#Factory Automation Market share

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting “Capitalists Hate Capitalism”

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

This week on my podcast, I read "Capitalists Hate Capitalism," my latest column for Locus Magazine:

https://locusmag.com/2024/03/cory-doctorow-capitalists-hate-capitalism/

What do I mean by "capitalists hate capitalism?" It all comes down to the difference between "profits" and "rents." A capitalist takes capital (money, or the things you can buy with it) and combines it with employees' labor, and generates profits (the capitalist's share) and wages (the workers' share).

Rents, meanwhile, come from owning an asset that capitalists need to generate profits. For example, a landlord who rents a storefront to a coffee shop extracts rent from the capitalist who owns the coffee shop. Meanwhile, the capitalist who owns the cafe extracts profits from the baristas' labor.

Capitalists' founding philosophers like Adam Smith hated rents. Worse: rents were the most important source of income at the time of capitalism's founding. Feudal lords owned great swathes of land, and there were armies of serfs who were bound to that land – it was illegal for them to leave it. The serfs owed rent to lords, and so they worked the land in order grow crops and raise livestock that they handed over the to lord as rent for the land they weren't allowed to leave.

Capitalists, meanwhile, wanted to turn that land into grazing territory for sheep as a source of wool for the "dark, Satanic mills" of the industrial revolution. They wanted the serfs to be kicked off their land so that they would become "free labor" that could be hired to work in those factories.

For the founders of capitalism, a "free market" wasn't free from regulation, it was free from rents, and "free labor" came from workers who were free to leave the estates where they were born – but also free to starve unless they took a job with the capitalists.

For capitalism's philosophers, free markets and free labor weren't just a source of profits, they were also a source of virtue. Capitalists – unlike lords – had to worry about competition from one another. They had to make better goods at lower prices, lest their customers take their business elsewhere; and they had to offer higher pay and better conditions, lest their "free labor" take a job elsewhere.

This means that capitalists are haunted by the fear of losing everything, and that fear acts as a goad, driving them to find ways to make everything better for everyone: better, cheaper products that benefit shoppers; and better-paid, safer jobs that benefit workers. For Smith, capitalism is alchemy, a philosopher's stone that transforms the base metal of greed into the gold of public spiritedness.

By contrast, rentiers are insulated from competition. Their workers are bound to the land, and must toil to pay the rent no matter whether they are treated well or abused. The rent rolls in reliably, without the lord having to invest in new, better ways to bring in the harvest. It's a good life (for the lord).

Think of that coffee-shop again: if a better cafe opens across the street, the owner can lose it all, as their customers and workers switch allegiance. But for the landlord, the failure of his capitalist tenant is a feature, not a bug. Once the cafe goes bust, the landlord gets a newly vacant storefront on the same block as the hot new coffee shop that can be rented out at even higher rates to another capitalist who tries his luck.

The industrial revolution wasn't just the triumph of automation over craft processes, nor the triumph of factory owners over weavers. It was also the triumph of profits over rents. The transformation of hereditary estates worked by serfs into part of the supply chain for textile mills was attended by – and contributed to – the political ascendancy of capitalists over rentiers.

Now, obviously, capitalism didn't end rents – just as feudalism didn't require the total absence of profits. Under feudalism, capitalists still extracted profits from capital and labor; and under capitalism, rentiers still extracted rents from assets that capitalists and workers paid them to use.

The difference comes in the way that conflicts between profits and rents were resolved. Feudalism is a system where rents triumph over profits, and capitalism is a system where profits triumph over rents.

It's conflict that tells you what really matters. You love your family, but they drive you crazy. If you side with your family over your friends – even when your friends might be right and your family's probably wrong – then you value your family more than your friends. That doesn't mean you don't value your friends – it means that you value them less than your family.

Conflict is a reliable way to know whether or not you're a leftist. As Steven Brust says, the way to distinguish a leftist is to ask "What's more important, human rights, or property rights?" If you answer "Property rights are human right," you're not a leftist. Leftists don't necessarily oppose all property rights – they just think they're less important than human rights.

Think of conflicts between property rights and human rights: the grocer who deliberately renders leftover food inedible before putting it in the dumpster to ensure that hungry people can't eat it, or the landlord who keeps an apartment empty while a homeless person freezes to death on its doorstep. You don't have to say "No one can own food or a home" to say, "in these cases, property rights are interfering with human rights, so they should be overridden." For leftists property rights can be a means to human rights (like revolutionary land reformers who give peasants title to the lands they work), but where property rights interfere with human rights, they are set aside.

In his 2023 book Technofeudalism, Yanis Varoufakis claims that capitalism has given way to a new feudalism – that capitalism was a transitional phase between feudalism…and feudalism:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital

Varoufakis's point isn't that capitalists have gone extinct. Rather, it's that today, conflicts between capital and assets – between rents and profits – reliably end with a victory of rent over profit.

Think of Amazon: the "everything store" appears to be a vast bazaar, a flea-market whose stalls are all operated by independent capitalists who decide what to sell, how to price it, and then compete to tempt shoppers. In reality, though, the whole system is owned by a single feudalist, who extracts 51% from every dollar those merchants take in, and decides who can sell, and what they can sell, and at what price, and whether anyone can even see it:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/01/managerial-discretion/#junk-fees

Or consider the patent trolls of the Eastern District of Texas. These "companies" are invisible and produce nothing. They consist solely of a serviced mailbox in a dusty, uninhabited office-building, and an overbroad patent (say, a patent on "tapping on a screen with your finger") issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office. These companies extract hundreds of millions of dollars from Apple, Google, Samsung for violating these patents. In other words, the government steps in and takes vast profits generated through productive activity by companies that make phones, and turns that money over as rent paid to unproductive companies whose sole "product" is lawsuits. It's the triumph of rent over profit.

Capitalists hate capitalism. All capitalists would rather extract rents than profits, because rents are insulated from competition. The merchants who sell on Jeff Bezos's Amazon (or open a cafe in a landlord's storefront, or license a foolish smartphone patent) bear all the risk. The landlords – of Amazon, the storefront, or the patent – get paid whether or not that risk pays off.

This is why Google, Apple and Samsung also have vast digital estates that they rent out to capitalists – everything from app stores to patent portfolios. They would much rather be in the business of renting things out to capitalists than competing with capitalists.

Hence that famous Adam Smith quote: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." This is literally what Google and Meta do:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_Blue

And it's what Apple and Google do:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/27/23934961/google-antitrust-trial-defaults-search-deal-26-3-billion

Why compete with one another when you can collude, like feudal lords with adjacent estates who trust one another to return any serf they catch trying to sneak away in the dead of night?

Because of course, it's not just "free markets" that have been captured by rents ("Competition is for losers" -P. Thiel) – it's also "free labor." For years, the largest tech and entertainment companies in America illegally colluded on a "no poach" agreement not to hire one-anothers' employees:

https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/03/apple-google-other-silicon-valley-tech-giants-ordered-to-pay-415m-in-no-poaching-suit/

These companies were bitter competitors – as were these sectors. Even as Big Content was lobbying for farcical copyright law expansions and vowing to capture Big Tech, all these companies on both sides were able to set aside their differences and collude to bind their free workers to their estates and end the "wasteful competition" to secure their labor.

Of course, this is even more pronounced at the bottom of the labor market, where noncompete "agreements" are the norm. The median American worker bound by a noncompete is a fast-food worker whose employer can wield the power of the state to prevent that worker from leaving behind the Wendy's cash-register to make $0.25/hour more at the McDonald's fry trap across the street:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal

Employers defend this as necessary to secure their investment in training their workers and to ensure the integrity of their trade secrets. But why should their investments be protected? Capitalism is about risk, and the fear that accompanies risk – fear that drives capitalists to innovate, which creates the public benefit that is the moral justification for capitalism.

Capitalists hate capitalism. They don't want free labor – they want labor bound to the land. Capitalists benefit from free labor: if you have a better company, you can tempt away the best workers and cause your inferior rival to fail. But feudalists benefit from un-free labor, from tricks like "bondage fees" that force workers to pay in order to quit their jobs:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/21/bondage-fees/#doorman-building

Companies like Petsmart use "training repayment agreement provisions" (TRAPs) to keep low-waged workers from leaving for better employers. Petsmart says it costs $5,500 to train a pet-groomer, and if that worker is fired, laid off, or quits less than two years, they have to pay that amount to Petsmart:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/04/its-a-trap/#a-little-on-the-nose

Now, Petsmart is full of shit here. The "four-week training course" Petsmart claims is worth $5,500 actually only lasts for three weeks. What's more, the "training" consists of sweeping the floor and doing other low-level chores for three weeks, without pay.

But even if Petsmart were to give $5,500 worth of training to every pet-groomer, this would still be bullshit. Why should the worker bear the risk of Petsmart making a bad investment in their training? Under capitalism, risks justify rewards. Petsmart's argument for charging $50 to groom your dog and paying the groomer $15 for the job is that they took $35 worth of risk. But some of that risk is being borne by the worker – they're the ones footing the bill for the training.

For Petsmart – as for all feudalists – a worker (with all the attendant risks) can be turned into an asset, something that isn't subject to competition. Petsmart doesn't have to retain workers through superior pay and conditions – they can use the state's contract-enforcement mechanism instead.

Capitalists hate capitalism, but they love feudalism. Sure, they dress this up by claiming that governmental de-risking spurs investment: "Who would pay to train a pet-groomer if that worker could walk out the next day and shave dogs for some competing shop?"

But this is obvious nonsense. Think of Silicon Valley: high tech is the most "IP-intensive" of all industries, the sector that has had to compete most fiercely for skilled labor. And yet, Silicon Valley is in California, where noncompetes are illegal. Every single successful Silicon Valley company has thrived in an environment in which their skilled workers can walk out the door at any time and take a job with a rival company.

There's no indication that the risk of free labor prevents investment. Think of AI, the biggest investment bubble in human history. All the major AI companies are in jurisdictions where noncompetes are illegal. Anthropic – OpenAI's most serious competitor – was founded by a sister/brother team who quit senior roles at OpenAI and founded a direct competitor. No one can claim with a straight face that OpenAI is now unable to raise capital on favorable terms.

What's more, when OpenAI founder Sam Altman was forced out by his board, Microsoft offered to hire him – and 700 other OpenAI personnel – to found an OpenAI competitor. When Altman returned to the company, Microsoft invested more money in OpenAI, despite their intimate understanding that anyone could hire away the company's founder and all of its top technical staff at any time.

The idea that the departure of the Burger King trade secrets locked up in its workers' heads constitute more of a risk to the ability to operate a hamburger restaurant than the departure of the entire technical staff of OpenAI is obvious nonsense. Noncompetes aren't a way to make it possible to run a business – they're a way to make it easy to run a business, by eliminating competition and pushing the risk onto employees.

Because capitalists hate capitalism. And who can blame them? Who wouldn't prefer a life with less risk to one where you have to constantly look over your shoulder for competitors who've found a way to make a superior offer to your customers and workers?

This is why businesses are so excited about securing "IP" – that is, a government-backed right to control your workers, customers, competitors or critics:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

The argument for every IP right expansion is the same: "Who would invest in creating something new without the assurance that some­one else wouldn’t copy and improve on it and put them out of business?"

