The Vergecast - CES 2015, Day 1
Episode Date: January 7, 2015On this, the first official day of CES 2015, The Vergecast is a reflection on the day's experiences. Nilay Patel yells across the floor to Sony's booth, Chris Ziegler relinquishes control to a self-dr...iving car, Chris Plante breaks things on the show floor, and special guest Joanna Stern has a selfie stick. Join us, won't you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Hello and welcome to the Vergecast, Day 1 of CS-2015.
I am Nilai Patel.
I am Chris Plant.
Chris Ziegler here.
Super confusing.
And I am special guest, Joanna Stern.
Joanna Stern.
Star, Wall Street Journal reporter, Joanna Stern.
I didn't even know if that's your title.
Is it fully Star, Wall Street Journal reporter?
I like Tsar.
Star.
Z-Z-A-R.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Columnist.
Correspondent.
Dutches.
Dushes of the Wall Street Journal.
Yes.
But no, it's always, every year at CS we have a Joanna
come back because Joanna is one of the founders of the verge. A founding member. And an escaped
conflict of this insane asylum that we call a website. So it is day one. We had our first episode of
the show yesterday. It was Chris and I and Deeter in this space at our booth. Only everything was
completely empty. And there were forklifts everywhere. I wouldn't call it like an episode. It was like,
it was a test run. It was like, it was an experience. It was a test experience. So I was talking to Google this
morning and they had just listened to the episode and they said we love the forklift conversation.
They're really excited about it.
That's, I don't understand how anything was.
There were self-driving forklifts?
No.
There was a forklift driving another forklift.
Yeah.
That was true.
Made by Google.
A lot of things happen today.
I will say we have Endeverd Every Day at CS to publish a story that we think sort of wraps up
the big theme of what we think the day will be.
Today was Dieter.
I would say the best headline and subheadline combination in Verge history.
Okay, now.
The headline was, we finally knows what comes after the smartphone.
The subhead was acronyms, because it is true.
Because the two biggest acronyms here that are happening everywhere
are the Internet things and the unfortunately and stupidly named AdAS.
A-DAS.
Go ahead, Chris.
Say what it means.
What is the A-D-A-D-A-S?
Well, so, to be clear.
What is the A-D-D-A-A-S?
And who came up with, or who A-D-S?
It's an NVIDIA.
It's an NVIDIA term.
Qualcomm used it.
Yeah, but these are vendors, right?
This isn't the automotive industry.
No, I've heard the people.
Okay, go ahead.
No one on a Ford stage or a Chevy stage in history has said,
our new car has A-DAS.
That is not happening.
Oh, but they will. That's a chilling vision of things to come.
But anyway, so it's a collection of technologies that will enable things like anti-collision,
self-driving, so on, so forth. And these are all things that are on the five to seven-year horizon.
So everybody is talking about it right now because they're working on the cars that will get this in five to seven years.
And that's what I love about CES. There are the things that we're going to, the technologies that will come to us five to seven years from now that require an enormous amount of human capital and investment and energy and energy and extensive keynotes.
And then there's just Joanna with a selfie stick. And I would say the selfie stick is also one of the main innovations of CES.
I agree.
You did just take 850 pictures by accident with that thing.
Yeah, but that's a feature.
That's a feature of this selfie stick that I bought in a casino for, guess how much?
$20.
Dignity.
All of mine.
$15.
That's not bad.
And you love this thing.
You know.
How do you trigger it?
Let me show you.
So there's a special button on the reverse side.
The main problem here is that, well, there's a lot of main problems.
It's just not working at all.
That's not even a good selfie.
You embed the mic in my selfie stick.
I'm being told I need to, I need a selfie mic stick holder.
You got it.
It's a minute.
Oh, God.
This is not working at all.
What we're trying to.
Okay, but I'm taking a lot of photos right now.
They're all being taken.
Okay, Joanna.
We lost her.
I would just say, if you are in your car, in your
listening to this as most of you are, what you just heard was someone not using a selfie
stick very thought.
I was, oh, now it's doing it.
It's just taking thousands of photos.
First, it's just going to be like, you're going to.
The first mode is somehow, yes, there you go.
We've already taken 135 photos.
So Joanna, I'm not going to troubleshoot that while we move on with our show.
I want to quickly talk about why I got this selfie stick because I got to CES.
Well, two stories.
She just shut you down.
We're going to be talking about CES.
Taping of birdcast early without alcohol would sound make it less crazy.
But she was wrong.
Yeah, you're right.
I don't need alcohol to talk about my love for the selfie stick.
Two things.
One, I went to Times Square the other day.
I was shooting a video there.
And everyone had a selfie stick.
Meanwhile, my video was about how ridiculous you look when you take a photo with a tablet.
But there were a lot of tablets, you know, the big tablet thing.
Were they on sticks?
They were not on sticks.
Tablet, selfie sticks.
I saw one.
My first day I saw a tablet on selfie stick here.
You saw that, really?
Anyway, carry on.
Anyway, that was the first thing where I realized, okay, this is huge.
Then you guys wrote something about the selfie stick.
There was a number of other people writing about the selfie stick.
And then I got to CES on Sunday, and I kid you not, I walked into CES unbailed,
and I just saw a flood of reporters with selfie sticks.
And I felt like I must up my game to cover CES.
this year with a selfie stick.
Really?
That's, yeah.
We have to be competitive at the Wall Street Journal.
What are some examples of how you've up to your game?
Well, she bought a stick.
Brought a stick.
And actually, this doubles as a walking stick as well.
Oh, my God.
The other day when walking through the CES desert.
No, but, I mean, people are, I mean, and it does help if you're shooting your own videos.
I've seen a lot of that.
I don't shoot my own videos, so that wasn't all that helpful to me.
You're not selling it very well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, she's not selling her own personal selfie stick.
This one is broken and takes hundreds of photos.
I'm pursuing getting more selfie sticks.
I like them.
They get out of the way.
I mean, you're talking about the tablet.
The tablet, it ruins everything.
It's true.
I think that it gives the person a great photo.
But you hold it above your head, and then you have another seven inches of, like, a screen for the person behind you to not see.
But then somebody puts, like, a tiny phone on a tiny stick.
You have, like, 30 of those.
And everything can see.
But Apple made the great point.
Tiny phones and tiny things.
And Apple makes a huge point about how you need the viewfinder, the big viewfinder in your face.
Yeah.
Right?
I actually did this review of the new venue 8, which has this improved Intel Real Sense camera.
And so I kind of talked about like, well, can a better camera on a tablet make us want to actually take photos with a tablet?
Turns out the camera's not that good, so no.
But, you know.
By the way, I would like to, that is about as precise a summary of the Joanna Stern.
review like life as
yeah that's pretty true is this hope real
no because dell made it
I had like a thousand of those reviews
that's true he used to edit many of my
Dell netbook reviews which
yeah
but Dell came out with the really cool laptop
today back to today's news so I will say
this there are no tablets at this show
nope I haven't like I see tablets
I interviewed like an older CEO today
he had an iPad and like a really old Blackberry
and basically, like, I took in the gestalt of that scene,
and I was like, well, your company is doomed.
But that's it.
That was, like, basically on the iPad.
Business gets done on Blackberry, Nelai.
