1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: He there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And it is the 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: end of June twenty twenty, which means we have crossed 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: another anniversary for tech Stuff. This show began publishing back 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: in June two thousand eight. I've been working for a 8 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: company called how Stuff Works dot com for about a 9 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: year then really about a year and a half before 10 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: we launched this show. And originally I had a co 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: host named Chris Palette, and Chris was also my editor 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: for all the articles I wrote for how stuff Works 13 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: dot com. And together we would tackle tech topics and 14 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: Chris would make a lot of puns, like a lot 15 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: a lot of them. Mean seriously, you guys seem to 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: think that I do a lot of puns, but honestly, 17 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: Chris went above and beyond. Now, over the years, this 18 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: show has changed. Chris left to pursue a career he 19 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: had wanted for years. That we occasionally paying each other 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: to check in, but we haven't really been in the 21 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: same room for more than a few years now. But 22 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,559 Speaker 1: after Chris Lauren Vogelbaum joined the show as a co host, 23 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: and she stayed on for a while, but she really 24 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: wanted to develop her own shows, which makes total sense, 25 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,759 Speaker 1: and so she came into Tech Stuff to help me out. 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: But she had her own goals and couldn't really pursue 27 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: those while also doing Tech Stuff. She's kicking butt on 28 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: several shows now, including Saver, an incredible podcast all about food. 29 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: If you haven't listened to the Saver podcast s a 30 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: v O R. I highly recommend it. It's very informative, 31 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: it's awesome, and you're gonna want to eat after every episode. Now, 32 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: I had a few other guest co hosts who kind 33 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: of jumped on for an episode or two after that, 34 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: but for the most part, Tech Stuff kind of settled 35 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: into what it is now, a solo host show about 36 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: tech and its role in society. And of course, most 37 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: recently the show has changed again because we are now 38 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: in the era of COVID nineteen. I'm pretty sure you 39 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: guys are aware of that. So I'm recording my episodes 40 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: from my home and I have been doing that since March. 41 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: That means that not even super producer Tari is present 42 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: when I record, it's just me sitting at my desk 43 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: speaking into my microphone and recording it on my computer. Now, 44 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: I'm going to be real with you guys, this gets 45 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: hard for me. I'm mostly an extrovert, and I really 46 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: benefit from being around other people and bouncing ideas off 47 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: of them, or taking short breaks when I'm doing my 48 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: research so I can have a chat and that kind 49 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: of re energizes me and lets me refocus. But at home, 50 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: I don't really have at So it's been really challenging 51 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: to research right and record these shows. Not that I 52 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: don't like doing it. I still love Tech Stuff, It's 53 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: just harder now. And my hope is that this hasn't 54 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: affected the quality of the show at all, apart from 55 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: obviously a dip in audio quality since I'm in my 56 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: home and not in an honest to goodness recording studio. 57 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: But through all these changes, the show has continued to 58 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: look at tech and its place in our world. So 59 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: today I thought we would look back on one or 60 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: two big stories from each year of tech Stuffs existence, 61 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: starting with two thousand eight. And I hope this goes 62 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: well because I thought of it at the last minute 63 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: and then scrambled to do it. So two thousand eight, 64 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: the first episode of tech Stuff was about how the 65 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: Google Apple Cloud computer will work, which I admit in 66 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: retrospect may have been a tad off. But as for 67 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: the story that really was dominating the news in two 68 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: thousand and eight, would probably the announcement that Microsoft was 69 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: making a bid for Yahoo. Now that actually happened in February. 70 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: It took place before tech stuff was really a thing. 71 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: But whatever, I'm going by calendar year here, not month 72 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: to month, because I don't want to go crazy. Microsoft, 73 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: of course, is the software company famous for the Windows 74 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: operating system and the Microsoft Office Suite, among many other 75 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: things like the Xbox game consoles, and Yahoo was frequently 76 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: referred to as a search engine, but really was more 77 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: of a web portal that aggregated content and later actually 78 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: generated content, and it also did search. Microsoft's move was 79 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: to make an offer of thirty one dollars per share 80 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: of Yahoo's stock, So if you took all the Yahoo 81 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: stock and you multiplied it by thirty one dollars, it 82 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: meant that this would even out to about forty four 83 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: and a half billion with a b dollar. Nine days later, 84 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: Yahoo's board of directors responded with yeah, now, we're good. 85 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: Thanks anyway, Actually it was a little less firm of 86 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: a know than that, because their board said that the 87 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: four billion dollar deal actually undervalued Yahoo, and they countered 88 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: that offer and they suggested that, you know, we really 89 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: think that forty dollars per share is more fair. But 90 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: that went nowhere. Microsoft would not agree to that, and 91 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: Yahoo would put a little more pressure on Microsoft. They 92 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: made a deal with Google so that Google would actually 93 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: power Yahoo's search engine, and this story kind of fizzled 94 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: out as a result. It never really went anywhere. And 95 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,679 Speaker 1: of course, with the benefit of hindsight, we could say 96 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: that maybe that was good for Microsoft, considering how Yahoo 97 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: kind of languished in the years since. Or you might 98 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: argue that maybe if Microsoft had been able to go 99 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: through with that deal, maybe they would have made something 100 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 1: out of Yahoo that would be a bigger success. Looking 101 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: at Microsoft and its history, that's a that's kind of 102 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: a coin flip situation in my my point of view. Now. 103 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: Honorable mentions for stories from two thousand eight that I 104 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: didn't really do a deep dive into include Apple announcing 105 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: that it was leaving Macworld behind. It would actually continue 106 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: to have a presence in two thousand nine, but that 107 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: was going to be the last year that Apple would 108 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: attend Macworld. Macworld, by the way, was an annual industry 109 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: conference that really centered on Apple products. Uh the conference 110 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: itself would last until two thousand and fourteen, when it 111 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: was kind of put on hold