Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 08/02 - Stop Listening To Me, Siri!

Starting point is 00:00:00 On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the TechMeme Right Home for Friday, August 2nd, 2019. I'm Brian McCullough today. Google and Apple suspend their programs whereby humans listen in on what you say to your voice assistant.

Starting point is 00:00:46 Google will also let Android users in Europe pick a search engine. Verizon tortures the very definition of words. Amazon dash buttons have an official end date and, of course, the weekend long reads suggestions. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. So I didn't mention this yesterday, but Google recently agreed to stop listening in on and transcribing Google Assistant recordings for three months for users in Europe. We have discussed a couple times how all of the major voice assistant platforms employ contractors who actually listen in on a subsection of what you say to your assistance

Starting point is 00:01:30 in order to make the assistance speech recognition better. Well, obviously, this looks like something that would run a foul of GDPR or some kind of European privacy regime. So, under pressure from the EU, Google says it will pause language reviews by humans for three months while it investigates how its practices can remain on the right side of those data laws. And I did not cover this as well, but last week it came to light that, But Apple, too, like Amazon does with Alexa and Google, as we just said, does with Google Home, Apple uses contractors to listen in on and grade responses that Siri gives you. To do so, they regularly hear all sorts of sensitive snippets of conversations sometimes due to accidental Siri activations.

Starting point is 00:02:24 So in essence, all of the voice assistants have this issue, even privacy-focused Apple with its Siri. No one is immune. But this morning, Apple said that it is suspending its Siri response grading program, their term for those human contractors listening in, suspend the program worldwide and indefinitely while Apple reviews its processes and practices, quoting TechCrunch. In addition, it will be issuing a software update in the future that will let Siri users choose whether they participate in the grading process or not. Quote, we are committed to delivering a great Siri experience while protecting user privacy, Apple said in a statement to TechCrunch. While we conduct a thorough review, we are suspending Siri grading globally. Additionally, as part of a future software update, users will have the ability to choose to participate in grading, end quote. So, quick scorecard, if you're trying to keep track, Apple has suspended the practice of using humans to review voice commands as soon as it came to light and proved to be controversial.

Starting point is 00:03:33 Google, meanwhile, only paused its practices because it was forced to buy European regulators. But then, Apple is supposed to be the privacy first company first, right? Remember those privacy pop-ups when you install a new iOS version? how clear did Apple make it that humans might be sometimes listening to what you say to Siri? It kind of seems like it wasn't super clear at all. And it is interesting that Apple does exactly what everyone else has been doing in this regard. And it's worth noting that Google and Amazon have put in place mechanisms that allow you to review and or delete any voice recordings that they have. To varying degrees, it's a bit nuanced. Don't at me.

Starting point is 00:04:16 but as of yet, Apple will not say if it will allow you to review or delete Siri recordings. Back to Google, though, and back to Europe. Google says it will let Android users in Europe choose their default search engine starting in 2020. This comes after that record setting $5 billion fine against Google for antitrust violations in the EU, which required Google to stop illegally tying its Chrome and search apps to Android. What is interesting is how Google will present these search alternatives to users. Quoting the Verge, Google will present a new search provider choice screen to Android users in Europe when they first set up a new phone or tablet.

Starting point is 00:05:04 The selection will then be the default search provider that powers the search box on the Android home screen as well as the Chrome browser if installed. Search providers will be required to pay Google each time a user selects them from the choice screen. Inclusion on the choice screen will be determined through a sealed bid auction with the top three bidders added alongside Google search. Google does not say what the minimum bid threshold is. However, it does say that the number of bidders and their bids will be kept private. If fewer than three search providers meet the minimum bid threshold, then Google will fill the avoidable slots randomly from the pool of eligible search providers. Providers will also be

Starting point is 00:05:47 randomly ordered on the choice screen, end quote. So it's worth noting here that when the EU commission came down on Google for all of this, it did leave the means of compliance up to Google for Google itself to decide how it would comply. It remains to be seen if the commission will be cool with Google, still being able to make money via the auction of search alternatives as the means of compliance. Pour one out for Amazon's dash buttons. Not too long ago, Amazon stopped selling new dash buttons. And now Amazon says it will turn off the capabilities of all existing dash buttons worldwide on August 31st. In other words, your dash buttons are about to become dash bricks.