Yeah, and then you use your iPad to breast the way.
But I haven't seen many.
I've seen lots of phones, and I've seen lots of Internet of Things
to plug into cloud services and then phones.
But no one here is showing a tablet of any kind, as far as I can tell.
Well, I'll announce this venue 8 today.
But the venue 8 was announced, but, like, the reviews were all out.
It's like a big splashy announce, right?
people have had them.
Then they're, what is it?
I think I'm a head to first.
What's the laptop that came out today?
The edge to edge screen.
Oh, the XPS.
Yeah.
I think that's actually a far more interesting product than the tablet.
You're never going to get, I don't know.
I mean, to me, what was really, I wanted to review the venue because I thought the Intel
Real Sense thing, you've seen all those commercials with Sheldon.
Have you guys seen those?
Sadly, yes, I have.
Yeah, Sheldon shows up to a wedding with a huge tablet and he can refocus the photos or his brain.
He's from the Big Bang Theory.
You know who Sheldon is?
I don't watch CBS.
You know his name isn't actually Sheldon.
What is his real name?
Jim.
Jim Parsons, yes.
Right.
Anyway, Sheldon is really into the Real Sense camera.
Anyway, whatever reality.
And, yeah, Sheldon's really into the Real Sense camera.
And I was into this in the Real Sense thing as well.
They're going to do some really cool things with it.
And so, you know, eventually.
It's similar to the one in the HGC one, the camera, the, what do they call it?
Oh, Ultra pixels?
Yeah, no, the tap to focus thing.
But now they use three different cameras.
Anyway, I see you guys are not interested in my real series.
I mean, if Jim's interested, I'm interested.
Yeah, Sheldon is super into it.
He is.
And Sheldon has an Xbox in Dell on the show.
I'm a fan of the big theory.
Can anyone tell?
Tablets are basically not here.
The most interesting laptop I've seen is the Dell one.
And then Apple in its way, once again tried to break CS with a big leak.
and you can discuss the provenance of this leak anyway that you want.
But 95 Mac basically released
like renderings of a rumored 12-inch MacBook
or MacBook Air.
I think it will just be called the MacBook
and be like the low-end, cheap,
netbook-y Chromebook one,
because that's what's missing in their line.
And that's like Chromebooks are going into education.
You think that's a low-end product?
Not like a...
It's Apple, so I think it'll be less expensive.
How do they differentiate that from the 11?
I think they kill the 11.
Yeah.
I think they kill the 11.
the 11. I think they probably end up killing the 11, but definitely keeping the 13 inch and the low end.
And I think that this 12 inch might be higher end. I disagree. I'm on team joining here.
So Tom, we should just get into this. So Apple, again, on the first day of CES is in the news.
It's just standard. It's actually surprising Apple didn't like, Apple could do anything, right?
Last year they released like their supplier responsibility reports.
Right. That was. And it was like a big deal. This year, it's a bunch of leaked MacBooks.
And you can believe or not that it happened on purpose, time to this day.
It's, I think, a little too coincidental, but whatever.
But I will say...
We're talking about Mark German's leak, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just think it's very suspicious to me, but it's on this day.
I don't know if it's a lot of inside baseball, but I'm not sure his...
That would be his sources.
Interesting.
Yeah.
I know.
That's my theory.
It is at this day.
Anyway, so the leak was a really, really thin 12-inch-acquac air with no connectors
except for one USB Type C connector,
which is the new reversal one.
And then Tom Warren went digging through USB specs
and found that Apple has more engineers on that product
than anyone except for Intel.
Like more than Dell, more than HP,
more than Foxcon.
Like they're driving that standard
the way that they tend to drive like SIM card standards.
Right.
And the thing is so thin that Broadwell won't work in it
because Broadwell needs a fan.
But what Intel chip will work in it is CoreM,
which can drive like a retina display,
which is why we landed on this is more of a Chromebook thing,
which I think is brilliant, because I think the iPad.
So you don't think it has a very high resolution because of the limitations they have.
No, I think it has a high-rest screen, but I think it has very little, like, raw processor power.
I think it'll be great at browsing the web and typing some stuff and, like, running,
and doing all the stuff I do with this very expensive laptop.
Right.
Right.
To me, it sounds, and that's why I think it might be higher end, to me it sounds like a product like the original MacBook Air was, right?
and no ports, right?
Now, seriously, no ports.
Yeah, USB and a headphone.
Yeah.
And think of the genesis of the original MacBook errors.
Steve Jobs swore up and down
that he would never release a crappy laptop.
And granted, it's not Steve Jobs Apple anymore, but...
I just think, like, I think the Mac is having
like a little bit of a renaissance, and PCs are back.
I think these things have...
I also heard gadgets are back.
Gadgets are back.
The show's about gadgets, man.
I don't care what you said.
you think gadgets are back.
Because your career is safe.
I still have a job.
It's so, it's great that they're back.
Apps are cool.
Selfie sticks are huge.
This is the best gadget of 2015.
Don't wave that thing at me.
So that's a thing.
I mean, look, those are the two prevailing theories,
one that's high end and one that it's more alone.
Also, I think that track pad stuff he talked about,
it's going to be really big.
Yeah?
Yeah, because it doesn't look like they'll bring a touchscreen to something like that,
unless we're going to see some other version of Mac,
operating system, which I don't think we're going to see if they're releasing this sometime
soon. And he talked about how the track pad doesn't actually have the click. I think that's,
I think there'll probably be some crazy touch stuff going on there. Well, then I won't buy it.
I mean, I won't, I won't buy a computer that has a track pad that doesn't click. That's nonsense.
Right. All right. I will buy it. So that's that. And then, I mean, this is, I've been waiting for this
moment. I cannot wait for a 12-inch, MacBook Air. I just cannot wait for a new MacBook Air.
Okay. So just the fact that we're having this conversation on this.
here at CES in the looming shadow of Sony City, the walls of which I will one day scale.
Everyone turns and pays homage.
Yeah, that circle is Sony.
You should go check it out, guys.
They make a bunch of TVs, I guess.
Are they a sponsor?
Sony?
Yeah.
No.
No.
Look at the car.
Everyone gazed at the car.
I'll do it later.
You know when you open the door of the car, it shines a Mustang on the ground?
It's true.
It's just terrible if you're trying to break into someone's house.
Not that you should ever do that with a Ford Mustang.
No, that's your getaway car.
You know, internally, so fast, so powerful.
So smooth.
When they were developing that, internally is known as the Neely Light.
Yeah.
The one that makes me buy a car.
This really worked out in terms of a sponsor that makes a product that I want,
that I will never buy.
Guys, can we talk about that computer one more second?
Why it's wonderful?
Because the same thing with the MacBook Air.
That is the screenwriter computer.
That is, and that's where the market is.
That's the guy who is sitting in the cafe.
F.A. wants the thing that is light as possible and looks nice,
and it's, like, kind of small and, like, a little, you know, boutique,
and he's going to have his nice hat, and he's going to, like, write his little screenplay on it.
And he's, like, listening to, like, John August on his podcast.
He's like, yeah, you're right.
I did like to tell me.
I mean, 100% A, I'd like to point out, we are in a coffee shop that we built where many of these people have MacBooks.