indefinitely. Windows seven was 112 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: also announced in two thousand eight, and Google would launch 113 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: the Chrome browser as well as the Android smartphone in 114 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 1: two thousand eight. But let's move on to two thousand nine. 115 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: This was another year of really big moves in the 116 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: tech industry. Google announced the Chrome operating System. They had 117 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: already launched the browser back in two thousand and eight, 118 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: but the Chrome OS would become a really light operating system, 119 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: and it emphasized cloud services rather than native applications running 120 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: on the computer itself. So this was at a time 121 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: when cloud computing wasn't really a common term outside of 122 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: you know, a few companies in the computer industry. The 123 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: Chrome operating System wouldn't stand as a major threat to 124 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: either Microsoft or the Mac operating systems, but it did 125 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: pave the way for lower priced laptops that didn't need 126 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: the horsepower of other machines. Of the time, and that's 127 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: because really all you needed was a good connection to 128 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: the Internet in order to access the apps and services 129 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: you wanted to run. While I don't think the Chrome 130 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: operating system really changed the world, it definitely helped set 131 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: the stage for the era, as short lived as it was, 132 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: of the netbook. Netbooks were super lightweight computers that probably 133 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: would have uck around a bit longer if it were 134 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: not for the fact that some of them were just 135 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: too small and they had such crappy keyboards that it 136 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: would legit hurt to work on them if you were 137 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: doing so for a long time. Perhaps more importantly for 138 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: the long run was that Google's push for web based 139 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: services moved us closer to adopting the cloud computing strategy 140 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: more wholeheartedly. Between Google's emphasis on internet based applications and 141 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: Apple saying the stage for smartphone apps the year before, 142 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: there was a new focus on what the web could 143 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 1: do beyond provide a place to browse for shoes, or 144 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: look at kitten videos or watch hamsters dance. Today, it's 145 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 1: not unusual at all to rely heavily on web based programs. 146 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: Even video game consoles have embraced this approach. Now, I 147 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,079 Speaker 1: wouldn't lay all of that at the feet of Google 148 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: and say that the Chrome operating system is the reason 149 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: why cloud computing became a huge thing. But I do 150 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: think Google's influence helped move things along at a faster pace. 151 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: Another big thing to happened in two thousand nine was 152 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: that Steve Jobs would leave and then come back to Apple. 153 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: He had to take a medical leave of absence, and 154 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: originally the reason they reported for his absence was given 155 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: as as a hormonal imbalance, but in actuality, he was 156 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: recovering from a liver transplant. Early in two thousand nine, 157 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs went on leave and he skipped Macworld. You know, 158 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: Apple was still attending it, but it was the last 159 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: time Apple would be at the conference. That had to 160 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: be a double punch to the Macworld attendees, because not 161 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: only was the last time Apple would be there, but 162 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,319 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs himself would not be there, which meant that 163 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight was the last time they would 164 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: see Steve Jobs present at Macworld. Now, on the one hand, 165 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: it seems pretty crass to dig into someone's personal life 166 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: and medical history and then to publish that as news. 167 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: But on the other hand, Steve Jobs was CEO of Apple. Moreover, 168 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: you could argue that no other tech brand identified as 169 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,319 Speaker 1: closely with a foul under than Apple did with Steve Jobs. 170 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: When the company held big press events, it was Steve 171 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,199 Speaker 1: Jobs who had stunned the crowd with revelations of new products. 172 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: He was part leader, parts salesman, parts celebrity, and so 173 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: Steve jobs health could also be viewed as an extension 174 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: of the company's health. The danger of having such a 175 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: centralized figure is that there's a perception that forms that 176 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: without that figure, the company is going to be in 177 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,079 Speaker 1: choppy waters, and when we get a bit further on, 178 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,719 Speaker 1: will revisit this. Honorable mentions for big stories in two 179 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: thousand nine include the scuttle butt that eBay was preparing 180 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: to sell off Skype, and that would mean it would 181 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: exit what had widely been viewed as one of the 182 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: worst acquisitions in tech history. Microsoft and Yahoo were able 183 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: to patch things up from the year before, and they 184 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 1: agreed that Microsoft would supply Yahoo's search tool in an 185 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: effort to compete against Google. The two thousand eight elections 186 00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: in the United States gave rise to more people you 187 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: using online social networks to push political philosophies and agenda 188 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: and to market campaigns online, and we can definitely see 189 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: that that is an even bigger trend today. Windows seven 190 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: got a much better reception than the previous Microsoft operating system, 191 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: Windows Vista, and now it's time to move to twenty ten. 192 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: This was a big year, a tumultuous year. Wiki Leaks 193 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: made world headlines after receiving and then publishing an enormous 194 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: number of documents that revealed tons of previously unknown or 195 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: unacknowledged moves by various governments and government agents around the world, 196 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: including and primarily those who call the United States home. 197 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: This included documents about deliberate efforts to deceive the American 198 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: public about various operations around the world. It had some 199 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,839 Speaker 1: really heavy stuff in it, including information about how US 200 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: government was working hard to protect a merror Rican officials 201 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: and agents who had established practices around the world that 202 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: could easily fall under the general category of torture, which 203 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,199 Speaker 1: I don't think I have to mention is truly awful. 204 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: Other reports were equally disturbing and included incidents in which 205 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: American forces had done stuff like firing upon journalists or 206 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 1: civilians and then tried to cover it up. A lot 207 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: of information about other nations and leaders were also part 208 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: of this information dump, including messages that revealed how various 209 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: ambassadors or officials viewed other world leaders and that caused 210 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: a lot of embarrassment in official channels around the world. 