That was the argument raised five years ago, during the (mercifully brief) mania for genre writers seeking trademarks on common tropes. There was the romance writer who got a trademark on the word "cocky" in book titles:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/16/17566276/cockygate-amazon-kindle-unlimited-algorithm-self-published-romance-novel-cabal

And the fantasy writer who wanted a trademark on "dragon slayer" in fantasy novel titles:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/06/14/son-of-cocky-a-writer-is-trying-to-trademark-dragon-slayer-for-fantasy-novels/

Who subsequently sought a trademark on any book cover featuring a person holding a weapon:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/07/19/trademark-troll-who-claims-to-own-dragon-slayer-now-wants-exclusive-rights-to-book-covers-where-someone-is-holding-a-weapon/

For these would-be rentiers, the logic was the same: "Why would I write a book about a dragon-slayer if I could lose readers to someone else who writes a book about dragon-slayers?"

In these cases, the USPTO denied or rescinded its trademarks. Profits triumphed over rents. But increasingly, rents are triumphing over profits, and rent-extraction is celebrated as "smart business," while profits are for suckers, only slightly preferable to "wages" (the worst way to get paid under both capitalism and feudalism).

That's what's behind all the talk about "passive income" – that's just a euphemism for "rent." It's what Douglas Rushkoff is referring to in Survival of the Richest when he talks about the wealthy wanting to "go meta":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/13/collapse-porn/#collapse-porn

Don't drive a cab – go meta and buy a medallion. Don't buy a medallion, go meta and found Uber. Don't found Uber, go meta and invest in Uber. Don't invest in Uber, go meta and buy options on Uber stock. Don't buy Uber stock options, go meta and buy derivatives of options on Uber stock.

"Going meta" means distancing yourself from capitalism – from income derived from profits, from competition, from risk – and cozying up to feudalism.

Capitalists have always hated capitalism. The owners of the dark Satanic mills wanted peasants turned off the land and converted into "free labor" – but they also kidnapped Napoleonic war-orphans and indentured them to ten-year terms of service, which was all you could get out of a child's body before it was ruined for further work:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/26/enochs-hammer/#thats-fronkonsteen

When Varoufakis says we've entered a new feudal age, he doesn't mean that we've abolished capitalism. He means that – for the first time in centuries – when rents go to war against profits – the rents almost always emerge victorious.

Here's the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2024/04/14/capitalists-hate-capitalism/

Here's a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive; they'll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_465/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_465_-_Capitalists_Hate_Capitalism.mp3

And here's the RSS feed for my podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/18/in-extremis-veritas/#the-winnah

[probablyasocialecologist]

Today, the label luddite is an epithet for someone afraid of technology and the change it can bring. Merchant’s book makes clear that Luddites did not fear automation in the sense of being afraid of the machines or longing for an idyllic past. On the contrary, as Merchant points out, clothworkers were often themselves intimately engaged in improving the technology they used. Some of them proposed paying for job retraining by taxing factory owners who implemented the automating machines, earning the workers the title of “some of the earliest policy futurists,” according to Merchant. These efforts—to use official channels at the local and parliamentary levels—failed, however. With their futures rapidly foreclosing, the clothworkers invoked the fictional Ned Ludd (alternatively, Ludlam), an apprentice stocking-frame knitter in the late 1700s who, the story went, responded to his master whipping him by destroying the machine. Inspired by his act of sabotage against a cruel employer, the Luddites campaigned to halt the spread of the “obnoxious machines.” Soon factory owners found threatening letters signed by Captain Ludd or General Ludd or King Ludd. The letters also allude to another hero of working people from Nottingham, Robin Hood. Merchant argues that the mutability of Ned Ludd served as an organizing symbol akin to a playful but potent meme.

[...]

The Luddites used the tools at their disposal and did so through collective action. Merchant details the day-to-day organizing efforts of the movement’s leaders. We are ushered into a clandestine world of codes and oaths, of backroom meetings and nighttime training. The scheming makes for entertaining reading. But beneath the private planning and public sabotage lurks a more lasting lesson: movements to dismantle automation’s physical infrastructure often depend on building relational infrastructure. Tight-knit communities are extraordinarily important here: they buffered the Luddites from harm and fostered creative thinking rather than merely alienation among adherents and their allies. Increasingly finding themselves wrung out by those in power, these communities coalesced around shared causes that overlooked intragroup differences. This opened space for women, Merchant tells us, to claim the nom de guerre Lady Ludd and charge into markets to demand fair food prices from shop owners and food suppliers. It worked. The “auto-reductions,” as they were called, demonstrate the power of people working together to force change. Similarly, resistance to automation can be creative and provide openings to bring myriad others into the tent.

[crazy-pages]

The more I read economics literature about automation trends and globalization trends (the actual economics term, not the rabid racist term) and their economic impacts on developed economies, the more I realize that the fundamental picture we have been sold these things is a lie.

The general picture of automation revolutions is that they present some way of doing work more efficiently and/or to create a better product, and so market forces simply demand it. And we have to figure out how to deal with all of the lost jobs which are resulting from this. Because even in a socialist utopia, surely it would be absurd to continue forcing people to use old and outdated technology to do work less efficiently just so they could have work to do, right? Maybe the socialist utopia will take care of people displaced by this work better, but the displacement will still happen.

Except then I start reading about the actual history in the actual economics of automation revolutions (I recommend Blood In The Machine for a history of the Luddites and the automated textile revolution in Britain). And that's not what happens even a single time. These automated revolutions increase the cost per unit to create a good! They make the quality worse! And the existing workers get displaced, and replaced with oppressed or even outright enslaved labors who make nothing in worse conditions! They didn't even actually reduce the amount of labor involved significantly, they just started working orphan slaves 80-90 hours a week rather than artisan workers doing 30-35, to "reduce" the labor involved by reducing the number of laborers. It seems like no one benefits from this. So why is it happening!?

Well the answer is simple. The machine looms were less efficient, created lower quality products, and were worse for every single person in every sector of the economy ... except insofar as that they enabled a more unequal economy. The textile industry itself made less profit. The world itself had worse and less textiles. But the machine loom owners specifically made more money, because machine rooms enabled more control over workers in ways which could be used to relegate them to an even smaller share of the smaller profits. And they didn't outcompete others by being better, they did it through regulatory capture, illegal business practices, outright fraud, and by having a pre-existing place of power in their society.

The same applies to the classic story of Ford and his great automobile factory model. Sure it produced a lot of cars at low prices, but what the history doesn't tell you is that a bunch of other automobile companies which weren't using the factory model were putting out their own cars similar cost. Sure they weren't scaling up as fast, but everyone involved was making good money and the market kept on producing more companies to fill the gap. Ford made the decision to sell to a new lower cost car market sure, but he did not make a better profit margin per dollar of car purchases than his competitors did. He made significantly worse actually because he had such hideous turnover at his factories, and his cars were of lower quality than non-factory line cars aimed at the same market could be.

So why the hell did the entire automobile industry follow in his wake? Well, because he personally was making an insane amount of money. The factory line model let him simplify the production chain in a way which cut out a lot of people who previously been making good salaries, and it let him replace well paid laborers with dirt cheap labor. (Despite the hubbub about how good Ford's factory jobs paid, they only paid well relative to other no skill no training work available. They paid much worse than the skilled laborers he fired had made.)

And the people who controlled how the car manufacturing process worked were the people who would stand to make money by switching over.

The same is true for globalization. When a berry monopoly which controls 60% of all berry sales in the US does so by importing berries from South America, from varieties optimized for durability rather than flavor, that isn't cheaper than growing them at home. Not even with the higher cost of labor in the US. Not even if you actually paid farm hands a good wage rather than by abusing undocumented workers who can't fight back as effectively. The transport costs are too high.

All across the US food sector we have examples of food monopolies exporting produce production overseas in ways that make the final product more expensive for the customer, and lower quality at the same time. Why!?

Well because it allows them to access even more vulnerable labor markets. So even though the whole pie shrinks, the company owners get a bigger enough cut of the pie to make up for it.

The lie of automation and globalization of work and the damage it does to developed economies is just that, a lie. It is not economically predestined for this stuff to happen. Alternatives are not predestined to be competed out of the market. Unless, of course, ownership of profits is concentrated in only a few hands. Unless what's being competed for isn't net profit or net service provided or net quality of goods, but how much profit you can localize in capital owners.

If that's the actual competition, and of course it is because the people making decisions for companies also own those companies, only then does job automation and the presence of exploitable overseas labor devastate economies.

If laborers actually owned their places of business piecemeal, the motivation for these kinds of economic shocks would largely dry up. Like, sure, labor saving devices get invented sometimes and you need less people to do the same work. And sure, sometimes work can be done overseas for cheaper because standards of living at lower or because there's some comparative economic advantage. But that is not actually what is happening most of the time this stuff occurs.

If there's one thing I've learned studying this stuff, it's that genuine examples of net gain automation are less common than we think, and tend to be implemented on fairly slower timelines. Same for globalization of work. What is very common is ways in which already unequal systems of ownership and decision making and profit can be made more unequal. And the only fix I can imagine is fundamentally changing and democratizing how businesses operate, and how we handle concepts of ownership.

[marta-bee]

News of the Day 6/11/25: AI

Paywall free.

More seriously, from the NY Times:

"For Some Recent Graduates, the A.I. Job Apocalypse May Already Be Here" (Paywall Free)

You can see hints of this in the economic data. Unemployment for recent college graduates has jumped to an unusually high 5.8 percent in recent months, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently warned that the employment situation for these workers had “deteriorated noticeably.” Oxford Economics, a research firm that studies labor markets, found that unemployment for recent graduates was heavily concentrated in technical fields like finance and computer science, where A.I. has made faster gains. [...] Using A.I. to automate white-collar jobs has been a dream among executives for years. (I heard them fantasizing about it in Davos back in 2019.) But until recently, the technology simply wasn’t good enough. You could use A.I. to automate some routine back-office tasks — and many companies did — but when it came to the more complex and technical parts of many jobs, A.I. couldn’t hold a candle to humans. That is starting to change, especially in fields, such as software engineering, where there are clear markers of success and failure. (Such as: Does the code work or not?) In these fields, A.I. systems can be trained using a trial-and-error process known as reinforcement learning to perform complex sequences of actions on their own. Eventually, they can become competent at carrying out tasks that would take human workers hours or days to complete.

I've been hearing my whole life how automation was coming for all our jobs. First it was giant robots replacing big burly men on factory assembly lines. Now it seems to be increasingly sophisticated bits of code coming after paper-movers like me. I'm not sure we're there yet, quite, but the NYT piece does make a compelling argument that we're getting close.

The real question is, why is this a bad thing? And the obvious answer is people need to support themselves, and every job cut is one less person who can do that. But what I really mean is, if we can get the outputs we need to live well with one less person having to put in a day's work to get there, what does it say about us that we haven't worked out a way to make that a good thing?

Put another way, how come we haven't worked out a better way to share resources and get everyone what they need to thrive when we honestly don't need as much labor-hours for them to "earn" it as we once did?

I don't have the solution, but if some enterprising progressive politician wants to get on that, they could do worse. I keep hearing how Democrats need bold new ideas directed to helping the working class.