Wait, this is an Iverge argument, that made it sound good.
And they're all listening to that artist.
I don't know the I don't know the argument sound good.
But they're all listening to them right now.
It did not know that that didn't sound good.
I mean, it made it sound like saying it.
It made it sound like you're saying it.
Like, they're like, oh, I should be writing, but I guess once on R and SFW.
Let me, let me take this.
Dude, you're a barista.
Let me take this to a darker place.
I think of it more as the computer for Bradley Cooper's character from Limitless
before he starts taking the pills.
Oh.
So he's in a really bad place in his life.
He's trying to finish his book.
He's not succeeding.
All of his stuff sucks in his life, including his gear, right?
Because he's poor.
He has nothing.
Somebody saw Limitless, and it was new.
I did not see this one.
It affected me deeply.
Anyway, that's where I think this computer's going to land.
It's the Pills.
The 12-inch Maclegair helps you use 100% of your brain capacity.
That's the ad campaign right there.
A gambling mastermind.
And make a better movie called Lucy.
Yeah, fair.
It's a movie joke.
So, Chris, you've been driving cars for three days now.
Tell me what's going on in cars.
That's why you're on the show.
Do the thing that you do.
I can't be on the show just because I'm cool.
just some of the cool dude. I have to drive cars. Is that what I'm hearing?
Chris is having his own private CES. I've heard this joke. It's not a joke. It's absolutely true.
People have told this to me at least a half dozen times since yesterday. They're like,
just go do your private CES. We get it. We get, you can't go to this event. You're off doing whatever.
You can't see Samsung's floating ladies. You only can cover cars.
I will say this, though. Chris has promised me a self-driving Knight Rider car tomorrow.
It's true.
I'm ready for that.
It's true.
It's happening.
That's the only reason this is allowed.
It's all happening for you right now.
So, Ford, have big news this morning?
They had a...
So I was on my way to another event, and Ford released something like 35 press releases in the span of a minute,
and my heart dropped, and I looked through it.
Yeah, so they're doing some really interesting stuff.
The combined package of all these releases is called Smart Mobility, which is, you know,
buzzphrase.
But they're getting into car sharing.
They have, like, four or five different car sharing.
experiments that they're running globally, which seems counterintuitive because they're cannibalizing
their own business. Right. So I was just talking to them at their booth, and they raised the
good point, which is that car sharing is going to happen whether they're involved or not.
So they might as well get ahead of it, right? Yeah. So that's kind of their attitude.
They're like, look, we just want to be on the leading edge. Like, yes, it might be bad for our business,
but at least we want to be at the front of it instead of at the back of it.
Right. If they're going to be shared cars, they want them to be Ford.
Exactly.
I'd like to share that Mustang with my...
Where is this Mustang we're talking about?
Is it really there?
You can barely see it back there.
It's there?
Right there?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, that's just a guy.
That man said that it's right there.
I'm sorry that Joanna made you Mustang.
Oh, yeah, I think he told me that it matches my shirt.
Everyone's standing by the car is now named Mustang.
It matches my shirt.
If you just walk over there and touch it, you can nickname yourself Mustang for the rest of the day.
And name all your children, Mustang is blue, and the car is blue.
What?
John Mustang.
Do.
That's the experience we offer here at The Verge.
If you touch our car, you can give yourself a nickname as long as it's the name of the car.
Tomorrow we're bringing in a fiesta.
Fiesta plants, like walking out of here.
You have to name your child Mustang Patel.
Oh, we will, and then that child will either be a stripper or a stripper.
That'll be good.
Anyway, so yesterday I spent part of the day with BMW, which is one of the freakest demos ever done.
Last year, they did a self-drifting car.
BMW loves to do spectacular stuff at CES.
They have done it for a while.
Yesterday they did two I3s, one of which they encouraged to have me drive as fast as possible into a wall.
So I did that, and the car stopped itself automatically.
Really?
Yes.
And so they set up this course of, it looks like Super Mario blocks,
except that they want you to run into them.
And as you get close, the car very politely and softly beeps at you.
and then it just stops.
But what's freaky is that it stops with like a half inch before you hit the object.
And then they're like, okay, now turn into this wall so the side of the car is going to scrape.
It won't let you.
Then they ask you to parallel park it.
So it's like driving a car in a force field?
Basically.
This is the future.
Your car is going to become uncrashable and it's kind of amazing.
So that was the first demo.
And then the second demo was a self-parking car where you get out and then use your smartwatch.
They were using a Samsung Galaxy or GearS.
You tap a button on the watch,
and the car just slowly, like, wanders off and finds a spot.
That's awesome.
What?
Yeah.
And then you press it again, and it comes back to you.
I actually, I'm going to, I followed this little trend.
I interviewed Android Auto's Andy Brenner.
I don't know what his title is today.
But I was asking about the integration that could happen with the smart,
with gear, with where and Android Auto.
and it seems like that could be something really cool.
Yeah.
Like, either I have my phone or my watch out.
So the idea for like unlocking the keys or that kind of thing,
remembering where your parking spot is, your location,
that seems really cool.
And Hyundai is already doing this.
They showed their Blue Link Android Wear app
where you can start the car, start the car,
lock the doors remotely.
You know, if my car was parked.
Is there like some sort of authentication thing
that's happening? Yeah, it's a four-digit pin. So theoretically, if somebody stole your watch
and knew your pin, they could start your engine in another state. Okay. But as long as you don't
run into that situation. So with the BMW, on the return trip, I got into the car in the passenger
seat with no one else in the car. And I cannot tell you what an uncomfortable experience that is
to have a car drive itself. That's my dream. It would actually freak me out less if it was going at highway
speeds, but the fact that it was going like five miles an hour, just kind of meandering back
and forth and, you know, turning very carefully while I'm sitting in the passenger seat,
just hoping it doesn't take off.
Like the Nvidia demo car?
Yes.
Constantly exorated, 160 miles an hour.
That sounds like a very advanced system for driver assistance.
It is, and...
Like an ADAS of some kind.
It is an ADAS of some kind.
Two years ago...
Wait, what is the word...
Advanced driver assistance systems.
No, but how do you spell that?
A D-A-S.
A-D-A-S.
Right.
Okay.
I was thinking, anyway, I know.
You were thinking the number eight and then the word ass.
Yes, that is what I was thinking.
Yeah, and that is actually, that's NVIDIA's code name.
It's really confused that got messed up along the way.
Or A-T-E-S is what I was thinking, too.
It just keeps getting worse.
Got it.
Why do we let you on the show?
I don't know.
It's okay.
I was thinking about how the number eight, if you turn it sideways, kind of looks like an ass.
So I'd be like, hey, that.
That's the infinity symbol.
That is smart.
Guys, this is the worst branding campaign that has ever taken place.
No, that is the name of our next company.
That is an amazing logo idea for an amazing company name.
I want a button in the center of the table that's an off-the-rails alert, and you hit it when...
It's a button.
Yeah.
You just keep your hand down the entire episode.
Yeah, and there's like a reggae horn that goes off.
Anyway, so...
I will say this.
I was interviewing somebody.
just near the LG booth, which is also near the House of Marley booth.
And they were like, I'm very sorry, this reggae music never stops.
Yeah, but that's kind of chill.
