Damn they snagged this mans checkmark QUICK pic.twitter.com/Br62NB8uX5

— 100T Mako (@Mako) August 1, 2019

Holloway co-founders Joshua Levy (left) and Andy Sparks (right)

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said he would allow gig workers to unionize to "put the interest of workers first."

"There are people in the gig economy who go through more jobs in a week than my parents went through in their lifetime," Buttigieg said during the debate when answering a question about trade. "That's why I propose that we allow gig workers to unionize, because a gig is a job and a worker is a worker."

"That's why we need to put the interest of workers first. Of course we need to do retraining — we're doing it now in South Bend — we'll continue to do it, but this is so much bigger than a trade fight," Buttigieg said. "This is about a moment when the economy is changing before our eyes."

Organizing among some gig-economy workers is already beginning.

Drivers for popular ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft, who are listed as independent contractors not employees, went on strike earlier this year, calling on passengers across the nation to boycott the ride-sharing companies until better wages were provided.

Seattle became the first city to allow ride-share drivers to unionize in 2015, though there have been legal challenges, The Guardian notes. In New York City, the Independent Drivers Guild represents around 70,000 drivers, according to The Guardian, and the city enacted a higher minimum wage for ride-share drivers in January of this year. Some Los Angeles drivers are also organizing.

"We have to respond to all of these changes," Buttigieg said. "In addition to confronting tech, in addition to supporting workers by doubling unionization, as I've proposed to do."

Read more: Uber and Lyft are trying to make an end-run around unionization

The California State Assembly passed "gig work" legislation in May that will allow independent workers to meet certain criteria to be determined employees. The bill still needs to go through the state senate and get the governor's signature. The governor is encouraging unions to work with gig economy companies to figure out a compromise, Bloomberg reported.

In response, officials for the companies said that "a change to the employment classification of ride-share drivers would pose a risk to our businesses," as written in an op-ed published in the San Francisco Chronicle written by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Lyft cofounders Logan Green and John Zimmer.

Going into Apple's earnings report Tuesday, investors and analysts had a lot of concerns, including about such things as its iPhone sales, how the trade war with China was affecting its business there, and the development of its services segment.

One thing few seemed to focus on was its research-and-development spending. But maybe they should have paid it a bit more attention. Apple's earnings fell in its most recent quarter despite a rise in sales, and that incongruous result is largely the product of yet another significant uptick in the company's research efforts.

What's more, Luca Maestri, Apple's chief financial officer, indicated that Apple's R&D investment isn't going to abate anytime soon.

"It's very important to us to continue to invest in the business, particularly on the R&D side, because we always want to bring more innovation into the market, we want to improve the user experience, and differentiate our products and services in the marketplace," Maestri said on a conference call with analysts. "So we will continue to do that."

Apple's sales rose, but profits fell

In its fiscal third quarter, Apple's sales grew 1% from the same period a year earlier to $53.8 billion. But its net income plunged 12.8% to $10 billion over the same time period.

To put it another way, Apple's sales rose by $544 million from its third quarter a year ago to its just-completed third quarter. But its profit fell by $1.48 billion over the same period.

Part of the explanation for the divergence between its top and bottom lines was that its cost of good sold — its direct costs for producing and providing its products and services — rose. Despite having higher sales, Apple's gross profit — the amount of revenue that's left over after accounting for those direct costs —was actually down about 1% from the same period a year earlier. That's likely a function of the price cuts and trade-in incentives that Apple used to help juice sales, particularly in China.

Overall, Apple's direct costs were $738 million higher in this year's third quarter than they were a year earlier, more than wiping out its sales gain.

Apple's R&D spending is enormous and growing

But the next biggest factor weighing on Apple's bottom line was its research-and-development spending. Apple spent $4.3 billion on R&D in its just completed quarter. Compared with last year, that was up by $556 million, or 15%, far outpacing its sales growth.

Business Insider Intelligence

Perhaps more significantly, Apple spent 7.9% of its revenue on research in the quarter, compared with about 7% in the same period a year earlier. On an annualized basis, that would the highest proportion it had spent on R&D in 18 years. The last time Apple devoted more of its sales to research was in 2001, when it saw a slump in revenue due to the dot-com bust and it was investing heavily in developing the iPod, iTunes, and a new operating system for its Mac computers.