211 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: Wiki Leaks continues to play a big part in world politics, 212 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: though in recent years there's been a lot more scrutiny 213 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 1: and more accusations that the organization has its own agenda 214 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: that goes beyond revealing the truth, that the truth plays 215 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: a part in it, but it's a selective use of 216 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: the truth in order to direct things down a particular path. 217 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:06,680 Speaker 1: Honorable mentions go to Gizmoto essentially stealing a prototype iPhone 218 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,839 Speaker 1: three gs then publishing a story about it, including a 219 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: breakdown of the internal components. That story gained Gizmoto a 220 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 1: lot of heat in the tech journalism world for the 221 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: ethically questionable decision to lift the phone and then run 222 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,679 Speaker 1: a story on it. Apple was put in the unusual 223 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: position of having to defend a product as people found 224 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: it really hard to get a signal and to make 225 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: calls on the new iPhone. This would later fall into 226 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: a whole story that was referred to as antenna GIT, 227 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: the idea that the placement of the antenna was creating 228 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: a challenge to get and maintain a good signal, and 229 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: of course one of the famous things in that is 230 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs claiming that the whole reason why there are 231 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: problem was that people were just holding it wrong. In 232 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: the US, Apple emerged from its exclusivity deal with a 233 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: T and T and prepared to release the iPhone on 234 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,959 Speaker 1: other cellular carriers. Plus, the company released the iPad, which 235 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: was initially ridiculed for its name upon launch, and in September, 236 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: the BP oil drilling rig called deep Water Horizon caused 237 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: what became the largest marine oil spill ever, a colossal 238 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: and catastrophic event, and the the consequences of that are 239 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: something that's going to be felt for a really long time. Okay, 240 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: it's time for us to cover two thousand eleven and 241 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: then we're gonna take a short break now. I don't 242 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: think there's another story I could cover that had as 243 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: big an impact on headlines in the United States as 244 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: the death of Steve Jobs. He had retired as CEO earlier, 245 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: in handing the company over to Tim Cook on October five, 246 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven he passed away, we saw people actually 247 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: grieve for him in public. People left notes and flowers 248 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: in tribute outside of Apple stores, and this sort of 249 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: response is pretty much unheard of in the business world. 250 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: And again, it really pointed at jobs celebrity status, right 251 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: that he was more than a business leader. He was 252 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: a celebrity, a figurehead, and there was a lot of 253 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 1: worry that Apple the company would falter. And even to 254 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: this day you will occasionally hear people say something like 255 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: that's not how Steve would have done it, though you 256 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: don't hear it as frequently as you used to. However, 257 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: despite the undeniable impact his death had on business, Apple 258 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: the company has continued to do quite well in the 259 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: following years. Now, I would argue that as monumental as 260 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: that story was, it should take a back seat to 261 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: the events that were occurring in the Middle East through 262 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: much of twenty eleven. While protests and demonstrations had begun 263 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: late in two and various countries, we really saw an 264 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: increase in twenty eleven as people in numerous countries in 265 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: the Middle East leveraged apps and social media in order 266 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: to stage protests against various governments. We called it the 267 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: Arab Spring, and this sort of use of social media 268 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: would also serve as a building block for how great 269 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 1: movements like Black Lives Matter use social media, as well 270 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: as how hate groups take advantage of those same tools, 271 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: both to organize and two so discord. Honorable mentions for 272 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven include the rise of the amorphous hacktivist 273 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 1: group Anonymous, thus bringing the guy Fox mask back into fashion, 274 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: the launch of the Google Plus social network that, despite 275 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: a fairly enthusiastic reception when it was in beta, never 276 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: managed to get much traction against Facebook, and IBM. S 277 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: Watson defeated two former Jeopardy champions in a special Jeopardy exhibition. 278 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 1: When we come back, we will pick up with twenty twelve, 279 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: but first let's take a quick break. Early in in 280 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: the United States, two pieces of proposed legislation grabbed world headlines. 281 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 1: They were the Stop Online Piracy Act for A SOAPA, 282 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: and the Protect Intellectual Property Act or PIPPA. These proposals 283 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: emerged due to the entertainment industries pushed to find ways 284 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,879 Speaker 1: to prevent and crack down upon piracy online, and a 285 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,360 Speaker 1: lot of what the pieces were based upon was conjecture 286 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: and faulty reasoning. For example, the entertainment industry would claim 287 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:43,439 Speaker 1: enormous losses due to piracy. But the problem is you 288 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 1: can't prove that because you can't prove that the people 289 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: who downloaded something illegally would have otherwise purchased it legally. 290 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: And if they would have never purchased it, let's say 291 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: that they didn't pirate it, nor did they purchase it, 292 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 1: then you can't call that a loss. That just wasn't 293 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:05,199 Speaker 1: a sale. So it was based on faulty logic to 294 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: begin with, and the implications meant that if these proposals 295 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: were put into law, we would really see a fractured 296 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: Internet where people in the United States wouldn't be able 297 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: to even see that some sites exist because of effectively 298 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: digital blockades. It would have been difficult to implement, it 299 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: would have been hard to enforce, and if it did work, 300 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,919 Speaker 1: it would essentially break parts of the Internet. Lots of 301 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: sites held a simulated Internet blackout to raise awareness of 302 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 1: the issues, and advocates for free exchange of ideas protested 303 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: the proposals and the idea of regulating the Internet, and 304 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:46,399 Speaker 1: ultimately the United States government let the two pieces just 305 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: die rather than risk a fallout with pushing it through 306 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: into law. Another big story was that Facebook colossally mishandled 307 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: its initial public offering or i p O. Then, yeah, 308 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 1: I'm butchering language, but man, this was such an enormous mistake. 