I mean, that's a good scene.
You're going to be in CES.
I'd want to be near the House of Marley booth.
He was just like, I'm very sorry your audio is going to be all messed up because
this reggae music never stopped.
By like date, 10, your ears are bleeding.
You're like, please.
Well, no, we are stuck.
Our trailer is near the Volkswagen demo of the self-partum.
of the self-parking cars.
They muted my mic. They definitely muted my mind.
You're here.
I hope.
As soon as you started,
as you started your unlicensed
focus group all in your own.
Worst brainstorm of all time.
I'm just laying it out there.
The eight looks like an ass.
It's amazing.
You gotta stop saying it.
Also, stop sexualizing numbers.
It helps if you close their eyes.
Numbers are very sexy.
We're done.
That was the show.
Numbers are a sexy thing.
We're done.
CS 2015.
You ever look close to the number three?
We don't have booth babes.
We're just printed numbers everywhere.
Yeah, Joan is right.
No, no, he's over there.
He can't, unless he's doing it with his mind,
he's not doing it.
Yeah, Joanna's off the air now.
We took her off the air.
I'm fine with it.
Wow.
Technical challenges.
Okay, great.
Well, well, they solve that.
Continue your stories about cars.
Well, so I'll just say that the rate of advancement in this field is ridiculous because two years ago, Audi did a demo, a self-parking demo, where they needed to set up all of these special beacons in the parking garage so that the car could understand where to go.
And they don't need that anymore because the sensors that they put around the cars are so advanced that they can map the environment in real time and park that way.
So that they don't need any, the parking garage doesn't need to be.
outfitted for self-parking anymore.
You can park anywhere.
But that's the scary part.
That's the thing we were talking briefly about yesterday
with Nvidia's A-D-Ass,
when it's like, oh, it's going to learn.
First, it'll learn the signs.
Then it'll learn the people.
Yeah.
Then it'll learn how democracy wears.
Then this car will be president.
Then it will learn how to do keynotes.
Yeah.
Then it will get the oil.
The keynotes have been delivered by cars.
the whole time.
No, that's good.
I mean, but this is the thing I feel like always
with auto stuff at CES.
We see all this crazy blank.
And we curse on here still?
I forget.
It's like a...
If you can say is.
A lot of the rules have changed.
You're allowed to curse in the verge cast
until Apple develops filtering software,
good enough to catch it,
and then not give us the explicit tag in iTunes.
Okay.
It's a little inside baseball,
which is Apple doesn't have robots listening to the show.
For the cheap map on here.
That's not going to be cheap.
I mean, look, you've already,
You've already talked about boning numbers, like great details.
I did.
At this point, what do we have left to lose?
Love numbers.
But I feel like we always see all this great stuff, and then the reality comes that our society
is not moving fast enough to allow us to have any of this great stuff.
And I get very angry that we don't have great stuff.
I've heard that exact message from several executives this week.
And gadgets are back.
Wait, we have, what, the society doesn't move fast enough for our cars to drive themselves?
But gadgets are not mired in a regulatory nightmare.
cars are. And so that's what everybody is saying is that the technology, as always, is moving
much faster than the government is. It's shocker. And so we're going to end up with a perfect
or close to perfect self-driving car long before agencies are going to know what to do about it.
We need a super cool nickname for people who like have illegal self-driving cars. Like free riders.
And then make a movie starring Tom Hardy.
like, oh, because you can, you'll have the car, but it'll be illegal, right?
Right, so like.
You have this underground society of, like, self-drivers.
People who are just like, they're in the driver's seat, pretending to drive them.
Some sort of like.
But, like, they're wearing sunglasses, but really they're asleep.
It's.
It's like a weekend of Bernie's.
You have weekend at Bernie.
First, find a dead late, late relative.
Right. Put him in the driver's seat.
Dude, this is how we finally read.
We need a weekend at Bernie's franchise.
I keep calling him Weekend at Bernie's, man.
and his name is Bernie.
We need a weekend.
No, Weekend at Bernie's Weekend at Burning Man is the next episode.
Wait, and then you put him in the front seat
and you just sit while he drives you to work.
No, that's what I'm saying.
Weekend at Bernie's 2025, self-drive.
That's the name of the movie that I'm pitching.
Just bring back all the original.
I don't know if anyone from Sony Pictures is over there in Sony City,
but we have a great idea for Weekend at Bernie's 2025.
No, that is a really interesting idea.
It's not a really interesting idea.
Yeah, no, I like it.
It's got to be called eight ass.
That's our company.
We find the corpses.
We network.
We get eight asses.
Network with the corpses.
No, everyone's stopping.
No, we bring them together.
A social network for corpses where you can connect with them.
No, you put them in the driver's seat when you have your illegal self-driving car.
And then you're able to drive yourself to work.
Or is like, okay, keeping.
I don't think the requirement is just a body living or dead.
Tinder for corpses.
You just.
Swipe left.
I'm not sure you guys understand the idea.
Do you guys understand the idea?
Very clear out of the idea.
The idea does not have contours.
The idea is pretty straightforward.
You think it's clear?
It's, yeah.
We'll be talking about that.
Are there any investors, Rock, any VCs with something to prove?
Joanna Stern has an idea for you.
It's robbing.
It's robbing.
It's terrifying.
Okay.
We hijacked your conversation.
I don't even remember what I was talking about.
It's not being honest.
Cars.
Cars.
Yes, cars.
What?
I do have a question to go back into the deep.
What is required legally to, like, have a car?
So, like, I have a self-driving car.
How much do I have to touch the wheel before it becomes illegal?
So right now...
That makes sense, right?
How much do you have to not touch the wheel before?
Well, yeah, before me.
Yeah.
So, the NITSA, the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration, is the worst.
Okay.
They have four levels of self-driving that they've defined.
Level one is like cruise control.
You know, level two is adaptive cruise,
and then goes up to level four,
which is where you can basically sleep.
And lower levels are not totally clear on the regulatory framework here,
but the lower levels are obviously legal.
And the higher levels are being approved on a provisional basis
on a state-by-state level.
So, like Florida is allowing,
self-driving cars for testing purposes.
California is, of course,
and Nevada is.
So actually, Audi was able to
drive a self-driving car
from Palo Alto to
Vegas this week. Right. I would
not be surprised. With no one in the driver's seat.
Right. No, no, no. They had someone in the
driver's seat. Yeah. Right, but I wouldn't
be surprised if, like, Florida
is totally first to completely
allow self-driving cars. Because they're
old. Because they have a super elderly population.
Yeah. And the second I can buy my parents to
I will.
What about a self-driving go-kart?
Or golf cart.
Yeah.
I was in Florida a couple weeks ago.
It is so bad on the roads.
It's such a waste of technology.
What?
What?
Have you ever been to the villages in Florida?
That's billions of dollars.
It's like a giant city of
a...
A utopia.
And it is a utopia.
They all make love.
It is a...
They do.
A giant STD rate.
It's awful.
It's like Florida State.
Anyway.
Geriatric STDs.
Yeah.
I mean, they don't have a utopia.
Nothing to lose.
You know, live life to the fullest.
I feel like I'm not doing a good job posting this show.
They have like tons of golf cart
areas.
No, I was there.
