WEBVTT - TechSword & LaserStuff at Dragon*Con 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.880 Tex Stile from how stuff Works dot com. Hello again everyone, 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.279 and welcomes to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulette, 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:21.920 and I am an editor here at how stuff Works 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.280 dot Com. Sitting next to me unlike usual, but we'll 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.680 get any more, and that later is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:31.280 The sky is blue and all the leaves are green. 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:35.800 My heart's as full as a baked potato. Alright, Yeah, 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:38.959 Today is a very special episode of tech Stuff, so 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:42.040 special that the only word to describe it is spado winkle. 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.320 So the reason that there is a a special is one, 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:48.120 for the first time ever, we are recording outside the 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:52.720 confines of our Comfy studio, so we're kind of excited 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:55.800 and frightened. The second is that we are at dragon Con, 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.880 which is a huge fantasy, science fiction, horror genre fan 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:03.640 in convention. And third and fourth we have two special 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.560 guests with us today. We have Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont. 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:12.640 Say Hi, Hi, Hello, you follow direction well? Veronica said, hello, 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:14.640 I just want to point out you said specifically to 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:19.160 say Hill right. Okay, sorry, Tom follows direction exceptionally. Well. 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:22.679 We have we have Tom and Veronica, who collectively our 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.640 Sword and Laser. I have never asked which is which, 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:29.760 but um, I know that seriously because Veronica does the 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.920 laser sound effect. Pew p. There we go. I was 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:35.640 hoping I could get it on here. I wasn't gonna 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:37.600 specifically ask. I thought if I was obleek enough, I 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:42.000 could get it. Um. The So you're here doing Sword 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:44.120 and Laser as well as some of your other projects. 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:46.240 Why don't you both introduce yourselves and kind of give 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.280 an overview of all the amazing stuff you guys do. 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:54.480 Me first, okay, Um, I'm Veronica and I currently co 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.320 host Texila on Revision three and also Core on the 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:00.440 PlayStation network and uh in our free time. We are 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:02.760 fortunate enough to have Sword and Laser, which is the 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:04.600 reason we've come to dragon Con for the past two 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.720 years to do live show here and interview authors and 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:10.760 it's always been a blast. Yeah. My name is Tom right, 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:12.440 and now, of course I do Sortain Laser with Veronica, 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.399 which is a science fiction fantasy fook club. UH, and 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.040 I also do Tech News Today daily on the Twitter 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.760 network at two thirty Pacific, five thirty Eastern. I do 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.280 Current Geek Weekly with Scott Johnson. I do Forecast with 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:26.760 Scott Johnson. I do East Meats West, Where We Go 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:32.519 Chang got like six more with Brian Bridge? Should I 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.760 go on? Keep going? Keep going? Right with Brian brush 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:40.600 with the SNORB cartoons with Scott Johnson. I think that's it, 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:45.280 So he thinks all right, and uh so, yeah. We 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.960 we asked Tom and Veronica on the show because we 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:49.080 were all going to be in the same place at 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.480 the same time, which is unusual, but also because they 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:57.400 cover Technology Top five on Revision three and Tom will 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.880 just continuously interrupt me for the rest of the show, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:01.839 adding in the things that he's forgotten that he does. 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:05.079 Um No. We we asked them here because they're both 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:07.560 technology journalists and we wanted to kind of talk about 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.960 what it's like covering technology from a journalism standpoint. Chris 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.200 and I did a video show for a while where 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:19.440 we covered news, technology, news, and um and so we 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:21.760 really got kind of a crash course and what it's 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.160 like to cover tech, and that was really a small, 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.480 a tiny show compared to what you guys do, so 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:30.400 just kind of want to get your thoughts on what 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:34.359 it's like covering technology. Uh And and if you've had 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.520 experience covering other kinds of topics, what makes it sort 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:41.040 of unique in that? And from a journalism standpoint, Well, 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:43.960 it changes so fast. I mean there's new stuff all 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:45.920 the time, and it can be very difficult to stay 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.120 on top of everything that's happening and changing. And technology 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.000 covers so many different areas as well, whether it's gadgets 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:56.520 or computers or internet culture and uh, you know, new 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.880 media stuff. It's it's always changing and there's always some 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.760 thing that we have to learn and pay attention to. Yeah, 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:08.440 and the technology crowd is the smartest crowd of media 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:13.000 consumers technology and science. You know, folks, they know what 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.400 they're talking about in their field, and you, as a 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:19.360 reporter often have to know everything about every field. Uh. 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.640 So you're going to get corrected a lot a lot 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.160 because you can't know everything about every topic. But hopefully 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.960 you can know enough to to be able to pass 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.239 along just the good information, kind of sift good from bad. 