309 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: So this is the process that a private company has 310 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: to go through in order to become a publicly traded company, 311 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: or typically it's the way a privately held company becomes 312 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: publicly traded. And this process ends with one where you've 313 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: got this publicly traded company where anyone with cash can 314 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: buy stocks in that company. The process of an i 315 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: p O is really complicated, and it involves a lot 316 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: of analysts who have to look at a company. They 317 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:33,360 Speaker 1: have to assess its value in an effort to come 318 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 1: up with a proposed opening stock price. So essentially these 319 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: are people who say, yeah, you know, based on what 320 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: we know about how much the company makes, its assets, 321 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,919 Speaker 1: its debts, all that kind of stuff, we figure that 322 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,880 Speaker 1: it would cost X number of dollars per share, assuming 323 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,360 Speaker 1: that there are why number of shares available. A company's 324 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: value is essentially the share price multiplied by the number 325 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: of shares before going public, The estimated value of Facebook 326 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: was one hundred four million dollars. The stock was to 327 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: debut at nearly forty dollars per share, but there were 328 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: technical glitches, including the fact that too many shares were issued. 329 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: There were other issues just with Nasdaq, the stock exchange 330 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: where this was happening, that had nothing directly to do 331 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,880 Speaker 1: with Facebook. UH. There were also problems with Morgan Stanley 332 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: that was the company that was acting as an underwriter 333 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 1: for the I p O. They were accused of using 334 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: some price influencing UH mathematics, so there were some shady 335 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: things going on there. The stock price would ultimately take 336 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 1: a huge hit over the course of twenty twelve. You know, 337 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 1: it came out just under forty dollars. It fell to 338 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: a low of seventeen dollars and fifty five cents per share, 339 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: so less than half of what debuted at UH and 340 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: it meant that Facebook would have some ground to make up. 341 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,199 Speaker 1: But honorable mentions for two thousand twelve stories include the 342 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: raid upon Mega Upload founder Kim dot Com in New Zealand, 343 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: and Nintendo made a pretty big misstep with the launch 344 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: of the Wii U, which never really took off, but 345 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: Felix Baumgartner definitely took off. He wrote a balloon up 346 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: to the edge of space and then jumped for the 347 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: longest refall ever and eventually parachuted to safety many many 348 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: minutes after jumping out of the balloon. Also, Marrissa Meyer 349 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: would leave Google to become the new CEO of Yahoo Time. Hey, 350 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: remember when I talked about that Wiki leaks dump and 351 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: how it disrupted stuff, Well, that definitely set the stage 352 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: for an even bigger story in the United States, and 353 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: Edward Snowden, who was a contract worker for the n 354 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 1: s A that stands for National Security Agency, leaked documents 355 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: showing that the n s A had been instituting processes 356 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: and policies and technologies that were at best gross violations 357 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: of privacy. The n s AS focus is monitoring, collecting, 358 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: and processing communications, all in an effort to further the 359 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 1: interests of national security for the United States. So when 360 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 1: it comes down to it, it's a spy agency and 361 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: it really tries to suss out what everyone is talking 362 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: about all the time across all different communication media. Snowdon 363 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: revealed that the n s A had put in some 364 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,640 Speaker 1: listening devices and had agreements with these various communications companies. 365 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: All of these agreements were classified. The companies were not 366 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: allowed to disclose them. There was all this kind of 367 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: dark veil of secrecy over everything and a lot of 368 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:41,440 Speaker 1: threats of repercussions if anyone broke that. And the whole 369 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: idea was that it was scooping up information wholesale. It 370 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: didn't matter if that information had anything to do with 371 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: national security or not, didn't matter if the n s 372 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: A suspected someone or didn't suspect them. They were just 373 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:57,439 Speaker 1: essentially pulling all data in through a funnel, and that 374 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: the agency had ways to search through all that information. 375 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: His actions made snowed In a target and he fled 376 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 1: the United States. But while the government condemned the leaks 377 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,159 Speaker 1: as being against the interests of the United States, a 378 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:14,120 Speaker 1: lot of citizens like me began to ask, Hey, um, 379 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: what are you actually defining as the United States? Because 380 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: I live here and this, sure as heck doesn't sound 381 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 1: like it's in my interests. So it didn't help that 382 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: there were reports of folks who are working for the 383 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: n s A who had made use of the agency's 384 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: tools for their own purposes, such as to snoop on 385 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: former lovers and stuff. Yeah, this was a huge, ugly story, 386 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,120 Speaker 1: but it wasn't the only ugly story of that year, 387 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 1: not by a long shot. This was also the year 388 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: of the Boston Marathon bombing, a truly awful event, and 389 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: it also served as a harsh classroom where we all 390 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: learned what happens when you have the rapid dissemination and 391 00:23:55,359 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: analysis of information. Within a very short time, data about 392 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 1: the bombing was flying across the Internet, and you had 393 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: a ton of armchair detectives who were all trying to 394 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 1: figure out who perpetrated the bombing. This led to some 395 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: hasty and poorly formed hypotheses that were totally on the 396 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: wrong track. People were brought under suspicion who had nothing 397 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: to do with anything. So in short, the events following 398 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 1: the bombing illustrated how dangerous misinformation and faulty assumptions can be. 399 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,879 Speaker 1: Honorable mentions for big tech stories of go to the 400 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,720 Speaker 1: embarrassing failure of the healthcare dot gov site in the 401 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: United States. This was the online entry point for people 402 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: looking to access the services created through the Affordable Care Act, 403 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 1: and the site was a shambles. It collapsed under even 404 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: moderate traffic, and it created terrible bottlenecks and obstacles for 405 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,120 Speaker 1: people who are just trying to secure medical insurance. That 406 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: was bad. Was also when Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, 407 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: bought the Washington Post newspaper, setting the stage for a 408 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: rivalry with a future US president. Netflix began to roll 409 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,439 Speaker 1: original content and started its transition from online video store 410 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: into a movie and television studio. The Pebble smartwatch, which 411 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,439 Speaker 1: was a big Kickstarter success story, debuted, though sadly Pebble 412 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: would have a fairly meteoric rise and fall. Sony and 413 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: Microsoft released the PS four and Xbox One game consoles respectively, 414 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 1: and Elon Musk said, Hey, wouldn't it be neat if 415 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: we had really fast trains and introduced the hyper loop concept. 