The Best One Yet - 💿 “The Last DVD” — Netflix’s brilliant self-disruption. The Electric Cars election. ChatGPT’s physical “chatpod”.

Episode Date: September 28, 2023

Tomorrow is the last day you can order a DVD from Netflix — For 10 years Netflix was just DVDs, then it made a brilliant pivot… by putting the DVD people in another building.Detroit is known for making cars, but now for politics too — Because in 2024, EVs are on the ballot.And ChatGPT is talking to the designer of the iPhone to make a physical thing — Pretty soon, you may be chatting to a “chatpod”.$NFLX $AAPL $TSLA $GM $FSubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday. It feels like a Friday. September 28th. And today's pod, it is the best one yet. What a T-boy, Jack. Did you hear Nick?

Panera bread? They're launching a Roman Empire-inspired menu. I think about sandwiches as much as I think about Aqueduct. They're jumping on the TikTok trend. Huge missed opportunity for the Olive Guard. Rome wasn't built in a day. Panera, your ad campaigns were. How long were they thinking about that ad campaign?

Your move, Olive Garden, your move. First story, what do we got for the show, Jack? Tomorrow is the very last day that you can order a DVD from Netflix. It's the last of the DVDs. That's a story worthy of a DVD. Oh, put that on Blu-ray. For our second story, Detroit is known for making cars. Now, it's known for politics, too.

Because in 2024, electric cars are on the ballot. And our third and final story. Chat GPT is talking to the designer of the iPhone to make a physical product. Yetis, you could be talking to your AI buddy on what Jack and I are calling the chat pod. But yetis, before we hit that fantastic mix of stories. What a mix of stories. No one else is doing this mix of stories today, Jude. The newest startup that you have not heard of yet?

It's your mom. It's your mom. This isn't a mama joke. No, it's not. This is not an insult either. According to the Wall Street Journal, moms are the fastest growing startup among Gen Z. Moms for hire services are trending across college campuses nationwide. We're talking about local moms being paid to be moms.

The business model is based on love, affection, and running some errands. And they're doing it at scale. This is like a maternal task rabbit. It's not DoorDash, it's Mama Dash. It's Instacart and it will love you no matter what. Jack, let's whip up an example here. Let's say you need some help organizing your dorm room. Well, a local mom will lend a hand for 20 bucks an hour.

Or let's say you're a sophomore whose outfit is needed for an internship interview. Mom will tie your tie for 30 bucks an hour. Let's just say you're hungover from that phone party from Kappa Kappa Seek from three days ago. Your mom will make you your favorite chicken soup and turn on your favorite movie. But Yeties, Jack and I should sprinkle on some more numerical context, shouldn't we, Jack? Okay, how much does this cost? Here's the annual subscription for a mom-for-hire service. For an on-demand mom all year round, Jack?

One service is charging $10,000. $10,000, momming? It ain't cheap. Some lucky co-ed in New England can pay $10,000 for a mom on call. Oh, and that doesn't include the search pricing. It does include unlimited hucks. Finally, a disruptive startup that moves fast and hooks things.

Hey, Uber-Reeds, you got a new competitor. It's your mom. Mom, where's the meatlo? Yeties, call your mother, tell her you lover, and then let's it our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm.

one yet, but the best is an norm. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. For our first story, after 25 years,

Netflix is ending its DVD rental business tomorrow on Friday. The DVD, it's become obsolete today, but it was actually Netflix's original disruptor. 25 years ago yet is just before the dot-com crash Netflix was founded as a DVD company. Nick and I were 10 and the digital video disc was dominating how we watched movies. Oh, that archaic circular technology was everything, Jack. It was the CD for movies. Basically the fancy cousin of the floppy disc.

It was invented in Japan in 1995 and that DVD replaced the VHS cassette. Every living room had a DVD and every living room had a DVD and every single. Every living room had the obligatory DVD tower, didn't it, Jack? Unless you had one of those huge fake leather wallet things that opened up like a dictionary. Must be nice, Jack. Four DVDs on each page. Nothing like sticking that in the back of a trunk for a long car ride. Yaddies, few remember.

