Chapter 1: What new products has Apple announced and how do they differ from previous models?
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Welcome to Tech News Briefing.
Chapter 2: What strategies are companies using to market prediction markets to college students?
It's Friday, March 6th. I'm Peter Ciampelli for The Wall Street Journal.
Chapter 3: How are CalShe and PolyMarket engaging college students with their services?
Prediction markets let people place bets on just about anything. For people in states where gambling is illegal, they give a legal workaround to place bets on sports. But the betting also goes beyond athletics.
Chapter 4: What financial incentives are being offered to college students by prediction markets?
A new investigation from The Wall Street Journal is taking a look at the latest place they're surging in popularity. College campuses. And then this week, Apple announced new iPhone and laptop models, which are straying from the company's modern formal style and high price tags. Our personal tech columnist is here to tell us all about them.
But first, prediction markets are in the midst of an all-out sprint to turn just about anything into an online bet.
Chapter 5: What are the concerns regarding gambling addiction related to prediction markets?
And as they race for market share, companies like CalShe and PolyMarket have aimed marketing at an eager group of users that isn't known for financial discretion. Students. Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Catherine Long joins us to explain the rise of prediction markets on college campuses.
So Catherine, how are CalShe and PolyMarket getting college students familiar with their services?
A couple of different ways. Both companies have worked with college students who are online content creators, influencers on Instagram and TikTok to create content promoting both brands. They've also reached out directly to college clubs, student groups and fraternities.
You write about one of the services incentive programs for getting fraternity members to sign up. Can you talk about how that works and what kind of actual financial incentives they're giving students?
At a fraternity at Columbia University, Polymarket inked an affiliate deal with them. Basically, for every student that fraternity members convinced to sign up for Polymarket's U.S. app, which is rolling out shortly, the fraternity would get a certain amount of money back in their wallets.
And the fraternity was so successful at doing this that they featured in polymarket marketing material to other fraternities and student groups around the country that the company was trying to pitch on a similar deal. They said the Columbia chapter raised over $30,000 in a span of two weeks, and it sent them a wooden plaque commemorating them as the inaugural polymarket pledge class.
Are there concerns around gambling addiction and other negative outcomes from gambling with these companies marketing to college students?
The companies say they're not gambling, that they're offering financial products, and that the people who use their platforms are trading against each other, not a house, which is different than going to a casino, for instance.
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Chapter 6: How is Apple’s new colorful design significant in the context of its history?
But gambling and addiction experts have raised alarm bells because what we're seeing across the country is an increasing prevalence of problem gambling among young men in particular, people age 18 to 35. And prediction markets do bear many similar features to online gambling apps. You can bet on sports.
Kelshi even recently began offering a different way to view the platform that's much more similar to a traditional sports book.
And how is it affecting college athletics specifically? I saw that the NCAA released a statement sort of condemning these apps.
The NCAA has taken a pretty negative tone towards prediction markets. It's asked the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates prediction markets, to try to bar them from offering markets pertaining to college sports. Its worry is really about the integrity of college athletics.
Chapter 7: What trade-offs exist with Apple's new lower-cost devices?
We've seen that when people are able to bet on college sports, it's possible that there are instances of activity like point shaving and match fixing. The NCAA is trying hard to prevent that. It also knows that when people are able to bet on college sports, college athletes come in for abuse if things don't go the way that bettors had wanted them to.
Are there any further regulations on these apps or their marketing that are in the works?
A variety of lawmakers have proposed legislation that would restrict trading on prediction markets by government officials. The reason that we started getting into this is because people age 18 and up can trade on prediction markets. Most states prevent people who are under 21 from gambling on things like online sportsbooks.
And that creates an opportunity for prediction markets to sign up new users who are between 18 and 21. It's a three-year window where they can really attempt to dominate the market.
So how have CalShee and PolyMarket responded to folks' concern about their services or their marketing?
Polymarket has said that its collaboration with student groups help it to gain insights about its platform and its products. And as of this taping, Kalshi has not yet responded to our request for comment.
That was Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Catherine Long.
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Chapter 8: Is Apple signaling a strategic shift with its new product pricing?
Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. What do you think about this new era of betting? If you're a listener on Spotify, be sure to leave us a comment with your thoughts. Coming up, Apple is returning to some nostalgic design styles from the aughts, and the price might be right for a new set of customers. That's after the break.
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Apple's latest releases could help them go after a fresh market. Their newest laptop and phone are colorful and cheap by the company's standards, which might open the door to some younger customers. This week, Wall Street Journal personal tech columnist Nicole Nguyen got her hands on the new devices and is here to give us the lowdown.
So, Nicole, tell me about these new products that Apple's unveiled.
The number of the week is $599. Apple unveiled two, quote, affordable devices this week, a new laptop called the MacBook Neo and a new iPhone called the iPhone 17E, and both cost $599. Not exactly cheap, but because this is Apple, that's cheap in Apple dollars, but especially for the MacBook Neo.
What was your experience like using them?
I was immediately struck by how colorful the new laptops were. And, you know, colors are just aesthetic and they don't actually like matter to the performance of the machine. But I think like in the real world, color plays, especially to a younger audience. And when you use it, it feels a lot like a MacBook Air. But upon closer inspection, there are some tradeoffs.
So, for example, there's no backlit keyboard. There are only two USB-C ports, and only one of those ports works with an external display. There's no quick-release, easily detachable MagSafe charging port, so you have to use up one of those USB-C ports to charge. There are only two speakers. It's a smaller screen also.
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