416 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: That is a concept we're still trying to get our 417 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: heads around and make a reality to this day. Okay, 418 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: time for two thousand fourteen, and I really hate this one, 419 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: but I think we really have to tackle it gamer Gate. 420 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: Gamer Gate was a huge story in and it was 421 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: one that I think taught us a lot of lessons, 422 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: or at least presented lessons to us. I don't know 423 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: that we actually learned that much because I'm seeing the 424 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: same sort of stuff play out today. So let's talk 425 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: about what game or gate was supposedly about and what 426 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,400 Speaker 1: it was really about. So, on the surface level, gamer 427 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,119 Speaker 1: gate was supposedly about how certain video game reviewers and 428 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: developers and journalists were all in cahoots. That the journalists 429 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: and reviewers were publishing biased reviews and articles because of 430 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:24,439 Speaker 1: the relationships they had with video game developers. So some 431 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,919 Speaker 1: of these accusations range from reviewers wanting to remain in 432 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: good standing for fear that they might otherwise not get, 433 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: you know, review copies, to even worse allegations that maybe 434 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: some form of compensation was going on in return for 435 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: writing a positive story or a positive review. But what 436 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: gamer gate really was about was about targeting people in 437 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: the video game industry, whether in journalism or in development 438 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: or whatever, and taking a no holds barred approach to 439 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: attacking those people online. And the vast majority of those 440 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: targets were women. So it really was like a concentrated 441 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: campaign against women in the video game industry, and there 442 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:12,400 Speaker 1: was an undeniable misogynistic streak in these attacks. The participants 443 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 1: kept falling back to that surface level justification for what 444 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:18,400 Speaker 1: they were doing. They're saying, no, this is about ethics 445 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: and journalism, but their methods and their links that they 446 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,359 Speaker 1: went to belied their true motivations. They would try to 447 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: pressure companies to fire people that they were targeting. They 448 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,640 Speaker 1: would publish private information about those targets. It's called doxing, 449 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:36,359 Speaker 1: where you reveal someone's you know, address, or the address 450 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: of their families, and you're essentially calling for a campaign 451 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 1: of harassment and worse stuff followed. Now, I'm not going 452 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: to budge on this one, folks. You can argue at 453 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: me until you are blue in the face that gamer 454 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,800 Speaker 1: Gate was really about ethics and journalism and that the 455 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: extreme actions were the output of a minority. But that's 456 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: just not true. And it's the same sort of garbage 457 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: that we see today when people will cling to any 458 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 1: justification that lets them pursue what they want, even if 459 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: they know deep down that it's wrong or unethical. So, 460 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: as another example, people who protest that their individual liberties 461 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: are being infringed upon because there's a stay at home 462 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: order are clinging to an interpretation of liberty because they 463 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: don't want to sacrifice some of their personal comfort in 464 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: an effort to curtail the spread of COVID nineteen. They 465 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: consider their personal comfort more important than the overall safety 466 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: of the community. We can see similar tactics for people 467 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: who oppose the Black Lives Matter movement, or for those 468 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 1: who think that Confederate memorials should be displayed in public, 469 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 1: or people who oppose the LGBTQ community, and so on. 470 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: But as always I say, we have to use critical 471 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: thinking and compassion, and we strip away the layers of 472 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: bs to see the truth underneath, and then we address 473 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: it in a fourth right way. Honorable mentions for two 474 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,040 Speaker 1: thousand fourteen stories are many. There were a slew of 475 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: hacks that targeted both companies and celebrities, pulling out sensitive 476 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: information and media and then just dumping it across the Internet. 477 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: That was really gross. I saw Ya Nadela would take 478 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: on the job of Microsoft CEO. In two thousand fourteen, 479 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: a web server software bug called heart bleed prompted security 480 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: experts to issue some really big warnings, including the recommendation 481 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: that people stay offline until more companies address this and 482 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: patched their servers, because even changing passwords wouldn't be helpful 483 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: because the bug would allow bad actors to actually see 484 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: the new log in credentials anyway, so it doesn't matter 485 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: if you change the locks if copies of the keys 486 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: are getting out to all the bad guys, right. Oh, 487 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: and also Apple announced the Apple Watch, So there's our 488 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: little bit of positive news. I guess sure. Two thousand 489 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: fifteen all right, I hope I find some happy stories soon. 490 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: I guess one thing I can talk about with two 491 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: thousand fifteen is that it was the year that Microsoft 492 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: launched Windows ten. Now, I skipped over talking about Windows 493 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: eight when I covered the previous years, and there's a 494 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: reason for that, because Windows eight kind of stunk. It 495 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: was obvious that the goal that Microsoft was pursuing was 496 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: to create an operating system experience that could live on 497 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: top of a suite of different hardware, from computers to 498 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: tablets to smartphones. But Microsoft played a distant third place 499 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: to Google and Apple in the smartphone category. It was 500 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 1: clear they weren't going to make up the room, and 501 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: lots of people hated the layout of Windows eight on 502 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: their computers, so it became a big pain in the neck. 503 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: Windows ten saw Microsoft returned to a more familiar user 504 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: interface for its computer operating system. Just as Windows seven 505 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: proved to be a correction from Vista, ten was a 506 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:50,080 Speaker 1: correction from eight, and yeah, it was a little confusing 507 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: that the company just plane skipped over nine. But then 508 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: we'd see Apple do the same thing a little bit later, 509 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: so maybe nine is just a bad number for tech 510 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: in general. Another day view that came out around in 511 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: was the Amazon Echo. The Echo was one of the 512 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 1: earliest examples of a smart speaker with a digital assistant. 