Starting point is 00:06:43 Amazon actually says that the usage of dash buttons has slowed significantly in recent months, but it's unclear if that was because consumers could see the writing on the wall, or because in the four years or so since the debut of Dash Buttons, well, as CNET says, quote, the smart home market has exploded since then, helped along in part by the creation of Dash buttons, with internet-connected devices and appliances now being far more common. Amazon, the world's largest retailer,

Starting point is 00:07:10 has expanded its lineup of smart home gear to include ring video doorbells, fire TV edition televisions, and a slew of Echo Smart speakers. That change has made the dash button obsolete since plenty of printers and washing machines now essentially include dash buttons built into them. If you want to buy something new, you can ask Alexa, instead of waiting for Amazon to send you a new button so you can set it up and press it, end quote. So either think fondly of the dash buttons as funny little pioneers who pave the way for the smart home, or funny little pioneers who were quickly obsoleted by it. Verizon has wholesale made changes to its unlimited data plans with four new plans available starting August 5th. And the good news is that all of the plans have basically gotten $5 per month price cuts across the board.

Starting point is 00:08:06 The bad news is it's still hella confusing. And as seems to be Verizon's want, when it comes to the word unlimited, to quote the Princess Bride, Verizon, I do not think that means what you think. that means. Quoting the Verge. At the top of the list is the new get more unlimited plan, which starts at $90 per month for a single line with auto pay enabled and not including taxes and fees at caveat. That applies to all four plans. It's essentially the company's old $95 per month above unlimited plan, just $5 cheaper and with 30 gigabytes of LTE hotspot data before you get throttled instead of 20 gigabytes.

Starting point is 00:08:46 The rest, 75 gigabytes of LTE data, 7.5 gigabytes of LTE data. 20p video streaming, free Apple Music, and the various cloud storage and connected service discounts are all the same as on the old plan. Why Verizon didn't just keep the name? Remains a mystery. The entry-level Unlimited plan, now called Smart Unlimited, is also virtually identical to the Go Unlimited plan it replaces. Like Get More Unlimited, there's a $5 price cut, so it starts at $70 for one line. The two-line, three-line, four-line, and five-plus-line prices also drop by $5.

Starting point is 00:09:20 but the drawbacks are still there. Verizon can slow down your data at any time if the network is congested. There's no guaranteed pool of high-speed data like the other, quote, unlimited plans. Video streaming is limited to DVD quality for 80P, and while there is unlimited mobile hotspot data, hotspot speeds are capped at a maximum of 600KBPS. The included Apple Music subscription is just a six-month trial, and unlike the other three unlimited plans, start unlimited,

Starting point is 00:09:49 like Go Unlimited before it is the only one that doesn't include Verizon's limited time-free 5G data offer. It'll always cost $10 per month. Those first two plans are essentially pointless renames with a slight price cut. It's the middle plans where things start to really get confusing. You see Verizon's mid-tier unlimited plan, end quote, because you know what, screw it. Let's just posit that it's all confusing for no good reason, and maybe the T-Lyreysm, LDR is just the $5 price cuts, new names for two of the old plans. Another plan is split into various options depending on what features you really want.

Starting point is 00:10:26 And despite throwing around the word unlimited, none of these plans actually deliver anything remotely along the lines of the premise of the word unlimited in terms of unlimited data, at least the way you and I or the dictionary might define that word. But hey, over at AT&T, they're giving you what they're calling 5G, which is not by any scientific definition actually 5G. So, you know, carrier is going to be carriers, I guess. It's Friday. So as per usual, it's time for the weekend long reads suggestions. First up, Wired has a piece looking at something funny that's been going on with open source projects lately. In short, they're becoming proprietary. Redis Labs licenses add-ons for its core product. So Amazon and other competitors can't use it. Confluent and

Starting point is 00:11:22 Cockroach DB do similar things. MongoDB relicensed its database product under a new server-side license, etc., etc., so Wired asks what happens to open source when all of the sudden open source comes with a whole slew of catches that make one question the whole concept of what open source even means. Next, I questioned a couple of times if the whole Trump trade war might hasten the global supply chain's exit from China, at least for electronics production. the New York Times takes a look at one country that seems to be benefiting so far, which is Vietnam. Samsung already assembles half its handsets there and might Apple be sniffing around two? On medium, Julia Alexander asks an interesting question.

