Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 10/13 – The End Of The Office Era

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

Signal is phasing out SMS and MMS. Microsoft is sunsetting Microsoft Office branding. The SEC is poised to officially ban some Chinese hardware. Is AR not living up to its promise as a tool for soldiers on the battlefield? And would you ghostwrite tweets for prominent venture capitalists? There’s good money in it. Sponsors: Merge Conflict Podcast Links: Signal will remove support for SMS text messages on Android (BleepingComputer) Microsoft Office will become Microsoft 365 in major brand overhaul (The Verge) FCC poised to ban all U.S. sales of new Huawei and ZTE equipment (Axios) Microsoft’s Army Goggles Left US Soldiers With Nausea, Headaches in Test (Bloomberg) TikTok Parent ByteDance Sets Sights on Spotify With Music-Streaming Expansion (WSJ) I made $200,000 last year ghostwriting tweets for superstar VCs. It takes me 5 hours a week. Here's how I found my clients and built a booming side hustle from scratch. (Insider) 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 Thursday, October 13th, 2022. I'm Brian McCullough today. Signal is phasing out SMS and MMS. Microsoft is sunsetseting Microsoft Office branding. The SEC is poised to officially ban some Chinese hardware.

Is AR not living up to its promise as a tool for soldiers on the battlefield? And would you ghostwrite tweets for prominent venture capitalists? There's good money in it. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Signal is planning to phase out SMS and MECAL. MMS support from its Android app. Users have several months, apparently, to transition away from SMS and export messages to other apps, quoting bleeping computer.

While this announcement may surprise those who don't know signal can also be used to manage this type of text message, the signal for Android app could be configured as the default SMS MMS app since its beginning as text secure, an app that used the axolotel ratchet protocol, quote, we have now reached the point where SMS support no longer makes sense. In order to enable a more streamlined signal experience, we are starting to phase out SMS support from the Android app, the company said in a blog post published today. You will have several months to transition away from SMS and Signal to export your SMS messages to another app and to let the people you talk to know that they might want

to switch to Signal or find another channel if not, end quote. The change will only affect Android users who set up Signal as their default SMS app. Signal will start notifying them to export their SMS messages and switch to a new default app to manage their SMS messages soon. When Signal is used as the Unified Android Messaging app, both Signal and non-signal contacts are displayed in the contact list, with Signal ones marked with a blue letter. This move was mainly prompted by plain text SMS messages being insecure since they can be intercepted using various methods and allow mobile carriers worldwide to access message metadata, end quote. The Surface event yesterday was actually the kickoff to Microsoft's annual Ignite event, so more headlines have been trickling in from there, such as Microsoft officially planning

to sunset its Microsoft Office branding after more than 30 years, rebranding the Office apps to Microsoft 365. New logos will start rolling out in January, quoting the verge. While Office apps like Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint, aren't going way, Microsoft will now mostly refer to these apps as part of Microsoft 365 instead of Microsoft Office. Microsoft has been pushing this new branding for years after renaming Office 365 subscriptions to Microsoft 365 two years ago, but the changes go far deeper now. In the coming months, Office.com, the Office mobile app, and the Office app for Windows will become the Microsoft 365 app with a new icon, a new look, and even more features, explains an FAQ from

Microsoft. That means if you use any of the dedicated Office apps, they'll all be branded with Microsoft 365 soon and with a new logo. The first logo and design changes will appear at Office.com in November, followed by the Office app on Windows, iOS, and Android all getting rebranded in January. Microsoft 365 will now be home to Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Loop, Clipchamp, stream, and Microsoft's new designer app, a central Microsoft 365 app for both mobile and desktop will include a feed of relevant colleagues and meetings, a hub for all your files and documents, and custom tagging to group and organize content. The Microsoft Office brand won't disappear instantly, though. Microsoft will continue to offer one-time purchases of its office

bundle of apps to consumers and businesses through Office 2021 and Office LTSC plans. Microsoft is now a legacy brand for Microsoft, so that means when there are new features announced, they'll be coming to Microsoft 365 and not Microsoft Office, end quote. Other headlines from Ignite, Microsoft previewed Places, a new app meant to help companies address hybrid workplace challenges. Coming to Microsoft 365 business subscriptions in 2023, they announced Teams Premium with some AI-based smart features like meeting recaps and live translations expected to launch in February, pricing to be announced. And they announced Edge Workspaces, which lets teams share a set of browser tabs for collaboration and adds new secure.

and accessibility features to Edge, quoting TechCrunch. Microsoft argues that this feature can be used when bringing on new team members to an existing project. Instead of sharing lots of links and files, the team can simply share a single like to an Edge workspace, which will then likely consist of lots of links and files, but hey, at least it's just one link to share. As the project evolves, the tabs are updated in real time. I guess that's a use case. We've seen our share of extensions that do similar things, none of which ever get very popular. Meanwhile, teams share these links and files in other ways, think confluent, etc. On the security front, Microsoft is bringing typo protection for website URLs to the browser,

promising to protect users from accidentally navigating to online fraud sites after misspelling the website address by suggesting the website that the user intended. Nothing too complicated here, and a useful feature for sure, end quote. I thought this had effectively already happened, but I guess not. sources say the Federal Communications Commission plans to ban all sales of new Huawei and ZTE telecommunications devices in the U.S. over national security concerns pending a vote. Quoting Axios, the move which marks the first time the FCC has banned electronics equipment on national security grounds, closes a vice on the two Chinese companies that began tightening during the Trump administration.

