• Iran doesn’t want to get into a full-on war, but that won’t stop it threatening one

    The flags of Iran, left, and Israel, right.
    The flags of Iran, left, and Israel, right.

    • Israel and the US expect a potential Iranian attack following a strike on Iran's embassy in Syria.
    • The incident has escalated the long-standing proxy war between Israel and Iran.
    • Despite threats of a direct attack on Israel, Iran won't want a war involving the US. 

    Both Israel and the US are on edge about a potential Iranian attack on Israel, but it's unlikely that threats from Iran's leader will live up to the rhetoric.

    Earlier this month, a strike on Iran's embassy in Damascus resulted in the death of a senior figure in the al-Quds force of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, alongside six other Iranian military officers.

    Israel has not publicly acknowledged responsibility for the strike, but Iran is clearly holding it accountable.

    Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week that Israel "must be punished and it shall be."

    Khamenei's declaration that Israel should be punished, along with his saying that an "evil regime made a mistake," hinted at a raising of tensions between the countries.

    A long-standing proxy war

    The airstrike on April 1 marked an escalation in the long-standing proxy war between Israel and Iran.

    Iran has supported anti-Israel militant groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, while Israel has conducted strikes against Iranian allies in Syria.

    Israel views Iran as an existential threat, having long sought to prevent the country from building a nuclear arsenal. Iran has previously vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

    The Iran embassy incident intensified those historic tensions to a fever pitch.

    Indeed, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that US intelligence reports suggested an attack was coming soon.

    Yet such a move would risk causing a full-out war.

    The Journal said that it was unclear if Iran intended to launch missiles onto Israeli soil or use regional proxies like Hezbollah or the Houthis in Yemen.

    On Thursday, it reported that Israel was preparing for a direct attack by Iran within 48 hours.

    If ballistic missiles or drones do target Israel, Israel would respond, and the US has made it clear it would support it. President Joe Biden vowed "ironclad" support for Israel, emphasizing the US commitment to Israel's security.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country was ready to respond directly to any attack.

    "Whoever harms us, we will harm them," he said. "We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively."

    By late Thursday, it appeared that Iranian officials were toning down some of their rhetoric.

    According to Axios, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Germany's foreign minister that Iran would respond in an "appropriate," albeit limited, way.

    Reuters also reported that Iran had signaled to Washington that it wanted to act in a way that would avoid a major escalation.

    Iran is facing a dilemma: It needs to maintain credibility while also exercising restraint to avoid drawing it into a conflict with the US that it would likely lose.

    In the past, Tehran-backed militants have targeted US forces in response to Israel's actions, as Business Insider's Jake Epstein noted.

    But experts on the region don't believe that it is prepared to go a step further, by sending rockets and drones to attack Israeli soil.

    Iran has other worries, too. There's hyperinflation in the country, civil unrest, and a military that the Atlantic Council noted is not truly competitive with Israel, especially with its US backing.

    "It doesn't possess the necessary power, willingness, and ability to engage in a conflict with the potential to escalate into a full-scale regional war with Israel,'" wrote Middle East analyst Saeid Jafari in an article for the Atlantic Council.

    Ali Sadrzadeh, an analyst on the region, echoed these points in an interview with BBC News. He said that "Iran is not capable of a big confrontation with Israel given its military capabilities and economic and political situation."

    Sadrzadeh added: "But it will have to come up with a response for domestic consumption and to protect its reputation among its regional allies."

    After the US killing of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, Khameini vowed "severe revenge." Iran's President Hassan Rouhani made a similar pledge.

    But the actual response was missile attacks on two airfields in Iraq that were housing US troops, causing injuries but no fatalities.

    Skirmishes like these, outside Israel and possibly in Lebanon, are plausible in relation to this latest incident. As history has shown, Iran may be prepared to flex its muscles, but it's unlikely to get into a fight it would probably lose.

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  • The Adderall shortage highlights a key issue for voters in 2024. Here’s what the Biden Administration is doing about it.

    Adderall bottles sitting on a shelf
    For almost two years, drug shortages have made it difficult for people to fill their Adderall prescription.

    • Adderall supply issues, which began in October 2022, are making the medication more expensive. 
    • The Biden Administration said it's focused on strengthening manufacturing supply chains for Adderall.
    • Drug prices are a key economic concern for voters and could impact the 2024 election. 

    It's been 18 months since the US Food and Drug Administration announced an Adderall shortage. Since then, many Americans have struggled to access their necessary medications due to supply and cost issues.

    Forty-one million Americans were prescribed Adderall in 2021 to manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy, and other conditions. The shortage and increased costs could impact who many Americans vote for in the upcoming presidential election.

    Fifty-five percent of US adults said they worry about being able to afford prescription drug costs, according to a survey of 1,309 people performed between January and February by KFF (formerly known as Kaiser Family Foundation).

    In light of the shortage, the Biden administration told Business Insider it is focused on strengthening manufacturing supply chains for Adderall and similar drugs, but did not give specifics as to how to accomplish these goals.

    White House is working to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chains

    The FDA and Drug Enforcement Administration called on manufacturers to increase the production of ADHD medications in order to meet the quota in a letter published in August 2023.

    Because of Adderall's high potential for abuse, the DEA enacts quotas on how much can be produced in the US at one time — but many manufacturers have been producing under quota, contributing to the shortage and higher prices.

    "This work to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chains is a continuation of the work that began on day 1 of President Biden's Administration to ensure Americans can access the medicine they need when they need it," The White House said in a statement to BI.

    The Biden administration is also working with the Department of Health and Human Services on medical manufacturing policy to prevent future shortages, and has enhanced some pharmaceutical production under the Defense Production Act.

    This comes as healthcare access is a leading part of President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. The administration has taken steps to negotiate lower prices with major pharmaceutical companies, make insulin more affordable, and expand healthcare for veterans and Medicare and Medicaid recipients. However, Adderall is not currently on Biden's list of drug price negotiations.

    FDA says current Adderall supply does not meet demand

    In October 2022, the FDA posted that amphetamine mixed salts — which are commonly referred to as the brand-name Adderall — did not have "sufficient supply to continue to meet US market demand."

    Demand for ADHD medications has also spiked since the beginning of the pandemic, per CNN, with women and people in their 20s and 30s receiving the highest increase in prescriptions.

    Meanwhile, with limited amounts of Adderall available, pharmacy prices are increasing.

    USA Today reported in December 2023 that retail community pharmacies are struggling to stock the medication. The cost of Adderall to pharmacies has doubled, and in some cases tripled, since the shortage began — outpacing inflation.

    USA Today reported that pharmacies are then charging consumers higher prices for the prescription. Some people must switch to alternative stimulants, which may or may not be covered by insurance, or choose to forgo their prescription altogether.

    The DEA recently announced a quota increase for the ADHD medication methylphenidate, and the FDA approved the use of several generic forms of Adderall in hopes of increasing the overall availability of medication.

    Some Americans with ADHD aren't getting the medication they need

    A study released on April 2 by Truveta, a health data platform, shows that 1 in 10 Americans who take Adderall have been impacted by the shortage.