More on the Coming AI-Job-Pocalypse

I’m a LinkedIn Executive. I See the Bottom Rung of the Career Ladder Breaking. (X)

Paul Krugman: “What Deindustrialization Can Teach Us About The Effects of AI on Workers” (X)

How AI agents are transforming work—and why human talent still matters (X)

AI agents will do programmers' grunt work (X)

At Amazon, Some Coders Say Their Jobs Have Begun to Resemble Warehouse Work (X)

Why Esther Perel is going all in on saving the American workforce in the age of AI

Junior analysts, beware: Your coveted and cushy entry-level Wall Street jobs may soon be eliminated by AI (X)

The biggest barrier to AI adoption in the business world isn’t tech – it’s user confidence  (X)

Experts predicted that artificial intelligence would steal radiology jobs. But at the Mayo Clinic, the technology has been more friend than foe. (X)

AI Will Devastate the Future of Work. But Only If We Let It (X)

AI in the workplace is nearly 3 times more likely to take a woman’s job as a man’s, UN report finds (X)

Klarna CEO predicts AI-driven job displacement will cause a recession (X)

& on AI Generally

19th-century Catholic teachings, 21st-century tech: How concerns about AI guided Pope Leo’s choice of name (X)

Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence? (X)

Two Paths for A.I. (X)

The Danger of Outsourcing Our Brains: Counting on AI to learn for us makes humans boring, awkward, and gullible. (X)

AI Is a Weapon Pointed at America. Our Best Defense Is Education. (X)

The Trump administration has asked artificial intelligence publishers to rebalance what it considers to be 'ideological bias' around actions like protecting minorities and banning hateful content. (X)

What is Google even for anymore? (X)

AI can spontaneously develop human-like communication, study finds

AI Didn’t Invent Desire, But It’s Rewiring Human Sex And Intimacy (X)

Mark Zuckerberg Wants AI to Solve America’s Loneliness Crisis. It Won’t. (X)

The growing environmental impact of AI data centers’ energy demands

Tesla Is Launching Robotaxis in Austin. Safety Advocates Are Concerned (X)

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act would ban states from regulating AI (X)

& on the Job-Pocalypse & Other Labor-Related Shenanigans Generally, Too

What Unions Face With Trump EOs (X)

AI may be exposing jobseekers to discrimination. Here’s how we could better protect them (X)

Jamie Dimon says he’s not against remote workers—but they ‘will not tell JPMorgan what to do’  (X)

Direct-selling schemes are considered fringe businesses, but their values have bled into the national economy. (X)

Are you "functionally unemployed"? Here's what the unemployment rate doesn't show. (X)

Being monitored at work? A new report calls for tougher workplace surveillance controls  (X)

Josh Hawley and the Republican Effort to Love Labor (X)

Karl Marx’s American Boom (X)

Hiring slows in U.S. amid uncertainty over Trump’s trade wars

Vanishing immigration is the ‘real story’ for the economy and a bigger supply shock than tariffs, analyst says (X)

[learnandturn]

Hi, I hope you're doing well. I'm writing to you with a heavy heart and an urgent request for help. My family is in a very danger situation due to the ongoing war, and I've launched a GoFundMe campaign to save them. Could you please share my campaign post from my profile? Each share could be a lifeline for my family. 🙏 Feel free to share it in any other social media platform if you would like. Our campaign has been verified ⭐️ by operation olive branch, and is entry number 26 on their spreadsheet. Also with ⭐️ Project watermelon,line 249/(212) on their spreadsheet. From the bottom of my heart I want to thank you in advance for all of your support and kindness.

Please help Haya get her family to safety. I started this blog to be a studyblr and am mutuals with a lot of studyblrs. Think of all of the students and their families stuck in Gaza. Their universities are destroyed and their lives are in danger. Haya's family has only reached 81,114 of the 100,000 they need to get to safety. If you are able, please help them reunite with their brother in Belgium.

From Haya's campaign:

Dear Humanity,

I'm Haya from Gaza , from a family of 8 people: my parents, two sons, and four daughters (two of them suffer from allergies).

I've witnessed the evidence of the tragedy that has struck our lives in Gaza, where my family and I have survived amidst numerous previous wars. But today, we face the most dangerous and fierce battle in the current war. The urgent need intensifies for us, as we have nothing left and are unable to secure our basic needs such as food, water, and safe shelter.

Here is our story - On October 7th, our lives changed forever, my family and I evacuated from northern Gaza to southern Gaza, hoping to return soon, but it wasn't meant to be. Our home was surrounded, burned, and then completely destroyed, Our home, once a fortress of hope, now lay in ruins, a stark reminder of our shattered dreams.

The night before we left from the north to the south was terrifying. Shelling sounds were everywhere, making a loud noise that felt like it went through our souls. Every explosions shook the ground like earthquakes, sending shockwaves of fear through our trembling bodies. filling us with fear. The air smelled of destruction and blood, making it hard to breathe. When dawn came, we saw the devastation around us, realizing our home was now a symbol of loss and despair.

We ran into the streets and with each step we took into the unknown streets, we felt as if we were plunging deeper into the abyss of our shattered existence, leaving behind everything we own in our home: Clothes, important official documents, the car, and literally it's almost everything - the enormity of our loss weighed heavily upon us.

Our home it was where we found hope, safety, and made precious memories. Losing it felt like losing years of our lives, leaving us adrift amidst the wreckage of our shattered existence.

Desperate Plea: Escaping Gaza's Allergy Nightmare

I, Haya, suffer from severe allergy to penicillin-derived medications, and my sister, Amal, also suffers from severe allergies to medications from my family such as Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.

These allergies create a deep sense of fear and anxiety for us, as we live in a constant state of tension and fear of anything that may require a visit to the hospital. We fear being given inappropriate medications due to the unavailability of suitable treatments in Gaza because of war or lack of awareness and not informing the doctor of our allergies, which could lead to serious consequences threatening our lives.

This situation breeds a storm of doubts and worries, so we appeal to you to help us leave Gaza and rid ourselves of the anxiety and fear due to allergies.

My father owns an automated food factory that produces a popular dish called "Maf'toul," named "Couscos Al-Sham." He established it in 1996 and distributed its products to all markets in the Gaza Strip, both north and south. Recently, he was seeking to export his product outside the Gaza Strip. However, when the war came, his factory was completely destroyed, ceased operation, and my father's income became zero.

Our dreams are heading towards oblivion in the labyrinth of an uncertain future

My story, along with my siblings, represents a united team of four individuals, three of whom are skilled programmers and one graphic designer. We work as freelancers in the world of freelancing.

Since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, our lives have come to a complete halt. There's no work, no workplace, not even electricity or communication. Our workplace was destroyed, and the entire infrastructure in our area was crippled, leading to the loss of all our projects and sources of income. Thus, my family and I have become without any means of livelihood.

As for my younger sister, she is a student studying at the College of Architecture. She has always carried a big dream in her heart, a dream of being part of changing Gaza, of making it more beautiful and better. She looked forward to the day when she would receive her degree and start building this dream. But the beginning of the war changed everything. The destruction of infrastructure and universities cast shadows of despair over her dreams.

Despite this, she continues to dream, working diligently to rebuild Gaza, to achieve her vision of a city full of life and beauty. Her story remains a story of resilience and hope, carrying within it a strong determination to succeed despite all challenges.

When I think of my brother in Belgium, I can't help but feel deep sadness. He has been suffering from unbearable anxiety and insomnia since the outbreak of the war. Sleep eludes him at night, and his physical and mental health collapses under the weight of these heavy burdens, negatively affecting his performance at work. Problems and challenges pile up in front of him without the slightest opportunity for rest.

We all feel psychological pressure and extreme anxiety. The war hasn't been limited to external attacks but has deeply infiltrated our daily lives. We search among the rubble for a little safety and the basic resources for survival. Every day comes with a new challenge that we must overcome.

As we sway amidst the rubble of shattered dreams, our souls wrestle and our hearts beat strongly challenging the ravages of war.

Our parents earnestly seek a way to rescue us from this hell, feeling the heavy responsibility for every moment we spend under the shadows of fear and destruction. They dream of a safe place where they can build for us a better future, filled with security and hope, for we deserve life in all its meanings of comfort and peace.

Perhaps this fundraising campaign represents a light in the midst of darkness, it is indeed the only hope we cling to firmly.

I appeal to the world as a whole to hear my cry and the mournful cry of my family in Gaza. We need the helping hand that reaches out to wipe our tears and build a bridge to safety.

Your donation is not just a donation; it's an opportunity to rebuild life and brighten a better tomorrow. Be part of our hopeful story, for we need your hand to start anew.

The purpose of the fundraising campaign

The goal of this fundraising campaign is to rescue my family - my parents, my siblings, and me - through the Rafah Crossing to Egypt, which currently requires $5000 per person. This campaign is our only chance to stay alive, and I humbly request your assistance at this critical time. I will provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of the expenses, committing to transparency and clarity.

Breakdown of Expenses

• Passport fees: €135 per person (a total of €945 for seven family members)

• Rafah/Egypt crossing: €5000 per person (a total of €35,000 for seven family members)

• Minimum living costs: €1,700 per month (a total of €10,200 for six months)

Thank you for your kindness and support.

.جزاكم الله خيراً

yours sincerely;

Haya Alshawish.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

The Problems With Work

We face a number of challenges for the concept we know of as ‘work’. Some of these challenges are relatively new, such as the AI revolution happening now, and some are more long term, like increasing specialisation and the failure of many jobs to provide any real meaning or purpose for the worker doing them. The problems with work are multifaceted and many. Indeed, the very idea of work may be outdated and irrelevant in our rapidly changing economic landscape. You may be surprised at the number of us who now garner most of their contentment in life from other sources outside of their main income generating occupation.

Work Fast Becoming An Obsolete Idea

The excitement in the global economy at the moment, represented by the share price of the tech stocks in the US, is all about AI. The continuing replacement of technical and middle management jobs with AI programs will see work fast becoming an obsolete idea for many previously employed within these sectors of the economy. There has been a disconnect between the kind of jobs many have been performing and the level of satisfaction which can come from a job well done, as that experience is becoming rarer all the time. The loss of manufacturing jobs in Western economies, as they were moved offshore to developing countries where wages were much lower, directly contributed to the demise of job satisfaction levels for many having to make do with jobs in the gig economy. Being involved in making something can offer the participant a purpose, even if they only play a part in the overall process. Mechanisation and automation have been reducing human involvement in manufacturing for some time now. Capitalism and businesses focus on the bottom line, seeing the labour input as just numbers in the overall profit and loss equation. The trend toward greater concentration within industries has seen companies merge and swallow up their smaller rivals. This has resulted in greater investment in technologies which replace humans with machines. AI is another leap in this direction to include white collar jobs upstairs and not just on the factory floor.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Work Dominated By Corporate Concentration

Globally we see markets dominated by duopolies and oligopolies in every sector. Huge corporations with massive market power that belittles consumers and their ability to influence prices. We have witnessed the rise of these corporate behemoths, which have way more power, an imbalance of power, in relation to their customers and their workers. Governments have been complicit in allowing these companies to merge and thus remove competitive forces from their markets. Corporate lobbyists have bought the ears of elected representatives to have their way with oversight committees. Government agencies have been neutered by companies poaching their staff in return for better wages and other more shady means. The end result is that human beings are treated as secondary to company profits and shareholder dividends. If you really think about this for a second it is totally crazy, we are sacrificing our brothers and sisters within workforces for a select few who benefit financially from the success of these corporate entities. We are further sacrificing, many more of us who are the consumers of, in lots of instances, these essential services or products in terms of the higher prices we are paying at the checkout. Millions of human beings are being shafted for a minority. This goes on in the AI revolution, where these same few are overseeing the uptake of a technology designed to directly replace human beings. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot as a species. We value making greater profits at the expense of creating a world where humans are bereft of having the dignity of work. The craziness of this is there for all to see. More alarmed experts among us are warning about the very real dangers of AI terminating our existence in the foreseeable future as a matter of course. If we continue to value machines over humans, this is a very real and present danger. The recent Microsoft CrowdStrike blue screen of death IT outage is an example of our overreliance on one company providing computer servers for networks and essential services like airline travel, government administrative services, and businesses everywhere. We are putting too many eggs in the one basket because of the over-concentration of corporate power in the IT sector.

