Better Offline - Introducing: Better Offline

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s growing influence over society, and how startups, venture capitalists and big tech firms are looking to change the future - for better or for worse.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, I'm Ed Zittron, host of the Better Offline podcast on the Cool Zone Media Network. I've been both a tech writer and a tech executive for the last 15 years, and I've seen this industry grow from a bunch of dorks building things in their garage into a multi-trillion dollar behemoth that has monetized every corner of our lives. Better Offline is a podcast where I'll lead you through the good, the bad and the stupid of the tech industry, cutting through the fanciful jargon, and telling you exactly what executives like Tim Cook, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are really planning to do with your future.

Tech can often feel confusing and monolithic, and it's my job to break down the biggest stories so that you can see it's actually pretty straightforward. Somebody's using software or hardware to get rich, sometimes that benefits you, and sometimes it hurts you. Sometimes it means that Google makes their search results worse because they want to make more money. Sometimes it means that you don't see your friends on Instagram

because they need to sell more ads. And sometimes it means that shady foreign entities use massive compute resources to pump up the price of cryptocurrencies, conning customers into losing billions of dollars. I want you to be smarter and more aware of your digital lives, all while understanding the agendas of those involved. Be they big tech entities like Microsoft and Meta, or untrustworthy little startup founders

that are working on innovative new ways to trick you into giving them access to your data. I'm your guide to the future, even if the future can be a little bit intimidating. I'll bring you tales directly from the rocking core of the tech economy, me, joined by a rotating cast of the smartest people in the industry, including researchers, journalists, and some of the other members of the Cool Zone media team. No nonsense.

No buzzwords. No bullshit. Just a crystal clear window into a world that quietly finds new and innovative ways to make billionaires rich. Listen to Better Offline on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcast. Thanks for listening.