Tomorrow - 220: Melee

Episode Date: December 21, 2020

On this week's podcast, Josh and Ryan take a bird's eye view of the current tech industry and its absurdly powerful players. There's also some talk about Nintendo's increasingly nasty relationship with its fans and whether you should watch The Queen's Gambit or The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Happy holidays, folks! We're saying happy holidays again! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hey, and welcome to tomorrow. I'm your host, Josh Wattobolsky. Today on the podcast, we discuss Britbox, Unsigned Code, and Monopolys. I don't want to waste one minute. Let's get right into it. All right, well, we're back. Hello. It's official. We're here. We exist.

We're here. We exist. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here.

We exist. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here.

We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We're here. We so many gifts out there you can buy for someone. I don't have a lot of time actually. I mean, I've gotten all the people in my life gifts. Yeah. You know, for the most part. I feel like this is this particular holiday where if you have everything you need, you have everything you need, and if you need stuff, it's cash. Like, that's really where we are as a nation. It's hard to, it's hard to, I mean, you know, right. it's a very, it's a very strange holiday season. And it's very difficult to, I don't know, what are, what are, what's luxury now?

What is a, what is a gift now, right? What are the things that, I mean, there's, these are questions that I'm currently asking, both you and also Tony, and I'd like a response because I really need to, I really need some ideas. No, but I mean anyhow, so I've been doing, I like shopping, I mean online shopping is the official American pastime. Now, it is, it is Eclipse baseball as the official sport of Americans. And yeah, now I don't know,

but maybe forever from this point on. Yeah, you, now I don't know, but maybe forever from this point on. Yeah. You know, I don't know. I will say, if I stay up too late and I have a couple glasses of wine, I get real squirrely about like, maybe I should buy something. Well, I don't know why.

It's like a brand new, it's so starved for Sarah and I. Like do you ever like just look at Amazon? Just like just to see what's on Amazon. Of course. And I don't even like shopping for Amazon. I go, right, right, every time. Right. And I open it up. I open it up. And I go, I open D pop and I just scroll. I was looking at a gift guide recently and they were like, one of those

suggestions was a sexy, sexy coloring book. Oh, God. And I was, and I'm just like, I know. Here's the thing. No, I get it. I get you like to color. There's nothing wrong with that. That's totally. That's a great, it's a great pastime. But who's the person who's legitimately like, I want the sexy coloring book? Also, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I understand adult coloring books. They're very therapeutic. I've used them. It's a fun activity. It is for little kids. And please don't make it sexy. I don't want that. I mean listen, there are people who are into, you know,

whatever, you know, being like, you know, I'm a baby, God-a-love. That's a whole thing, diaper, they diaper up, you know, and by the way, no judgment. No judgment here, no judgment. You've dived up, bro. I'm dived up, I'm dived up right now, as always. I actually, that term dived up is basically

from Katie Natautopolis who my sister, who is also a writer at Buzzfeed and she's just very, she's been very interested in, you know, fringe, fringe cultures, let's say, diaper culture is one of her main bags. Anyhow, but so dived up as a phrase that's used around the house now. Anyhow, well it's great when we had a baby, you know, she dived up. Anyhow, so yeah, gifts, it's this gift giving season, it's the holiday season. It's it's Hanukkah It's the last day of Hanukkah right now as we record this and then and then in in a little bit less than a week It'll be X-Miss You know which I you know is the official name now that it's been there's been a war on it

And you know, it's it's a fun time normally this year. It's like I Don't know I feel like anybody in any position is like I don't know if I should be giving gifts this year Yeah, I don't know. I feel like anybody in any position is like, I don't know if I should be giving gifts this year. I don't know. I don't know if that's a good idea. Yeah. I mean, every, everyone I know who I normally buy gifts for has like, we've locked eyes across to Zoom

and been like, no gifts, no gifts. And that's a real nice. Locked eyes across to Zoom is strangely poetic. Beautiful. But you got John something, right? Yes, we got each other things for the apartment. See, listen to this. If you said what it was, would he know? He already knows.

I already gave it to him. Because we moved into the apartment together and it was like, we need stuff. So if we're going to spend this, yeah, if we're going to spend this much money, we'll just call it GIFs. Yeah, you can't, you can't, there's certain gifts when you're going to spend, yeah, if we're going to spend this much money, we'll just call it GIFs because- Yeah, you can't, you can't, there's certain GIFs when you're in a relationship, when you're married. There are things that you can't just give as a gift.

You have to have a conversation about it. Yeah, and there are things you can't even just buy for yourself because you're like, this is a lot of money and I need to check in with you. We got, we went, we went kind of ballistic with Zelda this year. I think for Hanukkah and for Christmas. And I think it's a little bit because we just feel like she's, I mean, it's good. It doesn't, she doesn't need anything.

I mean, she's like, she's what I wanted as a child. I'm now providing for her, which is like, like a group, a set of parents who are really into things. Not that my parents weren't into things, but they didn't have like hobbies. Yeah. My parents didn't really have like stuff because they came from a generation of like, you didn't really have hobbies.

I mean, they're like, roughly boomers, but they are. But like, they are not, you know, they're very working class. Like, my dad worked in, literally worked in a steel mill when he was like a teenager and my mother is a school teacher and they're very like, there was not a of room for like they didn't like we skied with my grandfather who had hobbies But my parents didn't for whatever reason like we skied when we were younger and Eric and I were always my brother Eric and I were always into stuff like skateboarding whatever kids were into but for them You know for them. It was like never There was just never a side project. My parents liked TV, sports.

Yeah, TV, no TV, they love TV, they watch TV like it's a hobby. Yeah, oh absolutely, my dad has, my dad every single day watches two episodes of SignField, like he's practicing for something. Yeah, no I mean, my parents are like big TV watch, and they watch, they'll watch TV at the same time in separate rooms watching two different shows, and they will yell at each other across the house about what is going on in their individual shows. They're like, I would say actually of that generation,

that may be a thing, it's like, the kind of like TV was their internet. Yeah. And so they're sort of like professional TV watchers in their downtime, you know? Well, that's why they go, I'll get sucked into YouTube so easily, because it's the of like professional TV watchers in their downtime, you know? Well, that's why they go, I'll get sucked into YouTube so easily because it's the same thing as TV,

but you just keep clicking and it's shorter. And also like, they are, there's not a lot of critical thinking that has to be done. Like, it was on TV, nobody on TV with lie. You know what I mean? They get really sucked into that. Yeah, I mean, it's true.

Which is how a generation of people ended up being Fox viewers. True. It's just like the right time, right place. is how a generation of people ended up being Fox viewers. True. It's just like the right time, right place. And now a generation will be Alex Jones viewers or whatever, whatever replaced Alex Jones as TikTok or whatever. Yeah, exactly.

Alex Jones is TikTok. He does hilarious dances while telling you lizards about how people are lizards and demons. The turning the freaking frogs gay. I love it. I love it Gay frogs I think sounds fun to me honestly. I've been to a senior what is it? Senua frog yeah, they do drag when the weekend is fun See your fraud. Do you think that's the birthplace of the gay frogs thing is they do drag

I did see your frogs and therefore somebody was like the frogs are gay now At any rate not the toes though. They're strong toes. Well, toes are obviously very straight. It's very, I mean, if you ask me what's the straightest animal, I'd be like toes, obviously. That's what makes frog and toes relationship so unbelievable. People know this that toes are aggressively, head. Super head, head and mega. It's a well-known fact. Um, at any rate, so wait, what were we talking about?

What were we talking about? Gifts. We were talking about Gifts. Gifts? Yes. They're very good. Very good. Uh, I love them. Anyhow, so, oh, was that a, we went really ballistic. And, but we saved a lot of, so we got a lot of things. Uh, we got, um, I mean so we got a lot of things. We got. I mean, we got some cool stuff like. For both the holidays because she's all rights both because she's she's she's buy.

She's buy religion. And and sorry, I was just scrolling Twitter in the background. There's an ad for something which is a fire blanket, which is a blanket that you keep in your kitchen. And if you have a grease fire Yeah over the fire and I'm just like how I know that grease fires happen. I'm just like I'm surprised to see an ad for this Twitter ads have got I've gotten I started I've started getting Twitter ads over the last like month or two and they're so bad They are like they're literally like They are literally like around the web. You know, like what?

Or you can see the logic connection, but it's just wrong. Like I'll tweet something that's like, like I'll tweet something about the politics and I'll be like, Lucy in the football again or whatever. And then my next 50 ads are like, and if they'll send a night package. And I'm like, I could not be the target audience the last.