    The study calculated the monthly rate of prescription fills for 336,355 people taking prescription stimulants between 2018 and 2023. The groups were split into categories of people over 18 and under 18.

    The prescription fill rate for ADHD medications fell from 44.5% in December 2022 to 40.7% in February 2023, the study found. Refill rates were also 11.4% lower in the first five months of 2023 compared to the first five months of 2022.

    Individuals with ADHD told USA Today that the continued scarcity and high costs of Adderall and related medications have caused them to skip prescription refills or ration doses.

    "If the insurance dictates where you get your pills, and that pharmacy doesn't have the pills or that pharmacy chain in your area doesn't have those pills, you're out of luck," Dr. David Goodman, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences also at Johns Hopkins University, told Medscape Medical News.

    Like opioids, Adderall use can also lead to addiction, and the federal government is taking steps to make it more difficult to obtain the drug without an in-person doctor's visit. The proposed legislation isn't contributing to the shortage, but it could limit access for people who rely on telehealth for prescriptions if enacted.

    Government agencies do not manufacture medications, nor can they require that manufacturers produce or distribute more Adderall. Still, the FDA and DEA said they continue to work with manufacturers to resolve current supply issues and prevent shortages going forward. It's not yet clear when the shortage will be resolved.

    Have you been impacted by the Adderall shortage or high prescription drug costs? Are you open to sharing your story? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.

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  • That lipstick review could have been written by AI

    a bunch of lipsticks
    Beauty products like lipsticks can be tricky to shop for online.

    • Companies are using AI to help real people write product reviews.
    • The beauty industry especially relies on product reviews to reach customers.
    • But AI-powered reviews aren't necessarily good for customers trying to tell if a lipstick is any good.

    I purchased the Haus Labs foundation after watching a glowing review of the product by a makeup influencer on TikTok.

    Shopping online, it's sometimes hard to know how a foundation or lipstick shade will look on your skin — or how to know if that $60 serum really is going to exfoliate better than a $20 one.

    And beauty products are highly subjective — what feels or looks good on one person might not on another.

    That's where online reviews come in: For beauty, especially, reviews from influencers and regular people are crucial. And we're talking big business here. The beauty business is expected to become a $580 billion industry by 2027. Although several large conglomerates rule, it's still an industry where new brands can break out and become huge — Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty line is valued at $2 billion, for instance.

    Good reviews — and lots of them — are also important for a product to stand out on a beauty site like Sephora, Ulta, or even Amazon. The reviews are so key that companies specialize in helping brands get good ones. Influenster is one platform where regular people can sign up to receive free products in exchange for writing and posting reviews.

    Now, AI is in the mix.

    Business of Fashion reports that AI-generated reviews for beauty products are making it harder for some shoppers to determine whether a review comes from a real person. For example, a company called Bazaarvoice has a new AI tool called "Content Coach" that says it helps consumers write beauty product reviews:

    Bazaarvoice, a platform for user-generated content which owns Influenster and works with beauty brands including L'Oréal, Pacifica, Clarins and Sephora, has recently launched three new AI-powered features, including a tool called "Content Coach." The company developed the tool based on research showing that 68 percent of its community had trouble getting started when writing a review, according to Marissa Jones, Bazaarvoice senior vice president of product.
    Content Coach gives users prompts of key topics to include in their review, based on common themes in other reviews. The prompts for a review of a Chanel eyeliner might include "pigmentation," "precision" and "ease of removal," for instance. As users type their review, the topic prompts light up as they are addressed, gamifying the process.

    In this case, AI is helping someone who might not have the terminology to describe what makes a concealer feel so smooth on the skin. It could help a mediocre writer create a more coherent and knowledgeable-sounding review.

    That's one of the things that generative AI is great for: taking a few bullet points of text and putting them into a few paragraphs with proper grammar and acceptable style. Amazon is reportedly testing out a similar tool to help people write reviews.

    a review of hellmanys manains
    Content Coach helps write a review of Hellman's mayonnaise.

    Bazaarvoice seems to be aware of some of the potential issues with AI-written content. "In terms of generative AI, if people can't trust whether a product review is genuine and written by a real user, they might choose to shop elsewhere," said Marissa Jones, the company's senior vice president of product. "So we as an industry need to think carefully about how we approach this technology in a thoughtful and ethical way."

    Already, without AI in the picture, there have been some unfortunate and predictable problems with online reviews. Amazon has long struggled with fake reviews for its third-party sellers. Some beauty brands, like the skincare line Sunday Reilly, have gotten in trouble with the FTC for having their own employees write glowing reviews on the Sephora site. Fakespot, a company that detects fake reviews, estimated that 31% of reviews on the big retailers' sites — Walmart, eBay, Best Buy, Amazon — were suspicious in 2021.

    When we typically look at reviews, we use our judgment to guess how trustworthy a reviewer is. If someone writes, "THIS FOUDNASHUN IS AWSUM U SHOUDL BUY IT IM 9 BTW" about the Haus Labs foundation I bought, you probably wouldn't take it as seriously as a longer, more eloquently written review that mentions the packaging, long-lastingness, texture, etc.

    And some reviewers might be knowledgeable and good at assessing a lipstick, but bad at putting those skills into writing. For those cases, AI is great. But the fact that AI is suggesting which attributes to focus on in describing a product suggests that it's doing more than just helping clear writing.

    There's a reason that not all reviewers are equal. We make quick judgments all the time on how trustworthy a recommendation is based on clues about how it's written. Writing good reviews is hard! That's why there are professionals who do it!

    AI-powered reviews will certainly be great for beauty brands that want more high-quality reviews. But they could also be bad news for the beauty buyer who relies on authentic recommendations when choosing which foundation to plunk $40 down on.

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  • Immigration has helped the hot US economy and labor market, but there’s a risk of oversupply, Fitch says

    People walk by a now hiring sign posted in front of a CVS store
    People walk by a now hiring sign posted in front of a CVS store on April 7, 2023, in San Rafael, California.

    • Foreign-born workers are leading the increase in the US labor force, Fitch Ratings said.
    • But a labor demand cooldown may cause an oversupply in the market, it cautioned.
    • Jobs growth in the government sector is also fueling the labor market.

    US labor momentum seems stuck in high gear, after March added yet another blowout jobs report.

    But a simple explanation could lie in US immigration trends, as a surge of foreign-born workers is propelling labor expansion, Fitch Ratings reported on Thursday.

    "Increases in the U.S. labor force post-pandemic have been led by foreign-born workers, which represented 19% of the U.S. labor force at YE 2023, higher than 17% as of YE19," the ratings agency wrote. "The foreign-born labor participation rate is 66%, more than the native-born participation rate of 62%."

    These figures come as net immigration averaged 0.9% of the US population for the past two years, surpassing estimates of 0.3%. 

    But while higher immigration flows should keep labor momentum going through this year, Fitch also cautioned that it risks an oversupply. 

    That's as weakness is starting to show in labor demand. According to Wall Street analysts, that includes rising layoff announcements, lack of full-time job opportunities, and a plunge in business hirings.

    Still, migrants' contribution to labor has significantly boosted economic growth, Fitch said, a point shared by previous research.