I was in Florida two weeks ago.
And got it Jerry after
SDD.
That's what happened to me a couple weeks.
You can't throw people into the golf cart.
Today on the Vergecast we talked about
that time I went to Florida
by Chris Plant.
Thank you very much.
What did you do here?
What did you do for your job today in Vegas?
Oh, they're right over.
there. Right there. So I saw that levitating speaker. Okay. Right? And I was like, this is great.
How does the magic work? And they're like, oh, it's magnets. It's really strong magnets.
And you have to use like a device just to get them balanced one magnet like field over the other.
And that's what makes the speaker float. And I was like, okay, that's cool. But since they're
strong magnets, what can they stick to? And the guy was like, I don't know. And I was like,
could it stick to your phone? And he's like, we can try. And it did.
So I was like, can it stick to this wall bracket?
And he's like, I don't know.
So then I tried that.
And it did that too.
So then I had a big idea.
Levitating.
Cool, neat.
Not useful for me.
But it works in 33 feet for 12 hours.
You go into your neighbor's house.
You put it up way high in their house, and then you just randomly turn out music.
And you're like, I don't know, maybe there's a ghost in your house.
Maybe you should pay me money to hear it in that ghost.
Wait.
Man, you live in New York?
I have like 20 neighbors I could do that, too.
Wait, your plan, and I just want to sketch this one out really specifically.
I'm what's called an entrepreneur.
I hope you've got this so far.
You're a portchopener.
I'm a portchipner.
Yeah.
So you can start a fake ghostbusting company.
Yeah.
You realize that's what the EPA in the movie Ghostbusters thought was happening.
You want to explore.
Here is another thing.
Like you have validated the bad guy and the Ghostbusters.
As if that is not a product already.
No, Air Squester.
Air squared.
Oh, air squared.
That's how they pronounce it.
Nobody's going to know that.
Yes.
No, no.
I'm safe.
And also, I live in a police station in New York.
You want to extort senior citizens with herpes in Florida.
That's step one.
Step two, then after they've had a nice, very long life.
Yeah.
I borrow their corpses to drive cars on my giant Uber National
service. This is all coming full circle.
Just like ADAS.
What happened to them? I say that their ghosts
have returned to their children
and then I'm on share to exercise
those ghosts.
What is the purpose of putting this on
things? Why not?
What is the purpose of making it float?
Okay, that's a
totally valid question.
Apparently, I have been told it makes the acoustics
better. I listen to
Rihanna on it.
So this just floats up like this, and if you
I'm just saying in the actual movie Ghostbusters.
But it has to be on a horizontal surface.
If I put it on the wall, it's going to fall.
Yes.
Yes, that gravity will take effect and send it to the ground.
Well, that's what I was wondering why you covered this, if that is why.
Also, doesn't your mark?
Oh, no, the magnet works on a, on a flat, on a horizontal surface.
This part only.
Oh, the floating only, yeah.
That required its gravity's help.
Got it.
So once again, I like to point out that in the movie Ghostbusters...
Okay.
This looks like something by Brooks Stone.
Corrupt EPA official William Peck told the Ghostbusters that they were putting on a sound and light show to confuse old people
and then shut down the containment grid and made the stave off marshal and man destroy New York City.
But you're saying that if they said that to you, they would be correct because you would be putting on a sound of light show.
Because there would in fact be no real slimer.
Okay.
Just what else have you done here today, Chris?
Let's see.
I can't talk about that.
It's embarked for tomorrow.
But it's going to be good.
It's on the level.
I also looked at OS.
Well, this is your first E.S.
It's your first day on the shelf floor.
Oh, I love it now.
I'm skeptical.
You were very skeptical.
The reality is I'm surrounded by play things,
none of which makes sense to me.
and I get to break them
and the people are amused by it
because I seem quaint to them.
So you just act stupid at booths
and break things.
Can I wander the show floor with you?
And they see my name tag and like,
oh, you're from the Verge.
I'm like, oh, you don't know what you're in for yet.
I'm just going to wander with the selfie stick
and just be following him.
I will say this.
Verge reporters, I think particularly me, have a long reputation for playing with anything
and immediately crashing the operating system.
I tried to do a Google TV demo at Sony yesterday, and I crashed the main Android TV,
or Android TV demo.
I crashed the main Android TV runtime, like four times in a row.
And it got super Android-y.
Like, it's a TV, right?
And, like, seeing, like, the Android error message on the screen that's, like,
this is, you just, like, stopped.
Yeah.
Like, Android TV has stopped, and everyone was like, it's,
It's not a good user experience.
And then the guy took it back and immediately did a flawless demo.
Also, I feel like I've heard Neely say he checked out an Android TV the last 10 years of this show.
And crashed it.
What I do here is I go to the television companies and I yell at them.
How many years have you been covering an Android TV or Google TV thing at the show?
This is eight.
It's easily eight.
That's crazy.
But now it's like the TV companies are bemused by my presence.
I'm like, when are you going to get rid of that cable walks?
and they're like, huh, you don't see the future like we do.
Like, they've just stopped even trying to answer the question when I ask it.
They just, like, deflect me.
They're like, we brought a Mustang to the booth.
They're all over.
They jingle their keys.
Yeah, yeah.
This also feels like a headline that you guys have written probably, like, 45 times in a different way.
Google TV is finally dead, long live Android TV.
But I feel like that happened two years ago.
That story is old.
That didn't go up today, did it?
What are you talking about?
This went up on January 6, 2015.
What day is today?
Today.
Today is today.
It's a tautology.
It's true.
What?
Okay, Dieter is drunk.
No, but I mean, what he's saying is right, right?
It's accurate.
Google TV is dead again.
Now it's Android TV.
In a couple years again, it will be Google TV.
I mean, I don't know.
Yeah, I mean, he's talking about developer platform tools and stuff,
but I'm just saying this is a constant ping pong.
every year. I'm pretty sure that's a
Deeter is like, he's expressing
feelings, like in a really deep way.
Feels. Deeter's having feels, bone
feels, uh, because
today, uh, Palm
was officially purchased by Alcatel.
Oh, and so Palm is back.
And like, Deer, he's not back.
Deeter heard this news and like,
you know that emoji of like the crying and the tears are just like
flying off to the side? Like, that
was Deeter and we're about five.
Okay, let me explain, let me explain how this
I should give Dieter my seat.
Is he here?
Deeter.
No, Dieter abandoned us to put up this post.
Deeter is like Johnny Depp's wife and Transcendence, where she's like, I need to bring him back.
And then she plugs Palm into the Matrix.
And Palm comes back.
Restructuring itself.
Right, right.
But it's not really Palm.
It's like a fake Palm, right?
And then Palm destroys the world.
Do they only let you into the movie theater when the movie sucks?
And they're like, sorry, sir.
you're directing this way.
But I'm with them.
No, you're not.
Wait, I like the idea that Palm can execute anything on the level of, like, destroying the world.
Well, you got to put in the Matrix first.
I can barely, like, release a cell phone.
But Palm and the Matrix is another story.
I know, Joanna, what else have you seen today?
We only have a few minutes left here.
What's been going on with you?
I've been at the Wall Street Journal booth all day.
Yeah, but you've been talking to people all day.