Photo by Pranavsinh suratia on Pexels.com Capitalism Cannibalising Us For More Profits You can see this happening with our current set up because capitalism overrides all other concerns in its endless desire for ever greater levels of profitability. Governments are becoming smaller and weaker in comparison to these giant corporate entities. Most multinational corporations pay very little tax, as they move their profits around to tax free shelters. Governments have been decidedly unsuccessful in reversing this trend through new legislation. Big business and their accountancy firms always seem to have the ear of our politicians. Government services are dependent upon taxation revenue to provide the necessary levels demanded by their citizens. Health, education, national security, and social services are still largely dependent upon governments for their revenue to operate effectively. It is the poorer workers who carry the greatest load via income tax, whilst the big end of town engages enough accountants to legally avoid and minimise their tax requirements. The privatisation of many government services over the last 40 years, since Reagan, has seen a whole host of sectors now serviced by private equity run firms. Some have been effective, but many have not. Health is not a sector best served by ‘for profit’ concerns, as there are real problems when corners are cut, and costs screwed down to the detriment of people’s lives. Hospitals, private hospitals, are run like billion-dollar corporations where the pharmaceutical giants retain massive influence over how things are run. Medical insurance is another factor which has made America the most expensive place in the world to get treatment in a private hospital. More Americans are pushed into bankruptcy on the back of their outrageous medical bills than for any other single reason. Workers Run Second To Shareholders & Investors The problems with work can be manifold. The demise of union power in most Western economies has coincided with stagnant wage growth over the last three decades. The power has shifted to and resides with the corporations over the workers. The current cost of living crisis borne on high inflation post pandemic has seen the wages of most workers fall further behind in its buying power. The housing crisis, which is happening globally in Europe, Australia, the UK, Canada, and the States, has seen rents go through the roof, rising by 30% in many instances. This is highly inflationary. Food, energy, insurance, and housing costs have been rising for the last 3 years making the lives of workers much harder. So, not only has the satisfaction levels at the kind of jobs we do dramatically dropped but the return on our labour has also gone down. Governments and central banks value shareholders far more than workers within their equations. This has been going for more than 3 decades now. Even labour sided governments have been operating under the neoliberal economic model for the last 30 years. Clinton in the US, Blair in Britain, and the Labor governments in Australia have put their faith in the privatisation of government services paradigm to the detriment of many of their citizens. Workers have been classed as second-class concerns for too long in the shadow of the glorification of corporatisation and privatisation. Banks have become massively wealthy via their corporate concentration and market share. Banks no longer trumpet the absolute security of their depositor’s funds, instead they primarily provide the convenience of digital transactional exchange for a fee. User pays is the name of the game in the 21C – the rentier economy where subscriptions, fees and charges have replaced the need to increase productivity to be highly profitable. Every sector operates in this manner now – renting out IP, access, mining rights, and such like to customers and other businesses. Labour does not rate highly within this economic model and the future for workers does not look rosy on this score. Those in power at the big end of town do not value human beings and are actively investing in technologies to further reduce their reliance on the human factor. It is insane when viewed from a holistic perspective and when regarding the health and wellbeing of humanity. We are all being overtly betrayed by a cohort of CEOs, economists, accountants, investors, and billionaire entrepreneurs. The stupidity is next level, and the likely demise of humanity is on the cards.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com The Mania For Machines & AI There is no one capable of arresting this momentum. The President of the United States is not positioned to do so, even if there was a candidate intelligent enough to wish to do so. Capitalism is a system driven by money managers of huge hedge funds, pension funds, merchant banks, investors, currency dealers, and central bankers. Politics and governments bow down to the money and share markets when push comes to shove and the next cyclical crisis is always just around the corner. The markets love technology, and the tech stocks are driving the growth in investment. There is no one person or group sane enough and with enough kudos to sway the surge toward AI. We are hurtling headlong toward our own likely demise. You may have heard of the tulip fever that infected Holland in the 17C, where an investment mania for tulips threatened their economy. Markets and investors can lose their heads, which is how we end up with crashes and economic disasters of epic proportions. Bullshit Jobs & Finding Solace In Recreation The problems with work may include it becoming largely unnecessary for the functioning of the modern economy. Let’s say AI takes over all the jobs in a futuristic world and does everything better. What are we all going to do? What are our children going to fill their lives with? What will become of the dignity of work? Will we find our purpose and meaning in recreation? Many of us already source greater meaning from our recreational interests than from our meaningless jobs. The late David Graeber wrote a book about the prevalence of Bullshit Jobs. That many jobs we do are largely unnecessary and serve little real purpose. Will the consumption of video games and the streaming of entertainments provide us with contentment within our lives? How will AI view all these parasitic human beings lolling about on the sidelines? Will we find ourselves being evaluated as surplus to requirements by the machines running the show?

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com Billionaires Shaping Our Working Lives Many of us are being herded out of work by billionaires hell bent on maximising their profits. The Elon Musk’s. The Mark Zuckerberg’s.  Jeff Bezos. Charles Koch. Bill Gates. Peter Thiel.  The power and wealth of these super wealthy individuals and their corporations are changing our worlds according to their profit motives. Democracy has been weakened and damaged by the proliferation of oligarchs. Bad billionaire’s like Putin and his ilk are involved in authoritarian regimes and organised crime on a massive scale. Our working lives are being shaped by the greed and machinations of these modern-day Lords and Princes. Soulless Jobs I know for me that my work must have some meaning, or I struggle with staying the course. Yes, economic necessities may drive me to find income generating work, but I cannot stay in a job merely for the money. If I am confronted with stupidity, meaninglessness, an absence of integrity, or nepotism in my work I rarely hang around for long in that job. Most of the positions I have left, have been, according to me, fucked up by those supposed to be driving the bus. Life is too short to stay in jobs that depress or bedevil. Devaluing Our Work The problems with work include central banks that operate on a 5% unemployment rate as their definition of full employment within their economies. This is millions of people out of work and the misery that entails factored into the spreadsheets of economists and bankers. How can that be in the 21C? Have we come such a miniscule way from the bad old days? Economics rules the roost, as we have seen via the reaction of all the central banks to the high inflation post pandemic and their quantitative easing. Raising interest rates to dampen spending and demand within the economy. This has exacerbated the housing crisis and pushed rents up even higher prolonging sticky inflation. The working poor pay the steepest price for our reliance on monetary policy over all other means of managing the health of the economy. Those who can least afford it cop it in the neck. Investors and the wealthy can ride out the tight times without undue economic pain. Working has always been a poorly performing activity in comparison to other forms of wealth creation. Labour has traditionally offered a fairly meagre return on investment. When you think about the history of chattel slavery and peonage slavery, we humans have had a pretty rotten attitude toward the labour of our fellow and sister human beings. In contrast to this, we are endlessly enamoured of technology and value this far more than our own working efforts. We are a strange lot when you think about it. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.

©HouseTherapy Read the full article

[govindhtech]

Genio 510: Redefining the Future of Smart Retail Experiences

Genio IoT Platform by MediaTek

Genio 510

Manufacturers of consumer, business, and industrial devices can benefit from MediaTek Genio IoT Platform’s innovation, quicker market access, and more than a decade of longevity. A range of IoT chipsets called MediaTek Genio IoT is designed to enable and lead the way for innovative gadgets. to cooperation and support from conception to design and production, MediaTek guarantees success. MediaTek can pivot, scale, and adjust to needs thanks to their global network of reliable distributors and business partners.

Genio 510 features

Excellent work

Broad range of third-party modules and power-efficient, high-performing IoT SoCs

AI-driven sophisticated multimedia AI accelerators and cores that improve peripheral intelligent autonomous capabilities

Interaction

Sub-6GHz 5G technologies and Wi-Fi protocols for consumer, business, and industrial use

Both powerful and energy-efficient

Adaptable, quick interfaces

Global 5G modem supported by carriers

Superior assistance

From idea to design to manufacture, MediaTek works with clients, sharing experience and offering thorough documentation, in-depth training, and reliable developer tools.

Safety

IoT SoC with high security and intelligent modules to create goods

Several applications on one common platform

Developing industry, commercial, and enterprise IoT applications on a single platform that works with all SoCs can save development costs and accelerate time to market.

MediaTek Genio 510

Smart retail, industrial, factory automation, and many more Internet of things applications are powered by MediaTek��s Genio 510. Leading manufacturer of fabless semiconductors worldwide, MediaTek will be present at Embedded World 2024, which takes place in Nuremberg this week, along with a number of other firms. Their most recent IoT innovations are on display at the event, and They’ll be talking about how these MediaTek-powered products help a variety of market sectors.

They will be showcasing the recently released MediaTek Genio 510 SoC in one of their demos. The Genio 510 will offer high-efficiency solutions in AI performance, CPU and graphics, 4K display, rich input/output, and 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connection for popular IoT applications. With the Genio 510 and Genio 700 chips being pin-compatible, product developers may now better segment and diversify their designs for different markets without having to pay for a redesign.

Numerous applications, such as digital menus and table service displays, kiosks, smart home displays, point of sale (PoS) devices, and various advertising and public domain HMI applications, are best suited for the MediaTek Genio 510. Industrial HMI covers ruggedized tablets for smart agriculture, healthcare, EV charging infrastructure, factory automation, transportation, warehousing, and logistics. It also includes ruggedized tablets for commercial and industrial vehicles.

The fully integrated, extensive feature set of Genio 510 makes such diversity possible:

Support for two displays, such as an FHD and 4K display

Modern visual quality support for two cameras built on MediaTek’s tried-and-true technologies

For a wide range of computer vision applications, such as facial recognition, object/people identification, collision warning, driver monitoring, gesture and posture detection, and image segmentation, a powerful multi-core AI processor with a dedicated visual processing engine

Rich input/output for peripherals, such as network connectivity, manufacturing equipment, scanners, card readers, and sensors

4K encoding engine (camera recording) and 4K video decoding (multimedia playback for advertising)

Exceptionally power-efficient 6nm SoC

Ready for MediaTek NeuroPilot AI SDK and multitasking OS (time to market accelerated by familiar development environment)

Support for fanless design and industrial grade temperature operation (-40 to 105C)

10-year supply guarantee (one-stop shop supported by a top semiconductor manufacturer in the world)

To what extent does it surpass the alternatives?

