I recently discovered and subscribed to Packy McCormick's "Not Boring" newsletter. So far it's quite good, and so here I am mentioning it to you all on the blog. In his latest newsletter, he makes the case for why Airbnb and Zillow -- the two largest residential real estate tech companies -- should merge. Naturally this new company would be called Zillbnb. You can read all about why he thinks this is a good idea over here, but I would like to point out one thing that I found interesting.

Packy makes the argument that "easiest-to-book, shortest duration reservations" are a leading indicator for changes in demand. In other words, platforms like Airbnb can start to tell you where people might want to live and platforms like Breather can start to tell you where people might want to work.

To support this argument he uses the example of his Airbnb rental outside of New York City. Sure, demand initially fell off a cliff at the beginning of lockdown, but then it started to surge as New Yorkers sought refuge outside of the city. And while I think that this particular change in demand will likely end up being short-term in nature, a similar trend is being reported around in the world. Did we hear it first on Airbnb?

Wired recently published a long read called, "I stumbled across a huge Airbnb scam that’s taking over London." Apparently the people who do these sorts of things on the platform (things that are both illegal and questionable) call it "systemizing." This is the process of trying to create scale. Secure lots of units. Create a bunch of fake/duplicate accounts. And try and maximize revenue.

This obviously runs counter to Airbnb's mission of "authentic places", "community", and "local hosts." But as Benedict Evans points out in his latest newsletter, "where there is money and people, there will be scams." And Airbnb is obviously doing everything it can to quash this kind of activity, especially as it prepares for a possible IPO this year. The company has a policy of zero tolerance.

Fraud and government regulation are likely to be the two biggest kinks to work out as the company gets ready for public consumption. I am sure an equilibrium will be found; it's just going to take some time and a few lawyers. It goes to show you just how challenging startups can be when you combine digital (tech) and physical (real estate).

I have a copy of Monocle's Guide to Hotels, Inns and Hideaways sitting on my desk and I love flipping through it. There's something magical about a great hotel. Part of that magic is intrinsic -- it's just a good hotel. And part of it is the fact that we're probably all a bit more open to new experiences when we travel. Our mindset changes.

On the first of January, I wrote (briefly) about two recent experiences where I was no longer required to interact with a person in order to check into a hotel. It was all done electronically. Some of you followed up and asked: "Do you think this is a good thing? Don't you miss the human connection?"

My response was that I think it is inevitable. There is a long history of technology/automation replacing human jobs. We used to have elevator operators. Now we don't. We used to have people shoveling coal into furnaces. Now we don't. And I think that's okay. We created different jobs. The same is likely to happen with Uber/Lyft drivers.

At the same time, our need for human connections isn't going away. One of the best features of a great hotel is the bar. Whether it's sitting at the bar and talking with the bartender or meeting someone new, those moments of interaction will always remain precious.

And it's one of the reasons why, I think, platforms such as Airbnb haven't meant the demise of hotels. Part of it has to do with the service offerings and consistency of a good hotel. But part of it also has to do with our desire to be around other humans. In the words of Monocle: "There's something about a hotel bar that captures our collective imagination."