Starting point is 00:12:05 We all assume Netflix algorithms select stuff for us to watch based on our tastes. So if a show's up our alley, we assume that Netflix will surface it for us, right? But what if we're wrong about that? What if the algorithms don't work? And sometimes it really seems that they don't. Does that doom shows that otherwise could find their audience if the algorithms just gave them a chance? Quote, no more primetime slots, no more public ratings, no more channel surfing. And while that may not seem like a big issue right now to us, the consumer public,

Starting point is 00:12:40 it means that shows like Tuka and Bertie from creators with voices that streaming was supposed to help are going to sink. It's a tough problem, one that I won't pretend to know the answer to, but I do know that we can't rely on algorithms to tell us who's watching shows and who's not, end quote. And the great Taylor Lawrence checks in this week, reporting from Instagram's annual beach party where it brings all of its biggest influencers together in what can only be described as the Davos or con or something for what is essentially the new Hollywood. Insta Beach is, quote, an exclusive invite only annual party. hosted by the photo-sharing platform for 500 top creators along with plus ones, talent representatives, managers, and for the first time, press. The goal, according to Justin Anthony, Instagram's head of creators and emerging talent partnerships, is to help influencers meet one another, mingle, and form friendships. But what started three years ago as a casual beach party for a class of people that was once maligned by the traditional entertainment industry,

Starting point is 00:13:41 has become a who's-who of young Hollywood, a sun-soaked declaration of just how completely emmeshed, Instagram has become with the teen entertainment world. Instagram isn't just a place to connect with friends, share memes, and post life highlights. It's where more and more young stars go to make a name for themselves, end quote. Weiss has a look at phone farms, but if you're already familiar with phone farms, it's probably because you saw some expose of a warehouse in China where thousands of phones are hooked up to browse the web and generate zombie traffic to milk ad money. but guess what? More and more Americans are creating their own homegrown phone farms,

Starting point is 00:14:23 a couple, a dozen, a hundred cheap Android smartphones at a time, all in the name of earning a couple dozen to a couple hundred dollars a month, again, by zombie clicking ads or zombie playing videos. There's a whole subculture around it. And finally today, I had read some about this before, but far from the Malthusian or Likian nightmare, all assumed was inevitable since the Industrial Revolution, did you know that the world's population is going to actually stop growing? And relatively soon, demographers think that the global population

Starting point is 00:14:58 will plateau by 2100 AD, probably leveling off at around 11 billion people, and then it might actually begin to shrink. What will the world look like then? There's all sorts of things to consider. Africa will probably end up being the world's population center. The human population on the whole will get older, and we know that that can have huge demographic and economic challenges as young people have to support more, less productive elders. Quote, when Alandu Eugenie thinks about the coming demographic shifts, he also wonders how they will alter the world's cultural centers of gravity. Quote, because the young shape a lot of the large segments of the culture, let's say, artistic culture or sports culture, it would be interesting to see where most

Starting point is 00:15:40 of the young people will be, he says. According to his calculations based on the UN's data, proportion of all humans on earth under the age of 25 who live in Asia will drop from 56 to 37% between next year and 2100. Meanwhile, Africa's share of the global population of young people will shoot up from 25 to 48%. The proportion living in the rest of the world will not fluctuate much, end quote. So yeah, art, culture, of course, but also commerce, economics. Young people are the literal engines of human culture and society on a lot of different vectors. Saying that young people are the ones who dictate the future is obviously obvious to the point of absurdity, but it made me think a little bit. I came of age right at the time that big thinkers

Starting point is 00:16:29 were starting to talk about the Asian century, how the center of gravity was moving eastward in so many ways. And as were two decades into the 21st century from everything that I can see so far. There's no reason to think that that won't play out almost completely through the rest of the 2000s. But if you really want to think long term, if you really want to skate to where the puck is going, is it too soon to start thinking about an African century, maybe in the 2100s? That is all for this week. Time for a weekend. I'm excited for this one because football is almost officially back, and by football, you know the football I mean. The charity. Shield is this weekend. So that means the season proper starts next weekend. I'll try to put

Starting point is 00:17:18 together a fantasy team this weekend to share with you next week in case you're interested in competing with me this season. Only one weekend bonus episode this weekend, but it's a super good one, all about Amazon. Oh, and before we go, dig this podcast classified. Talk to you on a Monday. Tips, tricks, and commentary from the world of Cisco, brought to you by the people that know it best. Compti, or Configured Terminal for the Newbies, is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Cisco Systems Engineers, where they discuss various Cisco technologies, best practices, including Cisco validated designs, and overall commentary regarding Cisco and technology in general. With new topics covered every two weeks across the entire Cisco portfolio, this is

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Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 08/02 - Stop Listening To Me, Siri!

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