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:34.760 Uh And And one thing that Veronica and I both 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:36.440 got really good on when we did Buzz Out Loud 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:38.800 at seen It back in the day is using the 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.600 audience to your advantage. Uh, And I know, John, that's 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.200 actually how I got to know you. Was relying on 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.800 you to kind of contribute some facts and stuff that 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:49.880 you knew from your research and how stuff works. That 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.719 helped us to pass along emails and voicemails to people 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.320 to kind of further explain stuff that maybe we weren't 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:57.680 able to fully explain in our coverage of it. I 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.479 actually really missed doing a daily show like tom DA's 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:01.840 Now and like we used to do it buzz out 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:06.480 loud because it keeps you really sharp, like when you're 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:08.440 reading stuff every day and you have to be able 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:11.479 to follow stories throughout the week. You, um, you definitely 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.320 absorb it a lot better than with me and Patrick 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.080 on Texila. UM. We do a lot of computer health 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.120 problems and gadget questions, and we do news at the 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.000 top of the show, but it's not our main focus. 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:24.520 So I found myself, you know, getting out of the 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:25.920 loop a little bit on a lot of the big 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.320 stuff that's going on. And I think I need to 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.200 start listening to tech news today regularly, more regularly, more regularly, 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.600 more like five days a week instead of the four 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.680 I already do. Yeah, Veronica, you just you need to 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:44.360 listen harder. I know, you have a better job and 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:49.679 pressing stop five minutes, then emailing and then listening another 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:53.760 five minutes like that. I know. Um. Actually that that 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.120 bringing the whole audience factor into it. That's one of 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.880 the things I found very interesting getting into knowledgy blogging 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:04.080 and UH and technology podcasting as well as doing the 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.880 video show. UM. You know, as a writer, occasionally we 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.440 would get readers writing in to to comment on on 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:15.360 the articles we were writing, but that that interaction rapped 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:19.200 up significantly once we went to blogging and podcasting, and 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.520 so it is interesting. Why don't you talk a little 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:25.200 bit about what it's like, UH interacting with your audience 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.120 and how I mean to me, that seems like it's 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:30.440 a really unique thing that podcasters in general and tech 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.640 podcasters specifically get to do that other journalists don't. Necessarily 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:37.440 they don't experience that well. I think Tom already covered 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:39.680 it really well and saying that the audience is way 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:42.640 smarter than we are, and so they're always giving such 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:46.360 great feedback and such additional information to whatever we're talking about. 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:50.359 Their indispensable in that way, and correcting us and and 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:52.440 updating us on stuff that's going on that we may 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:55.359 have missed. It's it's incredible well and one of the 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:57.960 things you have to do. And and maybe tech podcasters 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.640 and and bloggers are better at it because they're just 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.120 into technology and they like to to play around with stuff, 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.200 but anybody in any topic can do that, which is 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.680 open up the channels, read some emails on your podcast, 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.560 or respond to someone your bog or uh, you know, 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.960 play some voicemails. So open up a voicemail line or 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:17.760 just ask for people to record MP three and send 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:20.880 them as attachments. Once you start including the audience in 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:24.040 whatever you're doing, more audience members will catch on to 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.520 that and say, oh, I want to contribute to and 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.200 you'll you'll get people who don't, in fact, the vast 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:32.600 majority don't, but you'll start to develop a crowd that 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.320 you can rely on, and you can separate the trolls 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.880 from the from the people who actually contribute. And then 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.480 now you have a stable of not only experts that 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.440 you can you can use to make your content better, 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:46.520 but also folks who are going to spread the word 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:48.400 about your show and say like, hey, I really like 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.640 this because I'm invested in it. That's a great point. Um, 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.520 is there anything about technology in general that that you 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.360 are particularly passionate about? I mean, besides, because as you 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:03.360 were pointing out Monica, Uh, technology is a huge, huge topic, 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.280 and there are a lot of sub topics uh in general. 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.240 For instance, from my own perspective, Uh, the stuff I'm 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:11.960 really interested in is is despite the fact that I 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:13.960 work for How Stuff Works and I love writing how 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.920 stuff works articles on how tech works, my real interest 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.800 is kind of on the social impact of technology. But 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.360 I'm just curious if there's something similar or something specific 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.960 that you're really passionate about as far as technology is concerned. 