It's not there. It's not there. Uh, yeah. They're bad. They're just bad. Or they're completely random. Like they're just like a random guy from like, you know, Tel Aviv came up with like a pun

and then he promoted his tweet. And that shot up in my timeline. That was like at all the time too. I'm like, what are you trying to do here? You have 250 followers. It's clearly not working. Yeah, it's what is this. At any rate, so we got her a lot of good gifts

for both holidays, but there's a few that we're holding that I'm excited about. Well, one is we got her a telescope to look at the stars. Like a real, let me just like a beginner, not, it's not like a total beginner. You know, it was very hard to find one actually. They're all sold out everywhere because everybody's like, I'm at home, what do I do?

Like, what about a telescope? Yeah, plus that. Which, you know, you know, got that whole Elon Musk thing going on? I guess so. But so we got a telescope, which was very hard to track down. I had to like really use my shopping skills like during this holiday season. I got her this cool thing which frankly is honestly I think might be more of a gift from me than anybody but somebody makes this

this company makes this I should find out what the name of the company as well I'm talking about it. They make a pico 8 arcade cabinet that you build the cabin it's got a 10 inch screen and then you it comes with like a copy of the pico 8 because you can buy like pico 8 Which is like a game Programming tool set tool kit or whatever to make these like little games like anyhow It's really cool. So we're gonna build it because she really wants to make video games She's talked a lot about me learning to coach. She's actually like a game regainer. She's like, you learn, you should learn to code. And I'm like, yeah, that's actually not a bad idea. In fact, one of the reasons I got a Mac M1, I don't know if

we talked about this or not, I got an M1 air. One of the reasons was because I started messing around with Swift Playgrounds on my iPad. And I was like, this is actually the first time I've ever been able to understand how code kind of works or at least start to think about it in a way that seems like could lead to coding. And I was like, I really should have a good back to do this on. Wait, isn't it really true though that like when I read the book of code, which many Tony's have reached out for and given Ray for a few. So if you're in to it, reach out. But when I read that book about code and and I've done these coding playground things.

Which book about code? What is the book about code? Code, the hidden language of computer hardware and software. Yeah. Okay, I should read this. It's very good. It's fascinating. But it finally started, it's by Charles Petzold.

I feel like you told me about this, but don't. Yeah, it's very good. I finally started understanding code. And when I've done those playgrounds or those little apps, they have to like every day teach yourself a little. The only thing I walk away from that thinking is like, everything must be so complicated to put together that I bitched moan about.

Like it was the real reason. No, no, no, no. I 100% you do get an appreciation for, I mean, of course, you get an appreciation for, I know that I'm going through the earliest parts of that. I'm like, this is in no way actual code. Like, this is the most surface stuff to show me some basic ideas.

And I know underneath this is the code that actually makes all the stuff that I'm, like, the code that I'm doing is sitting on top of a bunch of codes to make much more complicated things, which even those things are not really that complicated. And I'm like, this is such a, being really good at coding is very much like playing an instrument well, right? It's totally, like it is, there are of course,

there are people who have a natural talent. But if you practice and you really want to learn, you can learn to play an instrument well. Yeah. Like if your body can learn to do the things you're playing, it's like it has to work or go where like you can learn it. Right. I mean even well yeah. I mean yes. But even like Chess and Go require like this competitive thinking that like the reality of like a plane of guitar is that there is a way to play the guitar. Like, when you learn how to hold the guitar

and how to strum it and how to like, you go, put your fingers in the right places on the frat, like you will begin to play the guitar. Like, it is not a thing that's like, unless you have a natural ability, you'll never be able to strum this thing and get a C chord or whatever. It's like, you will be able to play a fucking C. Like, unless you have a natural ability, you'll never be able to strum this thing and get a C chord or whatever. It's like, you will be able to play a fucking C.

Like, there's no question. But like, you know, you do it enough, you get really good at it. Next thing you know, not everybody's at event hailing, but there are a lot of people on YouTube, okay? People who do or do not have the careers of at event hailing, who can play the fuck out of the guitar, right?

So, code to me is kind of like that where it's like, but with a guitar I sort of can do, I can understand basic things like Oh, I strum it. I hold it this way. I put my fingers here. I strum it I get a sound that sounds like music to me like it's very easy to approach code is not like that Code is like there has not I've never in my life until this moment Maybe and I guess they hats off to Apple been able to like look at something and go okay I can sort of understand what you're talking about now.

Like I kind of know what you're saying. Like I understand an if statement. I understand if then now better than I've ever understood it, because you've showed it to me in a way that really kind of clicks. But anyhow, so I got this M1, I got the M1 MacBook Air, because I was like, I'm gonna use this as my,

I'm gonna do some code on this. Anyhow, what's cool about Swift Playgrounds and I recommended if you have an iPad or a Mac, it also like syncs between the two. So all of the work I did on my iPad, which I found to be so difficult because I fucking hate typing on it and just hate the constraints of the format,

of the platform. But it syncs over, so now I can pick up my work and stuff. But anyhow, getting back to, so I got her, so we got her the Pico A thing, which is cool. I'm excited, like maybe we'll make a little game together if I can figure it out and she can figure it out. We got a telescope, which I think, I'm not sure how she's going to feel about it. But one of the cool, you know what's interesting about kids, one of the coolest things that we got for her for Hanukkah is this like, there's so many made this company,

I think it's called Lulu and Me or something. They made this thing called, it's like a comic book creation kit. And it comes with a bunch of pages that are like comic with pages and markers and pens and like some instructions and you do a comic and then you send it to them and they print a comic book and send it back to you.

Like an actual like glossy comic book, which is really fucking cool. And she's really into it, you know? Like it's it's it's it's so often it's interesting just like the simple things that really connect. And yeah, she's in like Minecraft world now, but so I've been doing a lot of shopping and some of it I've ended up buying stuff for myself. I've bought a lot of stuff for myself Do you do this like when you're shopping for other people you end up with like a ton of shit that you were not gonna buy? I'm so so dumb and bad, but But anyhow, I got the new I got this new Mac and one of the things I've been thinking because you know I've been using the surface for a long time and I've been I'm gaining on my PC all the time and

I have to say like I I've been using the surface for a long time, and I've been gaining on my PC all the time. And I have to say, I don't feel like, there's things the Mac does really well, and I'm like, that's great. But I would say the number one feature of the Mac that I had missed was that my iMessage is show up on it, and it makes it easier to have chats with people who I text with, and it's like, that's not much of a feature. You know, that, and it's easier to do like curly quotes,

which we use on the website. And Windows, I had to like get a macro app and program my own key commands to do them because they're like, oh, you want to use a curly quote? That'll be, you just go open a Windows like special characters app and scroll through all of the ASCII characters. Honestly, it's a little bit like Windows is screenshot situation, which is just like guys.

It's like a core function of the operating system. No, they're like, yeah, just hit print screen. It's no problem. It's crazy. Anyhow, but it's true though. Okay, but anyhow, so that it's that. And it's like, you know, There are things you could do that are easier But I have to say like and the battery life seems great

But I will say that the the the window between no pun intended the window between like using a computer like everything now Like it's so much like like Android and iOS They all are fine. It's all fine windows has gotten so much better than it ever was. Like just for everybody if you're wondering, Windows is the best it's ever been. It's still a complete chaotic shit show, but it is pretty good. Like it does most of the stuff we wanted. We were talking about code for two seconds, and I think it's a similar thing with Windows. Is that like I can bitch in Mona lot about how Mac or Windows does stuff, but like at the end of the day, what when I mean, even more so to even bigger degree windows.

What windows is managing to pull off 24 hours a day, seven days a week around the world? Like, I know for a fact that there are engineers, software engineers at Microsoft who are not entirely certain how some parts of the operating system are continuing to work, but they are, so they don't mess with it. And the fact that they're able to create a secure operating system that works for so many different use cases, shocking.

Like really cool, great work guys. I have no idea how you do it. When you think what's crazy is the entire gaming industry is based around essentially PC architecture. I mean, obviously Microsoft, the Xbox is running some version of Windows. So the PS5 I believe is a some variation of Linux, Unix or Linux, right? But like the hardware, and certainly the game, I assume the game development is all taking place

on, is all PC based, right? I mean, essentially, hardware built for a Microsoft slash Windows world. And like, I think it's kind of striking, to me, the cyberpunk thing, I do want to talk about cyberpunk again, because I've, it's been a week of playing now and I have a lot to say. But, but to that point, like, you know, you saw this huge thing happen with cyberpunk where people are like, oh, yeah, the PC version's really, really,

well, good in the sense of like, it looks really good. Yeah. And it looks like everybody. And then you've got these like, these these causal versions which are kind of the second rate variations of the game, you know? And I think that's a huge inversion of what we've, what we've known for a long time, but also it is striking when you think about like where the, you know, this Apple Microsoft war that used to exist about operating systems, about who owned what.

