The 11th Hour Dispatch — Tuesday, August 28, 2018
BIG BUSINESS
Amazon has finally opened up its children’s book delivery service Prime Book Box for everyone. The service sends either two hardcover books or four board books right to your door every month for $22.99, depending on the child’s age group. The service, which is available as either monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly subscriptions, is an additional fee on top of Amazon Prime, but according to Amazon, the $22.99 fee cuts many book list prices by 35%. Books in the box are a combination of new releases, classics, and “hidden gems” curated by Amazon editors, but parents can customize their selections prior to shipping if they want. Prime Book Box officially launched back in May, but was available by invite only. Who knew picture books could be so exclusive?
BINGE WATCH
BRB, off to stock up on Cap’n Crunch and Nickelodeon GAK so I can properly relive my childhood. Nickelodeon has launched its own streaming service packed with series from the ’90s. With a $5.99 per month subscription to NickSplat, you can binge on all the nostalgia goodness you want including All That, CatDog, Doug, Kenan & Kel, and The Wild Thornberrys. NickSplat joins the Otter Media-owned VRV streaming platform, which you subscribe to for $9.99 per month (including NickSplat). VRV’s lineup includes the services Cartoon Hangover, Crunchyroll, CuriosityStream, DramaFever, Funimation, Geek & Sundry, Mondo, MUBI, Nerdist, Rooster Teeth, Shudder, and VRV Select. This is a very smart move by Viacom to get ahead of Disney’s sure-to-be behemoth of a service. Nickelodeon and Disney have long dominated children’s programming, and judging by the amount of ’90s Nickelodeon merch popping up everywhere as of late, nostalgia-hungry millennials will be happy to give up the price of an overpriced latte for some mems.
YOUNG MONEY
Toyota and Uber have formed a partnership. The Japanese auto giant will invest $500 million in the rideshare company as part of this partnership. This values Uber at $72 billion, a number I am not convinced is real. The two are said to be working on autonomous vehicle technology, specifically integration of Uber’s platform into Toyotas. In the past, Uber has noted that self-driving vehicles are crucial to its future success, so this could be a strong step forward for the company. Uber could also definitely use a partner in this space after shutting down its autonomous vehicle operations in Arizona after one of Uber’s self-driving cars struck and killed a pedestrian back in March.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
Did you know you needed Janet Jackson doing ASMR? Because I sure didn’t.
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