Bringin’ Back The Landline

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It’s Thursday, Future Party. In a fun bit of trolling, Paramount announced it was streaming the “full movie” of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning… but not in the way anyone expected. Instead, it turned out to be an audio recording of the entire script in Morse code, complete with a link to purchase the movie digitally. Pretty genius stunt.

ESPN’s new streaming service and app, which launched today, features a TikTok-style vertical video feed packed with clips from shows, game highlights, and user-generated content from its growing roster of in-house creators.

The Big Picture: Every social platform has a vertical feed, but ESPN’s marks one of the first times an entertainment company has jumped in (outside of Netflix’s clips tab). By fleshing out its app as a second screen, ESPN is betting the best use case may be a two-device experience.

Behind The Feed: Forget TikTok, Reels, or YouTube Shorts payouts… what’s ESPN’s revenue share for creators on its new “verts” tab?

Last Play: ESPN plans to roll out a new update soon, allowing mobile app users to connect to the ESPN service while watching a live game. The app would then feed stats, fantasy ranks, betting updates, and more tied directly to that matchup. Essentially, ESPN wants to also replace the need to scroll X mid-game.

Prediction: With the NFL season about to kick off, expect the first batch of viral ESPN content — and new popular creators — to be covering all things football.

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A startup called Tin Can is reviving the landline with its first batch of corded devices that harken back to a simpler time of communication.

Why It Rings: The rise of dumbphones, early-aughts flip phones, and phone-locking tools shows society pushing back against the distractions and dangers of the always-connected smartphone. With analog devices cool again, it was only a matter of time before landlines made a comeback.

Between The Lines: Parents are dusting off old landlines, so kids can chat with friends without handing them a smartphone — the same way they did as kids.

Tin Can wants to be the upgraded version, according to Fast Company.

The Future: Society still has a long way to go before twirling phone cords while chatting counts as a trend again. As of last year, 78.7% of adults lived in a household without a landline… and we’d bet many who still have them forget they exist. No wonder AT&T unsuccessfully tried to discontinue servicing them in California.

Next Call: Getting a landline may become the next rite of passage for kids, which could make it a big business.

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88.7% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Do you usually finish TV shows or movies you start watching?

“I watch the first 2 episodes in a series and decide. I will watch a full movie hoping the movie will get better.”

“Movies, yes. TV shows, no. Every show on streaming that I’ve started and gotten hooked on in the past few years has completely lost momentum after 4 or 5 episodes.”

“Some, yes. But I get bored easily, and if the storyline goes into the crazy column just to stay relevant, I switch.”

“Knowing a show is in-house content to a service makes it a less urgent priority as it’s unlikely to rotate off the service.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🏌️ Professional golf is poised for a big upgrade to its game with the creation of a new committee led by Tiger Woods.

📺 Yahoo Sports is launching its own FAST streamer that will have coverage of nearly every major league.

🤑 AI is allegedly being used to back up talent negotiations with hard data (but we’re a little dubious about this Heads of State claim).

🤖 The controversial Character.AI is considering a sale after losing its founders to Google last year.

👓 Two Harvard dropouts are rolling out a pair of “always-on” smart glasses that surface information about whatever you’re looking at.

😬 Hundreds of thousands of Grok chats have popped up on Google, which also include discussions on how to assassinate Elon Musk. Yikes.

📈 Labubus are on track to become a billion-dollar business this year, with Pop Mart already selling more of them than Mattel has sold Barbies in the same period.

🛍️ Guess is going private in a $1.4 billion deal with Authentic Brands.

🚗 Hertz is listing its used cars on Amazon in case you’re looking for a deal. No word yet on whether free Prime shipping applies.