    For instance, Goldman Sachs lifted its 2024 GDP outlook due to this labor surge, while JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley highlighted immigration's positive impacts on US output.

    In a separate report published Thursday, Fitch also named a secondary source fueling the impressive labor market: government hiring.

    Job growth in this sector averaged 2.7% on an annual basis in 2023, the highest year-over-year rate since 1990, the ratings firm reported. It's unlikely to slow for now, as government employment is still lagging behind the private sector.

    "The post-pandemic recovery for government payroll did not begin until much later in 2021 because most government educational institutions maintained a remote only system with minimal staff throughout 2020," Olu Sonola said in the report, head of U.S. economic research.

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  • The stunning strength of the US economy means the soft landing may already be here, Evercore founder says

    economic growth
    • The US economy may have already stuck the soft landing, according to Evercore founder Roger Altman.
    • The investing veteran pointed to resilient growth, which has crushed expectations over the last year.
    • It's the big reason the stock market remains strong, despite concerns over Fed rate cuts, Altman said.

    The US economy may have successfully avoided a recession and is already gliding toward a soft landing, according to Evercore founder Roger Altman.

    The investment banking chief pointed to rising fear of an economic downturn, especially as interest rates in the economy look poised to remain higher for longer.

    But the US economy has been "amazing" in its resilience, Altman told CNBC on Thursday. Growth has surpassed economists' expectations, with real GDP expected to have surged 2.4% over the first quarter, according to the Atlanta Fed. 

    The job market also looks to be on rock-solid footing despite firms battling tighter financial conditions. The unemployment rate was at a record low of 3.8% in March—around a full percentage point lower than what the Fed previously predicted, Altman said. Labor productivity also remains strong, rising 2.6% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Those are big reasons stocks remain buoyant despite a sell-off this week as markets repriced expectations for Fed rate cuts. Inflation came in hotter than expected for the third month in a row in March, which led most investors to take the prospect of a June rate cut off the table. 

    "Everything by and large is going right in the US economy," Altman said, noting that inflation is usually sticky as it falls from a peak. "The economy is outpacing every single forecast one could have put up from six months ago or nine months ago. Arguably, the soft landing already has happened."

    Some Wall Street bears have warned a recession still looms for the US economy, with signs of weakness beginning to surface in the job market. According to top economist David Rosenberg, 22 US states have met the criteria for the Sahm Rule, a notoriously accurate recession indicator that's triggered when the three-month moving average of the unemployment rate rises 50 basis points above its 12-month low. 

    The New York Fed is pricing in a 58% chance the US could tip into recession by March of next year. Most experts also saw a recession as unlikely at the start of the year, with 91% of economists assigning a less-than-50% chance of a recession in January, according to the National Association for Business Economics' latest survey. 

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  • Jamie Dimon joined other top business leaders at the glitzy White House dinner. See who joined him on the guest list.

    Jamie and Judy Dimon
    Jamie and Judy Dimon made a notable appearance.

    • Leaders from JPMorgan, Microsoft, and Apple attended a White House state dinner on Wednesday.
    • The dinner was hosted by Biden for the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.
    • Take a look at the business leaders and tech moguls who attended the lavish event.

    On Wednesday top business and tech figures mingled with celebrities and lawmakers at the White House for a state dinner hosted by President Joe Biden.

    The event was in honor of the prime minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida. It was a celebration of the relationship between the countries, as the leaders reaffirmed military and economic partnerships alongside new technology initiatives to strengthen cybersecurity and AI.

    CEOs and founders, including Jamie Dimon, Tim Cook, and Jeff Bezos, attended the lavish event. The guest list also included BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.

    Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, and his wife, Judy Dimon
    Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan CEO attends White House state dinner

    Earlier this week, Jamie Dimon released his annual shareholder letter which outlined some of the biggest problems facing JPMorgan Chase and the world. He touched on topics from AI to geopolitics and called for the US to bring the West together during times of global turbulence.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook took a seat at the table
    Tim Cook at the White House state dinner for Japan
    WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 10: Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the state dinner for Japane in the East Room of the White House on April 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for an official state visit where the two leaders announced new agreements on technology and strengthening military and economic partnerships against Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.

    Tim Cook was among several tech moguls who attended the event, which had a cherry blossom theme. Cook also attended last year's White House state dinner honoring the prime minister of India Narendra Modi, alongside guests like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

    Lisa Jackson, another key Apple figure, joined Cook
    Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple Vice President Lisa Jackson

    Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives at Apple, is no stranger to the White House. She served as administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama.

    Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez were in attendance
    Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez at the White House state dinner for Japan
    Executive chairman of Amazon Jeff Bezos and actress Lauren Sanchez arrive for a State Dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at the Booksellers Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2024.

    The former Amazon CEO was invited to the event alongside his fiancée Lauren Sánchez, a former news anchor. Their relationship became public in 2019, following Bezos' split from MacKenzie Scott.

    Microsoft president Brad Smith secured an invite
    Brad Smith, President of Microsoft Corp, and Greg Smith
    Brad Smith pictured on the left.

    Earlier this week, it was revealed that Microsoft plans to invest $2.9 billion in AI data centers in Japan by 2025.

    President and COO of Blackstone, Jon Gray, and his wife Mindy, cofounder of the Gray Foundation
    President of Blackstone Jon Gray at the White house state dinner

    Gray has worked at the private equity giant Blackstone since he was 22 years old and rose to prominence in the company's real estate investment group, before taking on the role of president and COO under Stephen Schwarzman.

    Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also got in on the action
    Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his wife Elissa Leonard at the White House state dinner

    Jerome Powell was appointed to his role as Fed chair by former President Trump and then reappointed by Biden. He has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the central bank staying above the political fray when it comes to decision-making on monetary policy.

    President Biden hosted the event in honor of the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida
    Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida
    President Biden hosted the event in honor of Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida.

    The grand event was designed recognize to the "flourishing" friendship between Japan and the US, First Lady Jill Biden said at a media preview of the event on Tuesday.

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  • Silicon Valley still has no idea what might kill the smartphone

    Humane's Ai Pin device
    Humane started shipping its Ai Pin in April.

    • The latest attempt to dethrone the smartphone arrived this week.
    • Humane, a startup founded in 2018, released an AI pin that aims to offer an alternative.
    • Reviews suggest it's far from a smartphone-killer, however.

    Silicon Valley is having a hard time figuring out what a post-smartphone future might look like.

    Ever since Steve Jobs introduced the world to the iPhone almost two decades ago, back in 2007, no product has come close to having a stranglehold on people's attention quite the way the pocketable device has.

    Sales for smartphones continue to grow, as data from Counterpoint Research shows: shipments rose 7% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 323.2 million units, showing appetite remains strong for devices that people operate their lives with.

    But for all their advantages, there has been some incentive to figure out life beyond smartphones.

    Not only has their development stagnated with each new release, but the impact they can have on people's sleep, the risk posed to children's mental health from excessive use, and the ease with which users rack up screen time raise valid concerns.

    It's why companies have made plenty of attempts to offer an alternative.