The Genio 510 uses more than 50% less power and provides over 250% more CPU performance than the direct alternative!

The MediaTek Genio 510 is an effective IoT platform designed for Edge AI, interactive retail, smart homes, industrial, and commercial uses. It offers multitasking OS, sophisticated multimedia, extremely rapid edge processing, and more. intended for goods that work well with off-grid power systems and fanless enclosure designs.

EVK MediaTek Genio 510

The highly competent Genio 510 (MT8370) edge-AI IoT platform for smart homes, interactive retail, industrial, and commercial applications comes with an evaluation kit called the MediaTek Genio 510 EVK. It offers many multitasking operating systems, a variety of networking choices, very responsive edge processing, and sophisticated multimedia capabilities.

SoC: MediaTek Genio 510

This Edge AI platform, which was created utilising an incredibly efficient 6nm technology, combines an integrated APU (AI processor), DSP, Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, and six cores (2×2.2 GHz Arm Cortex-A78& 4×2.0 GHz Arm Cortex-A55) into a single chip. Video recorded with attached cameras can be converted at up to Full HD resolution while using the least amount of space possible thanks to a HEVC encoding acceleration engine.

FAQS

What is the MediaTek Genio 510?

A chipset intended for a broad spectrum of Internet of Things (IoT) applications is the Genio 510.

What kind of IoT applications is the Genio 510 suited for?

Because of its adaptability, the Genio 510 may be utilised in a wide range of applications, including smart homes, healthcare, transportation, and agriculture, as well as industrial automation (rugged tablets, manufacturing machinery, and point-of-sale systems).

What are the benefits of using the Genio 510?

Rich input/output choices, powerful CPU and graphics processing, compatibility for 4K screens, high-efficiency AI performance, and networking capabilities like 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are all included with the Genio 510.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[mariacallous]

Elon Musk hasn’t been sighted at the picket lines in Missouri, Ohio, or Michigan, where autoworkers are striking against the Big Three US carmakers. Yet the influence of Musk and his non-unionized company Tesla have been everywhere since the United Auto Workers called the strike last week. In some ways, Tesla—the world’s most valuable automaker by market capitalization—set the whole thing in motion.

Tesla’s pioneering electric vehicles kicked off a new era that has turned the entire auto industry on its head. In a scramble to compete with Tesla and make that transition, the legacy automakers targeted by the current strike, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, have each pledged billions in global investment and have begun dramatically restructuring their operations. For workers, the “green jobs” being created can be scarcer and worse paying. Electric vehicle powertrains have many fewer moving parts than conventional gas-powered ones, and so they require 30 percent fewer vehicle assembly hours, according to one estimate. Plants that make EV batteries are generally outside the core, unionized auto supply chain. The United Auto Workers has seen a dramatic drop in membership due to jobs moving outside the US—it lost 45 percent of its members between 2001 and 2022. A future with more electric vehicles could mean fewer union jobs overall. “This strike is about electrification,” says Mark Barrott, an automotive analyst at the Michigan-based consultancy Plante Moran.

The new assembly plants that the legacy automakers need to pull off the transition have been stood up mostly in US states hostile to union organizing, such as Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. And because many of these plants are joint ventures between automakers and foreign battery companies, they are not subject to previous union contracts.

The UAW did not respond to a request for comment, but UAW president Shawn Fain told CNBC last week that the electric transition can’t leave workers behind. “Workers deserve their share of equity in this economy,” he said.

Tesla’s rise over recent years has also put ever-ratcheting pressure on the legacy automakers to cut costs. Including benefits, Musk’s non-unionized EV company spends $45 per hour on labor, significantly less than the $63 per hour spent in the Big Three, according to industry analysts.

Musk’s willingness to upend auto manufacturing shibboleths has also forced his legacy competitors to seek new efficiencies. Tesla led the way in building large-scale car casts, stamping out very large metal components in one go rather than making a series of small casts that have to be joined together. And it pioneered an automotive chassis building process that can be easily adapted to produce different makes and models.

Tesla’s Silicon Valley roots also helped it become the first automaker to envision the car as a software-first, iPhone-like “platform” that can be modified via over-the-air updates. And the company aims to automate more of its factories, and extract more of the materials it needs to build its batteries itself.

Tesla’s novel production ideas could soon lead the company to put even more pressure on legacy automakers. Musk said earlier this year that Tesla plans to build a new, smaller vehicle that can be made for half the production cost of its most popular (and cheapest) vehicle, the Model 3.

Musk says a lot of things, and many don’t come to pass. (The world is still waiting for the 1 million Tesla robotaxis promised by the end of 2020.) But Tesla has been disruptive enough to leave legacy automakers, including Detroit’s Big Three, “in a quest for capital,” says Marick Masters, who studies labor and workplace issues at Wayne State University's School of Business. Detroit’s automakers have made good money in the past decade—some $250 billion in profits—but also paid a significant chunk of it out in dividends. Pressure from Tesla and the EV transition it catalyzed has left them feeling as if they need every penny they can corral to keep afloat as the industry changes.

“They have little money to concede for union demands,” says Masters. The UAW’s wants include significantly higher wages, especially for workers who have joined the companies since their Great Recession and bankruptcy-era reorganizations, which left some with less pay and reduced pension and health benefits.

So far, the UAW has shown little patience for the idea that the automakers it is pressuring are cash-strapped and under competitive pressure. “Competition is a code word for race to the bottom, and I'm not concerned about Elon Musk building more rocket ships so he can fly into outer space and stuff,” UAW president Fain told CNBC last week when asked about pressure from Tesla. He has argued that production workers should receive the same pay raise received by auto executives over recent years.

When automakers have taken the opposite tack, insisting that they��re well capitalized and making plans to put them ahead of the electric car maker—well, that set up conditions for this strike too. The three American automakers are forecasted to make $32 billion in profits this year, a slight dip from last year’s 10-year high. “The more they toot their own horns about profitability, the more the union looks at them and says, ‘We want our rightful share,’” says Masters.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, but Musk has, in typical fashion, chimed in. He posted on X last week to compare working conditions at his companies with the competition, apparently seeking to turn the dispute he helped foment into a recruiting pitch. “Tesla and SpaceX factories have a great vibe. We encourage playing music and having some fun,” he wrote. “We pay more than the UAW btw, but performance expectations are also higher.” A UAW attempt to organize Tesla workers in 2017 and 2018, as the company struggled to produce its Model 3, failed. The National Labor Board ruled that Tesla violated labor laws during the organizing drive; the carmaker has appealed the decision.

[beardedmrbean]

The capital's new light rail line connecting Itäkeskus in eastern Helsinki to Espoo's Keilaniemi has only just opened, but Helsinki is already gearing up to approve funding for another suburban tramline — this time running between the northeastern suburbs of Viikki and Malmi.

The project has been dubbed Viima, or "Icy Wind."

Helsingin Sanomat said it is intended to serve a new residential area emerging in what used to be Malmi's small-craft airport. A lack of public transport in the area would make life difficult for the 25,000 residents expected to eventually live in this part of the city.

Following the recently approved tram in Vantaa, Viima is the next new streetcar project in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Chinese cash

Finland is open to Chinese money, reports Hufvudstadsbladet. The Swedish-language daily said that while Chinese firms have made fewer foreign investments since the pandemic, Finland remains interested in business from China and does not restrict the flow of Chinese Yuan into the country.

According to HBL, PM Petteri Orpo (NCP) said on Wednesday that Finland has not reconsidered its position on China or Chinese investments.

News that the Chinese company Svolt said Finland is on its list of countries where it's considering building a new battery cell factory, has drawn positive comments, including from Finland's business lobby EK.

Chinese electric cars are gaining a growing share of the European e-vehicle market, increasing Chinese interest in minerals and battery factories, HBL said.

Baby blanket theft

Tampere-based Aamulehti reports of baby blankets going missing in the city's maternity and post-natal ward.

Sharp-eyed staff have, however, noticed the fox-patterned blankets cropping up on social media. This is interesting because the Finnish manufacturer, Univiso, does not retail directly to consumers.

AL said new moms should keep in mind that the Finnish-made blankets are funded by taxpayers. In any event, extra efforts are not needed to track down the culprits. This is because the manufacturer has microchipped every blanket it sends to institutional clients, like hospitals and daycares.

Could Finland compel civil servicemen to milk cows?

There's been a positive reaction to a recent comment on a Finnish-language Yle article suggesting that civilian servicemen help alleviate some of the serious labour shortages on farms.

Milking cows, though often automated these days, is a twice-a-day routine on dairy farms.

The commenter proposed that young men carrying out civilian service, in lieu of military conscription, could step in as stand-in labour on dairy farms.

[semiconductorlogs]

Fanless Embedded System Market: Regional Analysis and Insights 2025–2032

MARKET INSIGHTS

The global Fanless Embedded System Market size was valued at US$ 1,230 million in 2024 and is projected to reach US$ 2,340 million by 2032, at a CAGR of 9.67% during the forecast period 2025-2032.

Fanless Embedded Systems are compact computing solutions designed without cooling fans, making them ideal for harsh environments where dust, vibration, or extreme temperatures are concerns. These systems incorporate processors like Intel i7, i5, i3, and Celeron, packaged in rugged enclosures that dissipate heat through passive cooling techniques. The technology enables reliable operation in industrial automation, military applications, and outdoor installations where traditional PCs would fail.

The market growth is driven by increasing adoption in Industry 4.0 applications, stringent reliability requirements in aerospace/defense sectors, and rising demand for edge computing solutions. Energy efficiency regulations and the need for maintenance-free systems in remote locations further accelerate market expansion. Key players including Advantech, AAEON, and ADLINK dominate the landscape, collectively holding over 35% market share. Recent technological advancements focus on enhanced thermal management and AI-enabled processing capabilities for real-time analytics in industrial IoT deployments.

MARKET DYNAMICS

MARKET DRIVERS

Growing Demand for Rugged and Reliable Computing Solutions to Accelerate Market Expansion

The global fanless embedded system market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing demand for rugged, reliable computing solutions across industries. These systems eliminate moving parts, reducing failure rates in harsh environments where temperature extremes, dust, and vibration are common. The military and aerospace sector accounted for nearly 28% of total market revenue in 2024, as these applications require systems capable of withstanding extreme conditions while delivering uninterrupted performance. Fanless designs also minimize maintenance requirements, offering substantial total cost of ownership advantages over traditional systems.

Energy Efficiency Requirements Driving Adoption Across Multiple Verticals

Energy efficiency has become a critical factor in industrial and commercial computing deployments. Fanless embedded systems typically consume 30-40% less power than conventional cooled systems, making them ideal for energy-conscious applications. Data centers are increasingly adopting these solutions for edge computing deployments, where power savings directly translate to operational cost reductions. The global push toward sustainable computing practices further amplifies this trend, with regulations in many regions mandating stricter energy efficiency standards for industrial equipment.

Advancements in thermal management technologies have enabled fanless systems to support increasingly powerful processors without compromising reliability. Recent product launches demonstrate this capability, with several manufacturers now offering fanless solutions supporting high-performance Intel Core i7 processors previously considered unsuitable for passive cooling configurations.