The company's R&D spending was likely boosted as a portion of revenue by the fact that its third-quarter is typically a seasonally slow one. But the jump still reflects a larger trend.

Since Apple's research spending bottomed out in 2012 at less than 2.2% of its sales, the company has consistently increased the amount of its revenue that's going to R&D. For all of last year, it devoted 5.4% of its sales to R&D. In the first nine months of this year, it's devoted 6.2%.

Read this: Apple now spends 18 times as much on research as it did when it launched the iPhone. These 6 charts show how it became an R&D giant.

Part of that increase is a result of declining sales. But it also reflects that fact that Apple is devoting ever more dollars to its R&D effort even as its revenue has fallen. In the first nine months of this year, it's spent $12.1 billion on research, $1.6 billion, or 15.5%, more than it spent in the same period last year.

Business Insider Intelligence

Apple may not be "harvesting" its investment anytime soon

As it's ramped up its research spending, Apple R&D effort has become one of the largest in the world. But the company doesn't have a lot to show for it, at least not in terms of hit new products. Its last major new product, Apple Watch, debuted in 2015, a year in which its R&D spending was about half what it will likely be this year. Reported investments in cars and interactive televisions, meanwhile, have yet to bear much fruit.

Business Insider Intelligence

Citigroup's Jim Suva was the only analyst who questioned Apple's R&D effort on Tuesday, wondering what he and other analysts should expect going forward.

"You've been investing a lot, a lot, lot, lot," he said. "Are we at a point now," he continued, "where a lot of the harvesting is going to happen?"

Maestri declined to answer his question directly, but his response suggested Apple isn't going to be moving to harvest mode. The amount of revenue that Apple devotes to all of its operating expenses, which include marketing and administrative costs in addition to research and development, has been "competitive" with other tech companies, he said.

"We want to continue to be competitive, and, at the same time, we will not under-invest in the business," he said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company wants to continue making its Mac Pro computer in the United States following reports that it was shifting production to China.

"In terms of exclusions, we've been making the Mac Pro in the US, we want to continue to do that," Cook said in response to an analyst's question on the company's quarterly earnings call. "So we're working and investing currently in capacity to do so. Because we want to continue to be here."

Cook's comments come after Bloomberg reported last week that Apple had asked President Donald Trump to exclude components for the new Mac Pro from tariffs on imports from China. In a tweet last Friday, President Trump said Apple will not receive such relief, and instead encouraged the company to make its products in the US.

Read more: These 9 tiny but important changes coming in iOS 13 will make using your iPhone so much better

The Mac Pro has been the only major Apple product that the company produces in the US, but The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg have both reported that Apple was shifting production from its Texas-based facility to China. Those reports indicated that Apple had tapped Taiwan-based Quanta Computer to manufacture its forthcoming Mac Pro.

Apple said in a statement to both publications at the time that the Mac Pro is designed and engineered in the US.

The discussions about Apple's plans for producing the Mac Pro come amidst an ongoing trade dispute between the US and China. Although President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to reopen trade discussions after the G20 summit that took place in Japan in June, President Trump also recently said there's "a long way to go" when it comes to imposing tariffs on Chinese goods.

Apple unveiled a redesigned Mac Pro during its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, signalling the first time the company has updated its powerful professional-grade desktop since 2013. The machine starts at $6,000, and is designed to be easily upgraded unlike its predecessor.

Vice Media has lost four top execs at its ad agency, Virtue Worldwide, in the past few months — just as it's counting on the agency to help it get to profitability.

They are:

Outside of Virtue, there have been other notable business-side departures in recent months at Vice.

The company has also shed a number of editorial higher-ups and lost its HBO show earlier this year. It's also brought on others, including chief digital officer Cory Haik, global news and entertainment president Jesse Angelo, and digital svp Katie Drummond.

Read more: Refinery29 is in talks to combine with Vice Media. Sources say its finances are so tight it needs to do a deal soon.

Asked for comment about the departures, a Vice spokesperson emailed a statement that read:

"Everyone who has walked through the doors of Virtue has contributed to, in just a few short years, creating an award-winning global agency, working with today's most powerful consumer brands. Virtue is growing at an incredible rate, having now expanded into 20 markets around the world and with 26 new clients in North America this last year alone. We're proud of the career growth that employees find, inside and outside of Vice, and we'll soon have announcements about new Virtue leaders joining us in the coming weeks."