And you see how it's divided in these really, I think unexpected lines. I mean, if you had gone back in time 20 years ago and you said, here's what's going to happen. Microsoft and PCs are going to drive like, I mean, first off, they really do drive like massive parts of industry. Like they are the foundation for, you know, to your point about like these, you know, I mean, everything from cash registers to satellites to like, you know, like everything pretty much runs on. Yeah, I mean, every taxi has a Windows computer.

And from an infrastructure, I've seen them all blue screened from an infrastructure perspective, you know, Windows is just as a massive footprint, right? And then, and then, you know, so you say, okay, well, hey, here's what's going to happen. Windows will run pretty much everything that exists in like the enterprise space. And also will be the foundation for all of the most advanced, you know, triple A gaming in the universe. And Apple is going to have this like huge monopoly on, to some extent, the mobile market, not an Apple.

It's kind of shocking because a lot of video editors and certainly Special Effects houses pretty much strictly use Windows computers now, which is so funny because I remember in the mid 2000s the only place I had ever seen a Mac before I bought one was in our photo lab at school. Yes, oh my god, they were like the art computer. I mean, that's a hundred apples. I used to be an apple.

Two's in the elementary school. But when I was producing music professionally, you know, you would go into a studio and you would see, I mean, nine times out of 10, you would see a, a, you know, a tower Mac that's running pro tools. Some people ran logic. It was fewer and further between, but they were like the pro, if you, you know, a pro setup was a, it was not Windows. It was a Mac, you know, that was the gold standard. If you went to a video editing house,

they were not running, most of them were not running. No, that gray plastic Mac tower. They were running, yeah, they were running or an array of Mac towers or whatever, but like, you know, with, you know know, whatever final cut or whatever they were using. And you were like, this is got a G5. I mean, every, every time, and any time I ever went like to, you know, like a mastering house in New York, you know, I went to some of the biggest mastering houses to master records.

And this is not a brag. It's just like, you go, they are accessible, you book time, and you go in. And they were, it's like, you know, these, I mean, these rooms, and I'm like, oh my God, it would be so sick to have a room like this, where it's like, the best Mac you can buy, running, you know, whatever the latest version of the software is, oh, you know, connected to these massive analog, mastering consoles and stuff.

And it's like, but now that, it's funny, we used to have, I mean, I remember it when we started doing video at Engage, and then once we took you to the team And we went over it and they were doing stuff for the verge and really building up what has become such a huge sort of known sort of well-known style of you know Originally, it was like Mac everything and gradually I watched those guys who are like the best video directors producers and editors that I know gravitate towards building their own PCs and using PCs and going like yeah Actually, I can build a much more powerful system and do exactly the same thing is that I know gravitate towards building their own PCs and using PCs and going like, yeah,

actually, I can build a much more powerful system and do exactly the same thing. I think that was the moment where it really connected for me that like, well, it was also like the Adobe suite of it all became, obviously, the subscription thing helped, right? Because you could log in anywhere. Yeah, but also, well, that was later.

I mean, that's come. Yes, but also Adobe has always given you so much more granular control. And when their UI started to catch up with the actual ability of the granular level of editing that you could do, then people were like, well, why would I say on Apple? Apple still heavily suggests you use templates.

And it's like, I don't think most people are gonna be using templates. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, and I think, well, it's funny, though, going back to the coding thing. It's like the coding situation. I was like, well, I could probably start doing this on my on my surface.

And I started looking at like, what is on offer for like, you want to get into coding? It's like visual basic. And it's like, it is just to install visual basic is like, or visual studio, which it's now called, was like, oh, God, what am I getting into? They're like, you need these components. It's like, do you want this? And it's like, I Visual Studio, which it's now called, was like, oh God, what am I getting into? They're like, you need these components. It's like, do you want this?

And it's like, I don't know. I don't know. Please, I just want to start. Can you show me how to start? I mean, I'm like a duo-lingual. Well, I was like, before I decided to buy the M1, I was like, you know, maybe I can do Swift development on my surface just to play around.

And they're like, oh yeah, like Visual Studio now incorporates Swift. And I'm like, cool, I have yet to be able to figure out how do you like begin doing anything with Swift on my PC. Just like this is very confusing and hard to do. So it's just but it's but yet the most the high end I've run the you know unreal studio or whatever the fuck it's, on my PC and played around with it. And it's like, you know, the high, some of the highest end game development that's happening is definitely absolutely 100% non-happening on Mac.

It's happening on Windows computers. And so anyhow, it's just interesting to see how the industry has broken down. And now like, I mean, all the stuff we used to care about and worry about has seems so background. Like, you want to edit video well, you can do it on any of these platforms. Like, you want to, you need a great mobile device

that takes great pictures. Like, so there's so many options now. And, you know, it used to be, there used to be a time when, now the iPhone still takes incredible pictures and maybe the best in the industry, or at least it's in the top tier. But it has stiff competition now. There are plenty of Android devices that I'm like, wow, those photos are insane.

I want to be using that camera. And it's funny how much that's shifted over time and how the, as this stuff progresses as the industry is mature, the fine lines get so much thinner between the devices and their capabilities. And it is like, what are the differentiators now? And I think like what people have hung on to and this actually comes right back to the eye message thing. What people have managed to hang on to and what they hang on to now increasingly is their ability to monopolize like a specific experience on their platform.

Like tomorrow if Apple announced that I message was going to become actually cross platform and you could use it on Windows and you could use it on Android, I think it would tank in many ways, tank Apple. That one little thing, right? Because it just doesn't matter that much anymore like it's as simple as Who do you communicate with and what you know is it easy to do or not? The but the actual differences between I mean it's just that the app experiences across platforms are very similar and So the underlying OS isn't doing really most of what you're asking it to do like when I switched to Android

It wasn't that big of a jump because like, it has Apple music in Spotify and it has Twitter and it has, you know, Chrome, Gmail, Chrome is thinking everything, has the exact same games. Like it's not like a huge deal. So I'll just say obviously, a duopoly in any industry,

especially that the tech industry seems to love it, do or try Apple. Well, we have a try-oppel, we have a try-opp we have a try Apple. But everybody has their own little corner now. And everybody's fighting in Amazon's and Google are now fighting for separate other corners. And it's like, it would be great if there was some way to not

have it if there was room for competitors in this space, but we're at a set and what we're talking about is such fundamental stuff There hasn't been a competitor in like video editing suite since Amigo went out of business, you know Like you know, I'm talking about like literally Obviously you want standards and you want organizing bodies to create things like Wi-Fi and USB Yes, but some things can't just be an organized standard. They have to be maintained. And so then you have one corporation. And then we're using it as a standard, but really, like Google search, where you're just

like, yeah, I mean, being exists, but everybody's using Google search. And there's one private company maintaining this. And that's not really a great scenario. Like, we should have some say. No, I mean, that actually is, I was gonna say is that the real, the real unifier and the shared platform has really become, has really is really the internet, you know, and even like to your point about Adobe, the operating system is secondary.

100%. 100%. The operating system of our universe is the internet in many ways. And frankly, so many of the things that we've just talked about would be blank screens without the internet, but also they have internet components or internet variations that are in more often than not are the things that I'm engaging with and using, right?

Like, it's very, I mean, when you think about I message, I message is just a front for a set of protocols, you know, that are really internet based. And like, you get, you get to that question about things like search and it's interesting. I mean, I was just talking about this as Laura. Last night, Lauren and I were talking about, you know, where obviously building, it's very snowy here. There's like 10 inches of snow on the ground where we live. And we're like, let's, you know, we're building fires.

We're alternating between Duraflame because we have a very narrow fireplace and we're like, let's, you know, we're building fires. We're alternating between Duraflame, because we have a very narrow fireplace and we're lazy. And, you know, real logs. And, you know, Laura's like, just got to be a better way to build a fire that really lasts. I've used the upside down method if I'm building a real fire, which does last a long time. I'm like, well, maybe there's something else. So I search for, like, how to build a long lasting fire. And the first thing I get, the first thing I see is a list of ads for products related to fires. Okay. Like like that is not from a user perspective. That is not a positive. That is a now if I'm

looking to buy something, it obviously makes sense sense So if I said like where to buy logs or where to buy Duraflame or where to buy fire? Where to buy by exactly if I'm in search for but literally I was searching for like I need to know something Is there a place is there a resource on the internet that can show me and when I got instead was a bunch of ads literally took up My entire viewport on my phone of instead was a bunch of ads. Literally took up my entire viewport on my phone of shit that I was absolutely unrelated to what I'm searching for.