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:32.080 I like memoristers, memoristers for Mr Merritt. It's it's it's 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.360 a constant battle, both with Molly Wood at Buzz out 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:36.559 Loud and now with Becky Is, who've tried to stop 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.880 me from including these stories that might bore everyone else. 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.680 We've had requests to do that topic on our show 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:46.719 and we have not done that yet. It's kind of 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.960 daunting um at quantum computing. Anytime there's a quantum story, 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:53.319 I get I get sucked in all kinds of astronomy stuff, 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:58.280 anything with planets, planet finding. I like that, I mean 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:00.880 I am. I'm passionate about all technology and how it 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.520 works and how people use it and what they use 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:07.080 it for on the less technological side, but more the 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.840 the use of it, the social use side. Anything about 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:13.800 copyright technology, copyright law, and what you can do in 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:17.720 this medium just fascinates me because it all seemed very 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.600 clear until the Internet came along and made it really 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:25.480 easy to copy everything, uh infinitely, and now we're dealing 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:29.600 with a whole new set of rules about how anything, 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:32.200 how this, how this stuff works, right, I mean, there's 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.400 there's just a it's a whole different universe. So you 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.439 have this battle of people who are like, no, physical 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:42.320 CDs can't be copied and given away, you know, because 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:46.200 that undermines our business. They didn't actually make that that 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.079 distinction as much when you had to actually physically copy 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.800 a CD by going and buying a really expensive burner 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:54.120 or paying someone to do it, because people wouldn't really 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:55.640 do it, so if you gave it away, you kind 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:58.040 of turn a blind eye. Now that it's infinitely copyable, 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:02.079 everyone's paying attention and it's unstaff poppable, so it's almost 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:04.760 you know, the horses and the cows and all the 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:06.760 chickens and everything I've left the barn. In fact, the 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:08.680 barn burned down and now there's no barn to go 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.840 back to. Mr Barrett, I would like to point out 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.160 that as a Southern boy who grew up on a farm, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.600 you do not keep the chickens in the barn. But 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.520 that's exactly right, John, What were the chickens doing in 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:23.320 the barn? I think if we can place, can someone 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.000 answer the chicken and the boy right? Industry needs to 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.160 address that. I'm sure we'll have a listener right in 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:30.560 and explain to us exactly what those chickens were doing 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.360 in the barn. I'm still grappling with which came first, 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:35.680 the chicken or the eggs. They figured that out, you guys, 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:39.280 you work, you should know that. Well, that's science stuff, 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:44.560 the chicken, anything that we we we have the habit 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:46.920 of foisting anything that has to do with biology or 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:48.560 physics over to science. Do you have to go to 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:52.800 the Foul Stuff podcast? Yes? My answer is a little 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.240 less fancy. Um. I'm really into video games sweet so 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.480 anything video game related I'm instantly drawn to. But also 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:03.600 on the more esoteric side of that whole culture, which 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:05.960 is video games, as our video games and how they 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.920 affect society. That's something that I'm really drawn to, How 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.000 how how our society is really changing because of video games, 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.680 and how it's not just the realm of the geeky anymore. 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:18.200 I mean everyone plays now, from you know, small kids 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.480 to grandparents and you know, middle aged housewives you know 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.720 are playing World of Warcraft and it's totally normal. Alright, 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:29.720 Desert Island computer or game system? One game? What is it? Well, 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.520 it could it be my gaming PC. It has to 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.080 be one game, one game. Um oh wow, it would 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.480 be World of Warcraft. I'm guessing Mr Merritt would have 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:45.040 the same answer. Civilization is that because you would miss 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.360 civilization so much and it does violence, that you would 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:51.800 feel the need to build up some kind of civilizations 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:56.600 a month. There's no infinite supply of coconuts to sell 0:11:56.640 --> 0:12:01.439 to support very expensive maybe, well, where does the connection 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:09.880 come from? Exactly? That's text? Oh shoot, all right, just 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.320 a silly question. Since I knew that Veronica was also 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.440 into video games. We actually did two episodes not that 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.080 long ago, in fact, that they published the week coming 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.920 into Dragon Con. Uh, this will publish significantly after Dragon Con, 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.480 but we did two episodes about the rise and fall 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.080 of the Arcade, video game Arcade, and of course the 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.560 video game Crash of three because I was one of 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.840 those fortunate young men to own an Atari twenty and 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:42.760 a copy of ET. Yeah, so that was that. Um anyway, Yeah, 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:47.600 so that happened. The next question I had was, I 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:49.760 don't know if if Veronica, if you've ever had to 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.360 do this. I know that Tom's had to do it, 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.760 and I've done it as well, Chris as as well. 