    Google tried to make $1,500 smart glasses a thing in the 2010s but miserably failed. Meta is trying to offer a more refined take with its Ray-Ban partnership. And now, in the AI era, a newer company is trying to make wearable pins the future.

    Unfortunately, this looks like a dead-end on the road toward a post-smartphone future too.

    Humane, a startup founded in 2018 by husband and wife duo Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno — both former managers at Apple — has been busy working on an AI-enabled wearable pin that offers smartphone capabilities while doing away with unending screentime.

    A photo of Humane co-founders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno.
    The Humane AI Pin's promotional video might seem impressive, but some viewers pointed out that the device gave incorrect information.

    As Humane puts it, "whether you're making calls, sending messages, seeking answers, capturing moments, taking notes, or managing your digital world," its pin should have you sorted.

    But after reviews of the first-gen version of its AI pin dropped this week, it's clear smartphone users will continue to be glued to their screens for a while.

    The pin, launched in the US for $699 and deemed the start of "ambient computing" by its founders, was described by The Verge as "an interesting idea that is so thoroughly unfinished and so totally broken in so many unacceptable ways" that it's tough to recommend.

    In its review of the pin, a device that requires a $24 monthly subscription to work, the publication acknowledged it looked pretty neat but was unsparing about almost everything else: it lacks basic functions like an alarm, struggled to make calls half the time, music streaming falters.

    Others had trouble uploading high-resolution images they took with the pin to Humane's cloud storage service, and the AI meant to make the pin feel like a "second brain" felt "brain-dead half the time." Overheating also appeared to be an issue for many reviewers.

    For Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, a veteran reporter who has covered Apple and the smartphone market for years, the verdict appears that "the phone will stick around far longer than some expected."

    Humane's Bongiorno seems to have conceded this too. Responding to Gurman on X, she said "the smartphone is not going anywhere for a bit," as "no computer replaces the one before it."

    Even Apple, which entered a new hardware market this year with the launch of its $3,500 Vision Pro, is positioning its mixed-reality headset as a product to work in tandem with iPhones for Apple devotees.

    Don't expect your pockets to become lighter anytime soon.

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  • A virtual pop star appeared at her live concerts in just 2D — and fans are throwing fits

    hatsune miku psvr
    • Hatsune Miku, the vocaloid singer, kicked off her new tour on a giant LED screen.
    • Some fans are fuming, 404 Media reports, given she's appeared as a hologram in the past.
    • Miku is set to grace the Coachella stage this weekend.

    Virtual popstar Hatsune Miku had the nerve to appear in 2D — not 3D — while kicking off her latest North American tour. And some fans on social media are fuming.

    On the first two stops of her Miku Expo 2024 North America outing — in Vancouver and Portland — the turquoise-pigtailed starlet did not appear as a hologram as she has in the past, 404 Media reports, but instead via a big LED screen accented by decorations and a light show.

    The same setup appeared to be employed at Miku's Monday show in San Jose.

    On X and TikTok, the #MikuExpo2024 hashtag surfaced mixed reviews, according to 404 Media. Some cheered the energy and community of the show, while others were underwhelmed by the screen in light of what they paid to attend.

    "I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no excuse for that LED Wall at #MIKUEXPO2024," one X user wrote. "Especially with how much more expensive the tickets were this year. It's a damn shame."

    "I'd want my money back," one TikToker concurred. "Where are the holograms?"

    A spokesperson for Miku's creator, Crypton Future Media, told Business Insider that the LED screen technology will continue to be featured at shows across North America and Europe.

    "We appreciate the fan feedback regarding Miku Expo's North America tour and will continue to refine our show experience with our audience in mind," the spokesperson said.

    Hatsune Miku, which translates to "the first sound from the future," is a Vocaloid — or software that allows fans to compose their own songs using Miku's voice, which she then performs live. Miku was initially released almost two decades ago and even opened for Lady Gaga in 2014.

    Tickets for the next available show in Phoenix Sunday start at $55.

    Miku is also set to perform at Coachella this weekend. The star was initially slated to appear in 2020, but the event was scrapped due to the pandemic.

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  • Inside Andy Jassy’s plan for Amazon in the generative AI era

    Andy Jassy

    Happy Friday! Tax day is Monday, but don't sweat it. Here's a rundown on how to file for an extension. We've also got resources on how to do your taxes.

    By the way, we're wrapping up voting for the championship matchup in our business, tech, and innovation bracket. You can vote here.

    In today's big story, we're looking at Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's letter to shareholders, which details the tech giant's plan in the age of generative AI.

    What's on deck:

    But first, Amazon, AI, and a letter.


    If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.


    The big story

    Amazon in the AI age

    andy jassy

    The generative AI revolution is coming, and Amazon wants in on the ground floor.

    Andy Jassy, Amazon's CEO, identified the tech as the company's next big focus in his annual letter to shareholders, writes Business Insider's Ana Altchek.

    Jassy described gen AI as Amazon's "next set of primitives," which is corporate jargon for saying Amazon wants companies getting into gen AI to build stuff using their tools.

    It's a strategy that's worked well for Amazon in the past. AWS, Amazon's public cloud business that Jassy helped create, has been incredibly profitable and upended how companies think about their tech strategy.

    But there's a new kid on the block. The AI cloud includes Nvidia's GPUs and large-language models, which power the AI services and tools that are all the rage now. Meanwhile, the cloud 1.0 business, which AWS has long dominated, is no longer cool.

    Jassy's letter details how Amazon plans to reposition itself at the forefront of this new era.

    The three-layer approach includes Amazon powering companies that build and train models (Anthropic, Snap), helping companies use these models with their data (Bridgewater Associates, Pfizer), and creating customer-facing AI applications themselves.

    Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, or AWS, the retail giant's cloud-computing business.
    Andy Jassy

    It wasn't all AI talk in Jassy's letter.

    I asked our resident Amazon expert, Eugene Kim, about what stood out to him beyond the mentions of AI. He highlighted two points:

    A lower cost to serve. Jassy emphasized the company would continue to find cheaper ways to deliver items faster. That's a nod to the threat Amazon feels from fast-fashion retailer Shein. It also enables Amazon to increase its market share among customers looking for cheap, daily items that might have previously been costly for Amazon to ship.

    Prime Video gets some love. Amazon's streaming business has been on a rocky road recently, with layoffs hitting the unit earlier this year. But Jassy's hopes remain high. He said in the letter he believes Prime Video could "be a large and profitable business on its own."

    Exclusive content on the streamer has been a mixed bag. Its latest big bet is "Fallout," an adaptation of the popular video game set in a post-apocalyptic world. (Hmmm, what a novel concept.) Meanwhile, Prime Video's pursuit of sports remains a question mark.


    3 things in markets

    Startup founders
    1. These companies will be first in line when the IPO market finally opens up. With the help of Pitchbook data, BI identified 11 startups ready to go public this year. Among those ready for an exit: Databricks, Epic Games, and Zocdoc. Here's who else made the list.

    2. Junior bankers could be the latest casualty of AI. The New York Times reported banks are considering pulling back on hiring new analysts thanks to AI handling a chunk of their workload. But it's not all bad news on the Street, as Morgan Stanley is betting AI can free up advisors' time to be "more human."