Industrial IoT Expansion Creating New Application Opportunities

The rapid growth of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) implementations represents a major growth catalyst for the fanless embedded systems market. These systems serve as ideal platforms for edge computing nodes in smart factories, providing reliable processing power in environments where traditional computers would fail. Manufacturing automation deployments increased by approximately 22% year-over-year in 2024, driving corresponding demand for rugged computing solutions. The inherent reliability of fanless systems makes them particularly suitable for continuous operation scenarios common in industrial settings.

MARKET RESTRAINTS

Thermal Limitations Constrain Performance Capabilities

While fanless embedded systems offer numerous advantages, their thermal limitations present a significant market restraint. Passive cooling designs inherently limit the maximum processing power that can be reliably supported, creating challenges for applications requiring high-performance computing. This restriction becomes particularly apparent in artificial intelligence and machine learning deployments at the edge, where processor-intensive workloads often exceed the thermal budgets of current fanless solutions. Manufacturers continue to innovate in thermal management, but the fundamental physics of heat dissipation remains a persistent challenge.

Higher Initial Costs Compared to Conventional Systems

The specialized design and materials required for effective passive cooling result in fanless embedded systems carrying a substantial price premium over traditional cooled alternatives. Entry-level fanless solutions typically cost 25-35% more than comparable actively-cooled systems, creating adoption barriers in price-sensitive market segments. While the total cost of ownership often justifies this premium through reduced maintenance and longer service life, the higher upfront investment can deter budget-constrained organizations from selecting these solutions.

Price sensitivity varies significantly by region, with developing markets showing particular resistance to the premium pricing of fanless systems. This dynamic has slowed market penetration in cost-conscious economies, despite the long-term operational benefits these solutions provide.

MARKET CHALLENGES

Balancing Performance and Thermal Design Remains a Persistent Challenge

Manufacturers face ongoing challenges in developing fanless systems that meet escalating performance demands while maintaining reliable thermal characteristics. Processor manufacturers continue to push the envelope of computing power, but thermal output increases correspondingly. This creates a technological arms race where cooling solutions must evolve rapidly to keep pace with advancing silicon capabilities. The industry has made significant progress through innovations in heat pipe technology andadvanced thermal interface materials, but fundamental limitations remain.

Design Constraints in Compact Form Factors

The push toward miniaturization presents another significant challenge for fanless embedded system designers. Smaller form factors inherently limit available surface area for heat dissipation, requiring innovative approaches to thermal management. This challenge is particularly acute in applications such as transportation and mobile deployments, where space constraints are severe. Designers must carefully balance size, performance, and thermal characteristics, often making difficult compromises that impact the final product's capabilities.

Emerging solutions include advanced phase-change materials and three-dimensional heat spreaders, but these technologies often come with cost premiums that impact market competitiveness. The industry continues to seek cost-effective solutions that overcome these physical limitations without compromising reliability or affordability.

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Edge Computing Expansion Creates New Growth Horizons

The rapid growth of edge computing represents a substantial opportunity for fanless embedded system vendors. As computing resources migrate closer to data sources, demand increases for rugged, reliable systems capable of operating in diverse environments. The edge computing market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate exceeding 19% through 2032, creating corresponding demand for suitable hardware platforms. Fanless systems are particularly well-positioned to capitalize on this trend due to their reliability advantages in unattended installations.

5G Network Deployments Driving Demand for Rugged Infrastructure

Global 5G network expansion creates significant opportunities for fanless embedded systems in telecommunications infrastructure. These systems serve as ideal platforms for small cell deployments and network edge applications where environmental protection and reliability are paramount. The transition to network function virtualization (NFV) further amplifies this opportunity, as it requires computing resources at the network periphery. Telecommunications providers increasingly recognize the value proposition of fanless solutions for these distributed deployments.

Recent technological advancements have enabled fanless systems to meet the stringent performance requirements of 5G applications, opening new revenue streams for manufacturers. Vendors that can deliver solutions combining high performance with telecommunication-grade reliability stand to capture substantial market share in this rapidly growing segment.

Healthcare Digitization Creating New Application Areas

The healthcare sector's accelerating digitization presents expanding opportunities for fanless embedded systems. These solutions are increasingly adopted for medical imaging equipment, diagnostic devices, and patient monitoring systems where silent operation and contamination prevention are critical. The elimination of fans reduces airborne particle circulation, making these systems particularly suitable for sterile environments. Recent regulatory emphasis on healthcare facility noise reduction further strengthens the value proposition of fanless designs in medical applications.

FANLESS EMBEDDED SYSTEM MARKET TRENDS

Rising Demand for Energy-Efficient Computing Solutions to Drive Market Growth

The global fanless embedded system market is witnessing significant growth due to the increasing demand for energy-efficient and low-maintenance computing solutions across industries. These systems eliminate mechanical cooling components, reducing power consumption by approximately 15-30% compared to traditional embedded systems with active cooling. The industrial automation sector accounts for over 35% of fanless embedded system deployments, owing to their durability in harsh environments. Furthermore, advancements in thermal management technologies have enabled high-performance processors like Intel's i7 and i5 to operate reliably in fanless configurations, expanding their application scope.

Other Trends

Expansion of Edge Computing Infrastructure

Edge computing deployments are accelerating the adoption of fanless embedded systems as they require compact, reliable computing nodes in remote or unmanned locations. The global edge computing market, projected to grow at a CAGR of 32% through 2030, is driving demand for rugged fanless solutions that can operate 24/7 without maintenance. These systems are particularly valuable in data collection points for smart cities, oil and gas monitoring stations, and renewable energy installations where dust-proof and vibration-resistant characteristics are critical.

Military and Aerospace Applications Fueling Technological Innovation

The defense sector's transition to SWaP-optimized (Size, Weight, and Power) computing solutions is creating lucrative opportunities for fanless embedded system manufacturers. Military applications now represent approximately 25% of the high-end fanless system market, with demand for radiation-hardened and wide-temperature-range (-40°C to +85°C) configurations growing at 18% annually. Recent innovations include conduction-cooled designs that dissipate heat through chassis walls instead of fins, enabling operation in confined spaces such as unmanned aerial vehicles and armored vehicle electronics suites.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Key Industry Players

Strategic Innovations and Product Expansions Drive Market Competition

The global fanless embedded system market is moderately fragmented, with key players competing through technological advancements, strategic alliances, and portfolio diversification. Advantech leads the market with a strong foothold in industrial automation and IoT solutions, leveraging its widespread distribution network and robust R&D capabilities. With a revenue share of approximately 18% in 2024, the company continues to dominate due to its high-performance systems catering to harsh environments.

AAEON and ADLINK collectively hold nearly 22% of the market share, driven by their focus on edge computing and AI-integrated fanless solutions. These companies are capitalizing on the growing demand for energy-efficient systems in data centers and military applications. Recent partnerships with chipset manufacturers have further strengthened their market position, enabling them to deliver customized solutions.

Meanwhile, mid-tier players like Neousys and Axiomtek are gaining traction through niche applications such as autonomous vehicles and smart grid systems. Their aggressive pricing strategies and compact form-factor designs are particularly appealing to SMEs in emerging markets. Both companies reported 12-15% year-on-year growth in 2024, outpacing the industry average.

Emerging competitors are challenging established players through vertical integration strategies. Acrosser recently expanded its manufacturing facilities in Southeast Asia to reduce lead times, while Sphinx Connect acquired a thermal management specialist to enhance its passive cooling technologies. Such moves are reshaping competitive dynamics as companies strive to address the critical challenge of heat dissipation in high-performance fanless systems.

List of Key Fanless Embedded System Companies Profiled

Advantech (Taiwan)

AAEON (Taiwan)

BCM Advanced Research (U.S.)

ADLINK (Taiwan)

Acnodes Corporation (U.S.)

Neousys (Taiwan)

Axiomtek (Taiwan)

Aiomtek (China)

Acrosser (Taiwan)

Sphinx Connect GmbH (Germany)

IEI Integration (Taiwan)

Segment Analysis:

By Type

i7 Segment Leads Due to High Processing Efficiency in Industrial Applications

The market is segmented based on type into:

i7

i5

i3

Celeron

Others

By Application

Industrial Automation Dominates Due to Ruggedness and Reliability Requirements

The market is segmented based on application into:

Energy and Power

Data Centers

Military and Aerospace

Education and Research

General Industrial

Others

By End User

Manufacturing Sector Leads with Growing Need for Industrial IoT Integration

The market is segmented based on end user into:

Manufacturing

Utilities

Transportation

Healthcare

Retail

By Power Consumption

Low Power Systems Gain Traction in Energy-Sensitive Applications

The market is segmented based on power consumption into:

Below 25W

25-50W

50-100W

Above 100W

Regional Analysis: Fanless Embedded System Market

North America The North American market for fanless embedded systems is driven by industrial automation, stringent reliability requirements in harsh environments, and high adoption in military applications. The U.S. accounts for over 85% of regional demand, with key sectors including defense, energy, and data centers. Technological leadership from companies like Advantech and AAEON, coupled with substantial R&D investments in IoT and edge computing, positions North America as an innovation hub. Government initiatives supporting Industry 4.0 adoption further accelerate market growth. However, higher manufacturing costs compared to Asia-Pacific remain a challenge for price-sensitive buyers.

Europe Europe emphasizes energy-efficient and ruggedized fanless solutions, particularly in manufacturing and smart city infrastructure. Germany and the UK lead in adoption due to their robust industrial bases, with sustainability regulations pushing demand for low-power embedded systems. The region’s focus on industrial IoT (IIoT) and automation in automotive and aerospace sectors drives innovation. EU directives on energy efficiency and hazardous substance restrictions (RoHS) compel manufacturers to prioritize eco-friendly designs. While the market is mature, Eastern Europe shows untapped potential with increasing digitization efforts.

Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing market, projected to register a CAGR of over 12% through 2032. China dominates production and consumption, fueled by its expansive electronics manufacturing sector and government-backed smart factory initiatives. India and Southeast Asia are emerging hotspots due to rising industrial automation and infrastructural investments. While cost-competitive i3 and Celeron-based systems prevail, demand for high-performance i7 solutions is growing in data centers and telecommunications. Local players like Axiomtek and Acrosser are gaining traction, though international brands maintain a stronghold in premium segments.

South America Market growth in South America is steady but constrained by economic instability and limited local manufacturing. Brazil is the largest consumer, primarily in oil & gas and mining industries where durability in extreme conditions is critical. Import dependency raises costs, delaying large-scale deployments. Nonetheless, gradual modernization in sectors like agriculture and logistics offers opportunities for fanless systems tailored to regional needs, such as humidity-resistant designs for tropical climates. Partnerships with global suppliers are key to bridging technology gaps.

Middle East & Africa The region shows niche demand, concentrated in oilfield monitoring, transportation, and smart infrastructure projects in GCC countries. Israel and the UAE lead in adopting advanced embedded systems for defense and surveillance applications. High-temperature resilience is a priority due to extreme climates. While market penetration is low compared to other regions, increasing investments in digitization and smart cities hint at long-term potential. Local distributors are collaborating with international manufacturers to address the lack of technical expertise.

Report Scope

This market research report provides a comprehensive analysis of the global and regional Fanless Embedded System markets, covering the forecast period 2025–2032. It offers detailed insights into market dynamics, technological advancements, competitive landscape, and key trends shaping the industry.

