you have certainly run into Workday, ...
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Square’s $399 Handheld accepts tap-to-pay at your table
The new Square Handheld POS device is roughly the same size as a large phone. The Square Handheld is available today for $399 with support for traditional card transactions and tap-to-pay, scanning products, and managing inventory, all from a single device. That should bring tap-to-pay acceptance without an iPhone to more places in the businesses and restaurants where you’re already used to seeing the Square Stand and other similar setups. Weighing in at 11 ounces (about 311 grams) and m...
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Trump’s tariff plan is a potential death blow to your cheap online shopping
With President Donald Trump’s new tariff plan, your online shopping packages coming directly from China are about to get much more expensive. In February, the Trump administration moved to get rid of a little-known rule that allows US consumers to avoid tariffs on low-value packages. The de minimis exemption meant that packages valued under $800 could enter the US duty-free, and shoppers – as well as retailers – relied on the exemption regularly, even if they didn’t re...
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America is living in tariff limbo
For millions of people, any one of the many unprecedented actions in the first 100 days of the second Trump presidency was enough to show that the US is barreling toward – or has already arrived at – billionaire-helmed fascism. Sure, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has indiscriminately fired thousands of federal employees and gutted the parts of the federal government that protect everyday people. And elsewhere, government funds are being spent on arre...
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Brendan Carr’s FCC is an anti-consumer, rights-trampling harassment machine
In less than 100 days the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been converted from a media and telecom watchdog into a bizarre, rights-trampling grievance machine built for one purpose: to coddle and protect the ego of President Donald J. Trump. Gone is the agency that used to occasionally care about whether broadband maps were accurate or if consumers are being ripped off by sneaky cable industry fees. Gone is the agency that sometimes cared about media consolidation, or had begun tak...
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Shein and Temu raise prices in response to Trump tariffs
Donald Trump’s staggering tariffs on Chinese imports have hit nearly every category of consumer goods, from electronics and automobiles to clothing and footwear. One of the most vulnerable industries is the ultracheap e-commerce sites like Shein, Temu, and AliExpress that American shoppers have become accustomed to. It is already showing signs of a bloodbath. Last week Shein and Temu warned shoppers that price increases were coming on April 25th. A spot-check of prices on Shein show mod...
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Tesla’s revenue and profits tank amid political chaos
Tesla released its first quarter financial earnings today, offering another peak into the crisis currently enveloping Elon Musk’s company. Tesla said it earned $409 million in net income on $19.3 billion in revenue. That represents a 9.4 percent decrease year over year compared to $21.3 billion in revenue in Q1 2024 and a stunning 71 decrease in net income. The company’s automotive revenue — the money is earns from car sales — slid 20 percent year over year, from $17.4 billi...
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