Not related at all, it was really unrelated stuff. Like, here's a personal fireplace for your desk. It's like, yeah, that's not what I'm talking about. You know, I don't need like a goofy USB gadget that I plug into my computer. Like, I'm looking for information. And I do think like, Google, an unregulated Google that's just had 20 years to do whatever they want

with the internet has been, I, on more often than not, when I search for something. I'm talking about pure search. I'm not talking about their G, I'm not talking about their email product. I'm not talking about their calendar product. I think Google has developed some great products that I use all the time and I'm consistently happy with.

Search has gotten consistently worse in a lot of ways. I know you'll never find what I wanna find, ever. I mean, they'll tell you, they'll tell you that like their search has gotten better and better and I don't disagree that their search is very good. The main way I find what I wanna find is to put the keywords in and then put in Reddit and then find a human being who posted on my Reddit.

Yeah, but what's happened is I've become a better cog in the machine that Google has created for search engine. It's not that they're search, I believe that their search is not gotten for what human purposes has not necessarily gotten that much better. It's that humans have gotten better at figuring out how to use their tool to get the results they want because the tool itself is actually not on a typical basis is not giving them the thing that they want. And like, I do think there's something truly, truly, really troubling about it and really problematic about it. It's just like, it's just like how Amazon is looking at shopping habits to generate

its own products, right? It's like, oh, people are buying paper towels. We should make paper towels. You know, and it's like, suddenly, when I'm looking, when I'm trying to buy the paper towels that I rely on or whatever, I'm now I'm buying like Amazon paper towels. But it's also the Amazon button, right? Like it's like, they have changed the, we used Amazon to shop. They created one click buttons. We got used to clicking one click to buy things. And now they created, I mean, they've discontinued them, but it got so far that they created physical buttons. I forgot about the buttons.

You could just push it and then it would send you things. And that's so bad that it's so far beyond what, like, it has changed the way we think about shopping, which is that it's a repulsive thing. Right. I think that it's a repulsive thing. Right, I think that it's a, there are real issues to address, and I think that as we get into a Biden administration

where it sounds like it looks like we're gonna have some people with functioning brains talking about regulation. People like Elizabeth Warren, who, you know, listen, I may disagree with some of her ideas, but I do think we're having the conversation, not about who you know listen, I may disagree with some of her ideas, but I do think we're we're having the conversation not about you know You know oppressing conservative viewpoints, which is all the Republicans like when they talk about the internet

They're like, oh are you I tried to Google myself and I didn't come up. I don't have enough Twitter followers I mean it's literally like that kind of ship it like there's real issues, right? There's real, real fundamental issues. And like I do think there is something to say about if the internet is the operating system of the world, which it increasingly is. And frankly, the operating system in which we all are, a passenger, either passengers or users, then we need to think really critically about how it works for us or

doesn't work for us. And I think something like search as simple as it may seem, it needs to be, we need to open it up, we need to do surgery on a grape and also on search and just say what is it that makes you think that when I search for how to build a long-lasting fire, which is a very specific question that you think I want to buy stuff that has nothing to do with what I'm looking for? It's because they don't care about, they only care if you want to buy something. If you don't want to buy something, they're like, all right, well, let us know when you do, because they've built, they organize the world's information.

Absolutely. That is a thing that they do. No one's gonna deny that. But their first priority is organizing the world's advertising by far. And so if you're coming to them for anything but advertising, they're like, okay, I mean, so you go to McDonald's and you're like, hi, can I get a salad? They're like, I mean, yes, you can.

But it's not what this place is designed for. And we're certainly not gonna make it like easy. What we would like you to buy is, and then, you know, it it's not what this place is designed for, and we're certainly not gonna make it easy what we would like you to buy is, and then it's a bunch of garbage, but I think that is the problem with, I mean, we're just getting down to capitalism is the core of all. Yes, capitalism is the problem.

But that's the problem with basing something, like organizing the world's information entirely on its entire business model, I mean, even though it needs a business model, a business model, like for something as important as information. So when we've decided that the right minds are gonna be valued only for if they can get us to buy stuff,

that's fucking crazy, of course, what's going on? What's going on? What is insane, what truly is like when you just get right down to it is this idea that the right way to create a search product for the entire world to find things on the most vast system of information ever created is to is to is to make it profitable by putting ads around everything that you search for. Like, if you just get down to the basic idea,

it would be like that we were like, hey, the dictionary, very important. People need to know words, they need to know how to spell them, they need to know what they mean, they need to know what context to use them in. But we can't, people won't buy the dictionary. You know, they're not gonna pay money for a dictionary. It's like funny.

It's like funny. It's like funny. It's like funny. It's like funny. It's like funny. It's like funny. It's like funny. It's like funny. It's like funny. money for additional graphics signs with advertisements. So what we're gonna have to do is every three words, there'll be an ad for something related to that word. It's like, this is insane. It should not be that way. There should be, and I understand there are other services,

but there needs to be a way to get off of this particular line of thinking, which I believe is really, really fundamentally broken, is that everything that you can show people, you can give it to them for free if you simply put an ad around it. Now, we are part of an ad-supported media business, right? And I do think there are places where ad-supported media makes a lot of sense. And I believe there are places where I don't think all advertising is bad. I understand its utility. I don't think all ads are inherently evil. I don't think compelling someone to buy something or telling them that something exists so they can know that they can buy it is an evil thing. Like listen, we live in a capitalist society.

If we don't, if we break the structure of capitalism completely, then we can talk about all sorts of other ways to exist. Okay? But like, the reality of it is like Google could be different. Google could be different. Their competitors could be different. The way that we find things could be different. The way that we service information could be different. Facebook could be very different if it wanted to be.

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Be the first to experience the new era of what a modern luxury SUV should be. Visit Genesis.com to learn more about the Genesis GV80. Foundless by design. Facebook put out multiple full-page print ads calling out Apple as a response to Apple wanting to create a sort of nutrition label for privacy on apps, is where you would be able to look at an app and be like, oh, that's a lot of data. And I don't think it's right for me and not purchase it.

Facebook obviously heavily abuses its ability. I mean, Facebook was caught trying to play MP3s of silence in the background on your phone so that it wouldn't have to close its app and obey privacy and security rules. It could just keep running and collecting data. Facebook was caught turning the camera on on Instagram when you weren't using the camera. I mean, Facebook's been caught trying to soak up. They were paying teenagers to give them private data. I mean, they're obviously they will do anything they can to get their hands on this data. And so, Apple is tapping in and saying like, well, there should be some limits and we have to protect our consumers.

And we would like to create features on our devices to make them competitive to say, you know, when you buy an Apple product, you know that you're getting some level of privacy. And Facebook obviously doesn't want this, so they put out an ad saying that, you know, this will hurt small businesses. They're like, look, more than 10 million businesses use our advertising tools every month. And, you know, as much as that's true, that is a fact. It's small businesses existed before Facebook. And it feels very much like Facebook is putting a gun to the head of small businesses

during a global pandemic, where one third of restaurants in New York have closed, maybe half at this point. where one third of restaurants in New York have closed, maybe half at this point, and saying, if Apple rolls out this feature, which we'll protect you from us, we'll fuck with your business. Yeah. No, I mean, it's gonna be a crazy few years.