You can make stipples there, right?
You can make stipples there.
Everyone should come.
Make stipples.
I'm going to do that.
Oh, it's odd.
I mean, in terms of wrecking a story trademark of the Wall Street Journal,
we're stealing that stipple shit.
We're running with it.
Fine.
The Verge 2015, stippled up.
Does Rupert Murdoch listen to this podcast?
And you call him Rupert now.
She said Rup Dog.
I did not say that.
I call him Mr. Murdoch if I do run into it.
Rup Beast Extreme.
That's his DJ.
I think it is the tradition, though, for me to come on this podcast and things to be said about
whoever I work for or people I work for.
Because we're luring you back in by burning all of your parents.
Last year it was Diane Sawyer two years ago.
Yeah.
DJ Diane Extreme.
Yeah.
How is Diane?
You talked to her?
Sometimes I do talk to her.
Okay.
Who have you been talking to you?
Like beyond stippling yourself.
Honestly, the most popular post I did here and I might just stop working is that I saw the
future at CES and it is ordering Girl Scout cookies online.
I mean, that is a game changer.
It is the only thing I've,
seen at the show that will change my life.
Can you order them whenever you want?
You have to still know a Girl Scout.
So it still goes to the local troop.
How does it verify that you know a girl?
I mean, that seems like a really thorny problem.
I'm going to explain it to you.
And you should actually read the piece because it is interesting about why you still
need to know a Girl Scout because the whole reason there are Girl Scout cookies
is to teach these girls about business and management and money and all that kind of stuff, right?
That was the intention of why girls.
No, the intention is to sell delicious cookies.
That is also what the real intention.
is. So you still need to know a Girl Scout to buy the cookies. They either have an iPad app. Well,
it's an Android or an iOS app that they can load up. You just put in your information. No more,
like, little form where you fill it out. They take credit card. This is huge, guys. I don't know
if you order Girl Scout cookies in your office. I'm excited. I was just worried that it was like a way
for Girl Scouts of American to make lots of money and then not have like local troops getting the
cash. No, no. The girls are really at the heart of this. I sound like the people.
person that I talked to yesterday. The girls are at the heart of this. We're encouraging entrepreneurship.
So how do you verify that you know a Girl Scout? So a Girl Scout would, you'd have the iPad app or whatever,
they would come to your house or whatever. That's one option. The other option is that they can
make a website and then that link can be sent out by their parents, by their friends, can even be
posted to Facebook, which I think is a little bit dicey. I don't know if, you know, that could get
circulated and more people could be finding out about these girls, but they say they can't
post personal information on there. They only can post their first name.
They're not supposed to post photos and that kind of stuff.
And so you can just go onto the website, order the cookies,
putting your shipping information, credit card information,
and get your Girl Scout cookies.
So it definitely seems like you don't actually have to know a Girl Scout.
You have to have access to a girl Scout.
Joanna just winked at me, like straight out just like, just winked at me.
She was just like, you do.
And then we just moved on.
So Girl Scout links are the cryptocurrency of the future.
It's going to be, you know, people are.
That's how you get, oh, I know a Girl Scout.
The Girl Scout cookie crack.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I ate like 20 Samoa's.
Like, yeah, they only go by ton, and I have to write down the number on paper.
I appreciate it.
I use a burner website.
I can't put it on Facebook.
Yeah, Betty's giving me what I need.
Use a GeoCity site to conduct the transition.
I think this is the main thing I've seen that will change my life at CES.
Yeah.
What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie?
Samoas.
Uh, tagalongs.
I had some yesterday.
I have a huge box of Girl Scout cookies in my room if anybody wants to.
Party at Joanna's place.
They blind you.
If you'd like to stop by.
I'm just saying set up a website.
Learn a little bit about commerce.
I've gotten married since I've been on this podcast.
They gave Joanna a taste.
I should just say that.
I've gotten married since I've been on this podcast.
What does they have to do with your Girl Scout cookies?
I just invited everyone to my room for Girl Scout cookies.
That just sounds creepy and all sorts of other ways.
Well, she's, you know, continuing with the dealer analogy,
she's giving people a taste.
Oh, my God.
Okay.
Anyway, other things that I covered.
I interviewed Ryan Seacrest.
How's he?
Was he drinking his juice?
He was not drinking his juice.
It's like a liquid diet thing.
He looks very fit and golden.
Well, he probably spent six months of the year
working out just for New Year's Eve.
Because that's like, that's his Super Bowl.
Yeah.
I think every day is a Super Bowl.
I mean, that's a man who wakes up every day.
And has a Super Bowl.
I'm going to have eight jobs today.
Yeah.
So do you have it?
Where's the typo?
Do you have the iPhone 6 typo somewhere?
I thought you're pointing to this guy.
Yeah, this is the iPhone 6 typo.
No, that's an iPhone 6.
Six plus.
Oh, my God.
Yeah, this is the typo, too.
That's not a 6 plus case.
No, no.
No, he has a 6 plus.
That is an iPhone 6 case with a keyboard.
Okay, well, you made one good decision, one bad decision.
So, wait, how is this typo?
So you interviewed Secrets because of the typo.
We talked about the typo on when you were on the show last year.
Yes, one year ago.
That's basically all I'm good for here.
It's talking about a really crappy keyboard case.
He showed up with a rip-off Blackberry keyboard once a year.
It's like Christmas.
I hope there's another one next year.
That's better than this.
Are you into this?
Are you going to use it?
I've been using it for like a month and a half on and off.
It's not very good.
This does.
This does seem like garbage.
Actually, Sean Holster at Gizmoto did a really great.
thing. In terms of finishing a product, you should not be able to just turn it over and see the
raw circuit board. Good job, Seacrest. Look, he's a busy man. Anyway, their news is that
they made an iPad keyboard, which looks pretty good. Yeah? Yeah, a new iPad keyboard. It's pretty
thin. It does light up. I do like things that light up. They're not going to make a keyboard for the
Apple Watch. I did ask him that. He said no. What's your unfiltered opinion on the Apple Watch? Because
It needs a keyboard, obviously.
There's a handful of watches here.
Naturally.
Naturally, it needs a keyboard.
Like every Apple product, it needs a keyboard.
Yeah, because Apple loves keyboards.
Right.
They love physical keyboards.
That's what they're known for.
No, tell me, what do you think?
Because I was playing with the Sony Smart Watch, and then, like, who else did one today?
Alcatel?
Alcatel did one, and there's obviously all the Samsung stuff over there.
I have, the design is interesting to me.
When I put it on, it didn't look too big on me, which was like the first thing I was really
worried about. I really like the gold one with the red bands. I'm really into that.
That's your move. I really want them to make a rose gold one. I will definitely buy that.
I'll match my engagement ring. Because you're married. Because I'm married now.
You can come up for cookies, but nothing else. My favorite girl's got cookies is called the hanky-panky.
Off the rails button. Yeah. I'm just hitting this butt. But there's two things that I am really
excited about with it is to see what the fitness capabilities are. Like they've had, I think they're going to
really market that and I think it's probably not going to be very good.
Nope.
For me, this whole health, this whole health monitoring heart rate thing has just been a total
failure.
I did like a huge thing a couple of weeks ago on how all of these heart rate things are
completely inaccurate.