513 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: ECHOES version is named Alexa. While there had been other 514 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: examples of voice activated assistance, I think you could make 515 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: a case that Amazon helped bring this concept to the 516 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: mainstream public. Millions of people would go on to purchase 517 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: smart speakers, whether they were made by Amazon or Google 518 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: or some other company, and we started to see a 519 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: lot more development in the virtual personal assistant space, including 520 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: a place where developers could create apps specifically to interoperate 521 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: with smart speaker devices and other gadgets that allow for 522 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:48,959 Speaker 1: interaction with a virtual personal assistant. Honorable mentions include Google 523 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: creating a new umbrella company called Alphabet, under which various 524 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: Google properties, including Google dot Com, can exist, but they 525 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: can remain related but separate entity, so you can have 526 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: separate companies run by different heads and they can all 527 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: really focus on what they need to do. The scandal 528 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,960 Speaker 1: known as Diesel Gate also broke that year that revealed 529 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: that Volkswagen had been installing devices in their diesel fueled 530 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: vehicles that were meant to help trick a mission testing 531 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: procedures because the cars were not performing up to code, 532 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: so they were trying to kind of cheat on the 533 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: exam and then they got caught. The electric car company 534 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: Tesla unleashed autopilot on the world, which has been a 535 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: real controversy since there have been some terrible accidents that 536 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:40,520 Speaker 1: have happened while people were admittedly misusing autopilot. But part 537 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 1: of this, I think comes from the hubris of Elon 538 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: Musk and the way he presents information. Oh and also 539 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: that was the year that some hoverboards which aren't really 540 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 1: hoverboards but whatever, made the news because a few of 541 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: them had really bad lithium batteries and they had a 542 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: tendency to catch on fire and perhaps even explode, which 543 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,400 Speaker 1: is not good. And when we come back, we're gonna 544 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: move on to ten and y'all, I might not be 545 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: ready for these next few years, and I already done 546 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 1: lived them, but we're gonna try anyway. Let's all kind 547 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: of steal ourselves after this quick break, alright, so it's 548 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: another tumultuous year, an election year in the United States. 549 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: In fact, really I think at this point they're all 550 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 1: tumultuous years from this moment forward. But this really marked 551 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: the beginning of some serious scrutiny on social media platforms, 552 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:42,479 Speaker 1: primarily places like Facebook, but also sites like YouTube and Twitter, 553 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: and the role that these sites play when it comes 554 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: to spreading misleading information a k. This is the beginning 555 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 1: of a serious look at the so called quote unquote 556 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,280 Speaker 1: fake news. Now. I tend to shy away from using 557 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,200 Speaker 1: terminology like fake news, not because I think the news 558 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: isn't ache I think it frequently is, but rather because 559 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,160 Speaker 1: a lot of people just use fake news to describe 560 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 1: any sort of messaging that opposes their own beliefs. If 561 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 1: it doesn't align with what they personally hold to be true, 562 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:15,760 Speaker 1: it has to be fake. And I don't put myself 563 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:17,920 Speaker 1: above this. By the way, I know that when I 564 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,839 Speaker 1: encounter information that contradicts some belief that I hold, my 565 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,760 Speaker 1: first reaction is to reject that information. But it really 566 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: is important for all of us to resist that urge 567 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:34,319 Speaker 1: and to really examine claims more closely, because sometimes we 568 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,080 Speaker 1: might find that what we were about to reject is 569 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 1: in fact true, and we have to come to terms 570 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: with that, even if we don't like it. I would argue, 571 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: especially if we don't like it, because that means we 572 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:50,800 Speaker 1: have the opportunity to change it anyway. The conversation about 573 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: fake news really exploded in ten and has been a 574 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 1: frequent hot topic ever since. It became clear that a 575 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: site like Facebook benefits from people spending more time on it, 576 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: and so from that perspective, it benefits the company to 577 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: promote posts that drive more engagement and keep people on 578 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:15,920 Speaker 1: Facebook longer. The actual value or validity of that content 579 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 1: doesn't matter. What matters is keeping people active on Facebook 580 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: so that they see more ads. So it's really not 581 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: in the company's financial interests to crack down on misinformation 582 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,839 Speaker 1: if that misinformation is actually keeping people tied to the platform, 583 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,359 Speaker 1: why would you bite the hand that feeds you. Now, 584 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:40,359 Speaker 1: this wasn't exactly new in but the whole conversation really 585 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: boiled up in that year and it hasn't gone away since. 586 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,480 Speaker 1: We're still watching Facebook try to avoid taking a more 587 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: active role in cracking down on the spread of misinformation 588 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 1: today because again, the company benefits from it financially Another 589 00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:02,720 Speaker 1: explosive story pun intended in the Samsung Galaxy Note seven. 590 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,279 Speaker 1: This smartphone was supposed to make a big splash. It 591 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,080 Speaker 1: had this sexy curvy design and had a really high 592 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 1: resolution display. It was supposed to be the smartphone of sixteen, 593 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:19,120 Speaker 1: but battery failures that led to things like fires and 594 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 1: explosions became an early big story. Samsung was forced to 595 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:29,919 Speaker 1: recall the handsets twice and reportedly fixed them, but more 596 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: reports of fires would follow and the company ultimately had 597 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: no choice but to discontinue this phone that represents an 598 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:42,080 Speaker 1: enormous financial loss. Meanwhile, you know you had companies like 599 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,839 Speaker 1: airlines around the world that we're placing bands on those 600 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: phone saying you're not allowed to bring that in here 601 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,760 Speaker 1: because of the potential risk. So this was a huge 602 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:55,759 Speaker 1: blow to Samsung, both financially and from a pr perspective. 603 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,800 Speaker 1: Honorable mentions go to Apple facing off against the f 604 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:03,480 Speaker 1: b I in a case where Apple refused to unlock 605 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,439 Speaker 1: an iPhone that had been owned by a terrorist. Tim 606 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:10,000 Speaker 1: Cook said this would set a terrible precedent that would 607 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 1: undermine consumer confidence and it would compromise on expectations of privacy. 608 00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:19,480 Speaker 1: Vine the short form video service officially shut down that 609 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,160 Speaker 1: year and set the stage for the rise of TikTok. 610 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:26,319 Speaker 1: A little later on, and the medical tech company Pharaos 611 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:30,239 Speaker 1: infamously fell to pieces that year. We're still waiting to 612 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:34,640 Speaker 1: see what happens in some legal proceedings regarding the Farness story. 613 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,959 Speaker 1: Four years later, in ten, we would see a continuation 614 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:43,200 Speaker 1: of the fake news controversies, particularly with Facebook in the US. 615 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: It became clear that foreign parties, largely from Russia, were 616 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: flooding Facebook with misinformation in an attempt to subvert the 617 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:54,160 Speaker 1: US democratic process. Also in the US, we saw a 618 00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:57,680 Speaker 1: move to undermine the concept of net neutrality. Now, during 619 00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:00,840 Speaker 1: the administration of Barack Obama, the government had begun to 620 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:05,520 Speaker 1: reframe internet access as a utility and created regulations that 621 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:10,279 Speaker 1: would prevent internet service providers from creating a fractured experience 622 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:15,360 Speaker 1: across networks and devices. With a new administration in control 623 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:20,160 Speaker 1: at the US, we saw a dismantling of those regulations. 