Virtue was founded in 2005 as a creative agency and is one of just a handful of publisher-owned ad agencies. In 2017, Vice Media combined it with other standalone agency-like businesses to make a full-service agency called Virtue Worldwide.

The Virtue exits come as Vice Media is putting more resources behind the agency after taking a write-down in value by Disney and laying off 10% of its staff as it strives to get to profitability.

It's also an uneasy time for Vice Media as it's been taking steps to repair its reputation after reports of mistreatment of women at the company, which caused some advertisers to stop spending with the company and led to the firing of the head of Vice Media's former creative agency, Carrot Creative.

The exits also come as Vice chief executive Nancy Dubuc, who took over in March 2018, has been trying to tie the companies' units together under a new phrase, "One Vice." Virtue has historically operated independently, most of its work being direct with clients and not tied to Vice Media properties, and some there have felt that the separation insulated them from cultural problems at other parts of the company.

Founded in 1994 as a culture magazine, youth culture-focused Vice Media raised a reported $1.4 billion on the belief that its edgy, unconventional editorial approach would appeal to a new generation of consumers. It's among a handful of heavily venture-funded media companies that have not achieved profitability and whose growth has slowed, leading them to pursue mergers and trim staff.

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A Tesla employee was found dead at the Gigafactory earlier this month, Tesla has confirmed.

Michael Johnston, 61, was found dead on the third floor of the Gigafactory on Monday, July 22nd, the Storey County Police Department told Business Insider. Law enforcement was called at 5:47 am PT.

The Storey County Police Department is still investigating the matter, but so far officials say the death appears to have been medical in nature.

"We have been deeply saddened by this incident, and our thoughts continue to be with our employee's family. While we are still awaiting the autopsy report, we have initiated an investigation with law enforcement agencies and have no reason to believe that the incident was caused by anything related to this employee's work," Tesla said in a statement to Business Insider. "In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to support our employees and the family through an extremely difficult time."

Tesla also said that the company's investigation of the area did not find any hazards present in the area where the incident occurred.

The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said in an email to Business Insider this matter is currently under investigation, and that it was "properly notified of the event by the employer."

Tesla has faced criticism in the past for safety conditions at its factories. Tesla employees spent double the amount of time out of work for illness or injury last year than they did the year before, according to the OSHA.

California's OSHA has opened multiple investigations into safety violations at the company's Fremont, California plant. Tesla was hit with a $30,000 fine in January for violating six different California labor regulations with the construction of its production tent.

At the time, Tesla said that "The OSHA inspection did not result from any incident or injury and occurred during the construction phase of the project." The company also said it would challenge the agency's findings regarding safety violations during the construction of its production tent.

Reveal reported in June 2018 that Tesla had fired employees for reporting unsafe working conditions and that it belatedly adds injuries to its official company logs. Tesla denied that it has misreported workplace injuries.

Some Tesla workers have pushed to unionize, but CEO Elon Musk has said in May 2018 the United Auto Workers union "does not share our mission."

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Apple's iPhone-powered credit card will be launching in August, the company said on its fiscal third quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

Apple announced the Apple Card during an event in March and said that it would be launching this summer. A previous report form Bloomberg indicated that the Apple Card will debut in August, but this marks the first time the company has confirmed it.

Apple is partnering with Goldman Sachs to launch the credit card, which provides benefits like no late fees and 2% cash back on Apple Pay purchases. The card will live in the iPhone's Wallet app and is designed to work with Apple Pay, but customers will also be able to get a physical card to use in stores that don't accept contactless payments. That card is laser etched and is said to be highly secure — there isn't even a credit card number on the front.

The Wallet app will be able to color-code a user's spending history and sort purchases into categories such as food and drink, entertainment, and shopping. Apple Card users will also be able to pinpoint the location at which a transaction took place on a map. CEO Tim Cook said on the call that thousands of employees have been testing the Apple Card out in the wild, also corroborating a previous report from Bloomberg.

The Apple Card is one of several new services Apple will be launching in the near future. The company is also planning to release a new premium TV service called Apple TV+, which offers access to Apple original programming, and a subscription gaming service called Apple Arcade this fall.

Net sales for Apple's wearables, home, and accessories division surpassed that of the iPad, and is approaching that of the Mac, the company said as part of its third quarter earnings report on Tuesday.