Like really, really inaccurate.
I went to cardiologists measured all of these different things.
The only ones that are super accurate are the ones you wear around your waist or
your chest here, whatever that's called.
and I think they're going to make a huge deal out of all this,
and I just really wonder how it's going to work.
And then the notification thing,
I just don't think iOS is in a place to make that transition to the wrist.
And I think Androidware has been getting a lot better with some of that.
Still not there, but way better with Lollipop.
And I just don't think iOS is there, so I don't know.
Right, but here at CS, my big theme of the show is that when I keep saying gadgets are back,
I mean, these ecosystems are big enough to support all this other stuff.
Right.
And I see it with Android in way different ways than I see it with iOS, right?
So iOS, like, there is HealthKit and HomeKit, and people are building towards it.
And all the car stuff here, like...
HealthKit is a nightmare.
Right.
But Android Health exists just the same way.
Android Wear is, like, I think, farther along in terms of here's a way for this platform to be extended in all these other places.
But then on the flip side, Apple's hardware ecosystem,
ecosystem of things is stronger and a variety of different ways.
And like that's the race as far as I can tell.
You can enable more kinds of devices across more places.
And it's funny.
Like Google's way, like it's CS-2015 and Google's just introducing Google Cast for audio.
And they're like really proud of it.
And it's like, yo, you invented Bluetooth streaming again.
Like that's as far as you got, right?
Well, this just, to me, that seems just like an extension of like people know what Chromecast is now.
we can take advantage of that.
I don't think it's like a totally cynical brand opportunity.
I think it's like to make cast work, you need to send just audio sometimes.
Right.
But they should have done that three years ago.
Okay.
Right?
And like that's what I mean.
Like everyone's, I think iOS and Android are like basically like the new Windows and Mac, right?
Like those operating systems are doing what they do and they're fine.
But all of the innovation is going to happen on these places now across all of these screens that we see.
and they're the new foundation
and they connect up to the cloud.
And so the race is to build out those platforms
as fast as possible.
And what I think is fascinating
is the only screen that isn't being touched by that
or the only type of device that isn't being touched by that
are these TVs that surround us?
And Samsung's like, this is a great place
for us to invest in Tysin.
But Android TV, Google TV, that is Google's play.
No, but even that's like the mistake, right?
Because that's not, like,
there's still basically a smartphone
glued to the back of Sony's TV
running Android.
So they just don't communicate with each other.
Right.
But I think that goes back to some of the car stuff where I think Google sits in a really interesting place.
And even though they're not the ones who are doing this kind of the integration with wear,
the car companies are doing it, there seems like a big opportunity there.
Yeah.
Well, they're playing this, you know, they're in this dance with car companies because historically automakers are very precious about managing the experience in the car.
and so both Apple and Google have had to say,
we don't want to touch your dashboard.
We don't want to muck with that amazingness you've created there.
We just want to be an alternative that you can switch into.
But they're not encumbered in that same way with some of these other platforms.
With Androidware, they don't have to dance around anything.
Right, right.
No, I was walking around here, the show floor of like car company executives today,
just like shooting the shit.
Why am I worried about swearing?
It's not allowed anymore.
Anyway, so we were walking around, and we had the Panasonic booth where they have, like,
the demo of how Panasonic can build you this stuff, just like every other.
And, like, literally the demo starts with, like, the words, your OEM screen,
and there's a button that says, go to Google, and a button that says go to Apple.
And then a bunch of cool stuff happens.
And then the demo ended with, and don't worry, you push this button, and it says your OEM screen again.
And it's like, that's a mistake.
Like, the automakers are going to necessarily have to lose that battle.
But then again, do you want Google?
to control the air conditioning in your car.
Or more importantly, like the Nvidia demos,
one of the boxes was like drive train.
And I was like, you guys can't build a fake speedometer
that isn't covered in bamboo.
Like, I don't want you anywhere near how my car is starting and stopping.
Like, you have bad ideas about what this should even look like.
Like maybe, I don't know.
Yeah.
Where do you see that?
I mean, this is year two of this, basically.
Yeah, well, so Hyundai, I think,
strangely, maybe it isn't that strange,
but Hyundai is really kind of taking the lead on a lot of this stuff.
They're doing, they did the watch,
and they're also doing this thing called,
I want to say it's called Display Mode,
where their entry-level navigation system,
it shouldn't call it navigation system,
it's just a dumb terminal in your dash
that supports CarPlay and Android Auto,
and that's all it does.
And both of them, right?
Yes.
And they are like maybe the first ones
or the only ones that's signed to do that.
And then all the other stuff just has buttons.
Right.
There's like all the air conditioning and the H-pack and whatever.
Exactly.
So they're just basically saying, you know, fine.
We understand that drivers just want to see their smartphone in a car-friendly way.
That's cool.
Go do your thing.
We're going to step out of the way.
But on their high-end cars, they're still stepping in with their own UI.
What are a high-end?
Hyundai is called.
There are some, like, really expensive Hyundai.
Yeah, it's kind of true now.
Like a high-end, like a fully loaded sonaut.
It's probably like a $35,000 car.
We used to have an intern named Hayun-Hu.
And he drove a high-end hand.
What?
It's true.
That's just three sounds that sound the same.
You had an intern name?
That was the whole joke that I made.
Tenue, our intern.
I don't know.
He was great.
Yeah.
And he's living in South Korea.
But anyway, yeah, so even Hyundai.
That's a fact about our old intern.
Even Hyundai, which is...
One time he went to Florida.
I have some tales about some old verge interns.
Yeah, you do.
I do.
That was before you were married.
Yeah, it was before I was married.
That's not a story.
That story is not the story.
Just off the rails.
Just the button.
I'm hitting it.
That brings me back.
Can you tell me just real quick?
Right before end.
I want you to tell me a story.
Did you go to Mercedes today?
No.
The Mercedes keynote.
Ross went.
Ross went last night.
Last night.
So I am reliably informed that the CEO of Mercedes
gave the keynote with a little buddy,
which was a gigantic robot eyeball.
And I really wish we, like,
I'm just looking at this picture.
And it seems like what we have not
talked about today is how much of a spectacle
CES still is in any way.
Have you seen any spectacle stuff, Chris?
Oh, yeah. I saw, you know,
the, it's basically
an iPad on wheels, and then you can do, like,
teleconferencing on it. Yeah, we have one of those
things. I'm explaining it for everyone
else who doesn't live with one of these
attacking you while you're working every day.
And somebody's like, oh, hi. I don't live with one of those.
Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, there's
like a 35-foot one
surrounded by, like, 20 of them
in the South Hall. And I was like, oh,
This is interesting.
And the camera is, like, yeah, sometimes we make the small ones dancing around the larger.
I'm like, cool.
I have to go before they kill me.
Yeah, exactly.
What's your spectacle story?
I don't have any spectacles per se.
Just a lot of, I mean, unless...
You got a little spectacle going right here at the selfie stick.
I mean, crashing...
Stern learned a new trick, everybody.
Being denied the basic human right to crash into a wall.
is kind of a spectacle.
Wait, what was you reaction when they told you to crash on the wall?
Do you have the video for it?
Yeah, yeah, it's on the site.
It's on the verge.com.