    3. The best-case scenario for interest rate cuts is up in smoke. Wall Street strategists are readjusting expectations for when the Fed will lower rates. Expert predictions include only one cut this year and even a rate hike.


    3 things in tech

    Adam Neuman
    1. Adam Neumann opens up about Flow, his secretive billion-dollar startup. Neumann wants to turn apartment living into a utopian fantasy. But despite having been in the works for more than a year, little is known about Flow. In an exclusive interview, Neumann spoke to BI about his newest venture.

    2. Humane's AI Pin reviews are decidedly mixed. The pin, which came out yesterday, aspires to one day replace our smartphones. But early users said it's not worth the $699 price tag, and just isn't that good yet.

    3. Meet adtech's rising stars. Digital advertising is facing a wave of new challenges, like the death of third-party cookies. BI identified 33 up-and-coming professionals who are finding solutions and developing new products.


    3 things in business

    "Bon Appétit" in a green and white font against a black background.
    1. Bon Appétit plans to cut about 25% of its union staff. In 2020, many of the brand's best-known staff left amid a racial reckoning. Now, insiders are worried planned layoffs will undermine the work the outlet has done to get back on track.

    2. Hiring managers share résumé clichés to avoid. Don't just list your responsibilities — instead, highlight the impact you've had at work. And don't use too many buzzwords, like saying that you're "detail-oriented."

    3. Big corporations are quietly taking over your medical practice. Businesses like hospital systems, insurers, and PE firms are gobbling up medical clinics, and some doctors and industry experts say it's ruining healthcare.


    In other news


    What's happening today

    • Today's earnings: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and other companies are reporting.

    • Coachella starts today.


    The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

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  • 44 secrets you never knew about the Titanic, which sank 112 years ago

    the titanic
    The Titanic.

    • The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, but the wreck was not found until September 1, 1985.
    • The story of the ship, its passengers, and life onboard still fascinates us today.
    • One of the ship's musicians wasn't officially declared dead until 2000.

    The sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, has captivated people for 112 years. The stories of survivors, the various explanations as to why it sank, the decades-long search to find the wreck, and the multi-billion-dollar film released in 1997 have all contributed to its enduring place in pop culture.

    On September 1, 1985, more than seven decades after the Titanic sank, its wreckage was found during a secret US Navy mission searching for two other missing vessels.

    As technology advanced, companies started offering tourists the chance to dive 2.4 miles below the surface and see the wreck for themselves. In June 2023, a submersible, the Titan, with five people aboard, went missing two hours into its journey to the wreckage. The Coast Guard later confirmed the Titan had imploded, killing all five.

    Keep scrolling to learn more about the Titanic, including how it was found, what it was like on board, and what secrets we've learned from the wreckage.

    Actress Dorothy Gibson, who was aboard the Titanic and survived, starred in a film called "Saved From the Titanic," which was released just one month after the ship sank.
    dorothy gibson in the movie "Saved from the titanic."
    Gibson in "Saved from the Titanic."

    American silent film actress Dorothy Gibson was one of the approximately 700 survivors of the tragedy.

    Upon arriving in New York City unscathed, she immediately began filming "Saved From the Titanic," the first film to depict the events of the sinking.

    According to the Los Angeles Times, it was released in May 1912, a month after the crash. She is famous for wearing the same clothes and shoes in the movie as she had worn during the actual sinking, according to Atlas Obscura.

    While the film was successful, it exists only in memories now, much like one Jack Dawson. The only known print of the film was destroyed in a fire, reported IB Times.

    A popular urban legend is that another survivor, Lawrence Beesley, tried to crash the filming of the 1958 film "A Night to Remember" because he wanted to symbolically go down with the ship.
    Lawrence Beesley and an unknown woman in the ship's gymnasium.
    Beesley and an unknown woman in the ship's gymnasium.

    According to IMDb's trivia page, Beesley was on the set of "A Night to Remember," which is considered the most accurate of all Titanic films, at least according to the BBC.

    He reportedly tried to jump into the scene depicting the ship's sinking, in order to symbolically go down with the ship. Legend has it that director Roy Ward Baker refused, as it would have been a union violation and could have halted filming.

    Beesley was a survivor from the second class, and he wrote a memoir about his experience entitled "The Loss of the SS Titanic."

    The 700 third-class passengers had to share two bathtubs.
    titanic steerage party scene
    The movie "Titanic" made third class seem like a real party.

    Even though, by all accounts, the third-class accommodations on the Titanic were much better than those on an average ship, they were still pretty rough.

    The total number of third-class passengers was at least 709, according to Encyclopedia Titanica, and they all had to share two bathtubs, reported ABC News.

    One of the ship's musicians wasn't officially declared dead until 2000.
    titanic band
    The ship's musicians as portrayed in the 1997 film "Titanic."

    Roger Bricoux, the Titanic's cello player, was just 21 years old when he perished during the ship's sinking.

    But Bricoux wasn't officially declared dead until 2000, though all of the musicians died on April 15, 1912. The French army even called him a deserter when he failed to show up to serve in World War I, according to his profile on Encyclopedia Titanica.

    The Association Française du Titanic (French Association of the Titanic) worked to clear his name and officially put Bricoux to rest, but it didn't succeed until 88 years after the Titanic sank.

    The ship's band played music right until the very end to try to calm passengers, just like in the 1997 movie.
    Mr J Wesley Woodward
    Mr. J Wesley Woodward, a cellist in the Titanic's band.

    They have been called heroes, and they played music for more than two hours after hitting the iceberg, the BBC reported.

    The ship's lookouts had to rely on their eyesight alone — the ship's binoculars were locked inside a cabinet that no one could find the key to.
    titanic postcard
    The ship's lookouts had to rely on their eyesight alone.

    According to The Telegraph, the ship's lookouts, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, didn't have access to binoculars during the journey and therefore couldn't see very far.

    The ship's second officer was replaced at the last minute and forgot to hand off the key to the locker that housed the ship's binoculars.

    The key resurfaced at auction in 2007, where it was sold for over $90,000, reported Scottish newspaper The Herald.

    One theory is that the crew didn't spot the iceberg in time because they didn't have access to said binoculars.
    titanic newspaper
    Newspaper boy Ned Parfett sells copies of the Evening News telling of the Titanic maritime disaster, outside the White Star Line offices at Oceanic House in London.

    According to the official 1912 inquiry findings, The Telegraph reported, only 37 seconds elapsed between actually seeing the iceberg, calling downstairs, and deciding what course of action to take.

    At the memorial of Frederick Fleet, one of the lookouts, a prankster left a pair of binoculars with a note reading, "Sorry for bringing these 100 years too late."
    frederick fleet
    Frederick Fleet.

    Fleet was the lookout who called out the now-famous words, "Iceberg, right ahead." He survived the sinking but tragically went on to take his own life in 1965, after the death of his wife, according to his Encyclopedia Titanica profile.

    On the centennial anniversary of the Titanic's sinking, a prankster removed a memorial wreath from his gravestone and replaced it with a pair of binoculars and a note apologizing for the lateness of the binoculars, reported The Daily Mail.

