CES 2018 just happened! In this episode we take you on a wild rollercoaster ride by sharing the best and worst tech gadgets shared at the show. Then, as a bonus, we share one big trend/theme of the show (hint: it’s not Apple). See below for the show’s articles.
It’s the beginning of 2018 and that means it’s time for us to provide concrete predictions of what will happen in tech this year. We managed to keep the show under an hour, which is amazing. We talk about larger tech trends (telling you the theme for the year), we cover the big 5 oligopolies (Apple, Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft), plus discuss some small players (Snap, Elon Musk, Snap, Disney). It’s a great show and will give you a concrete foundation for the year. See the show notes below.
It’s our seasonal finale where we review our predictions for the year and review what happened. There’s a lot packed into the 45 minute show (the prediction show, #275, was 3 hours!) Each of the predictions are captured below.
It’s the end of the year and that means the most important question we need to answer is: What were the dumbest inventions of 2017? From useless inventions to inventions that aren’t actually inventions at all, we cover a list of the worst ideas people based entire business around.
This week Matthew and I look back at TechCrunch Disrupt in Berlin to discuss 4 start-ups. The question we answer is will the technology fly, or die. For example, Wandlebots introduces a simple way to program robots. Surprisingly (to me, at least), we have different view points on almost each company’s technology. The companies and their descriptions are below.
Amazon wants Youtube on the Show. Google doesn’t, unless the experience is the same as their other players. Google would also like their products, like the Chromecast, sold on Amazon. Amazon doesn’t. The feuding is starting to pick up steam and we’re here to talk all about it. Show notes are below.
Next week the FCC will vote to repeal the Open Internet Order (a.k.a. Net Neutrality). Matthew and I get into a hot debate on whether or not the FCC should and what would be the ideal outcome. It’s a great show with a ton of notes from the show below.
Tesla announced their newest contribution to the automation revolution: a new electric semi-truck. It’s sleek, safe, and high performing (also, not cheap, though the total cost of ownership should be lower). But this is one step in a much bigger trend to automate semi-trucks. For example, a new law to install ELDs (Electric Logging Devises) is already one huge step in automating the tracking of drivers… Drivers, btw, don’t love these new devices. There’s definitely some friction with something called the “Golden Triangle of Freedom”. We dive deep into each of these in our show.
EA released a new Star Wars game called Battlefront II. One game mechanic got the Internet (represented by Reddit), into a roar: in-game micro-transactions that open random loot boxes. Not only were they expensive, but they also influenced how well you did in multi-player mode, which seemed unfair and greedy on EA’s part. With all the criticism, EA pulled the loot boxes at the last minute, but it begs the question: what is the true cost of a game? Why does EA feel it’s necessary to charge micro-transactions for performance? Is that OK? Or are they going too far?
Sean Parker said in a speech that they knew Facebook would turn into an addiction, and created it anyways. We discuss a few points of that statement: did they really know? Is Facebook, and social networks in general, addictive? What can be done, if anything, about it? Pay attention because this is important.