The ban marks the combination of years of warnings from security researchers, analysts, and intelligence agencies that the Chinese government could use Chinese-made telecommunications equipment to spy on Americans. The price could come in higher cost for some smaller telecommunications providers that favored the Chinese company's products thanks to their aggressive pricing. The order would ban telecommunications equipment from Chinese teleco's Huawei and ZTE. The FCC previously prohibited companies from using federal funding to purchase equipment from these firms, but the new order would extend this ban to all purchases. The FCC order will also determine the scope of a ban on sales of video service. surveillance equipment used for public safety. This would affect the Chinese company's

Hightera Communications, Hike Vision, and Da Hua technology company, the source is told Axios. Yes, but the ban is not retroactive, so the companies can continue to sell products that the FCC previously approved one source told Axios. New models or equipment that would need a new FCC approval, however, would be banned, end quote. Well, today I think I've run across a bearish sign for AR. You would think, this would be a slam dunk use case, but I guess not. According to Bloomberg, an internal Pentagon document says more than 80% of the U.S. soldiers who have used Microsoft's HoloLens experienced mission-affecting physical impairments. Quote, U.S. soldiers using Microsoft's new goggles in their

latest field tests suffered, quote, mission-affecting physical impairments, including headaches, eye strain, and nausea, according to a summary of the exercise compiled by the Pentagon's testing office. More than 80% of those who experienced disconts, comfort had symptoms after less than three hours using the customized version of Microsoft's HoloLens goggles. Nicholas Gutierran, director of Operation Test and Evaluation, said in a summary for Army and Defense Department officials, he said the system also is still experiencing too many failures of essential functions. The problems found in the testing in May and June were outlined in a 79-page report this month. The Army marked it controlled unclassified information to prevent public

distribution, but Bloomberg News obtained a summary. Despite the device's flaws, Gutieren doesn't deem a lost cause, however. He recommended that the Army prioritize improvements before widespread deployment to reduce the physical discomfort of users. He said improvements are also needed to the goggles's low-light sensors, display clarity, field of vision, and poor reliability of some essential functions. On the positive side, the latest model's reliability has improved for a key metric, the mean time between failures that render the whole system inoperable, according to the report. leaders and soldiers also reported that the latest version, quote, enabled navigation and coordination of unit movements, Guiteran wrote. Microsoft's integrated visual augmentation system, or IVAS, is expected to provide a heads-up display for U.S. ground forces similar to those for fighter pilots.

It would let commanders project information onto a visor in front of a soldier's face and would include features such as night vision. The Army projects spending as much as $21.9 billion over a decade on the goggles, spare parts, and support services, if all. all options are exercised. The test results will be closely assessed by lawmakers as they decide whether to approve $424.2 million the Army proposed to spend on the program this fiscal year. The House and Senate Appropriations panels separately proposed deep cuts to the army's request pending the outcome of the testing. One finding that may give members of Congress pause, acceptance of the goggles by soldiers remains low, and they and their leaders indicated they don't, quote, contribute to their ability to complete their mission, end quote.

The exercise represented the fifth soldier touchpoint test of the system, a widely praised Army initiative to get soldiers feedback early in the acquisition process, end quote. We already know Facebook and Snapchat fear TikTok eating their lunch, but what this segment presupposes is maybe Spotify better watch its back. Sources are telling the journal that ByteDance plans to expand its Resso music streaming service globally, starting with over a dozen markets excluding the U.S. for now, while integrating the service fully into TikTok. Quote, TikTok parent bite dance has begun talks with music labels about expanding its music streaming service globally to compete with industry leaders, including

Spotify, according to people familiar with the discussions. Significant hurdles remain in the negotiations, the people said, but ByteDance wants the service to eventually be integrated within TikTok and to serve as a major platform for distributing music around the world. Bight Dance has discussed in recent months launching its Rezo Music streaming service, which is currently only available in India, Indonesia, and Brazil in more than a dozen additional markets, according to some of the people. The U.S. wouldn't be part of this next phase of expansion, but BightDance has said it wants the service to be available globally so that users can discover songs on the short-form video app and then easily subscribe to music, they said.

