Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 11/17 – Apple Adopts RCS

Episode Date: November 17, 2023

Surprising almost everyone, Apple is adopting the Google-led RCS messaging standard. IBM suspends its advertising on X. Amazon is selling new cars on Amazon.com. A rebirth of Quibi? The surprising biggest mobile game of the year? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Miro.com/podcast Nuts.com/ride Links: Apple announces that RCS support is coming to iPhone next year (9to5Mac) What color bubbles will RCS messages be? Apple confirms the answer (9to5Mac) IBM pulls adverts from X after report finding they ran next to Nazi content (Financial Times) Hyundai to Be First Automaker to Sell New Cars on Amazon (WSJ) A Quibi-like app called ReelShort hit record downloads and revenue this month (TechCrunch) 2023's Apparent Biggest Mobile Game Launch Is Not What You Expect (GameSpot) Weekend Longreads Suggestion: Inside Marques Brownlee’s tech review studio: The YouTube star on gadgets, growth, and staying chill (Fast Company) A Coder Considers the Waning Days of the Craft (New Yorker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Tech meme right home for Friday, November 17th, 2023. I'm Brian McCullough today. Surprising almost everyone, Apple is adopting the Google-led RCS messaging standard. IBM suspends advertising on X. Amazon is selling new cars on Amazon.com.

The rebirth of Quibi, the surprising biggest mobile game of the year, and of course, the weekend long read suggestions. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. did not see this one coming and nobody else did either, apparently. This lead paragraph from 9 to 5 Mac kind of says it all, quote, In a surprising move, Apple has announced today that it will adopt the RCS rich communication services messaging standard. The feature will launch via a software update later next year and bring a wide range of iMessage-style features to messaging between iPhone and Android users.

Apple's decision comes amid pressure from regulators, and competitors like Google and Samsung. It also comes as RCS has continued to develop and become a more mature platform than it once was. RCS brings many iMessage-style features to cross-platform messaging between iPhone and Android devices. This includes things like read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality image and videos, and more. Apple's implementation of RCS will also give users the ability to share their locations with other people inside text threads the company says. regular SMS. RCS can work over mobile data or Wi-Fi as well. But at the time of this writing, IMessage isn't going anywhere. It will continue to be the messaging platform used for all communication

between iPhone users. RCS will simply supplant SMS and MMS and exists separately from iMessage when available. SMS and MMS will also continue to be available as a fallback when needed, Apple says. This is not Apple opening up iMessage to other platforms. Instead, it's the company adopting RCS separately from iMessage. Apple also reiterates that iMessage is far more secure and privacy-friendly than RCS. IMessage is end-to-end encrypted, and Apple just took that up a notch with advanced data protection for messages in iCloud. Meanwhile, Apple says that RCS does not currently support encryption that is as strong as IMessage. Apple's decision to adopt. RCS follows years of pressure from some of its competitors, including Samsung and Google. Until today, the company resisted that pressure and instead doubled down an iMessage. It has, however, rolled out some improvements to the SMS experience between iPhone and Android devices, end quote. And before you get too excited about this, again, this does not mean an end to the color bubble

divide because Apple says that green bubbles will still be used for RCS messages while iMessages will continue to be blue to denote what it considers the safest way for iPhone users to communicate. 9 to 5 Mac again. This shouldn't come as a surprise, as I reported this morning, iMessage isn't going anywhere. Apple is adding RCS as an upgrade to SMS and MMS, while iMessage will exist separately. Again, today's news is not Apple opening up iMessage to other platforms. On Android, SMS texts are denoted by a light blue color, while RCS messages are denoted by a dark blue. Based on what we know, Apple's implementation will be blue for iMessage and green for RCS and SMS, end quote. IBM has suspended its advertising on X globally,

after Media Matters said X had been placing ads for IBM, Apple, Oracle, and others alongside pro-Nazi material, quoting the Financial Times. On Thursday, left-leaning non-profit media matters put out a report saying it had found adverts from big brands, including IBM, Apple, Oracle, and Comcast's Xfinity and Bravo running next to content, quote, that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, end quote. IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination, and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation, the company said in a statement. Comcast said it was looking into the matter. Apple and Oracle did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The news will complicate efforts by ex-chief executive Linda Yaccarino, to reassure marketers that the platform is now safe for their brands.