I mean, because there is, the system for all these companies is built, I mean, they've built some pretty unsustainable systems, uh... the the system is the system for all these companies is built i mean they've built some pretty unsustainable systems you know they've built systems on frankly a lot of naïve it's a and and and and and on the on the fact that most people are paying attention

you know like like apple i mean apple stuff is interesting i mean you know say what you will about the epic, you know, Apple battle. They've grown so much and they do control so much of the way these things work and how people are making money. And yet there's been almost no, no real inspection or questioning or, or, or, or, or, it's certainly no regulation around it. It's just like very wild west But now we're not talking about a couple of border towns, you know

These are like metropolis's it's like it might have been the wild west a decade ago But now like Apple controls a Controlls New York City at Facebook controls Los Angeles or whatever these are not the actual place. But you know what I'm saying? Like they have enough weight and size and influence that this can no longer be treated as some kind of, I mean, these are passing, yeah. They're massive, they're data wars, they're economic wars, they're platform wars. I mean, but they are,

but they're really is, I do think there's like a reckoning that's coming. I don't think people understand how bad it is, how much abuse there actually is happening at the platform level in ways that are totally invisible. I mean, if you can picture how much abuse has happened in politics in the last four years, and then think what a company like Facebook

who has information and power over basically everyone who's ever used to computer. If you think that in private, they are not so abusive and slimy and underhanded that when this stuff starts to come out, even when a little bit of it leaks out, it's headline news. So, if Cambridge and Alittleka could do what it was doing with such a tiny slice of data, they had so little old data. I mean, the things that are gonna come out

when the government decides to take any action against these companies, I think is really gonna be a reckoning like that we have not seen since like the jungle, up to the same player. Like I don't think people really understand the rot that is happening in these companies. And I, you know, it's to different degrees at different companies,

it's but it's present in all of them. And something like Amazon or something like Facebook, before the US has no global capital power to spend anymore, we need to like rain this shit in now, because it's only gonna get more worse and it's only gonna get more metastasized in other Facebook news. I mean, they're creating AI that will do multiple things, right?

So one of them is TLDR, which is an AI-powered tool that they're creating that will summarize news articles for you so that it just has the information you would have wanted to go in and get from it. And it also will come with like narration, so it could just speak it out. But that means that nobody will have to click on news articles anymore, which if you've been following

the state of media, wouldn't be great. And then they are also using AI to record your face and your face movements and basically create a deep fake of you for video calls. And video has also developed something similar. It's a little more unsettling to have Facebook doing it. And they want to basically create an AI face so that you can use less mobile data to do a FaceTime call because you won't really be transmitting a picture of your face. They'll just be creating one on the fly and making

it match what you're saying, which is a very unsettling thing for Facebook to have the power to do is like, oh, and everybody's face and make them be able to say whatever it wants. Yes, extremely disturbing. And then they want to create one that will basically read the thoughts of people that are like they want to be able to create models of where it's Nourily connected to people and then create models of how they react to things either on their website or information in general or the news and sort of build an ability to expand that out and have a working model of basically everyone's personality. And this is probably something we shouldn't let them make. I mean, it's definitely, I mean, it's, it's, it's certain, well on the one hand, I'm like, well, it's very far-fetched. I mean, it's definitely like, it is like a West, it's like a West.

It is and it is and I mean, sometimes I open up Instagram and I'm like, I thought about peanuts and now they're selling me artisanal. Yeah, I mean, but isn't, but there is also the question of, I mean, yeah, obviously it's giving them any giving them any kind of further purchase to do. I mean, to do what Facebook does, giving them any more information, giving them any more data is is terrifying and having seen what they'll do with it. But there is an option for, in many ways to not give them data, right?

And I think like to me, I'm sort of curious when we get to the point and I am, I struggle with it personally. It's like I use Instagram, I do, and I enjoy it sometimes. And I have a Facebook account, which I don't really use, we've talked a Facebook account, which I don't really use. We've talked about this many times.

I don't really go on Facebook ever, but it exists. And it is connected to things. And certainly they're pooling data from other sources, like Instagram and WhatsApp, which I use. But there is a choice. I could make a choice to not use any Facebook apps and not give Facebook very much data, right? They might know, they might be able to like,

use an advertising ID, which increasingly, they might be about it like, you know, using advertising ID, which increasingly is going to be harder for them, but to like track my shopping habits or whatever. Or maybe my search habits in some, you know, relatively anonymized way, slightly anonymized, maybe not anonymized at all. But there is a choice, right? I mean, we could just stop using Facebook.

I mean, people could stop. If we all stop tomorrow facebook about a business right mhm so like the question that i wonder is like where is the education side of it went when are we gonna say i'm i'm i totally get that

you need some people need to be on there for different reasons but isn't it possible that uh... maybe we don't need to be on there? You know, I think that's certainly possible. Like maybe, like, can we, can we just start to say like, I don't know, I mean, why are we all on Facebook now? I don't know.

Right, I don't know either. I know I'm on it, or I've been on it for a lot longer than I would want to have been because of work stuff. Instagram is a separate thing. It's hard when you work in media to give up any sort of platform because everything feels so unstable and fragile. And it feels like, you know, if the New York media

was to implode or if my career was to implode, I would at least be able to have a small following to go back to and try to create a Patreon or a podcast or an only fence. Right. Like, you could, you, it's hard to say goodbye to that. And I think that that, while Facebook, I've kept only because I need the advertising tools

and like for events organization and work pages I need to manage I Other than that I could just get rid of Facebook. I don't really need it as an address book I don't really need to see that I don't need to see people's pictures of their kids on that website I don't need to like I don't use it for a ton of stuff But I'm stuck a little bit because of work and I'm stuck a little bit because of my like Oculus headset or whatever other lock and stuff they're trying to do.

But Instagram, I kind of don't want to walk away from because I'm scared of leaving it. And that's probably, now that I mean, I'm talking about out loud now, that's probably the main way Facebook will maintain its power is to just threaten people, public figures, threaten journalists, threaten anyone who's, anyone whose job is having ideas or being seen or perceived in any way, threaten them and then you have the monopoly on people posting their ideas. So yeah, I mean, it's hard. It's hard. It's hard.

It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's going to take the government to step in and say, the people who run, who has what followers, can't also run VR. And they can also have AI operations. And like, there needs to be, these companies need to make deals with each other. And they need to be separate companies with competitors.

And they need to have incentives other than world domination. Because they have more money than God at this point. So their only incentive is to accrue more power. Right. Yeah, I mean, I agree. I just think, I mean, I don't know. Well, we all get to a point where there's a realization

that maybe Gen Z is gonna have, I mean, are they on Facebook? Are they on, how much are they on Instagram? I mean, then again, you just go back, then you just end up with like TikTok, which is not any better, which is in some ways worse. I mean, poor, poor Perez Hill.

We just need, you need regulations. We also just need strong guidelines of like all companies can't do this. All companies we have to agree can't do that. And I think the problem comes down to the public doesn't know how any of these companies work. They don't know how to vote for people who know how these companies work

because they don't know how these companies work. You know what I mean? Like we're at a point now where like The education level of how technology works and what the dangers are and how we could work around it are It's just so removed that it's asking it's like asking the government to retic to regulate Like medical or food service or like you need entire departments and we have to trust the experts at those departments. We can't vote in politicians who understand Facebook because even the voters don't understand Facebook. And so there's just like it's really it's really difficult. We need someone who like

we need the president or consortium of extremely intelligent senators who happen to be there at the same time, like the squad or something, to step in and be like, here's some common sense stuff. You know, like, you can't sell user data as your business model. That's just the one thing you can't do. You know, like some basic things like that. But I don't know if we're going to get it. I mean, and certainly, like, there's the whole people will just talk about how well then China will beat us and then people in their fear of China and their xenophobia will.

Give Facebook or Google license to do anything just because like the enemy of my enemy is my friend and we've you know their American quote unquote even though none of these company companies have any allegiance to any government in the world. Certainly not certainly not they pray to the Almighty Bitcoin. In other giant tech monopoly news, Stadia Google's video game streaming experiment is finally out on iOS so that Apple users can give it a try. Obviously users can finally play a game. Yeah, Apple users can finally play a game. Apple users can finally play a game.

Obviously Apple has some draconian app store rules that do not allow for game streaming services or whatever, for whatever justification they made up. Essentially Apple wants to sell games through its app store and it really doesn't like the idea of you having an unlimited subscription to games. I mean, this is exactly the issue with Apple's whole deal with the way that they are moderating their stores. I mean, it comes down to, honestly, I really think the government should step in and say, you have the right to run whatever code you want on whatever computer you own.

And it doesn't matter. There really should be a law, which is like, if you buy a computer and you want to run something on it, you're allowed to and nobody can stop you. And you can, Apple you buy a computer and you want to run something on it, you're allowed to and nobody can stop you. And you can, Apple can have a thing. It's like, hey, this is crazy computer. Don't do it.

Don't do it. Oh my god. Don't. Yeah. Like, we don't need to be in a nanny state. I'm not in a state. I'm in a state. It's like, I can run whatever I want on my Apple laptop.

You give me a little warning now. You're like, hey, oh, that's not official. It's like, okay, still, but I'm going to install it and run it. And it's fine. I've survived my entire life. I've survived running applications on computers. I did, I did, it's killed.