    The Titanic was plagued by tragedy from the start. Eight people died during the ship's construction.
    titanic and olympic under construction
    The Titanic and its sister ship the Olympic under construction in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

    According to National Geographic, eight men died during the construction of the ship, but only five of their names are known: Samuel Scott, John Kelly, William Clarke, James Dobbin, and Robert Murphy. A plaque memorializing the eight men in Belfast was unveiled in 2012.

    The richest man aboard was John Jacob Astor IV, who was widely believed to have been the richest man in the world at the time of his death.
    John Jacob Astor IV
    John Jacob Astor IV.

    Astor was not just the richest man on the Titanic but widely believed to be the richest man in the world at the time of his death. He was worth an estimated $150 million, or $4.5 billion in today's dollars, according to CNBC.

    According to Biography, Astor was on the ship returning home from a months-long honeymoon with his new wife, Madeleine Talmage Force, who, at 18 years old, was 28 years younger than him.

    The extended honeymoon was actually a way to escape society's gossip — Astor had just been divorced within two years of his new marriage, which was relatively unheard of back then, Mental Floss reported.

    Astor's body was one of the few that was recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after the ship went down, The New York Times reported at the time.

    Multiple newspapers mistakenly reported that the crash caused no fatalities, including the Daily Mail, the Belfast Telegraph, and The World.
    Titanic newspaper NYT
    Reports were conflicting.

    In the race to publish a headline about the disaster, numerous newspapers gave families and loved ones false hope about the sinking of the Titanic. As a Library of Virginia project showed, The Daily Mail declared "no lives lost" while the Reno Evening Gazette said that "passengers are safe."

    The Belfast Telegraph claimed "no danger of loss of life."

    Some American newspapers were able to take advantage of the time difference, making their headlines more accurate. The New York Times, for example, ran the headline "Titanic Sinks Four Hours After Hitting Iceberg; 866 Rescued by Carpathia, Probably 1,250 Perish; Ismay Safe, Mrs. Astor Maybe, Noted Names Missing."

    A woman who survived the Titanic's sinking later survived the sinking of another ship: the Britannic.
    violet jessop titanic stewardess
    Violet Jessop.

    Depending on how you look at it, stewardess and nurse Violet Jessop is the luckiest — or unluckiest — woman alive. She survived the sinking of both the Titanic and the Britannic.

    Jessop was just 25 when she survived the sinking of the Titanic. She was instructed to get into a lifeboat while the ship was going down to show women that the boats were safe.

    Undeterred by this maritime tragedy, Jessop began working on the Britannic, according to the Belfast Telegraph (dubbed the Titanic 2 by the media), until it came across a mine that had been planted by a German U-boat in 1916.

    That ship also sank, and Jessop escaped again, but this time with a serious head injury that would affect her for the rest of her life.

    It is rumored that a few men dressed up as women to get a spot on a lifeboat.
    Titanic lifeboat
    The lifeboats are said to have been for women and children only.

    For one couple, these rumors even caused divorce.

    Dickinson and Helen Bishop were granted a divorce in 1916, four years after the Titanic went down. Helen claimed that her husband was cruel and a drunk, according to M Live, but their relationship was also plagued by rumors that Dickinson had dressed up as a woman in order to escape the ship.

    These claims were explained further in the 2012 book "Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived."

    In his official testimony during the US Senate Inquiry regarding the Titanic, Dickinson claimed that there had been no official order allowing only women and children to get on lifeboats, according to the Titanic Inquiry Project.

    Bishop's not the only man to have been accused of disguising himself as a woman — J. Bruce Ismay, William Carter, and William T. Sloper were all dogged by the same rumors throughout their lives, according to fact-checking site Snopes.

    Every single engineer aboard the Titanic perished — they all stayed behind to keep the ship's power running until the very end.
    titanic engineers memorial
    The memorial to the Titanic's engineers in Southampton, England.

    The Titanic's lights only went out when she finally went under, due to the tireless efforts of the ship's engineers, who stayed behind to keep the electricity and pumps running while the ship sank. They also kept the radio running, which put out distress signals until minutes before the ship sank, according to The Guardian.

    Not one of the 35 engineers survived.

    No city was more affected by the Titanic's sinking than Southampton, England, where the ship had departed from. In one school, half of the students lost their fathers.
    titanic southampton
    A crowd awaits the return of survivors of the Titanic disaster in Southampton, April 1912.

    According to the Daily Echo, at "one Northam school, 120 of the 240 pupils lost their father" — Northam is a neighborhood in Southampton. Most of the crew was from the city, and only 213 crewmembers survived, while 686 died.

    The Daily Echo also reported that one widow, who had just given birth to twins, found out her husband had died and died of shock herself.

    The Navratil brothers were known as the "Titanic orphans." They were the only two children from the ship to be rescued without a parent or guardian.
    Survivors of the loss of RMS Titanic: Michel and Edmond Navratil
    Michel (left) and Edmond (right) Navratil.

    The Navratil brothers Edmond and Michel were just 2 and 4 years old, respectively, when the Titanic sank. They were with their father, Michel Sr., who had kidnapped them.

    Separated from their mother, he decided to take them to America in the hopes that his estranged wife would follow, and that they could start a new life in the New World, according to NPR.

    Their father put them on a lifeboat, and he was never seen again.

    The two spoke no English, so they were taken in by a French-speaking survivor, Margaret Hays, until the authorities could locate their mother. She found them a month after the disaster, thanks to their faces being plastered on newspapers the world over.

    One of the most beloved quotes from the 1997 film is based on a true story.
    benjamin guggenheim titanic movie
    "We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down as gentlemen."

    In the movie, Benjamin Guggenheim refuses a life vest and states, "We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down as gentlemen."

    While it seems almost too cinematic to be true, the real Benjamin Guggenheim actually was prepared to go down like a gentleman, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

    A New York Times article published in April 1912 that was reprinted by Encyclopedia Titanica reported that he had asked a steward to tell his wife in New York City, "I've done my best in doing my duty." He went down with the ship.

    Watch the scene based on Guggenheim's final moments here.

    There were at least 13 couples celebrating their honeymoon on the Titanic.
    John Jacob Astor IV and Madeline Force
    John Jacob Astor IV and his new wife, Madeleine, were on their honeymoon.

    According to the 2011 book "Titanic Love Stories," there were at least 13 couples celebrating their honeymoons on the ship.

    A novella called "Futility" which was published 14 years before the Titanic set sail seemed to have predicted the disaster.
    crew of the titanic
    The crew of the Titanic waiting at Portsmouth Town Hall.

    "Futility," a novella written by American author Morgan Robertson, was published in 1898, 14 years before the Titanic set sail. It was centered on the sinking of a fictional ship called the Titan.

    There's an eerie number of similarities between the ship's sinking in "Futility" and the Titanic in real life.

    First, the ship names are just two letters off (Titan vs Titanic). They were also said to be almost the same size, and both sank in April, due to an iceberg. Both ships had been described as unsinkable, and, sadly, both had just over the legally required amount of lifeboats, which were nowhere near enough.

    The author was accused of being a psychic, but he explained that the uncanny similarities were simply a product of his extensive knowledge, saying, "I know what I'm writing about, that's all."