What's the website?
Theverge.com?
Okay.
Theverge.com.
You might know it.
So when they first asked me, dude, I'm like, cool.
And I went like two miles an hour into it.
And they're like, no, no, we want you to be way more aggressive.
Just floor it.
I will watch that.
Can we talk about that with spectacle, right?
We've had a self-driving car doing its stick outside of our trailer.
nonstop for the past two days,
and all I do is think of it as a giant inconvenience.
And I haven't stopped to think,
this is cool.
There is a self-driving car right outside.
What it's doing is so tremendously boring.
Yeah, it's just, it's like driving one foot and parking.
I mean, I will, like, we watched them,
we were here a long time ago, right?
Like, we were over, like, early before.
I've memorized their steel.
We watched them rehearsing, like,
this Volkswagen will now park itself.
This is an eagle.
If your garage is like my garage,
it's full of stuff.
How about you?
Oh, you're lying.
Is that the rehearsal?
Oh, I know it all.
I know it all.
No, that's great.
And I'm sure they're paid well enough
to make up for that part of their lives.
Oh, I do want to talk about
one other thing car-related very quickly.
So the trend that's emerging here
is gesture control in the car,
which I think is super fascinating
because historically,
the problem they've struggled with in cars
is that you either have a crap load of buttons,
and knobs on the dashboard, or you have a finicky touchscreen that takes your eyes off the road.
Well, so this gesture control, like BMW, what they're doing is, you have to go like this.
I just can't wait to see people driving.
Gross has got his hands in a V, and he's just stabbing the air in front of him.
You know, you're going to over and see someone just like.
What does that motion do?
It turns off the screen.
It turns off the screen.
In the dashboard, it turns out.
Mostly, I'm usually just picking my nose when I'm driving, but this would be very interesting.
You just kill.
Shut up.
We're getting our podcast together.
It turns it back on.
You two get off our podcast.
If you go like this, it's volume up.
This is volume down.
Wait, are you joking?
Are you serious?
No, I'm serious.
And if someone calls you and you want to reject the call, you go like that.
What?
You smack them with the back of your hand?
Just in the backhand smack.
And just in case you are wondering.
This isn't better than touching the dash.
Oh, it absolutely is.
By the way, volume up just for the people listening in their cars.
If you are currently listening to Vergecast in your car,
which most of you are.
What I want you to do is imagine that you want to turn down the volume on the show and just begin waving your hand furiously.
Slap it.
And then you want to shut this up.
You just slap us quiet.
Chris, plan, I don't like you.
Flap.
Because, let's be clear.
The data suggests that most of our complaints are about you.
Also trying to run up, down L.
Opposite L.
Wait, what is that for?
This seems like another one of the gestures that should happen.
No, that's, this means you're turning.
Yeah.
And then this means you're turning, right?
No, this seems like this is a thing.
There are already signals.
That's half a wheeling routine.
That's just your,
Chris is just stabbing the air now.
You gotta have the fingers like this.
I don't think this is a good idea.
Why do you have to have the murderous look in your eyes?
This is not,
why is that better than hands-free voice?
What?
Or touching a dashboard?
So I'll tell you exactly what it's better than touching a dashboard.
Because a gesture.
A gesture doesn't require that you take your eyes off the road.
Okay.
I'll tell you.
why this is the worst idea on the planet.
I have it. Okay.
And this is 100% definitive.
Because putting a Microsoft
Connect and rely
your life on it.
Is the worst
single idea that has
ever existed in all of technology.
What if people start doing
Dance Revolution? Dance Revolution
in the front seat. Oh, I like
that. I like that a lot. Ross Miller.
Wait, I have it, no, I have a...
Love it. Maybe a...
You have a baby?
Yes. I have a...
I've had a baby.
His name is Mustang.
Since he started this podcast,
I had a baby.
I threw him at the car,
and then he hit...
I had a baby at CES a couple years ago.
Remember when I got my stroller?
I do remember that.
Yeah.
That was one of our best videos.
Wait, I have a question,
and it's a real one.
If your car's driving itself,
why do you need to keep your eyes on the road?
Well, but the technology is...
So, first of all, the gesture...
You can't answer that question.
No, I can.
Okay.
The gesture control is one to two years out.
Yeah.
Atom's driving isn't for five to ten years.
Actually, why isn't gesture control here now?
It's just not.
I mean, like, the two companies announced it this week, Volkswagen and BMW, it'll be here very soon.
Yeah.
I mean...
So this is really happening.
But it's Audi that has the, like, touchscreen where you, like, draw the letters.
Yep.
So actually, so Google has...
So instead of having a keyboard on Audi cars, you draw letters on a touchpad.
And Google has a custom interface for Android Auto that works with that touchpad.
That makes sense.
On Audi's, you can actually do...
like character recognition inside Android Auto.
Yeah.
And then you just backhand it to shut it up.
Is there a stylist?
That it comes out of your stealing wheel?
There should be. There should be an HTC flyer in the dashboard.
I just want to know what Joanna's lazy cheerleading routine will eventually become.
It is a good question.
I got to go.
This show is over.
No, this is changing the radio station, I think.
This is, no.
Why would it be?
How do you turn out the car?
Stop, you look so mean.
you do it.
Chris just keeps standing.
Okay, this show's over.
That was the Verchast.
John looks very tired.
Thank you for the people who have sat with us today.
We are doing this again tomorrow at 4 o'clock.
I'm so sorry.
Probably.
Here's what I know about tomorrow.
We want to start right on time,
but we're interviewing a member of the Wu-Tang clan
on the stage before we're scheduled to start,
and we might just be running on Wu-Tang's clock.
So that's a fact.
The only clock I want to live on.
It's not super accurate, but it's a party.
So we're doing this again tomorrow.
Sometime around four.
We'll have another show for all the people listening.
For people listening, you are troopers.
I can't believe as many people listen to our CS podcast as they do.
Please drive your car.
People listen to this?
to follow the verge. The main ways
you should like, you subscribe to our channel
on YouTube, you should like us
on Facebook, and you should follow us on Twitter,
which I'm hoping all of you already do.
Snapchat. We're the real verge on Snapchat.
Sam is in Vegas with
Snapchat, so that's just happening.
And then I will say
we are having a secret special
fourth episode of the Vergecast on Thursday
with a bunch of our YouTube friends,
including the one only MKBHD.
So look for that. Is that really that's secret?
Now that you... Yeah, no, that's not a secret.
I didn't say who the other people were.
True.
So there's that.
So looking for that.
One of their names might rhyme with tall
minartney.
Might.
Could be.
Could be another beetle.
How many are left?
Oh, I think he just said that Paul McCartney is on the Vergecast.
I think the idea that Paul McCartney is a YouTube star
may not play.
Paul McCartney is in everything.
Okay.
Well, that is how we will collapse to a finish
here on the Burgecast.
Thank you, starts for being here.
Thank you for reading our side.
and CS continues a pace.
This was your moment to take a selfie and you blew it.
Let's just be clear.
No, it's going to be my moment to say rock and roll in a second.
We're done.
You didn't say rock and roll.
I haven't been saying it for like a year.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Well, I never make it to the end of the podcast.
Rock and roll.
Rock and roll.
You blew it.