Apple does not break out net sales for individual products like the Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod, but instead lumps them into broader category called wearables, home, and accessories.

During the financial period that ended on June 29, net sales for Apple's wearables, home, and accessories division hit $5.5 billion, while the iPad reached $5 billion in net sales and Apple's Mac business hit $5.8 billion in net sales. Apple said this was its biggest June quarter ever in a press release announcing the results, adding that this was partially driven by "accelerating growth" from its wearables unit.

That also represents a noticeable jump from the same period one year ago, when Apple's wearables, home, and accessories division was responsible for $3.7 billion in net sales.

It provides further evidence that Apple's wearables, home, and accessories business is gradually becoming just as critical as its Mac division. Last quarter, the category that includes Apple's smartwatches and accessories reached $5.1 billion in net sales, while the Mac accounted for $5.5 billion.

Apple's wearables, home, and accessories business has been steadily gaining steam. Last quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company's wearables division had reached the size of a Fortune 200 company.

Although Apple has not provided specific sales data for these products, third-party reports have suggested that the Apple Watch and AirPods are selling well.

With the AirPods, Apple accounted for 60% of the truly-wireless earbud market in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to Counterpoint Research. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch was responsible for 51% of the global smartwatch market in the fourth quarter of 2018, says a report from Strategy Analytics.

Apple released a new pair of AirPods in March that support hands-free Siri input, and is expected to launch another new model later this year. The company has also historically launched the latest version of the Apple Watch in September alongside new iPhones. Apple also refreshed its iPad mini and iPad Air tablets earlier this year around the same time it launched the new AirPods.

Thr growth in Apple's wearables, home, and accessories business also comes as the company has grappled with stalling iPhone revenue. Net sales from the iPhone reached $26 billion in the quarter that ended on June 29, marking a decline from the $29 billion in net sales it brought in during the same period one year ago.

US Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has introduced a new bill intended intended to regulate the way that users interact with social media, the latest in a series of proposed legislation aimed at major tech companies.

The Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act would fundamentally change the way that social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat engage with users, and call greater attention to how much time users are spending on each platform.

"The business model for many internet companies, especially social media companies, is to capture as much of their users' attention as possible," reads the bill, in part. "To achieve this end, some of the internet companies design their platforms and services to exploit brain physiology and human psychology. By exploiting psychological and physiological vulnerabilities, these design choices interfere with the free choice of users."

If enacted into law, the bill would require social media companies to limit the amount of automatically generated content shown to users, and prevent videos from automatically playing without user approval. Facebook and Twitter can surface a nearly endless stream of content to users as they scroll through their timeline or pursue trending topics. These platforms also allow videos to start playing automatically as soon as a user scrolls by.

YouTube has also been criticized for its use of autoplay. After a user watches a video, the platform will continually surface other videos related to the user's original choice. However, reports have indicated that autoplay can also lead users to increasingly controversial or radical videos, as the algorithm selects new video to watch.

Earlier this year The Verge reported that watching certain videos featuring children would lead users to multiple videos featuring moments of children involving nudity or other compromising activities that could be deemed as sexual.

Read more: Facebook and YouTube could be held responsible for the toxic swamp of content on their platforms under an explosive new bill

Along with new restrictions on how content is displayed, the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act would require social media companies to introduce daily and weekly time limits. The bill calls for an automatic time limit of 30 minutes per day, though users would be able to adjust the amount of time for themselves. However, social media platforms would also be required to show a notification telling the user how much time they've spent on the platform that day, displayed at least once every half hour.

The Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act would also prevent social media companies from rewarding users for prolonged engagement with their platforms. For example, Snapchat promotes user Snapstreaks, which track how many days in a row a user has sent pictures to the same person. YouTube awards users with badges for being a paid subscriber to certain channels for six months or more, with badges becoming more rare as their time as a paid subscriber increases.

Enforcement of the bill would fall under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The FTC would be required to provide a report on internet addiction and how social media affects psychology every three years. If approved, the bill would allow the commission to fine social media companies for non-compliance as well.

Sen. Hawley has been vocal in his criticism of social media and major technology companies since taking office at the start of the year. The Republican senator has repeatedly accused social media and video games of using addiction to fuel engagement. The Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act does not share any co-sponsors and hasn't reached the committee stage yet.