    The SS Californian is known for having been near the Titanic when it sank, but not coming to its aid until it was too late. Three years after the Titanic, the Californian sank too.
    officers of the californian
    The officers of the SS Californian in May 1912.

    As the BBC reported, multiple bad judgment calls led to the Californian not helping the Titanic: The ship's radio was allegedly shut off for the night when the Titanic hit the iceberg, and when the captain was awakened by the flares the Titanic had been setting off, he assumed that they were just fireworks.

    By the time the SOS messages finally came through, it was too late.

    However, the Californian wasn't long for this world either — it sank in November 1915, torpedoed by a German submarine during World War I, according to the book "British Merchant Ships Sunk by U-boats in World War One," published in 2006.

    Only one woman actually went down with the ship and survived, Rhoda Mary Abott.
    two titanic lifeboats
    Two lifeboats approaching the Carpathia.

    Abott was on the deck until the very end with her two sons, and all three went into the water with the ship.

    Tragically, her two sons were washed away by the ocean, but Abott was eventually pulled into a lifeboat that was rescued by the Carpathia, according to the 2012 guide "The Titanic For Dummies."

    One of the ship's cooks, Charles Joughin, was able to survive much longer in the cold water than others because of the copious amounts of whiskey he had drank.
    drunk history titanic chef
    Joughin was also portrayed in Comedy Central's "Drunk History."

    Joughin is briefly but memorably portrayed in "Titanic" as chugging a flask of alcohol before entering the water. This is based on reality — according to reports, Joughin grabbed two bottles of whiskey as the ship went down, as written in the 2015 book "Fascinating Footnotes From History."

    According to the Titanic Inquiry Project, Joughin reported that he survived in the frigid North Atlantic for at least two hours.

    Joughin had had a busy night. The last dinner served on the Titanic (to first-class passengers) was a whopping 10 courses.
    titanic
    Restaurant scene in "Titanic."

    According to NPR, the menu included "oysters, filet mignon, poached salmon, chicken Lyonnaise, foie gras, roasted pigeon, lamb with mint sauce, and Punch Romaine, a palate-cleansing ice flavored with oranges and drenched in Champagne."

    And that's just for first class — the ship's cooks had to prepare food for second- and third-class passengers, plus the crew, too.

    The 1997 movie ended up costing more to produce than it cost to build the Titanic, which was the largest and most luxurious ship at the time, even when adjusted for inflation.
    titanic sinking painting
    An artist's rendering of the ship sinking.

    The Titanic was estimated to have cost around $7.5 million in 1912, reported the History Channel, which, according to the US Department of Labor's inflation calculator, would be around $231 million.

    The 1997 blockbuster's budget was $200 million, or around $376 million today, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    And though it was the biggest ship in the world at the time, it still took 73 years to find its wreckage. It was discovered in the midst of a secret Cold War Navy mission.
    titanic wreckage
    Artifacts recovered from the wreck site of the RMS Titanic.

    The Titanic's wreckage was discovered in 1985, during a secret Cold War Navy mission to locate two sunken nuclear submarines, which explorer Robert Ballard revealed to National Geographic over two decades later.

    "The Navy never expected me to find the Titanic, and so when that happened, they got really nervous because of the publicity," Ballard said. "But people were so focused on the legend of the Titanic they never connected the dots."

    When the wreck was found, it finally confirmed reports that the ship had, in fact, broken in two. This was a long-disputed issue.
    titanic ship wreckage underwater
    Remnants of the Titanic.

    There were at least 15 witnesses who swore on the record that they had seen the Titanic break into two pieces before completely sinking beneath the waves. But they were ignored — the official US inquiry stated that the ship sank intact, as the New York Daily News reported.

    How the Titanic sank was disputed for 73 years until it was finally found on the ocean floor, broken in two.

    The whole wreck could be gone by 2030.
    Professor Robert Ballard, professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, points to his footage of the wreck of the Titanic that is part of the exhibition on display in the Belfast Building, Northern Ireland, Saturday, April 14, 2012. Ballard and his team discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985.
    Professor Robert Ballard, professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, points to his footage of the wreck of the Titanic.

    According to ABC News, UNESCO and scientists think the whole wreck could vanish by 2030, thanks to bacteria eating away at it.

    During one of the expeditions to view the wreckage, a bowler hat was discovered inside a passenger's closet, right where he left it.
    Preview Of Titanic 360 Yadegar Asisi Panorama In Leipzig
    People can explore the wreckage in a variety of ways, like this Panorama exhibition in Leipzig.

    James Cameron, director/writer/producer/editor of "Titanic," wrote about his experiences touring the ship's wreckage for National Geographic. He shared that "in Henry Harper's D Deck cabin, his bowler hat remains in the ruins of his closet, right where he left it."

     

    While many people believed the Titanic was unsinkable, not everyone did. A passenger, Charles Melville Hays, predicted an "appalling disaster." He perished in the water.
    charles melville hays titanic
    Charles Melville Hays.

    According to his entry in Encyclopedia Titanica, Hays was president of the Grand Trunk and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Companies, which would later become the Canadian National Railway, and was thus well-versed in the technological advancements in transportation.

    Survivor Colonel Archibald Gracie Hays pondered if continuing to build bigger and faster ships was wise, according to a reprinted article from the Toronto Daily Star that was reprinted in Encyclopedia Titanica.

    According to Gracie, Hays said "the White Star, the Cunard, and Hamburg-American Lines are devoting their attention and ingenuity in vying with one another to attain the supremacy in luxurious ships and in making speed records. The time will come soon when this will be checked by some appalling disaster."

    And an appalling disaster it was. Over 1,500 people died — though only four of those were women from the first class.
    titanic first class lounge
    The Titanic's first-class lounge.

    According to Encyclopedia Titanica, just four women from first class died during the disaster.

    One of those four women was Ann Elizabeth Isham, who perished because she refused to leave her dog behind.
    Dogs_onboard_the_Titanic
    Dogs of the Titanic, including (reportedly) Isham's dog on the far right.

    Isham reportedly jumped out of a lifeboat once she realized that she couldn't take her Great Dane with her, according to PETA.

    It's been speculated that a woman found in the water with her arms wrapped around her large dog was Isham, though it's impossible to know for sure.

    Of the 1,500-plus who perished, only 300 bodies were recovered. One was called the "Unknown Child" and wasn't identified until almost 100 years later.
    Fairview Cemetery tombstone of Sidney Leslie Goodwin
    Coins, toys, and flowers decorate the tombstone of Sidney Leslie Goodwin, a 19-month-old English boy, who died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

    A child's body was recovered from the water five days after the Titanic went down. Rescuers were so moved by the little boy that they buried him in a grave in Nova Scotia memorializing the 53 children that died.

    The body was misidentified three times before he was finally identified as Sidney Goodwin when his shoes were donated to a museum and DNA tested, the Toronto Star reported.

    Goodwin's tomb, marked with a headstone that says "unknown child," has remained untouched. His family stated, "The tombstone of the unknown child represents all of the children who perished on the Titanic, and we left it that way," reported LiveScience.