Key focus areas of the report include:

Market Size & Forecast: Historical data and future projections for revenue, unit shipments, and market value across major regions and segments. The global Fanless Embedded System market was valued at USD million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD million by 2032.

Segmentation Analysis: Detailed breakdown by product type (i7, i5, i3, Celeron, Others), application (Energy & Power, Data Centers, Military & Aerospace, etc.), and end-user industry to identify high-growth segments and investment opportunities.

Regional Outlook: Insights into market performance across North America (U.S. market size estimated at USD million in 2024), Europe, Asia-Pacific (China to reach USD million), Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

Competitive Landscape: Profiles of leading market participants including Advantech, AAEON, ADLINK, and others, covering their product offerings, market share (top five players held approximately % in 2024), and recent developments.

Technology Trends & Innovation: Assessment of emerging thermal management solutions, integration of AI/IoT in embedded systems, and evolving industry standards for fanless designs.

Market Drivers & Restraints: Evaluation of factors driving market growth along with challenges such as thermal constraints in high-performance applications and regulatory compliance issues.

Stakeholder Analysis: Insights for component suppliers, OEMs, system integrators, and investors regarding strategic opportunities in the fanless computing ecosystem.

Primary and secondary research methods are employed, including interviews with industry experts, manufacturer surveys, and data from verified sources to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the insights presented.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

What is the current market size of Global Fanless Embedded System Market?

-> Fanless Embedded System Market size was valued at US$ 1,230 million in 2024 and is projected to reach US$ 2,340 million by 2032, at a CAGR of 9.67% during the forecast period 2025-2032.

Which key companies operate in Global Fanless Embedded System Market?

-> Key players include Advantech, AAEON, ADLINK, BCM Advanced Research, Acnodes Corporation, Neousys, Axiomtek, among others.

What are the key growth drivers?

-> Key growth drivers include rising demand for reliable computing in harsh environments, increasing industrial automation, and energy efficiency requirements.

Which region dominates the market?

-> Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region, while North America remains a technologically advanced market.

What are the emerging trends?

-> Emerging trends include integration of AI at the edge, advanced thermal management materials, and modular fanless designs.

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[omelectronics]

Why Choosing the Right Microcontroller Distributor Matters More Than You Think

Talk to any engineer working on embedded systems, and they'll tell you — the microcontroller is everything. It’s the little chip doing the heavy lifting, quietly powering devices we use daily. Whether it’s a home automation product, a factory sensor, or a portable medical device, there’s a microcontroller ticking away inside. But while product teams obsess over which MCU to use, many forget to ask a simple but important question: Where are we getting it from?

It’s not a minor detail. In fact, your choice of microcontroller distributor could make or break your project.

The Real Cost of the Wrong Supplier

Let’s be honest. Delays hurt. Missing components, inconsistent supply, or vague technical support aren’t just annoyances — they cost teams time and money. That’s why working with a trusted MCU supplier matters just as much as selecting the right MCU itself.

Here’s the thing: There are plenty of microcontroller companies out there. But not all of them understand the pressure product teams face. That’s where companies like OM Electronic come in. They don’t just ship chips — they understand how the Indian electronics industry works. They know what’s at stake.

What Makes a Good MCU Partner?

You can Google a part number and find hundreds of sellers. So what separates a top microprocessor company from a fly-by-night seller?

First, there's reliability. Are they delivering the exact part, in the promised time frame, and with proper documentation? Next, there's expertise. Can they help you find an alternative if your preferred part is unavailable? Can they give you insights into life-cycle availability or share datasheets quickly when needed?

Then there’s authenticity. A good microcontroller supplier ensures your parts are original, factory-sealed, and traceable. That matters more than people think — especially when dealing with tight tolerances and safety standards.

Why OM Electronic Gets It Right

When you’re sourcing MCUs, especially for industrial or commercial applications, you can’t afford surprises. OM Electronic has built a reputation in India as a microcontroller distributor that delivers not only on time but also with real-world product knowledge.

They carry microcontrollers from global leaders, suited for everything from basic embedded systems to complex IoT applications. And unlike many generic vendors, they work with you — offering support during the selection process and even helping solve problems when you're stuck.

That kind of service is rare. And it’s exactly why they're considered one of the best microprocessor distributors in India today.

The Bigger Picture

Think beyond your current project. If your company plans to scale, enter new markets, or simply reduce downtime, you need a component partner who can scale with you. That’s why many hardware companies today are reevaluating who they source from.

Choosing the right MCU company isn’t about one-time pricing. It’s about long-term reliability, supply chain strength, and honest communication.

Final Thoughts

The world of embedded systems is exciting — and demanding. Products are getting smarter, faster, and more connected. But with that comes pressure: tighter deadlines, shrinking margins, and growing complexity.

In such a space, small decisions — like who supplies your microcontrollers — become big ones. If you’re serious about building better products, it’s time to be serious about your sourcing too.

Companies like OM Electronic don’t just sell components. They help product teams across India build smarter and deliver on time. And in today’s environment, that’s exactly what you need from a microcontroller distributor.

[solvixtech]

Why Niche Software Product Development Is the Future

Generic software solutions often fall short, personalization and specificity have become the cornerstones of successful digital transformation. Businesses no longer settle for off-the-shelf platforms that attempt to do everything yet master nothing. They are seeking tailored digital tools that align with their unique workflows, goals, and customers. Enter the niche software development company — a focused powerhouse that builds products with precision.

The Evolution of Software Product Development

Software product development has evolved significantly over the past decade. Initially, businesses adopted monolithic systems to digitize operations. But as markets matured and customer behaviors became more complex, so did the need for hyper-targeted software solutions. Whether it’s a fintech platform with built-in compliance or a telemedicine app with multilingual access, today’s businesses demand flexibility and domain expertise.

That’s where a software product development company earns its value — not just by building software, but by engineering outcomes.

Why Niche Software Is Disrupting the Status Quo

Generalized software development tries to serve all industries equally. But a healthcare company doesn’t operate like a logistics firm. A boutique fitness app doesn’t share requirements with a construction management system. While these sectors might all need scheduling, reporting, or inventory features, the way they use them — and the value they derive — differs wildly.

A niche software development company offers domain-specific knowledge, making the development process faster, more accurate, and less prone to misalignment. These companies understand regulatory hurdles, user expectations, and operational nuances that would take generalists weeks to grasp. The result? Products that are not only functional but deeply intuitive to the end user.

Product-Market Fit Begins with Deep Understanding

The goal of any software product is to meet a real-world need. But identifying that need requires more than just technical skills — it requires industry insight. Niche development teams conduct focused discovery workshops, consult subject-matter experts, and dive into use-case scenarios unique to the domain. This approach minimizes scope creep, reduces iteration cycles, and improves the time to value.

Unlike broad service providers, a software product development company that specializes in a particular vertical can map user journeys with surgical precision, eliminating bloat and enhancing usability from day one.

Innovation Is Easier in a Focused Field

Contrary to popular belief, innovation thrives under constraint. When development is tailored for a specific niche, there’s greater clarity in purpose, and thus more room for creative problem-solving. You’re not trying to build a “one-size-fits-all” dashboard — you’re building the right dashboard for a specific audience, whether that’s factory floor operators, remote educators, or biotech researchers.

That focus enables niche developers to innovate within very refined boundaries — something generalist teams struggle to do. The results? Streamlined interfaces, automation that truly matters, and features that feel native rather than forced.

Scalability with Strategy

There’s a myth that niche software lacks scalability. In truth, well-architected niche platforms are often more scalable than bloated, multipurpose solutions. When you begin with a focused architecture — microservices, modular components, or industry-standard APIs — you can extend functionality without disrupting core operations.

A forward-thinking software product development company builds with flexibility in mind, enabling future growth, cross-platform integration, and long-term sustainability.

Post-Launch: The Role of Continuous Improvement

Software isn’t just launched — it’s lived with. After deployment, real-world feedback pours in. A niche development partner is uniquely positioned to respond to these insights rapidly. They already understand the business logic, user personas, and domain-specific KPIs. This allows for efficient iteration, whether it’s fixing bugs, adding features, or enhancing performance.

Generalist firms may need additional context before implementing changes. Niche teams, on the other hand, can dive right into optimization without re-learning the product every time.

Choosing the Right Development Partner

When evaluating potential partners, businesses often focus on portfolios and tech stacks. While these are important, what matters more is how well the developer understands your industry. Look for companies that:

Specialize in your vertical or adjacent sectors

Offer consultative discovery and strategy phases

Have case studies relevant to your use cases

Prioritize long-term product lifecycle management

Working with a niche software development company gives you the strategic edge of both technical depth and contextual intelligence.

The Future is Verticalized

The next decade will belong to vertical SaaS and specialized platforms. From legal tech and edtech to proptech and agritech, every sector is undergoing digital transformation — on its own terms. Companies that understand and cater to those unique demands will thrive.

By aligning with a software product development company that knows your market inside out, you’re not just commissioning a product. You’re partnering with a team that speaks your language, anticipates your needs, and delivers tools designed specifically for your success.

Conclusion

Software is more than a utility — it’s a strategic differentiator. Businesses that invest in tailored, well-thought-out digital solutions position themselves to lead, not follow. That leadership begins by choosing a development partner who doesn’t just build code — but builds with clarity, vision, and domain mastery.

Whether you’re launching a new platform or modernizing a legacy system, trust a niche software development company to guide you. Because in the race for innovation, context isn’t just helpful — it’s everything.

[globalindustrypulse]

System Integration Market Size to Hit USD 932.66 Billion by 2032

The global system integration market industry was valued at USD 410.25 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow from USD 442.53 billion in 2025 to USD 932.66 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 11.2% during the forecast period. System integration services are pivotal in ensuring interoperability between modern and legacy systems, allowing enterprises to streamline workflows, enhance data availability, and accelerate digital transformation.

Key Market Highlights:

2024 Global Market Size: USD 410.25 billion

2025 Projected Market Size: USD 442.53 billion

2032 Projected Market Size: USD 932.66 billion

CAGR (2025–2032): 11.2%

North America Market Share (2024): 34.06%

Key Players in the Global Market:

Accenture Plc

IBM Corporation

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

Capgemini SE

Infosys Limited

Oracle Corporation

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

SAP SE

Wipro Limited

Cognizant Technology Solutions

DXC Technology

Request for Free Sample PDF: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/system-integration-market-101432

Market Dynamics:

Growth Drivers:

Rising Cloud Adoption: Accelerating hybrid and multi-cloud deployments across organizations.

Digital Transformation Initiatives: Enterprises modernizing legacy systems to support agile operations.

Complexity of IT Ecosystems: Increased need for centralized platforms and unified data architectures.

Regulatory Compliance & Data Governance: System integration supports auditability and secure data flows.

IoT and Industrial Automation Expansion: Need for connected platforms in smart factories, utilities, and logistics.

Key Opportunities:

Integration of AI & ML Workflows into Core Business Systems

Expansion of API Management and Microservices-Based Architecture

Growing Demand for IT/OT Convergence in Manufacturing and Energy Sectors

Adoption of Edge-to-Cloud Platforms in Healthcare, Retail, and BFSI

Emergence of Integration-Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) Offerings

Regional Insights:

North America: Leading the market due to rapid cloud migration, strong presence of integration service providers, and widespread adoption of advanced technologies like AI and edge computing.