Yeah, no, I don't know of any Android phones that have become sentient serial killers because someone installed an app. It's like, it's like the reality is, most people are going to use your storefront. Most people, most basic, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, the way you've set your stuff up, Most people are gonna use your storefront. Most people, most basic things. Nine, nine.

The basic set of people. Yeah, like the way you've set your stuff up, but it's like at this point, this has to end. It's ridiculous. On every platform, there needs to be, it needs to be like, you can, if you wanna put an application on a computer, you own, there should be nothing stuck.

I believe this, I believe this about game consoles too. I really do believe you should go after piracy, if you wanna go after piracy. But if I wanna run an app on my PS5 or my Xbox that is a homebrew app or a photos app or a third party game store, whatever. Yeah, it's my, I spent $600 on this shit. I wanna run an app, let me run an app.

It's on your business. And don't tell me that on the piracy piece, don't tell me that you can't create a way for the system to know if it's running something that is pirated. You definitely can. You haven't stopped piracy yet. It doesn't seem like it's been working. But it's really simple.

If you want a pirate on your PS5, it's gonna take a lot of effort. Okay, you have to be really invested in it. And someone is going to eventually do it. But again, 99% of users are interested. No normal person. I mean, let me put you this way. I could have pirated 10 it, okay?

I could have easily pirated it. But instead, I bought the punk of shit for $20 and watched it on my Apple TV. The whole time going, I can't believe they let this person make this movie. And you know what? I'm fine. It's fine.

I did what they wanted me to do. I spent my money. But it's like, I do think this is crazy. I think we're in a crazy situation where my phone can create like, you know, the most photorealistic AR in the world. But if I want to put an emulator app on it, Apple's like, nope, sorry, you're not allowed.

It's like, okay, why? And honestly, it comes down. Why? Because you think it'll make the phone performance? Well, that's my choice. I can do, it's like, it's like, give me a break. But also, it comes down to, they want to maintain control and maintain their cut of games that you buy.

And so, to that end, Google has it. I totally get the monetary reasons, but those shouldn't be a reason to not allow people to put software on their devices if they want to. I, like, there should be to your point. There should be a regulatory action taken that says, if I own, just like anything else,

if I own a computer and it's mine I paid for it and I want to install software on it I should be able to install the software on it you don't have to they don't have to make special allowances for the software they just have to make it possible they have to make a mode of my phone that says I can say allow this thing to be installed as long as it runs on this you long as it runs on this hardware. Well, because they don't, Google had to go around Apple and create, oh, it is called a progressive web app,

which is a web app that is at a level that it can function very similar to a native app. Yeah, but it's not. But it is it. And you have essentially a web wrapper. It's a wrapped web page essentially. Yes. And you have essentially a web wrapper. It's a wrapped, you know, web page essentially. Yes. And you have to jump through some hoops. You have to go to steady.adacogl.com, tap the share arrow, tap the edginess screen. It is user. It is, it is

bad for users. It is bad for competition. This is to me, if there is anything that should be regulated, if you can regulate one thing on these devices, it's that you should be able to install this offer. You want to install on it. And if Apple needs to create a warning for stuff that doesn't come from their store, by all means do it. But the idea that you literally, that I'm like, I want to play this, it certainly can run on iOS. But Apple doesn't want me to because they believe that I should pay a cut, that the company should pay a cut to them to just have a piece of software running on a phone. And even then they have, they retain the right to veto software they don't like for whatever reason.

If anything, the M1 MacBook is the greatest argument in the world that what Apple is doing on their, on their phones and tablets is absolutely outrageous. If you're telling me that the same chip, the same, like essentially the same architecture that powers your phones and your tablets, you're now putting into computers, which, what, because they have an attached keyboard or somehow a different beast,

that I can run whatever software I want on my MacBook, but if I go switch over to my iPad, I'm suddenly, you're on a baby. You're on a baby. You're on a baby. I'm restrained. I'm held back. And yet I can run iPad apps on my MacBook. It's like, it doesn't make any sense.

Their argument just completely breaks down. I would be one thing if they said, well, you know, these, the architecture of these things are really not powerful enough to just run anything. So we have to be really careful because you can blow up the phone or whatever. You know, again, it's my phone. I can do whatever the fuck I want with it. But I think that the idea is now that, I mean, they're what is their argument.

Their argument can only be that we want to continue to have them monopoly. They cannot make the, we believe what's best for users because that would be painting every single user with the same stroke. And that's unfair to the user base. This is so user aggressive and so unfair to the people who are paying enormous amounts of money to use their products. It's outrageous.

It is outrageous. Well, it's also, you know, Stadia didn't exist when I got into the Apple ecosystem. So then when it comes to exist, Apple now can turn around and say, well, you're not allowed to have it. And I'm like, well, I want to have it. And I already bought your thing.

I can't go back and return it now. And I am there like, no, if you want to play with Stadia, you'll have to go buy an Android phone, which is just like a crazy. So Google does this work around where you can play it through a Safari wrapper. To Google's credit, it works really well. I mean, Google found a way to make it work. I don't understand the argument here. If Netflix can, if I can download Netflix

and stream Netflix films, or even stream. And Netflix interactive content. Right, I was gonna say Netflix has interactive content which plays part kind of like a game. What's the difference between a Netflix choose your own adventure movie and tell tale. What's the difference? Zelda plays like boss baby interactive episodes on her iPad,

and it's basically like a game to her. So you're telling me that I can do that on Netflix, but in Bottle by the way, she has all these apps, like kids apps that are like, oh, they have shows, but they also have these like mini games in them, which she plays all the time. They're not being purchased through the App Store. In fact, some of them I think are stuff that I subscribe to

that are completely separate from the app store, like not through the app store. I mean, you can do a remote access to a computer shadow does this, a remote access to a shadow PC that you rent every month, and you can play games through it, but only because it launches you into an interface where you have to click to open the game. So it's technically a remote desktop,

and not a game. Like this is such a non-state. But, but, but, stadia wouldn't be installing the games as an icon an app on my phone. No, it would just be, it would just be a thing like an interface to go to a library. Yes, right? It's insane. I mean, the idea that we have to jump through hoops to let them have an app that does exactly

what Netflix does, except you can use a Bluetooth controller to play games on it is just an hour. It should be an outrage to everyone. I understand if you're talking about, you know, you're downloading these games and they're installing on the phone and, you know, you can't. But we're talking about a streaming service. Yeah, right? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. This is a streaming video where you send back inputs.

I mean, what we're talking about is a fundamentally no different than Netflix. No. And if Netflix can do what it does, then the idea that there would be any limitation on something for Stadia is outrageous and insane. And I really think, like, this is exactly, I mean, the greatest case for regulation, I

mean, ever, in my opinion, that you can, that your beat users are being hamstrung in this way that just makes no sense. It just is like, it defies logic to me, you know? And, and anyhow, I just, I think this is great. To me, like Apple's to try to self in the food here in a way that is sort of beyond belief. I mean, if anything, all that, all this means is that I can now play Stadia on my iPhone

and I resent Apple. That is really what the end result of this is. I still play Stadia through so far. I just think every time, fuck Apple, I don't like this. Why make it so shitty and hard? I just don't understand. I can't compute why you'd make this so difficult for users.

And it's just like, yeah, I just, I'm sort of like, whatever justification they might have just is gonna fall flat. I think that this is wrong. I think that they're in the wrong on this one. And I think that it's user aggressive. I mean, having this conversation and thinking about it, like really thinking through it,

makes me want to stop using Apple products. It makes me want to leave Apple's ecosystem for one that where I don't have to even talk about it. But then you have to pick between the shady things that one company is doing versus the shady things another company is doing. And we are not, nobody stepping in to say, hey, all of you are being shady

and none of you are allowed to be shady. You have more money than God. You don't need to abuse customers in order to stay afloat. So cut it out. You know what I mean? I don't, someone has to, the government regulation has to step in and we have to pray that our smarter representatives are able to hold Joe Biden's administration up to the level of like scrutiny that is, it's just necessary.

We're rounding a corner with things like AI and climate change where if we don't take big technological steps right now, we're completely fucked. Yeah. I mean, it does seem, it's crazy that they're even trying to hold ground on the ground on this, that we're even trying to hold ground on the ground on this. That we're having this conversation is outrageous. And it has to change. I just think they're in the wrong.