But for 10 years, Netflix was just a DVD company. They weren't doing streaming. This wasn't a digital operation. This was mainly a physical operation. Netflix disrupted Blockbuster, not with streaming, but with DVDs that you could order by the mail. Yeah, because instead of driving over to Blockbuster and arguing with your sister for four hours about what movie to pull out of the shelf, you could click the mouse a few times and the movie would get sent to your door. Boom, it arrives in an envelope, a red envelope in your mailbox,

no due date, no late fee, no limits. And then when you're done with the movie, you just send it back to Netflix in the prepaid envelope and they send you back a new one. Now, Yeties, Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. And here's one thing we found fascinating about this story. Netflix's DVD business was one of the largest logistics operations in American history. This was wild. At its height, Netflix had 186 distribution facilities to whip out those DVDs across the country. At its height, Netflix was sending a million DVDs every week, mostly by hand. And 99% of its customers got those DVDs one day after clicking order.

Yeties, Netflix was the U.S. Postal Service's fifth biggest customer. Because of DVDs. One word, three letters. By the way, the first DVD Netflix ever shipped to someone's door? I totally didn't expect this. What was this, Jack? Beetlejuice. Also, something you probably didn't expect, Jack, my parents are still using the DVD service. They are?

There's still a million customers doing the DVD thing. Jack, nothing makes my parents happier than enjoying a Bollywood movie on a Saturday with a Netflix DVD. But yet, despite Nick's parents' loyalty to the DVD business, because of the proliferation of the internet, Netflix faced the innovator's dilemma. Innovators dilemma. Yeties, the innovator's dilemma is when you have conquered a business and then you realized you actually need to reconquer yourself. Netflix realized that streaming was coming, and they knew that streaming would be a big threat to Netflix's DVD business. So here was Netflix's innovator's dilemma. Should they focus on protecting their DVD business or should they disrupt themselves

before someone else does? Yiddies, you know which path Netflix chose. Netflix chose to disrupt itself at the very height of its DVD game. Today, Netflix's DVD shipments have dwindled down from one million DVDs a week to just 50,000 a week now. A 95% plummet. And today, Netflix makes just $60 million a year from its DVD business. But they make $6 billion a year from their streaming business. But Yeties, here's the news.

Netflix is sending out their final shipment of DVDs tomorrow on Friday. Nastys, if you order now, you can get a DVD and, Never have to return it, literally. Just keep it. Yeah, this is actually kind of fun. Netflix is not asking you to return the final shipment of DVDs. You can keep it as a souvenir. You want to get Go Goonies and add that to the permanent living room collection?

Be our guest. Netflix has no further use for that DVD. Go wild. Ask for some Blu-ray too. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our DVD buddies over at Netflix? Netflix pulled off the greatest pivot of the 21st century with a hilarious untold story. Yeties, Jack's in my favorite detail about, Netflix's pivot from DVDs. It's a funny little story about how they pulled it off.

When Netflix decided to launch streaming 15 years ago, Reid Hastings, the CEO, moved the DVD team to a separate building. A separate physical location. Like, he purposely made sure that the DVD executives and the streaming executives would not meet. Reed decided the two teams needed physical separation because one team was ordered to disrupt the other team. And Reid didn't want any of emotional anchoring to the DVD business, no sympathies for people on the DVD team. So a separate building is what he decided. He built and paid for another building.

It was an expensive change. It was a drastic change. And it was an awkward change. But the separation worked because Netflix's streaming team ruthlessly disrupted Netflix's DVDs. Daddy's Netflix lost one huge business, but it gained another that was far more powerful. That's how Netflix pulled off the greatest pivot of the 21st. century from DVDs to streaming by sticking a team awkwardly in another physical building. For our second story, with last night's presidential debate, the focus was on the automotive strike. And that means EVs are on the ballot in 2024. Yeti's Detroit, it's known for making cars now. It's known for making politics. Yeah, Detroit's car industry, it actually has been pretty political

for quite a while now. Good point, Jack. Let's go back to 2008. The government bailed out General Motors and Chrysler in Detroit. Yeah, and for 10 years after that, every Tesla buyer got a $7,500 thank you check from the government. Bessies, you can't run for mayor unless he got a picture kissing a baby in a truck made in Detroit. Yeah, the car industry and politics, they go together like lamb and tuna fish. And that baby better have a driver's license. But last night, electric cars in particular became a political football. Yes, they did. Yet he's earlier this week, Jack and I told you how President Biden

joined the auto workers at the picket lines over in Detroit. Joe Biden calls himself the most pro-union president ever, and he said that the workers deserve that 40% raise their demanding. Funny thing, Jack, I'm checking the GPS. And it looks like there's a couple other people over in Detroit right now. Donald Trump also went to Detroit last night to join workers at a non-union factory there. Now, interesting thing Trump said yeties, he said that electric cars will kill the U.S. auto industry.