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.760 I don't know whether where this is going, but it's 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:02.559 a it's a the the insumus a mail thing because okay, 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.480 it's the it's the experience. Well, there's the first bleep 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.680 for the podcast. I think we can leave that in. 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:16.600 It was probably the no. The question is technology predictions. Yeah, 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.240 we talked about how technology moves very quickly. Um. A 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.240 lot of us have done technology prediction shows, usually at 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:24.640 the end of the year, to predict what's going to 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:26.800 come out the next year. Of Veronica, I don't have 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:28.640 you have you ever done those? I have? Yeah, we 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:30.640 used to do them on on BOL all the time 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.520 every year for New Year's So Martel's also done forecast 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:38.760 with Tom also which is his predictions podcast. So with Johnson, 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.760 the question is are there any predictions you made that 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.720 you feel we're essentially spot on? And were there any 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.360 you made that we're about as big a miss as 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.520 you possibly could get? Cheese? Um? Oh, looking back, it's 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:52.439 gonna be hard to remember, Tom, do you remember anything 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:56.880 I got right? I know there was one. I feel 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.439 like there was a good one. Let's remember. It's hard 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:04.120 to remember the prediction because if you're because if you're right, 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:05.800 then you just feel vindicated for a while and then 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:07.440 you kind of forget, and if you're wrong, then you 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:09.280 instantly forget it because you don't want to be like 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:11.720 That's why a lot of people hate doing prediction shows, 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:15.959 because you're on record saying something like especially way or 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:19.960 the other, especially if you do the following year. Yeah, 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:21.720 we always do Yeah, so that you can kind of 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.200 tally up how you did. I'll give you an example 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:26.600 of the biggest one I've gotten wrong this year, which 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:28.720 was that Apple will come out with a tablet, but 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:33.320 it's it's not gonna go anywhere. As my editor next 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.200 to me holds up his iPad, I got really close 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:37.640 on the tablet. I said it was going to be 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.200 eight ninety nine, which was the top out price, right uh. 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:41.600 And I said it was going to come in the summer, 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.760 and came in the spring, but I got close. I 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:50.840 also said goodbye Palm bought or fold and they got bought. 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:53.680 And then two years ago I said Android will out 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.240 sell the iPhone. So it's just a couple of years earlier. 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:58.720 Every year I say something that like our f I 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.680 DA is going to become like the default, like de 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:03.440 fact a way to pay for things and turn on 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:05.440 your lights in your house, like with the r f 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:07.960 I D chip and planted in your arm. That never happens. 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.600 Just I'm just not ready. Yeah, I go to Japan 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.760 a lot for work, and I'm so frustrated by how 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:17.040 they've got everything down. You just have one card for everything. 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:18.840 You pay for everything with this one card. You can 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:20.400 get on the subway with it, you can buy a 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.120 bag of chips with it. And they're starting to get 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.160 that a little bit here, but or with your cell 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.960 phone even but people are scared of it for some reason, 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.760 and they're really terrified of losing their information and having 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.960 their information being floating around, even though it's so close, 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:35.520 like you have to be pretty close in order for 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.280 the r F i D to work. They there's that 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:42.360 fear that people have about this kind of technology that's 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.040 really preventing a lot of it from improving our lives 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:46.720 in a big way. And I feel like people have 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:48.520 to kind of get over that hurdle of fear in 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:50.640 order for their lives to really improve. And we've seen 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:52.960 that with a lot of technology over the years. And 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:54.800 then you know, people, once they get over that hump, 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.240 they forget about it. They don't worry about it anymore. 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:01.120 It's just that initial like, oh, I don't know about that. 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.000 I don't think I want that in my house. I'll 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.000 let some strange waiter to take my credit card, but 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.480 I don't want an r F i D on the 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:11.080 internet like constantly have to, you know, think about it. 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:13.320 But yeah, yeah, I mean, it's it's just that it's 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.240 really the it's really the fact that they don't know 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.960 how how much their information is already out there just 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:25.840 using traditional payment methods and other ways of communicating. Um, yeah, 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.400 it's I've noticed the same sort of thing. We did 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:32.560 do an episode about that once several probably more than 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.880 a year ago now, where we talked about the same 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:36.800 sort of thing. And yeah, years past and we haven't 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:41.480 seen a huge leap forward since then. So clearly my 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.280 impact as podcast are just I've been waiting to get 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.400 chipped for a really long time. I'm totally I can. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:49.600 I can. I can have taught to you over in England. 