I just think they're terribly in the wrong on this one. And that it is going to lead to regulation that they probably don't want. They're hastening. I would say hastening regulation, in my opinion. Speaking of gaming things that we don't want. Nintendo has always had a difficult relationship with the internet. They've always struggled to understand online gaming. They've struggled to understand how people shop on the internet.

They do not like like games syncing between platforms. They don't like backing up cloud saves for games that they think they need control over like animal crossing. They don't want people to cheat by like cloning their island or whatever. Like they're very, very scared of the internet. And for a long time Nintendo had this program called the partner program.

And that was the only way that if you were a YouTuber, you could paste any footage of Nintendo games on the internet and you would have to give them a cut of your earnings. It was obviously very onerous and not common in the game industry. It was a very weird thing about Nintendo. They were forced to retire that in 2018 because creators just like it's impossible to control that. But Nintendo has spent the last year, we have a piece on the site by Samuel

Poelet, they've spent the last year basically deciding that they were going to declare war on the internet, eSports, their biggest fans, and in the last few months, I mean, they've cut ties with huge YouTubers who are completely dedicated to Nintendo and are nothing but positive because they did something like make a video of like weird Zelda mods that people made for older games. They completely cut ties with these people. They have sued melee eSports players because of the pandemic, they can't play in person on physical game cubes. So They did a workaround where it's perfectly legal to rip a game from a desk which they did and run it in an emulator Which they did but what but they were trying to use the software to do online gaming with it and sort of Be making it so that melee which is obviously not an online game could be played

From people's homes to keep them safe and Nintendo stepped in and shut all of that down now from people's homes to keep them safe, and Nintendo stepped in and shut all of that down. Now, legally, they don't need to do this. This is not like many companies Disney, it gets, you know, Disney has full control over the Disney Princess line, right? But people still sell buttons or have fan meetups or talk about Disney Princesses on the internet, and Disney doesn't come to them.

Because obviously, that's not in Disney's best interest to piss off those people. Well, and it's free advertising. Well, they definitely, they should some people, doesn't come to them because obviously that's not in Disney's best interest to piss off those people. Well, and it's free advertising. Well, they definitely, I think some people, but I think it has to rise to a certain level. It needs to be, it's pre-medmars. You need to be using the character names. Like there is a whole Etsy community where they make Disney inspired stuff.

If you're using like the name Ario of a little mermaid, yes, they will tell you please don't use that name. But they're not going to try to shut down the groups of adults that get together and come up with Disney inspired outfits and go on Disney trips together. That's good for them and that's good advertising and it's good fan relations. Nintendo has now shut down a Splatoon festival that they were running, that had their approval because the players there had expressed online that they thought

that they were unfair to the melee tournament. Nintendo is now, there was a Twitch streamer named Atika who committed suicide, and obviously it was very tragic and the community was mourning. And the people that were close with Atika created these Atikans, which were these Joy-Con shells, these little snap-on plastic pieces that were in his memory and themed by his channel, and they used it to raise money

towards the Jed Foundation, which supports mental health of teenagers and young adults. But they jokingly call themselves the Joy-Con boys with a Z when they put together the fun razor and Nintendo shut them down and made them, like it's a step beyond, like Sony shut down people who are making fake PS5 side panels. Obviously because it's a safety issue,

those things can overheat, they were trying to make money on Sony's trademarks and copyrights, and obviously Sony has its own licensing situation where you can create accessories for the PS5 and these people try to go around it. Obviously, that's a very different situation than fans creating bespoke, custom, paint jobs to raise money for young people who commit suicide.

And Nintendo, I mean, this is part of a pattern where I think it's bad for them as a company, but I also think it's really bad for the industry. It's a bad precedent to set that you're not allowed to play a game competitively unless you have that company's approval is like not a I mean I have I have no way of Gage-in-why I Mean I I think they're just out of touch. I mean I think that um I Think that it's just a you know, they're a classic company. In some ways, they're a lot like Apple.

I mean, I think that they are, actually it's funny to talk about this after time at Apple. I think they're the way of running their business is very reminiscent of what Apple does, which is like they are, they kind of are behind the curve in terms of where audiences, where users, and where culture is going.

They are an important mega focal point of culture and yet fail to have a weird blind spot for what's around the curve. They're so busy focused on their own pet projects that they can't see what's happening around them. I think it also comes from a place of like, you know, I think they may fail to see where the value of their brand is. I think in some ways, Apple may have a different idea of what is valuable about Apple than what people think is valuable about Apple. I mean, I feel like the theme of this episode has been companies that are not, that are not keeping the pace with the reality

of what their products have become. I mean, I just feel like the entire theme of this episode is like, hey, we're all, we've all learned a huge amount. It's time for you to update a bunch of stuff about like we've all been doing this for a while and now it's like time to rethink some of the kind of the base level notions that we all had about how this is supposed to work. And I think companies are either going to be able to adapt or they're going to fight it and they're going to find themselves in a really difficult position. I think you have to be open to adapting.

With the way Apple's doing things, and the way Nintendo's doing things, it's going to be very hard to sustain the more the audience moves on and away from that way of thinking. That's increasingly happening. We're going to hear more and more situations like this. Also, having an administration, at least in the US, having a government that functions, that isn't just full of criminals who are scheming for their own personal gain, and are actually trying to do the job

of what we put them in office for, I think it's going to have a really, we've been in a stasis for the last five years, essentially. You know, I mean, for about five years, like since the last, you know, really the election, uh, till now, we've been in this weird stasis where nothing much was getting done. I mean, nothing has gotten done that actually matters to most people. What has gotten done in government has been a bunch of stuff that serves the richest. I mean, nothing for, let's say, for example, literally no infrastructure where it has been done and our infrastructure has been rotting since before this year.

I mean, if anything, if anything, we've been just rolling back progress, right? Like progress on security, progress on infrastructure. I mean, just, yeah, I mean, all we've been doing for the last four years. I mean, I hate to make this about Trump, but there is a big part of this that like all of the stuff has just been in like on ice because there are no people, nobody's running the attention. Nobody's paying attention to any of it.

I mean, look at what's been going on with the pandemic, it's a great example. Apply the way they gave up on coronavirus with, you know, everything. Just apply that and you can see that there's like,'s we haven't done we haven't addressed any of this stuff And so it's really it's really tough. I mean it's really really tough To to figure out you know like how You know what it's gonna look like I think it's gonna be very different. I think this comes you're gonna be in for a very rude awakening

unless all of the administration jobs are filled with tech industry people. Laviest. You never know. We should wrap up. We didn't even talk about cyberpunk. I'm gonna have to walk the way to the next episode to discuss cyberpunk. Okay. Because I have a lot more to say after playing it for a week straight. Well, I think, you know, next week is the holidays and happy holidays. Tony, we're saying happy holidays again, folks. We're saying happy holidays again folks We're saying holidays happy holidays dead The warrant Christmas has succeeded

Christianity is back as a back under underground under a rock where it should say you're not allowed to say Christmas now Biden said no more Jesus no more Christmas. I don't even want to see you here in a cross Socialist one anyhow. Sorry. Go ahead. So yeah No more Jesus no more Christmas. I don't even want to see you wear in a cross the Socialist one anyhow. Sorry go ahead. So yeah, all days are coming up. I think we'll probably do just so everybody knows like a shorter More specific fun episode next week because obviously there isn't gonna be much news and we want to keep it light Let us do it. Let's keep it light holidays, you know And anyhow, yes. But then what?

You know, but then we'll be back. And the new year is going to come with interviews and stuff like that. So exciting. But I'm just as a heads up to everybody. And speaking of keeping it light, let's talk about next thing. Oh my god, let's do it. Go ahead, you start. Oh boy, I got to start.

You don't have to. We don't even have to do nice things. Maybe you don't have any nice things. I have nice things. I watched the Queen's Gambit, which I didn't love. I didn't love it. It's very mediocre. It's very mediocre. It would not have been the sensation

that it apparently was without obviously the pandemic. But I will say, I am enjoying that I've been the sensation that it apparently was without obviously the pandemic. But I will say, I am enjoying that I've run out of television and I'm kind of enjoying just giving random things a chance, just being like, all right, like let's see. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a really bad thing. I watched that Soderberg Mareryl Street movie on HBO Max. I don't know if it was good, I don't know if it's bad,

but I'm enjoying that I'm switching it up a little bit and varying my palette because obviously, there's only so much Westworld you can watch and so much Real Housewives. I usually have the same things that I consume. Although I will say speaking of TV, please watch Real Housewives of Potomac and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,

they're very insane and very good. There's the craziest shit I've ever seen on television. There's one woman on the show is a Salt Lake City is a cult leader married to her grandfather. I know that I've said this before, but I need to underline for you guys. She's a cult leader who married her grandfather and is in a fight with a woman

because she told her that she smells like a hospital. It's a great show. It's very intelligent and I would encourage everyone to tune in. But what I was going to say is that I like that I'm broadening my horizons. I'm kind of reading books I wouldn't have picked up. Things that you know I having run out of like the usual little like treadmill like mouse wheel, that I'm usually hamster wheel, but I'm usually on from Hollywood of just the same things that attract my attention.

