All Things Technology, Film, and Media, with Eugene Wei

And understanding how psychology affects consumer behavior

by Li Jin and Nathan Baschez

December 3, 2020

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For our guest this week on Means of Creation we are welcoming Eugene Wei!

Eugene is a former product executive who is one of the best technology bloggers online today. Since 2001, Eugene has been publishing a blog and newsletter called Remains of the Day where he writes about technology and media. The blog distills complicated consumer tech trends not just from a product design standpoint, but also from a user psychology perspective. His essays on Status as a Service (StaaS) and Seeing Like an Algorithm serve as guiding mental models for the tech community.

Eugene’s past experience gives him a unique historical perspective on the development of consumer technology platforms. Most recently, Eugene was Head of Video at Oculus and before that, he led product teams at Flipboard, Erly, Hulu and Amazon.

In this interview, we talked to Eugene about:

How he first got interested in TikTok
What other domains could become TikTok-ified
How his experience in film school impacts his work as a product leader
How our chances in media have impacted how we relate to famous people (such as with The Queen in popular TV series The Crown), and how that extends to our relationships on social media
The impact of technology on modern film & television, such as with real-time VFX
Why he started writing and what he learned from the responses
If he thinks the SF exodus is overrated or underrated
And more!