Yakorino, who used to head up advertising at Comcast NBC Universal, before joining the social media platform in June, has been on a charm offensive meeting ad agencies and brands and has insisted the company is investing in technology to ensure brands run next to desirable content. Some brands have also been concerned about posts made by Musk himself, the Tesla chief on Wednesday, drew criticism when he appeared to agree with a post espousing an anti-Semitic theory.

quote, X's point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should stop across the board, Yakorino said in a post shortly after publication of the FT article. When it comes to this platform, X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination, end quote. In one screenshot, media matters showed an Oracle advert placed underneath a post, including a photograph of a picture of Hitler, and a quote, by him about, quote, truth. screenshot showed an Xfinity advert beneath a post praising the Third Reich, end quote. For the first time, Amazon is going to let U.S. auto dealers sell new vehicles on its platform,

starting in 2024 with Hyundai, which will include Alexa in its cars beginning in 2025, quoting the journal. Hyundai customers who want to skip going to a dealership will have a new option next year, shopping on Amazon.com. The South Korean automaker announced the move Thursday with Amazon at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Starting in 2024, U.S. auto dealers will be able to sell new vehicles on the tech company's platform, making Hyundai the first automotive brand to offer such an option for customers. The company said the arrangement will allow customers to purchase a new car on Amazon from a local dealership and then either pick it up or have it delivered. Prospective buyers will be able to search on Amazon's website for available vehicles in their area by model, color, and features,

and then complete the process using their chosen payment and financing options. Hyundai said that initially only 15 to 20 dealers will be able to sell their vehicles on Amazon, but that it will expand it to more by the end of next year. Is this going to help us sell more cars? We believe so, said a representative. Amazon said it expects to increase car brand offerings on its platform by the end of next year as well, end quote. A couple of segments now from the putting this on your race, radar file, is Quibi not dead, or at least does the ghost of Quibi live on in a Quibi-like app,

called Real Short, which has rocketed to the top of the App Store charts recently. Quoting TechCrunch, was Quibi a failure or just before its time? This month, a short video app and Quibi-like entertainment service called Real Short found its way to the top of the app store, which led to the app gaining 1.9 million downloads so far in the month of November alone. Last Saturday, the app also hit a daily record in terms of both downloads and revenue, with 326,000 new installs and 459,000 in net revenue, the latter meaning the revenue it retained after paying App Store fees. This data, provided by market intelligence firm App Figures, raises the question as to whether there's a continued consumer appetite for short-form-produced entertainment, similar to what

the failed startup quibby once offered, or if Real Short's time at the top of the charts is more of a fluke, or perhaps one helped by heavy app marketing ad spend. The company's Sunnyvale-based Crazy Maple Studio didn't respond to press inquiries about its app's newfound success, but the studio's other mobile products include animated interactive story apps, fiction apps, and storytelling apps. Real Short fits into that large portfolio as it features short, bite-sized shows with real actors and uses a virtual currency to unlock further episodes. Users can watch ads to earn coins or they can buy them directly in the app. As a result of this model, the app has been downloaded 11 million times across iOS and Android and has generated

$22 million in net revenue to date since its August 2022 launch. This month, Real Short even spent a couple of days as the number two app in the U.S., and it made it as high as number one in the entertainment category for around four days. What's more impressive about this is that Real Short's video content itself is arguably worse than Quibbys, and Quibbys was not always great. The acting and writing in Real Short are so bad that you almost have to wonder if it's intentional at times. The stories themselves are like snippets from low-quality soaps, or as if those mobile storytelling games came to life. But regardless, the app has found a bit of an audience, its revenue indicates. On average, Real Short generates roughly $2 per download, app figures, says. That's more than Quibi's estimated

73 cents per download, though that comparison doesn't consider inflation, end quote. I kind of want to title this one, sort of like a tabula ad. You know, you'll never guess what the biggest mobile game of the year is, or the biggest hit in mobile gaming might shock you. Quoting GameSpotly has announced that its mobile game Monopoly go has now ranked in more than $1 billion in revenue becoming 2023's biggest mobile game launch, according to the company. Scoply, which is owned by Saudi Arabia's savvy games, added that Monopoly Go is bringing in more than $200 million every month. month. Citing data.A.I.Scopely went on to say that Monopoly Go reaching $1 billion in revenue after seven months on the market is faster than any other casual game in mobile game history. Monopoly Go is a free game that makes money through microtransactions, as is the way many mobile games handle monetization. The mobile game market is bigger and more lucrative than console and PC. Part of the reason why Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard was to get a foothold in the mobile market with titles like Candy Crush and Diablo Immortal. E.A. for its part,

spent billions to acquire Gloomobile, the developer of Kim Kardashian's popular mobile game. In terms of downloads, Scoply says Monopoly Go has been downloaded more than 100 million times already. Players have collectively passed Go more than 40 billion times and got sent to jail more than 6 billion times. Scoply said players have sent more than 150 million friend invites. Scoply went on to say that Monopoly Go is played by millions of people every day around the world. Monopoly Go is a mobile version of the iconic board game, and it's the third Hasbro property that Scoply has worked on, following Scrabble Go and Yotsie with buddies. You might not necessarily be familiar with Scoply, but it's a gaming giant having previously worked on Star Trek, The Walking Dead, and Marvel games.