624 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:23,200 Speaker 1: But one of the biggest stories of the year centered 625 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,799 Speaker 1: around something that wasn't confined just to technology, and this 626 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,240 Speaker 1: was the hashtag me too movement. Women were stepping forward 627 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:36,960 Speaker 1: to confront unfair and sexist practices across numerous industries, and 628 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:40,839 Speaker 1: tech was front and center. Social media would play an 629 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:45,240 Speaker 1: intrinsic role as women shared their stories and a movement 630 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,440 Speaker 1: built up around this, and one of the companies that 631 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 1: was really singled out in this was Uber and the 632 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,720 Speaker 1: revelations of Susan Fowler, who was a former employee at Uber, 633 00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:00,120 Speaker 1: it became clear that sexism and misogyny and harass then 634 00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 1: were all elements that were woven into the very culture 635 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: of Uber. Over the course of seen, story after story 636 00:39:08,239 --> 00:39:12,320 Speaker 1: came out that highlighted a twisted and ugly corporate culture 637 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,759 Speaker 1: and a general policy that saw offenders get little to 638 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,839 Speaker 1: no reprimand if they were a high performer then they 639 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 1: kind of had a free license to act in reprehensible ways. 640 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:26,960 Speaker 1: The company saw several executives resign over the course of 641 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:30,840 Speaker 1: the year, including the founder and CEO, Travis Kalnik, although 642 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: his resignation wasn't necessarily something he wanted to do. The 643 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:39,560 Speaker 1: company was also weathering a heavy storm brought by Google 644 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:43,280 Speaker 1: around allegations that Uber was making use of stolen proprietary 645 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,799 Speaker 1: information when it comes to self driving cars. So by 646 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:50,279 Speaker 1: the end of seventeen, there had been a full investigation 647 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,680 Speaker 1: of Uber's corporate culture, and that that concluded that the 648 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:59,399 Speaker 1: company needed massive fundamental changes. It was very critical of 649 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,520 Speaker 1: the company. There was a massive change in leadership at 650 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,759 Speaker 1: the company, and there was a public commitment to a 651 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:10,160 Speaker 1: new corporate culture that was going to emerge from Uber. Now. 652 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,120 Speaker 1: I wish I could say that the company has since 653 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 1: been a model of ethical practices, but that's not really true, 654 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:21,680 Speaker 1: and it honestly is a story for another time. Honorable 655 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:25,520 Speaker 1: mentions for two thousand seventeen include a rash of data 656 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:29,200 Speaker 1: breaches that exposed the information of millions of people to hackers. 657 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:34,080 Speaker 1: Apple launched the iPhone ten. They skipped nine, but this 658 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,279 Speaker 1: was the tenth anniversary in the original iPhone, so you 659 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,840 Speaker 1: could at least argue for that. And TV companies quietly 660 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,920 Speaker 1: put the kai bosh on some three D televisions. They 661 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,800 Speaker 1: had been trying to market three D TV for years 662 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 1: and years and years, but by seen the general consensus 663 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 1: was that this was a non starter, and you started 664 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,480 Speaker 1: to see it kind of fade away from the features 665 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,960 Speaker 1: in various televisions that we're going on the market. At 666 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,120 Speaker 1: that point, all right, two thousand eighteen, let's get going. 667 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,400 Speaker 1: This was the year when a little game called Fortnite 668 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,920 Speaker 1: saw incredible growth. Now the game had seen some modest 669 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:13,280 Speaker 1: success in its original format, but then the developers included 670 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,320 Speaker 1: a new Battle Royal style of play. Now that's a 671 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 1: kind of game where a bunch of video game players 672 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,560 Speaker 1: have their characters all dumped onto a map, and then 673 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:25,160 Speaker 1: they all have to battle it out until only one 674 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:30,600 Speaker 1: person or team remains. This game really took off at 675 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,640 Speaker 1: that point, and you started seeing tons of dancing memes 676 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: that were unleashed upon an unwitting public. We've never been 677 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:40,239 Speaker 1: the same since. Now, the Battle Royal style game wasn't 678 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:45,200 Speaker 1: invented by Fortnite. In fact, another game, player Unknowns Battlegrounds 679 00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:47,879 Speaker 1: had previously been one of the most popular online games, 680 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:50,680 Speaker 1: and it was also a Battle Royal style game. There 681 00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:54,960 Speaker 1: was no shortage of accusations that Fortnite was essentially copying 682 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:59,080 Speaker 1: pub g as we call it, But the games have 683 00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 1: a very different look and feel to them. They also 684 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:05,440 Speaker 1: have very different physics and gameplay mechanics. So while that 685 00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:08,839 Speaker 1: basic idea was the same, I don't know that it's 686 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,480 Speaker 1: fair to say that one copied the other. After all, 687 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:14,440 Speaker 1: there are other game modes that are standard in video 688 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,600 Speaker 1: games like you know, Last Man Standing or King of 689 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,480 Speaker 1: the Hill or um kill the Man with the ball. 690 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 1: They're all these different variations that are kind of found 691 00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:28,439 Speaker 1: throughout video games. I don't know that you can lay 692 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:32,600 Speaker 1: claim to a particular style. This was also the year 693 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,719 Speaker 1: that we started hearing more about plans for five G. 694 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:40,200 Speaker 1: That's the family of wireless data technologies that are going 695 00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:44,600 Speaker 1: to deliver information and incredibly fast speeds. It's not one tech, really, 696 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:46,759 Speaker 1: it's a whole bunch of different types of tech that 697 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,839 Speaker 1: work in slightly different ways, but all to get the 698 00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:54,120 Speaker 1: same result, that is that super fast data transfer speed. 699 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:56,800 Speaker 1: And it might have been a little early to start 700 00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:59,760 Speaker 1: hyping up five G because we're now in twenty twenty 701 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:02,319 Speaker 1: and that infrastructure still has a long way to go 702 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 1: to provide real coverage of five G technology. Plus now 703 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:10,520 Speaker 1: we have some people believing that somehow that tech is 704 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:14,600 Speaker 1: causing or spreading COVID nineteen in a news flash, it 705 00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:18,960 Speaker 1: is not. And we also got the massive Cambridge Analytica 706 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,520 Speaker 1: scandal making headlines in ten Now, the actual events that 707 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:26,600 Speaker 1: precipitated those headlines would stretch back a few years earlier. 708 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:31,320 Speaker 1: It just became public and I've done episodes about this scandal, 709 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:36,000 Speaker 1: so it's it's a complicated story, but essentially, uh, an 710 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,000 Speaker 1: app developer was able to use a loophole in Facebook's 711 00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:42,359 Speaker 1: ap I to gather an enormous amount of information about 712 00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:46,120 Speaker 1: Facebook users without their consent or knowledge, and on top 713 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:49,000 Speaker 1: of that were efforts to use that information to manipulate 714 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:54,040 Speaker 1: public discourse about political matters, which is gross but honorable. 