BightDance is negotiating with a music business that has been on a rapid upswing for several years thanks to streaming growth as well as the establishment of standard rates for music licensing. The talks have been strained at times over disagreements about how to value TikTok's promotional benefits for the labels, the people said, as it exploded in popularity, particularly among young people, TikTok has helped many songs become mega hits by going viral. TikTok grew its audience during pandemic lockdowns, and many Billboard Hot 100 hits got their start or a boost from trending on the service, end quote. Finally today, you might have seen this making the rounds yesterday. In Insider, a tech startup founder anonymously described how he made around $200,000 last year

by ghostwriting tweets for venture capitalists as a sort of side hustle that took him about five hours worth of work per week. Quote, some VCs will pay you per tweet. I've done $100,000 threads to announce a big funding round, and I've also done $100 tweets. Other VCs pay you per month for $5,000 to $10,000. I'll write 10 original tweets a month, and the rate goes up quickly from there. A single tweet I write can generate as many as 4 million impressions for my clients. They have accounts that range in size from 2,000 followers to 200,000. Oddly, the smaller the number, the more they're willing to pay. Those are the clients who need the distribution more. So why are these VCs willing to pay so much? To understand that, you have to understand the evolution of Silicon Valley and

how startups get funded. Back in the 2000s, venture funds were slow and boutique enough that you could build a relationship with founders over many months. VCs would deploy 10 million or 15 million dollars a year into companies trying to raise $1 million to $2 million. The best VCs of that generation made something like $100 million in their lifetime, which in the grand scheme of finance is nothing. Any accomplished ambitious analysts at a large hedge fund can imagine better career prospects. Then something changed. Software companies got a lot bigger. When Uber went public, you had a group of VCs who made a billion dollars each. That was a kind of growing up moment for venture funding. You start with a bunch of men who all knew one another in a kind of cozy

country club setting. Now, they all have more money than they know what to do with, and they're trying to go bigger. There's friendly competition. The stakes are getting higher. The guys who made a billion aren't retiring. They're trying to do a $10 billion fund. The competition means the deal flow is faster and more cutthroat. Today, the best deals are closing within 24 hours after they go on market. And there's no way to get in early as you could in the old days because founders won't take a meeting with you before the funding round is closed. Now, what does that have to do with Twitter? It matters because funders have to build parasocial relationships with founders. A founder might read a tweet from a VC and say, wow, he's a cool guy, he's in on the joke, I want him on my board.

Establishing yourself as a funder is no longer a one-to-one format where you're building meaningful relationships. It's a one-to-many format. You're broadcasting. I'm writing the content that will get the attention of young founders to establish the credibility of my clients, the VCs. Deals used to start with a meeting at the Pacific Union Club. I don't know anyone who goes there now. It all happens on Twitter. Twitter is the new social club. The president is never going to be there, but his speechwriter will be. so the God Kings of Venture, for the most part, aren't going to play on the platform, but the people one tier below them will, end quote. Ah, yes, influencer media, perhaps the first industry that venture capital itself pioneered. A bit of advice for the attention-starved out there on Twitter.

This is from later in the anonymous writer's piece, quote, I pride myself on not sticking my foot in my mouth. Nothing has turned into a gaffe. There is a set of topics that no matter what you say about them, it leads to people being angry at your replies. And VCs will often choose to engage in those third rail topics. For example, how many hours should you work? That's a classic. If a VC feels they're not getting enough attention, they can just tweet, you have to work 80 hours a week to be successful. Everyone will come out to tell you that you're canceled. It taps into money, privilege, class, ability of sacrifice. People have a lot of emotions about those subjects. So taking risks can lead to greater attentional rewards, but the precise level of risk

I'll take depends on the client. Some clients don't care. They're shock jocks. They'll tweet anything. Others are more careful. It's a question of what brand they're trying to build, end quote. I know I probably follow this stuff more than most, but I bet you I could name the VCs that employ ghostwriters. It's sort of transparent when you know what to look for. Time for your periodic reminder that this podcast has a sibling podcast. It's called Cool stuff ride home. I've said before that cool stuff ride home is my dream job, my dream podcast. I wish I was doing it. Don't get me wrong. I love covering tech. I've invested 25 years of my life, hopefully being able to cover tech better than anyone. But Jack on the cool stuff ride home gets to cover tech and science,

and art, and culture, and just whatever's cool that day. For example, he recently got to look at the real life story behind the warriors from that movie The Woman King. He looked at that weird period in the 1950s when novelty Halloween songs ruled the Billboard charts. He revealed how all those ice bucket challenges actually led to the development of a promising new ALS drug and science. He gets to do all the science, like how if we could somehow change Jupiter's orbit, it could either make Earth friendlier to life or a frozen wasteland. If you've never checked out the cool stuff right home, do it today. It makes a great companion to this show every single day. Talk to you tomorrow.