Issue 2304 - Wednesday 2 April 2025

The News

News media bargaining code officially a Trump target but Albo and Dutton say they’re sticking with it

Australia’s news media bargaining code and local content requirements are officially on the US’s radar as trade grievances (SMH, $). Yesterday, the US trade office listed the two tech policies as “trade issues” with Australia, ahead of the Trump administration’s plan to impose tariffs on — aka tax US citizens who are buying goods from — pretty much the whole world starting tomorrow lmao (Reuters). Both Albanese and Dutton have dug in their heels on the news media bargaining code (ABC News) so we’ll see just how committed they are to the policies. Also on the election front: auspol content is turning up on Rednote, the Chinese TikTok clone that briefly became a meme just before the short-lived US TikTok ban (The Guardian Australia). (BTW, that TikTok ban? It’s set to come back into effect this Saturday). And Clive Palmer has spent $175k to show a debunked 2004 anti-climate change documentary to 10 million Australians on YouTube over two weeks in March (ABC News).

Has streaming killed movie theatres? Amazon bets no, Netflix says yes

Fresh off clinching the rights to the James Bond franchise, Amazon says it’s plans to release 14 of its MGM movies in actual movie theatres each year (Engadget). Currently sitting at about 5-8 a year now, the tech giant says these movies will only be made available on pay-per-view and Prime after 45 days. It’s also planning on releasing about the same number of movies straight to streaming. This somewhat bucks the trend of other streamers moving away from physical distribution, like Netflix whose CEO literally publicly declared today that theatres are dead (Semafor). I assume the logic behind streamers doing theatrical releases is that a wide theatrical release for a movie gives it an imprimatur of credibility that boosts the film’s profile for streaming later. My take? Nothing beats seeing a certain kind of movie in a packed theatre. I hope we don’t lose that. (On Netflix, I found this Six Colours write-up of using Netflix ads to be spot-on. It is not a good experience)

Say goodbye to the Blue Screen Of Death that we know and loathe!

A few days back, Microsoft quietly wrote on their blog that they will be redesigning the Blue Screen Of Death (Microsoft).

The company proposed a design that removes the oddly corny enormous :( and the QR code. Don’t worry, though, we’re not necessarily ending up with a GSOD — green is just the colour used in Windows preview and so may not end up being the colour they choose (The Register).

Leftovers

Oh, Also

An update from the Sizzle’s India correspondent

I’m really surprised to be writing this, but I received this tip from my father-in-law — currently serving as the Sizzle’s India correspondent — about what is making tech news in the subcontinent.

I have so many questions.

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply!

💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news.

🗣️ The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal.

🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.

💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide.

Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.