715 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:57,400 Speaker 1: Mentions go to the rise of the electric scooter and 716 00:43:57,440 --> 00:43:59,880 Speaker 1: the various companies that created a sort of rideshare a 717 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:02,799 Speaker 1: eletric scooter business that all started to really kick off 718 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:07,200 Speaker 1: in Apple became the first company to reach a trillion 719 00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: dollars invaluation, though it would lose some ground before the 720 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:14,080 Speaker 1: end of the year and dip down below trillion by 721 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:17,719 Speaker 1: the end of and oh yeah, Movie Pass kind of 722 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:21,480 Speaker 1: imploded that year too. Okay, so we're up to twenty nineteen, 723 00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:26,000 Speaker 1: and since is not yet over, though it feels like 724 00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:30,120 Speaker 1: it's lasted an eternity, and also because this episode is 725 00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:32,160 Speaker 1: going to start running long, this is gonna be the 726 00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:35,040 Speaker 1: last full year we look at. So twenty nineteen was 727 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:38,880 Speaker 1: when we saw TikTok gain explosive growth, and as I 728 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:41,920 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier. The fall of Vine really set the stage, 729 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,080 Speaker 1: and TikTok was able to capitalize. The company has since 730 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,399 Speaker 1: come under scrutiny, both from privacy advocates and officials who 731 00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:51,960 Speaker 1: worry that the Chinese company that owns the service might 732 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:55,200 Speaker 1: be collecting data on behalf of the Chinese government. That's 733 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,680 Speaker 1: a story that still is unfolding today. We also saw 734 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:02,239 Speaker 1: the debut of Disney Plus in twenty nineteen, along with 735 00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:06,560 Speaker 1: the announcement of about a zillion other new media streaming services, 736 00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:10,120 Speaker 1: all of which are vying for our subscriptions and our attention. 737 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:12,240 Speaker 1: I think I might have to do a full rundown 738 00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:15,359 Speaker 1: on all the major streaming players out there and how 739 00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,480 Speaker 1: they're all trying to compete for that, you know, limited 740 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:24,040 Speaker 1: number of assets. It's getting awfully crowded and a little frustrating. Um. 741 00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:27,040 Speaker 1: You know, we used to think we wanted cable a 742 00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:30,480 Speaker 1: la cart where you could just order the specific channels 743 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:33,040 Speaker 1: that you've wanted, and everything else you would just ignore, 744 00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:36,200 Speaker 1: you wouldn't get because you never watched them anyway. And 745 00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:38,319 Speaker 1: we thought for a while that streaming services we're going 746 00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:41,480 Speaker 1: to kind of do that. And now streaming has sort 747 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:46,400 Speaker 1: of become its own monstrous thing that is at least 748 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:49,719 Speaker 1: as frustrating as cable was. In twenty nineteen, we also 749 00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,000 Speaker 1: saw a lot of calls from various parties to make 750 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:57,239 Speaker 1: serious steps into dismantling and breaking up big, big tech companies, 751 00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:01,400 Speaker 1: tech companies like Google and Amazon and Facebook. And the 752 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:04,640 Speaker 1: argument is that these companies have grown so large and 753 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:08,799 Speaker 1: so powerful that not only are they largely monopolistic for 754 00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:12,600 Speaker 1: their various you know, industries, they also stand as a 755 00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:17,360 Speaker 1: legit threat to things like democracy. The companies are pursuing 756 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:20,759 Speaker 1: the interests of their shareholders, which really means that they're 757 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:23,880 Speaker 1: looking to boost the value of the company, and sometimes 758 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:27,920 Speaker 1: or maybe even oftentimes, that means they operate in a 759 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:30,279 Speaker 1: way that might not be in the best interest of 760 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:34,480 Speaker 1: you know, everybody else. So there's been some pushback against 761 00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:37,400 Speaker 1: these big companies. But then a little thing called the 762 00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:40,680 Speaker 1: coronavirus sort of threw a monkey wrench in that whole process. 763 00:46:41,239 --> 00:46:45,160 Speaker 1: As for the coronavirus definitely has dominated most of the 764 00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:47,640 Speaker 1: early part of the year, it continues to be an 765 00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:51,680 Speaker 1: enormous part of the current conversations. The Black Lives Matter 766 00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:55,080 Speaker 1: movement has also become a huge talking point, and tech 767 00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:59,239 Speaker 1: plays an important role in that discussion to everything from 768 00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:02,480 Speaker 1: the tools that people used to help organize and spread messages, 769 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:06,359 Speaker 1: to the misinformation campaigns that have been spread to try 770 00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:11,120 Speaker 1: and undermine the movement, to a real problem that exists 771 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:14,960 Speaker 1: with tech companies with a lack of diversity and inclusivity, 772 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:18,959 Speaker 1: which results not just in unfair practices from a corporate level, 773 00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:21,360 Speaker 1: but it means that the stuff those companies are producing, 774 00:47:22,600 --> 00:47:25,480 Speaker 1: they're not really serving their customers that well. And we've 775 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:28,200 Speaker 1: got a lot more coming in twenty including you know, 776 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:31,840 Speaker 1: there's some fun stuff, not just the heavy, heavy stuff 777 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,200 Speaker 1: I'm talking about right here. We've got some fun stuff 778 00:47:34,239 --> 00:47:37,120 Speaker 1: like the release of new video game consoles from Sony 779 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:40,279 Speaker 1: and from Microsoft. However, there's no doubt that there's going 780 00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:43,840 Speaker 1: to be other really big, important and difficult stories that 781 00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:46,600 Speaker 1: will unfold in the coming months, and our challenge is 782 00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:50,040 Speaker 1: not to shy away from that, but to really tackle 783 00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,160 Speaker 1: it and to say what does this mean? What can 784 00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:55,680 Speaker 1: we do about it? How can we make things better? 785 00:47:56,040 --> 00:47:58,840 Speaker 1: Those are questions we should always be asking ourselves, and 786 00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:01,680 Speaker 1: sometimes the answer might be I don't know what to do, 787 00:48:02,239 --> 00:48:04,920 Speaker 1: and the important thing is to try and look for 788 00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:08,799 Speaker 1: people who can help. But really, if we can do 789 00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:12,560 Speaker 1: something we absolutely should, we shouldn't just, you know, shoulder 790 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:16,080 Speaker 1: that burden onto somebody else. As for tech Stuff, we're 791 00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:18,840 Speaker 1: set to keep on keeping on. I have some plans 792 00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:22,239 Speaker 1: for how I want this show to evolve, but those 793 00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:24,920 Speaker 1: are going to take some time to really take shape. However, 794 00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:27,600 Speaker 1: I really hope to see this show continue to grow 795 00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:30,879 Speaker 1: and become more than what it already is, and I'm 796 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:34,240 Speaker 1: really excited to have you guys along for the journey. 797 00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:37,400 Speaker 1: In the meantime, if you have suggestions for future topics 798 00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:39,759 Speaker 1: we should cover on tech Stuff, reach out to me. 799 00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:42,360 Speaker 1: You can get in touch on Twitter. The handle is 800 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:45,760 Speaker 1: text Stuff hs W and I'll talk to you again 801 00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:54,680 Speaker 1: really soon. Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 802 00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:57,759 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i 803 00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:01,319 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts wherever you listen to your 804 00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:02,040 Speaker 1: favorite shows.