China would end up dominating our cars. Um, I'm pretty sure Elon's Tesla disagrees with that one. Tesla, got three factories in the U.S., made in America. But here's the funny conflict on the Democratic side of the aisle. Funny thing, Yetis, Joe Biden and the Democrats generally support both auto unions and electric cars. But the auto unions don't support electric cars. Which makes this a little bit awkward. Auto unions are opposed to electric cars because electric cars are easier to make than gas-powered cars are.

Jack, what do we mean when we say easier to make? It requires fewer people. It requires fewer jobs. Yeah, because electric cars are basically iPhones with a chassis. And the auto unions are razor-focused on jobs and salaries, not on sustainability. That car union, electric car drama, that's awkward for Congressman Debbie Dingell and the Democrats, isn't it, Jack? Debbie Dingle and the Democrats, sounds like a great Motown record, by the way. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in Motown?

Electric cars will be on the ballot in 2024. Yeti's interesting stat here. Just 5% of new cars sold last year were electric cars. That's it, 5%. But Joe Biden has set a goal of 50% electric car sales by 2030. Electric vehicles, they're part of Biden's goal to combat climate change, so the government's past financial incentives to get us there. But this week, Donald Trump called that big EV plan from Joe Biden,

a ridiculous all-electric car hoax. And the Republican candidates on the debate. stage last night echoed that electric vehicle opposition. Yeties, for years, the electrification of cars, it's felt inevitable. It's felt inevitable, but it is not inevitable. The young industry of EVVs, they still need government support to grow. So yeties, with Democratic leadership pro-electric cars, and Republican leadership against electric cars, electric cars are now on the ballot in 2024. For our third and final story, according to reports, the design. The design. The designer of the iPhone is turning chat GPT into a physical product.

I feel like we should say that again. I know. Like, let that take it. There are a lot of moving, but high-level parts. Like, big showtime numbers. The designer of the iPhone is reportedly turning chat GPT and AI into a physical product. Because Yeties, we're entering the companionship economy. But Yeties, first, a funny thing we've noticed about chat chip.

Oh, this is a good observation. I like this. This technology has endless potential. but one key and inconvenient limitation. You can only text with it. Nick and I have used ChatGPT, both on their website and their app, and it requires that you type in a prompt, and then it replies with text.

But here's the big news. This week, OpenAI announced three more senses for ChatGPT. ChatGPT can now hear, it can now see, and it can now talk. It's alive. It's alive. It was like that scene in the Vatican, you know, with Michael Angiagal and God touching the fingers, yeah? Until now, you couldn't use the top AI chatbot unless you add a keyboard.

Yeah, but now you can be hands deep in some meatball meat and asking chat GPT a bunch of questions, hands free having a whole conversation. Because your hands are covered in raw beef. Oh, I've got three extra scalyons. What else do you think I can make? How do you think this taste? How many servings is this thing going to do? Hands free, because your hands are covered in raw ground beef, Nick?

Yeties, this new news means that AI will be able to talk. to you in five different voices without you having to just type it. ChatGPT just went from useful to practical. And potentially daily practical in all our lives. But here's the bigger news. Picture all that AI potential Nick and I just described. It's got all the senses except smell, I think. Oh, great sense.

Instead of it being on your iPhone, that potential is your iPhone. Get this, Yeties. The information just reported that Johnny Ive, the guy behind the iPhone designed, is making a physical AI product. Steve Jobs oversaw the development of the iPhone, but Johnny I've designed it. Johnny I've, he's like the Coco Chanel of tech hardware. This guy, he's the Valentino of tech.

Johnny I've stopped working at Apple in 2019, but he is buddies with OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, the guy who made ChatGPT. And apparently those two buddies are reportedly working on a new physical product together. A physical embodiment of ChatGPT. A physical embodiment. of artificial intelligence.

We're calling it chat pod. Yeah, we're calling it chat pod. Maybe this could be a chat GPT phone. Maybe this could be a chat GPT wearable ear pod. Or chat GPT glasses or a chat GPT countertop device. That's the one we got our money on, by the way. But if Johnny Ive is behind this thing, then it's not just going to be functional. It's going to be fashionable too.