It's kind of nice. And I'm learning about things that I wouldn't have otherwise spent any time on. Obviously this is gonna get old fast, but for now it's nice. Well, I should say, I think, you know, I'm in fact, maybe I'll do my nice thing based on what you're a nice thing was. I exactly have been, exactly some experience have basically run out of content.

I mean, they've stopped making content, you know, basically. You know, we're all waiting on the mission impossible. It's going to say, except for mission impossible. So the, except for mission impossible, which is the high watermark and everybody should be paying attention and you know Tom Cruise is on the phone with Warner Brothers and and Lionsgate, I don't know who he's on the phone with but they're if you have a list of Tom Cruise's rant It's actually I actually agree with Tom Cruise's rant for the most part. He's like We you can't not you can't violate the COVID guidelines

Because like then nobody'll be able to have a job. And it's actually, I mean, he's being a horrible person. I mean, the worst person you know, just being a great point. Right, literally, well, I'm a big cruise missile fan, but yeah, it's great. But anyhow, so, yeah, so content is sort of run dry, which is how I ended up watching Shits Creek, which I think has been a very good break

from my normal sort of watching habits. But we've been, like, Lauren, I have been kind of desperate. We're like, God, which I think has been a very good break from my normal watching habits. But we've been, Lauren, I have been desperate. We're like, God, we wish there was a really good thriller or something to watch. And we got this service Britbox, which is a BBC offshoot, streaming service, and we're like, let's check it out. And we started watching this show, which actually is great.

I'll call call the victim. I just heard about it. 2019 TV series, it's a Scottish mini series. It's four episodes. It starts Kelly McDonald who you may know from her like first movie was train spotting. She plays like, uh, rentans like girlfriend or whatever. Oh, yeah. But she was in boardwalk empire. She's been a ton of stuff. And it's a lot of it's this really interesting of, yeah, but she was in Borbock Empire. There's been a ton of stuff and it's a lot of work. It's this really interesting of, yeah, amongst others. It's a really interesting concept for a show about, without giving too much away.

It's about a person who posts something online that gets somebody nearly killed. Basically, it's very ripped from our headlines. It's like somebody instigated violence by putting something online, and it is a trial about whether or not that this person was justified in what they put online that led to this violent act.

And but also about how, what kind of power And, you know, but also about, you know, how, like, what kind of power something that seems so, so innocent could have, you know, the what kind of, like, and it is true. Like, you know, when you look at, like, in the Trump era, you know, he's inciting people to violence. Like, people have died because of things that Trump has tweeted, you know?

People have gone on shooting sprees because of shit that Trump has said. And know? People have gone on shooting sprees because of shit that Trump has said. And I think this shows really an interesting encapsulation of, it actually touches, you could read it in a couple of different ways. There's like, because the person who's sort of like is, is, is, is, is a, a, written about online is a man who's accused of a crime. And there's a lot of like background stuff about men being accused. You could actually read, there's a reading of the show where you could be like,

oh, this is sort of about like the me too movement, and like, you know, be careful who you accuse, and like, you know, if you're going to speak up, you better be sure or whatever. So there's an interesting read that actually kind of forces you to engage with that a little bit, but I mean, it definitely is not, I don't think it's like a probe, you know, guys who got accused of sexual assault or anything, but it's more like, like what happens when you put that in public, right? What happens?

It's not a me too thing at all. By the way, I should just say it's not a sexual assault show. It's not what it's about. So for trigger warning for anybody who may be thinking, it is, I mean, it's about something that's grisly, but it's not that. But anyhow, it's an interesting, super interesting show. It's four episodes. We're on the third episode. It's been, it's been something that's grizzly, but it's not that. But anyhow, to the interesting, super interesting show, it's four episodes, we're on the third episode. It's been incredibly well-acted.

It's got a ton of great performances. It's a very small story. It's like, you know, everything these days, I feel like everything I watch tries to be sprawling and unending and filled. I think Tenet is a great example of a movie that was made so that there'd be lots of reddit threads on it, you know?

And like, honestly, it's fucking exhausting. Like Tenet is a bad movie with a dumb plot and completely absurd characters and activity in the film that tries to pass itself off as really smart and really, really wants to create a universe of people who want to talk about it and try to unpack it and like honestly I'm so exhausted by things that require my extracurricular unpacking to enjoy like if you're like it's like Westworld is a good example like Westworld's entire premise was like you're gonna spend hours and hours outside of the show Thinking about talking about trying to understand what's going on. It's like, you know what? We've been through this, we've seen this have play out a number of times and it's getting really old. It's like, I would

like to just be confronted with a good story and compelling characters and you tell me those stories and I understand it completely end to end and it makes me think or feel something. That's like to me successful entertainment. You know, like, like, I just, you know, we watched the sopranos, I wasn't, I didn't finish the sopranos and go like, what's it all mean? You know, I didn't have to like do a, you know, a review of all of the details to put it together

to understand, you know, what happens at the end of it. It leaves, you know, there's interesting questions it leaves, but there's nothing that's like trying to challenge you to go on Reddit and find Easter eggs. I think that this show, The Victim, is works in a very similar way, which is like it's a small story about human beings. It tells the story beautifully,

it tells it straight through, obviously I'm not finished with it yet. And in like every episode, and almost every minute of every episode, I'm like, wow, I am curious about the truth about certain things. But it's done in such an accessible, linear way that it doesn't require. I'm not going to go read about this, and it's so nice to just experience it in the moment. Anyhow, I think so my nice thing is this show, but also I think finding a distraction that doesn't try to over complicate the storytelling process,

which I think is like, when I watch a great show or a great movie, you know, at the end of the day, it comes down to, is this story, is this telling me a story that matters? Do I, and do I, can I absorb what matters about the story? And I think like too many things these days, well before we start making content, too many things are trying to God damn hard to like impress me with their intelligence or their Easter eggs or their mysteries

instead of actually just telling a story. Or treating just like very normal or very fine, perfectly fine ideas or themes as like the most profound mind bending thing. And you're like, you don't have to do it. It can just be a good show. It doesn't need you don't need. I can't have all this ceremony around it. Yeah, I can't get I can't stop thinking about Tenet in the sense of, I know, I mean, if you if you go online, you will find plenty of I mean, apparently Chris Renolen has a bunch of guys who are like Elon Musk type of guys to him who are like this person is the most supreme genius and you must love

man, these Superman guys. And if you don't, then I will fucking hunt you down and kill you. But, um, but truly like it truly is, um, I mean, I truly feel like it exposes everything wrong with Christopher Nolan movies. It's like all of it is on display, but it is exactly the opposite of what I'm talking about where it's like, he doesn't have a story. He has, he doesn't have characters.

He has an idea that he thinks is so interesting that it's worth two and a half hours of your time. He's got a gimmick, but You won't be able to understand it, and he doesn't even try to help you understand it without going on Reddit and reading threads about it and reading Wikipedia entries about it, and digging into books on time travel theory and physics. And it's like, yeah, I don't want to do that.

Like, if your movie's not good when I watch it, then it's not good. Like, if your movie's not good when I watch it, then it's not good. Yeah. Like, if your movie requires me to do homework afterwards, then you made a bad movie. And you're trying to pass it off as something that's a lot smarter than you think it is. Yeah.

Anyhow, but this is the victim of the opposite. It's just a good story, interesting story with great performances, and a very compelling sort of like arc, and surprises the way that you want in like a great sort of thriller. And it's just like, yeah, it's just like a nice piece of, in a sea of content,

where most of it's bad and I've watched all the good stuff, it's a breath of fresh air. All right, well, I'm gonna go bring some of that air. Let's do it, Britbox, baby. Bye. Bye. I'm gonna go bring some of that air. Let's do it, Britbox, baby. Bye. Well, that is our show for this week. We'll be back next week with more tomorrow, and as always, I wish you and your family the

very best, especially during this holiday season, which absolutely is not and will never be Christmas. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○�○○○○○○○�○�○○�○�○○�○○○�○○�○○○�○○�○