--- ## Highlights As the world shifts to more digital competition, one of the most powerful long-term advantages is addiction. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h3x6fd1ehc6pdsvc36ya5f8a)) ### New highlights added June 30, 2023 at 5:35 PM At first, I thought the reason consumers used sports betting apps was to make money. However, as I conducted customer interviews in preparation for this piece, I realized that this was an _entertainment product._ In interviews, customers would mention that normal sports “became boring” and they couldn’t stop putting money down because it “made it more intense.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47aecce6fnjjqw5xnjnwb6x)) most reliable strategy is a long-term [index fund hold](https://www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest/index-funds/why-invest/#:~:text=Investing%20in%20index%20funds%20has,managed%20by%20top%20investment%20firms.). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47asj6wmv1ngrrbywjkgzv6)) If there were 100 similar services competing against each other, which one would you predict to win: the one with a great brand or the one with an incredibly addictive product? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47awqyh7gw68ydycqstd17b)) ^ik8au6 Why did this happen so fast? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47c12etytadz79bcfwrr7nv)) Digital goods are using identical inputs to create their widgets, meaning differentiation can no longer come solely from the quality of the infrastructure. Now it must come from somewhere else. Maybe it is brand, maybe it is positioning, but rarely is it technology anymore. Soon there will be no 10-year competitive moats in software. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47cfkc9m6b2y0vd2ptpkfg7)) When everything is identical, the best variable to optimize around is attention. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47ck3drx4fa49kwwh04xmrt)) ### New highlights added June 30, 2023 at 6:40 PM I’d summarize why this is all happening with two sentences—one academic version and one human-being version. **Academic**: System-level optimization will generally result in individual suffering. **Human**: Sometimes stuff that is good for a bunch of people will be bad for the one ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47emzna4w40xbt7ds408sq4)) Most everyone can agree that they would prefer to not be addicted to their technology, but that isn’t what wins market share. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47epgt9w30y3cvwdy9mkmw2)) _If this topic of system-inherent suffering is interesting I would recommend the book_ [_Inadequate Equilibria_](https://equilibriabook.com/)_._ ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47engsmbyvjdpahz38w70q4)) The world has always rewarded those with contrarian patterns of living. Being different from the system is painful and awkward sometimes, but it allows an individual a richer life (literally and figuratively). The more addictive our technology becomes, the more lemminglike our world will become, and therefore, the more richly rewarded the few remaining contrarians will be. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h47ervs2zerkc7kq4nje6jb3))