American adults now spend 6.3 hours on digital media per day across mobile, their computers, and other devices like tablets — up from 5.9 hours per day on average at the same time last year. according to Silicon Valley venture capitalist Mary Meeker.
Also in Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report, which was released on Tuesday morning at Code Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, it says that mobile takes the lion’s share of Americans’ attention, with them spending more than 3.6 hours per day on their phones.
While time spent with digital media is accelerating, global internet growth slowed to 6% year-over-year in 2018, according to the report. Still, that growth pushed global internet usage to 3.8 billion people or slightly more than half of the world’s population.
The report — which contains 333 slides this year — had plenty of other interesting points. Here are a few that stood out:
— Stricter U.S. immigration laws could hit Silicon Valley especially hard, according to the report. About 60% of “most highly valued tech companies” have been founded by first and second generation immigrants, it found. “Immigration = Important USA Technology Leadership,” the report said. It did not differentiate between legal and undocumented immigrants for its breakdown of tech leadership.
— Podcasts continue to rapidly grow: 700 million people listen to podcasts each month, a 100% increase from four years ago. The most popular Apple podcasts last year, per the report, were “The Daily” from The New York Times, followed by comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast.
courtesy Bond
— “Fortnite” is dominant. The wildly popular video game now has 250 million players across the globe, up 100% from the same time last year.
— E-Commerce “only” accounts for 15% of retail sales, but it’s growing at a breakneck pace compared to regular retail: 12.4% during Q1 year-over-year, compared to 2% for regular retail.
— Digital video continues to eat away at traditional TV. On average, U.S. viewers are watching about 350 minutes per day of content; 28% of that, or 1 hour and 38 minutes, is spent on digital content, or about twice as much time spent on digital content compared to five years ago.
Elon Musk has been at the forefront of Silicon Valley innovation for two decades. The South Africa-born entrepreneur has been linked to a number of high-profile, intriguing ventures... so let's take a look.
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Pay Pal
Musk made his initial fortune thanks to PayPal, which he sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. He made a cool $165 million off the deal.
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Tesla Motors
Instead of buying an island and living the high life after the PayPal sell, Musk went to work on getting the world off its dependency on oil. He founded Tesla Motors (now Tesla Inc.) in 2003, taking over an old Toyota-General Motors manufacturing plant in the Bay Area. The slick electric cars can travel 250 miles without a charge and sell for upwards of $100,000. Its "mass" car, the Model 3, is due out in 2018.
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Space X
Perhaps the project most important to Musk is SpaceX. Founded in 2002, the rocket company has worked with NASA on several launches. SpaceX made history when it developed "recycled" rockets that are able to be launched, landed and reused. Even more ambitious, Musk wants to send manned missions to Mars within the next decade... and colonize the red planet.
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Hyperloop
Musk frequently travels back and forth between NorCal and SoCal, and he wants to do it quickly. Enter Hyperloop, where passengers will be put in pods and shot through tubes connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles at speeds of up to 760 miles per hour. Musk sketched the concept in 2013, and it's now being pursued by a group in L.A. full-time.
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Neuralink
Musk is also big on artificial intelligence and hopes to find a way to directly connect humans to machines. That's where his Neuralink comes in. Co-founded by Musk in 2016, the company aims to integrate our minds with AI advancements via chip implants.
Via @nbashaw on Twitter
The Boring Company
The Boring Company aims to alleviate traffic by building an underground network of tunnels. Cars would be able to latch on to giant sleds and zip through tunnels at 125 mph or passengers can take futuristic glass buses if they want.
The Boring Company
SolarCity
Founded by Musk's cousins in 2006, SolarCity is the second-largest provider of solar panels in the USA. Musk owned 22 percent of its shares when Tesla bought-out the company for more than $2.5 billion in 2016.
Tesla Inc.
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The real-life Tony Stark is the poster boy for Silicon Valley entrepreneurship
Elon Musk has been at the forefront of Silicon Valley innovation for two decades. The South Africa-born entrepreneur has been linked to a number of high-profile, intriguing ventures... so let's take a look.