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You’re reading the last Recode Daily of 2017 — big thanks to all of our subscribers. We’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday morning, Jan. 2, 2018. Happy New Year!
In a major victory for both companies, SoftBank has successfully acquired 15 percent of Uber at a valuation of $48 billion — that’s down 30 percent from its most recent valuation of $70 billion. Recode analyzes the far-reaching consequences of the deal; here’s the backstory. [Teddy Schleifer / Recode]
Apple apologized to customers yesterday after the company was caught slowing down some older iPhones to prevent them from shutting off unexpectedly. Apple’s response — published on its website as a letter to customers, and including a relatively low-cost means of replacing out-of-warranty batteries — was an object lesson on responding to controversy, and on the importance of proactive communication. [Dan Frommer / Recode]
MoviePass signed up more than a million subscribers in just four months. It took Netflix more than three years to reach that level when it started selling low-priced subscriptions for DVD rentals in 1999. Spotify was relatively quick, at five months in 2011; it took Hulu 10 months to reach one million later that year. [The New York Times]
Legal marijuana arrives in California on Monday, after decades of underground dealing. The state’s existing marijuana black market is worth $13.5 billion, while the legal market could be worth $5.1 billion in 2018. While five other states already offer legal marijuana sales, California’s sheer size is expected to reshape the pot industry worldwide, potentially driving down prices for consumers while generating hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. [USA Today]
Our sister site, The Verge, handed out year-end report cards to nine big tech companies. [The Verge]
The best photographs of 2017 — described by the people who shot them. [The Guardian]
Facebook’s 50 most viral fake-news stories of the year. [BuzzFeed]
The lives they lived. [The New York Times]
The 2018 in/out list. [The Washington Post]
Recode presents ...
Do you have a tech-related New Year’s resolution? Share it with us and you might see it in an upcoming Recode story. Email eric@recode.net today with what you’re planning to do differently in 2018.
Top stories from Recode
Snapchat's year in review feature is a reminder of how much the app has evolved.
Snap is far from the simple ephemeral-messaging app it once was.
Craigslist competitor Letgo tried to engage its rival OfferUp in merger talks.
The two are battling Craigslist and Facebook in local commerce.
What were the biggest tech stories of 2017?
Recode’s Kara Swisher and The Verge’s Lauren Goode count down the Top 10 news items of the year on the latest episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask.
This is cool
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