Asia Pacific: Fastest-growing region driven by massive digitalization programs in China, India, and Southeast Asia, particularly in manufacturing, retail, and telecom sectors.

Europe: Growth supported by enterprise compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR), and investments in Industry 4.0 and smart public infrastructure.

Technology & Application Scope:

Core Integration Types:

Application Integration

Data Integration

Infrastructure Integration

Cloud Integration

API & Microservices Management

Deployment Models:

On-Premises

Cloud-Based

Hybrid Integration Platforms

Key Industry Verticals:

Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)

Manufacturing

Government & Defense

Healthcare

Retail & eCommerce

Energy & Utilities

IT & Telecom

Speak To Analysts:  https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/system-integration-market-101432?utm_medium=pie

Recent Developments:

April 2024 – Capgemini expanded its cloud integration portfolio through a partnership with AWS to accelerate enterprise modernization projects across EMEA.

October 2023 – IBM Consulting launched a new AI-powered system integration framework to simplify large-scale enterprise transformations.

July 2023 – Oracle unveiled enhanced APIs for integrating Oracle Cloud ERP with third-party SaaS platforms.

Market Trends:

Shift Toward API-Led Connectivity and Low-Code Integration Platforms

Integration of Cybersecurity into System Architectures for Zero Trust Implementation

Adoption of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with Enterprise Back-End Systems

Surging Demand for Real-Time Data Integration and Event-Driven Architectures

Use of AI for Automated Integration Mapping, Testing, and Monitoring

Conclusion:

System integration has become a strategic enabler for businesses seeking to navigate the complexities of digital ecosystems. With enterprises striving for operational agility, customer-centricity, and innovation, the demand for robust and scalable integration solutions is set to soar. As industries continue to digitize, system integration will remain at the forefront—connecting the dots across IT, cloud, AI, and operational environments.

[sweetrichmobility]

Why a Lightweight Scooter Factory Drives Innovation

For many end users, a scooter that’s light enough to lift, fold, and store easily can make the difference between independence and dependence. To meet this growing demand, working with a qualified  Lightweight Scooter Factory  like Sweetrich offers a reliable route for distributors, resellers, and care institutions looking to stock high-quality, ultra-portable mobility devices.

Sweetrich designs every scooter with daily usability at the center. From raw material selection to the final assembly stage, the factory’s operations are tailored for both performance and weight reduction. The frame structure in most models is built from ultra-light aluminum and reinforced plastic composites, delivering rigidity without unnecessary bulk. This allows users of all ages and body types to lift, fold, and roll their scooters with minimal effort.

The manufacturing workflow is data-driven and partially automated. Each unit goes through CAD-guided laser cutting, robotic welding, and real-time quality monitoring. Sensors placed throughout the assembly line ensure that frame dimensions, torque levels, and wheel alignment match engineering standards exactly. This high level of precision is especially important for maintaining balance and smooth ride performance in lightweight designs.

Sweetrich scooters typically weigh between 16 and 21 kilograms, depending on the model and configuration. What’s impressive is that even at these low weights, the scooters support up to 120 kilograms of user load. Many models feature suspension systems, pneumatic tires, and shock-absorbing frames—all features uncommon in this weight class.

As a Lightweight Scooter Factory, Sweetrich understands the need for practical controls and adaptable designs. Most scooters come with an intuitive thumb-throttle or steering control and feature adjustable seats, tillers, and footrests. The entire folding mechanism takes less than ten seconds and locks securely with a safety latch, making them suitable for travel by car, train, or air.

The battery systems used in these models are compact yet powerful. They are integrated under the floorboard or behind the seat to maintain a low center of gravity. Charging is made accessible with side ports, and most units support both in-scooter and off-scooter charging. A full charge generally supports 18–25 kilometers of range, depending on terrain and rider weight.

Sweetrich scooters are distributed worldwide, and the company offers custom manufacturing support for OEM and ODM clients. For example, partners can request alternative color schemes, private labeling, anti-theft technology, or terrain-specific modifications such as wider tires or reinforced suspensions. These options are particularly attractive for companies operating in tourism, rehabilitation, or fleet-based rental services.

All scooters undergo dynamic field testing and are evaluated on sloped surfaces, uneven ground, and under various climate conditions. The factory produces documentation in multiple languages, offers regulatory compliance assistance, and maintains an internal traceability system to support warranty claims and part replacements efficiently.

Sweetrich’s technical department is also working on expanding digital integration. Newer scooters are being developed with app pairing, route tracking, and speed-limiting settings. These features are especially beneficial for users in shared living environments or urban mobility programs.

Bulk buyers can benefit from tailored packaging solutions, spare parts kits, and branding materials that reduce go-to-market time. All shipments are handled with reinforced containers, barcode tracking, and pre-shipping inspections that minimize damage and loss.For full details on Sweetrich's lightweight scooter catalog or to explore manufacturing partnerships, visit: https://www.sweetrichmobility.com .

[urbanbuild234]

Building Construction Company In Hyderabad | Urban Build

In a city that thrives on innovation, culture, and exponential growth, Hyderabad stands tall as a beacon of modern architecture and urban expansion. Whether it's a lavish villa, a high-rise commercial tower, or a sustainable residential complex, the demand for quality infrastructure has skyrocketed. At the core of this evolution is the need for a reliable and experienced Building Construction Company In Hyderabad—a firm that transforms visions into reality with excellence and integrity. One name that has consistently stood out is Urban Build, a leading construction company that’s reshaping the skyline of Hyderabad one project at a time.

This blog dives deep into why choosing the right construction company matters, what sets Urban Build apart, and how our team ensures seamless, cost-effective, and future-ready building solutions.

1. Why Choosing the Right Construction Company Is Crucial

When starting any construction project, from residential villas to corporate infrastructure, your choice of a building construction company in Hyderabad can make or break the project. Here's why your decision matters:

Project Success & Timely Delivery: A capable company ensures your project meets deadlines without compromising on quality.

Cost Efficiency: Experienced contractors reduce wastage, optimize material use, and avoid unnecessary delays.

Compliance & Safety: Top firms like Urban Build strictly adhere to local building codes, permits, and safety regulations.

Design Innovation: A skilled team translates your ideas into functional and aesthetic architecture.

At Urban Build, we understand that every structure we create is more than just brick and mortar—it’s someone’s dream, vision, or future investment.

2. Urban Build – A Trusted Name in Hyderabad

When people search for a building construction company in Hyderabad, what they're truly seeking is trust, experience, and quality. Urban Build delivers all three—and more. With a strong portfolio that includes residential, commercial, and industrial projects, we have built a name rooted in craftsmanship, technology, and professionalism.

Our key offerings include:

Residential Construction: Villas, gated communities, and apartments

Commercial Projects: Office complexes, retail spaces, and malls

Industrial Infrastructure: Warehouses, factories, and logistics parks

Renovation & Interiors: Structural remodeling, interior design, and retrofitting

Our in-house architects, engineers, project managers, and skilled laborers work in unison to bring projects to life, on time and within budget.

3. What Sets Urban Build Apart?

In a crowded construction market, Urban Build has distinguished itself through a set of core values and cutting-edge practices:

a. Transparency & Integrity

We maintain open communication at every project stage. From budgeting to procurement, every process is clearly documented and shared with clients.

b. Innovative Design & Planning

Our architectural team uses the latest CAD and 3D visualization tools to present you with realistic models before execution begins.

c. Sustainable Construction

As an eco-conscious building construction company in Hyderabad, Urban Build incorporates green materials, solar solutions, and water-saving technology into modern structures.

d. Advanced Technology & Equipment

We employ the latest construction technologies like pre-fabrication, modular building techniques, and automated machinery to ensure higher precision and quicker delivery.

e. Skilled Workforce

From masons to engineers, every member of our team is trained, certified, and committed to delivering their best.

4. Residential Projects That Feel Like Home

For most families, constructing a home is a once-in-a-lifetime endeavor. At Urban Build, we treat every residential project with personal care and responsibility. Whether you want a contemporary villa, a cozy duplex, or a modern apartment complex, our team ensures the structure reflects your lifestyle and preferences.

Our residential projects focus on:

Vaastu-compliant designs

Optimal natural lighting and ventilation

Smart home integrations

Quality finishes and fittings

Energy-efficient layouts

When you’re looking for a building construction company in Hyderabad that truly understands the emotional and financial value of your home, Urban Build is the name to trust.

5. Commercial & Industrial Construction with a Strategic Edge

Businesses require smart infrastructure that adapts to dynamic needs. Be it a tech park, corporate office, or a manufacturing facility, commercial projects demand scale, efficiency, and long-term value. That’s exactly what Urban Build delivers.

Key highlights of our commercial & industrial capabilities:

High-rise construction with structural accuracy

Smart space utilization for better business flow

Adherence to industrial safety and fire norms

Dedicated power, HVAC, and plumbing systems

LEED-certified and IGBC-compliant designs

With experience across industries, we bring custom solutions to startups, SMEs, and MNCs alike—positioning Urban Build as a versatile building construction company in Hyderabad.

6. End-to-End Project Management

Unlike others, we don’t stop at laying bricks. Urban Build offers a 360-degree project management solution that includes:

Land survey and feasibility analysis

Design development and blueprint approval

Government approvals and permits

Procurement and supply chain management

Construction supervision and QA testing

Final finishing and handover

Our proven processes eliminate risk, reduce costs, and increase transparency—ensuring that your project stays on track from day one.

7. Affordable House Construction with Quality Assurance

One of the most common questions clients ask is about the house construction cost in Hyderabad. At Urban Build, we believe in providing the best value without cutting corners. We offer flexible packages based on:

Plot size and location

Type of foundation and materials used

Number of floors

Labor and supervision requirements

Design customization

Whether you’re building a 2BHK or a luxury bungalow, we offer cost-effective, tailor-made solutions. Our packages are designed to meet a wide range of budgets while ensuring premium quality.

9. Our Process: From Concept to Completion

At Urban Build, our process is simple yet efficient:

Initial Consultation: Understand your needs, budget, and expectations

Design Phase: Architecture, engineering, and 3D visualizations

Pre-Construction: Cost estimation, scheduling, and approvals

Construction: Site preparation, foundation, framing, roofing, and interiors

Post-Construction: Final checks, client walkthrough, and documentation

Our streamlined process ensures minimal stress and maximum satisfaction.

10. Partner with Urban Build for Your Next Project

Whether you’re planning your dream home, expanding your business, or starting a commercial venture, your project deserves the best. Urban Build, the leading building construction company in Hyderabad, is here to deliver quality that lasts for generations.

We invite you to visit our website, check out our portfolio, and book a free consultation with our experts. With Urban Build, you're not just building a structure—you're building a legacy.

Conclusion

In Hyderabad’s rapidly growing urban landscape, having a reliable and experienced construction partner is more important than ever. Choosing a reputed building construction company in Hyderabad like Urban Build means choosing innovation, transparency, and unwavering commitment to excellence.

We believe in building more than just walls—we build trust, value, and future-ready spaces. Let Urban Build be your trusted guide on your next construction journey.

CONTACT US;

+91 7095992159

EMAIL ID;

urbanbuild234@gmail.com

Address;

Plot no 74,75, Akshitha Residency, Sai Balaji enclave, Mallampet, Bachupally, Telangana, 502303.