And if chat GPT is behind this thing too, it'll have a higher IQ than Alexa. Sorry, Alexa, it's not personal. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at ChatGTPT and the iPhone? Why are they making a physical AI product because of the companionship economy? Yet is the way we all currently interact with technology. It's one way. It's all about commands. That's all we do.

Like asking Alexa, the weather in St. Paul, she's going to answer it and that's it. End of conversation. But with AI, it mimics a human convo. It's two-way. It's ongoing. It's about the conversation. Hey, Chat, GPT, that means. Meatball recipe? Can I modify it with pork? Oh, am I doing this right? Oh, how many people is this

going to serve? And will my mom judge me? No, Nick. Your mom will always love you and your meatballs. Yeti, Sam Altman and Johnny Ive probably think that this use case is a different type of interaction than any other technology. Companionship. They think companionship can't just be an app on your phone like Tinder, Sweet Green, or Gmail. They think that the future needs a tech product not built for apps, but built for AI. Because ChatChapit. doesn't offer features and functions, it offers companionship. And the companionship economy may require more than an iPhone. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Netflix is sending its final DVDs on Friday. It's the end of an era. Netflix pulled off the

huge pivot to streaming by putting the DVD team in a separate building. For our second story, the auto strike and electric cars have become political. Electric cars, they're on the ballot in 2024. final story is ChatGPT. It learned how to hear, see, and talk. So the iPhone guy is reportedly turning it into a chat pod. Because AI is about companionship and that needs a whole new product. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the Republican-led House of Representatives decides this week whether to pass a spending bill or to partially shut down the federal government. The deadline is Saturday. And second, Costco is the Now, Dr. Costco, because Costco just launched a virtual primary care service.

$29 doctor appointments from Costco. Jack, that's Dr. Costco. Excuse me, MD. And finally, Peloton just announced a five-year content and apparel deal with Lulu Lemon. Peloton stock jumped 12%. This is Jack. Nick and I still both own stocks of both of those companies. Full disclosure.

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Nikki Miller from lovely Houston. in Texas. The video game company, Nintendo, invented Super Mario in the late 1980s. But the company Nintendo is actually as old as Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Knight painting. 100 years before Super Mario, Nintendo was founded in the year 1889. And Van Gogh painted his famous 19th century painting in the year 1889. Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Knight and Nintendo are the same age. And the reason, it's because Nintendo wasn't a video game company 100 years ago. Nintendo was a playing card company.

Not video games. Just games. Super Mario, big fan of the Impressionists. Yiddies, you look fantastic today. Jack, what is going to be the last DVD that you order? What's it going to be, man? Oh, that's a great one. No, probably Gladiator.

13 going on 30? Because it's not the Roman Empire. Yeah, gladiator would be good. Also, DVDs, it feels like, you know, rom-coms really thrived in that area, you know? Hitch. Oh, totally. McConaughey and Kate Hudson, more chemistry in a DVD.

Yeti's, if this pod was a DVD, would you watch us? And if there's one DVD that you would order, let us know at T-Boy Pot. Nick and I, we'll see you there. Can't rewind. And before we go, a happy 25th birthday to Google. Yeah, Google, the company, happy 25th guys. Yeah, Google was founded 25 years ago in Mountain View, California. We literally Google that.

And a happy birthday to Yeti Verdi Atienza down in Chesapeake, Virginia. To Adam Leo Geekbrock, who dominated that tough mutter race, he's now celebrating his birthday in Rochester, Minnesota. And a happy birthday to Luca Chomakidzi. An eighth grader in Brooklyn has a birthday and just got a perfect score on his math exam. Algebra rocks, so does Luca.

And Amanda and Fahima, happy four-year anniversary in the Bay Area, celebrate that win. And happy 20 years together to Heather and Dayman Valentine, also in the Bay Area. You four should celebrate together. Gama, Guyquod and her twin sister are celebrating a birthday with Sonmit, Archite, and Sanjay. Have a great one. And good luck and congratulations to Ava Flying, who's beginning her second year as tribal college president at Chief Dullnife College in Montana.

And to anyone else, celebrate something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix and Instacart. And Nick and I both own stock of Apple, Peloton, and Lulu Lemon. Like, seriously, they call me and they're like, there is this laugh. And the worst part is they're not like, oh, you have to see the movie. They're like, it's a 43 episode six season series that you have to watch all of to appreciate.

You're going to love it. You're going to love it. I'm like, is it dubbed? Like, no. Subtitles? No.