Beyond licensed games, Scoply is behind the popular Fall Guys like Battle Royale games, Stumble Guys. It was acquired by Saudi Arabia's public investment fund earlier this year for $4.9 billion, which made it one of the top ten most expensive acquisitions in the history of video games. end quote. Time for the weekend long read suggestions. Only two of them this week. First up, Fast Company takes a look at the king of the YouTube gadget reviewers Marcus Brownlee. Quote, Brownlee, who turns 30 in December, has come a long way since he began shooting videos about tech hardware and software in his family's suburban New Jersey home at age 15. He uploaded the results under the nom de YouTube of MKBHD for Marcus Keith Brownlee and high definition,

a moniker that has been synonymous with his own name ever since. But by the time he was in college, he was a phenomenon. In 2013, Google's then-senior VP of Engineering, Vic Gundrada, declared Brownlee the best technology reviewer on the planet. Brownlee's rise reflects a fundamental transformation that has played out in the tech review ecosystem. In the past, tech critics gained power through their affiliation with major news outlets. But as the old guard moved on, the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and the New York Times' David Post, both left their print purchase in 2013, YouTube offered upstart reviewers a platform that no traditional media brand could match, especially for reaching young people who'd grown up on the internet.

Today, YouTube is the top social media platform among 18 to 24-year-olds with 84% usage, according to Comscore. The second-place finisher, TikTok, lags far behind at 61%. And Brownlee has spent the past decade amassing more YouTube subscribers than the Journal of the Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today combined. His polished, quietly authoritative. product evaluations carry a surprising degree of gravitas, a rare commodity on YouTube where the most popular creator Jimmy Mr. Beast Donaldson has attracted 204 million subscribers with no expense spared stunts such as feeding a Lamborghini into a giant shredder. Real-life Brownlee isn't so different from the calm on-screen persona his viewers have bonded with. He's just a very,

for lack of a better word, chill individual, says Brandon Havard, who's worked alongside Brownlee as MKBHD's creative director since 2018. Brownlee's credibility also explains why makers of everything from smartwatches to electric cars crave the attention of an MKBHD video can bring. When a new product is launched, the people who pay the most attention are tech enthusiasts, and that's Marquess's audience, says Carl Pye, the co-founder of Nothing, which released a smartphone last July that Brownlee covered in two videos that have accumulated more than 6 million views and 8,000 comments.

Among gadget freaks, Brownlee is so universally recognizable, that Pi went so far as to perform a brief impression of him in a recent nothing promotional video dressed in a hoodie from the MKBHD merch store, end quote. And finally, from the New Yorker, in this age of AI coding companions, a requiem for software development as a profession itself? Maybe, maybe not, but this is a beautifully written piece that makes you think about a lot of stuff. Quote, perhaps what pushed Lee Cedle, the number one ranked Go player to retire from the game Go, was the sense that the game had been forever cheapened by the arrival of AI supremacy.

When I got into programming, it was because computers felt like a form of magic. The machine gave you powers but required you to study its arcane secrets to learn a spell language. This took a particular cast of mind. I felt selected. I devoted myself to tedium, to careful thinking, and to the accumulation of obscure knowledge. Then one day, it became possible to achieve many of the same ends without the thinking and without the knowledge. looked at in a certain light, this can make quite a lot of one's working life seem like a waste of time. But whenever I think about CEDL, I think about chess. After machines conquered that game some 30 years ago,

the fear was that there would be no reason for anyone to play it anymore. Yet chess has never been more popular. AI has enlivened the game. A friend of mine picked it up recently. At all hours, he has access to an AI coach that can feed him chess problems just at the edge of his ability and can tell him, after he's lost a game, exactly where he went wrong. Meanwhile, at the highest levels, Grandmaster's study moves the computer proposes as if reading tablets from the gods. Learning chess has never been easier. Studying its deepest secrets has never been more exciting. Computing is not yet overcome. GPT4 is impressive, but a layperson can't wield it the way a programmer can. I still feel secure in my profession. In fact, I feel somewhat more secure than before.

As software gets easier to make, it'll proliferate. Programmers will be tasked with its design, its configuration, and its maintenance. And though I've always found the fiddly parts of program, the most calming and the most essential, I'm not especially good at them. I've failed many classic coding interview tests of the kind you'll find at big tech companies. The thing I'm relatively good at is knowing what's worth building, what users like, how to communicate both technically and humanely. A friend of mine has called this AI moment, quote, the revenge of the so-so programmer. As coding per se begins to matter less, maybe softer skills will shine, end quote. Two weekend bonus episodes for you this week. First up, I went on the Securities Podcast, which is Lux Capitals podcast, to talk about that whole debate around AI and open source and maybe regulatory capture.

Frankly, if you want to hear my thoughts about AI at a really, really macro level, this conversation allowed me to get my thinking out in probably the most detailed way I've been able to verbalize thus far. so give that a listen and then second a portfolio profile episode you'll want to give this a listen for three different reasons first christmasina returns to this pod for the first time in many months here's some interesting stories about chris's background second you'll hear about the investment that was the literal inspiration for starting the right home ai fund and third if you are working on ai projects at scale at all you're gonna want to learn about this portfolio company free play Talk to you on Monday.