    The last remaining survivor passed away in 2009 — she was just 2 months old when the ship sank.
    Millvina Dean titanic survivor
    Millvina Dean.

    Millvina Dean was just 2 months old when she was wrapped in a sack and lowered into a lifeboat. She was the last living survivor of the Titanic and died in 2009, at age 97.

    One of the most famous survivors was the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown. She later ran for US Senate.
    margaret molly brown
    Margaret "Molly" Brown.

    After the sinking of the Titanic, Brown became a full-fledged activist, according to Biography. She was a vocal supporter of the suffrage movement, worked with the Red Cross during World War I, and even ran for Senate, though she didn't win.

    Of the about 700 survivors, only one was Japanese. When he returned home, he was ridiculed and ostracized for not going down with the ship.
    Masabumi Hosono Titanic survivor
    Masabumi Hosono (second from left), and his handwritten account of the sinking of the ship.

    Masabumi Hosono was originally called the "Lucky Japanese Boy" by American media, but he was soon labeled a coward for getting on a lifeboat, which many considered primarily for women and children, reported AV Club.

    He was called dishonorable in his home country and was accused of dressing up as a woman in order to gain access to a boat (there's no proof of this).

    After "Titanic" was released in 1997, Hosono's family published a letter he had written to his wife describing the sinking of the ship — explaining he had been ready to die until a crew member called out for two more people, and he hopped in with another man. 

    A lifeboat drill that was supposed to take place the day of the sinking was canceled by the ship's captain.
    titanic lifeboats
    The lifeboats aboard the Titanic.

    According to a survivor's testimony, it was completely out of the ordinary for a Sunday to pass without a lifeboat drill, the Toronto Star reported. April 14, 1912, was the last Sunday the Titanic would ever see, and the day of the sinking (technically, the Titanic sank on April 15 at 2 a.m.).

    It's unclear why the drill never happened.

    While it's impossible to know for sure, a ship spotted this iceberg with a streak of red paint going along its side soon after the crash. This is believed to be the iceberg that sank the ship.
    Titanic iceberg
    The iceberg that's believed to have sank Titanic.

    This photo was taken on April 15, 1912, the morning after the Titanic crashed, from a ship called the SS Prinz Adalbert.

    The photographer hadn't even heard about the Titanic sinking yet, he just noticed that it appeared to show signs of collision, including a streak of red paint, according to Wired.

    The hangar used to build the Titanic is now a filming location — HBO's hit show "Game of Thrones" shot there.
    titanic studios
    Titanic Studios.

    Part of Titanic Studios incorporates Paint Hall, where construction on the Titanic took place. It was first used in 2007 for the filming of "City of Ember," and it has been part of multiple TV shows and movies since then, including "Game of Thrones," according to Variety.

    The ship's profile, which features four smokestacks, makes it one of the most recognizable ships in history. But the fourth smokestack served no purpose, other than aesthetics.
    titanic smokestack skitch
    The fourth smokestack has no smoke coming out of it.

    The Titanic had four smokestacks (or funnels), but only three actually carried smoke from the furnaces. You can see how no smoke is coming out of the fourth one.

    A lucky few bought tickets but never boarded the ship, such as Milton Hershey, J.P. Morgan, and Guglielmo Marconi.
    milton s hershey
    Milton Hershey founded Hershey's.

    Days after the ship went down, newspapers began compiling lists of people who had bought tickets but never boarded the Titanic — they called them the "Just Missed It Club."

    Those who narrowly escaped disaster included Milton Hershey, who decided to take an earlier ship home with his wife; J. Pierpont Morgan (founder of General Electric and US Steel), who ended up staying at a French spa; and Guglielmo Marconi (an inventor), who also caught an earlier ship.

    The ship was reportedly carrying 15,000 bottles of beer, 1,000 bottles of wine, 850 bottles of liquor, and 8,000 cigars.
    Café Parisien, RMS Titanic
    Café Parisien on board the RMS Titanic.

    In addition to all that alcohol and tobacco, there were 75,000 pounds of fresh meat, 7,500 pounds of bacon, 36,000 oranges, 1,000 loaves of bread, and 40,000 fresh eggs on board, according to Titanic Facts.

    James Cameron's "Titanic" isn't the only movie about the ship. A Nazi propaganda film was shot depicting the events from a German perspective.
    nazi titanic movie
    The movie's poster.

    The Nazi re-telling of the sinking of the Titanic attempted to blame the British for the sinking of the Titanic by pushing the ship to continue at full speed, despite the warnings of a (fictional) German First Officer who ostensibly was the only person aboard who cared about human life.

    The behind-the-scenes scandal of this movie is almost unbelievable, according to the New York Post. Before being murdered in prison for speaking against the Nazi regime, the director demanded a full-size ocean liner that he could film on, and the Nazis provided the SS Cap Arcona (their version of a luxury ocean liner).

    Tragically, the Cap Arcona ended up being used as a floating concentration camp and sank, resulting in somewhere between 4,500 and 7,000 casualties, according to The Washington Post.

    Captain Edward Smith really did go down with the ship, though it's unclear what his final moments were actually like.
    captain edward smith titanic
    Purser Hugh Walter McElroy and Captain Edward J. Smith aboard the Titanic during the run from Southampton to Queenstown, England, on April 1, 1912.

    Smith, who had been a captain for 40 years, was preparing to retire after his final journey on the Titanic. Unfortunately, he'd never get to retire, as he died aboard the ship. As History notes, no one knows for sure what happened to Smith, but there are many rumors regarding his death.

    "Captain Smith had at least five different deaths, from heroic to ignominious," wrote Wyn Craig Wade in "The Titanic: End of a Dream." Some said he jumped off the ship with a baby, dove off himself, was washed away by a wave, or even shot himself (though historians widely discredit this theory).

    Stranger still, some people claimed that he survived and that they'd seen him, but these sightings have been discounted.

    Mysteries are still being solved to this day. Six Chinese passengers survived the sinking but were unable to get off the Carpathia and enter the US. Instead, they were sent to Cuba and seemingly vanished — until recently.
    james cameron
    James Cameron speaking about Fang Lang.

    A documentary about the six missing Chinese survivors (Lee Bing, Fang Lang, Chang Chip, Ah Lam, Chung Foo, and Ling Hee) called "The Six" premiered at film festivals in 2021.

    "Six of the survivors, all Chinese sailors, had to stay on the ship, prohibited from entering the United States under an anti-immigration law called the Chinese Exclusion Act. The next day, immigration officials escorted them across Manhattan and put them on board a Cuba-bound cargo ship they had been contracted to work on. And then they seemingly vanished," The New York Times reported in August 2021.

    One of these men, Lang, even inspired a scene in James Cameron's "Titanic" — he was rescued from the water by the single returning lifeboat, much like Kate Winslet's Rose. His rescue was also depicted, but the scene, which is available to watch on YouTube, was later deleted.

    The BBC reported that the six survivors eventually returned to the UK. Chip died soon after the sinking in 1914. Lam was deported to Hong Kong, Hee made his way to India, Bing moved to Canada, and Lang eventually became a US citizen decades after he was rejected. It's unclear what happened to Foo.

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