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.040 I've been talking about it for University of Southampton. Our 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:55.920 vet does it. I don't know if they would be 0:16:55.960 --> 0:17:00.720 able to help get lost very easily. Does anyone know 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:05.600 to whom this podcaster belongs? Oh? By the way, I 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.720 didn't mention the one that I got the wrongest of 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.920 all of my predictions, which was the Capple will never 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:17.760 come out with a phone most wrong. Ever, that's awesome. 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:22.160 I like it that I'm not the only one who's wrong. Um. 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:24.560 And and here's this is kind of wrapping up the 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.080 tech journalism thing, and it's it's kind of similar in 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:30.000 a way to the last question. Um, can you think 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:34.159 of any story in tech anything that you've covered that 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:37.359 you that just really surprised you? I mean some stuff 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.119 that you know a lot of the stories that we 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:43.439 cover tend to be uh confirmation of something that we 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:47.320 had heard about sometimes a year ahead of time, so 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:49.080 it ends up just being oh, well, we finally got 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.080 confirmation on this thing we heard about a year ago. 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:53.520 But can you think of anything that just sort of 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.680 came out of nowhere and really surprised you, positive or negative. 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.280 The first thing that comes to mind is the bird 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.400 dropping the bread in the large hatch collider. That really 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:07.960 surprised me. Yeah, the Slingbox was was one that kind 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.000 of took me by surprise. It's very rare at the 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:13.040 Consumer Electronics Show, which happens in Vegas every year in January, 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:15.879 that you see something you didn't already know was coming. 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:18.920 Every year, it's just kind of an iteration previously. So 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.159 last year the big thing was three D TVs, but 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:22.919 it wasn't the first time we've seen them, and it 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.160 certainly was the first time we've seen TVs, and we've 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.040 been kind of expecting three D. But when Slingbox came out, 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:32.000 which was two thousand five cees, it was something that 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.480 nobody expected. It was this little company over in the 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:38.400 Innovations Platform. They were overwhelmed with folks going, Wow, this 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:42.679 is amazing. Did broadcast your your television over the internet? 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:44.159 Is that legal? How do you? How do you get 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:45.920 away with this and it's just this little box, which 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.320 is kind of ugly but amazing because there's no moving 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.520 parts and it's fairly cheap. It was then actually that 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.640 that first model, if you remember, was really gray and boxing. 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:58.480 You know, they've they've improved it since, but the box 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.560 is a different set top box that game, that's right, 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.159 But yeah, no, that was the That's one of the 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.880 ones that I could think of that was certainly nothing 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:13.680 anyone was prepared to expect, and and and was popular 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.760 and students still is. Yeah. I like I like seeing 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:19.600 the things that get the big buzz at cs that 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:21.919 tend to and they tend to fall outside the major 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.920 categories of electronics, because I mean that if you see 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.119 something that's in a major category, you're just oh, this 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.800 is another version of such and such. So I remember 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:35.080 things like the LG watch phone that wasn't it. Yeah, 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:39.320 but let people take off the demonstrator's arm, right, there's 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.960 something going on there. For me, it was wireless charging 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:47.040 like with power Matt. It's such a promising vertical, but 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:51.359 yet it just doesn't seem to go anywhere. Yeah, I 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:53.800 think what they need to do is just shoot some 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.200 video of my desk and get a shot of all 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:59.360 the different wires that I have and then say this 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:03.360 is why you need this. That g It's two eyes 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.040 how they spell it. Charging system was just announced at 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:10.399 IFA ember Lynn and they've got Energizer on board, and 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:14.280 I feel like that that could launch it more into 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:18.080 the mainstream. You know, it's funny because speaking as a 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.719 former Dish Network employee, I had to point that out 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:23.760 since they inquired Sling. It's, you know, Sling as one 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:26.800 of those things that I just kept expecting to explode. 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:30.280 And it's that in TiVo, the TiVo brand itself, and 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:34.040 it just surprises me. It's like people understand what they are, 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:38.240 but they don't know the names. They don't even know TiVo. Really, 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:40.560 I don't agree with that. I think TiVo has become 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.879 kind of the the standard. I think people everyone knows 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:46.360 what a TiVo is and how it works. I think 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:48.359 everyone who doesn't have it knows that. You know, people 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:50.199 who have one don't have to watch the commercials and 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:52.400 they can record things when they want to. I think 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:56.959 that's become pretty That brand has definitely spread to the masses. Um. 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.399 I mean, maybe I'm biased because I do work in technology. 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:01.959 So everyone I know knows what it is. But my 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:03.600