1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,319 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio and how the tech 4 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: are you so. Over the last couple of years, I've 5 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: talked a lot about the concept of right to repair. 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: In fact, I've talked about it this week simply, but 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 1: the right to repair is all about giving individuals the 8 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: right to perform their own maintenance and repair on the 9 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: products that they buy, rather than being forced to go 10 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: through some official channel from the manufacturer itself. So a 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,919 Speaker 1: lot of hardware companies will lock down their products in 12 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: ways that make it difficult or sometimes even impossible for 13 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: the average person or independent repair shop to do maintenance 14 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: or repair on their products. A company could use stuff 15 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: like dietary fasteners, for example, that require specialized tools to 16 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: remove them, or the company might not provide any useful 17 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: documentation on how their technology works or what to do 18 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: if something goes wrong. And if you don't know how 19 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: something works, you really don't have a way to fix 20 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: it when it's not working. There are lots of ways 21 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: that a company might lock down a product. It's not 22 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: unusual in the world of vehicles, from automobiles to heavy 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: farm equipment, for a company to tie everything into a 24 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: computer system, and that computer system is more or less 25 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: inaccessible unless you have the right equipment and knowledge to 26 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 1: tap into it. So these are all examples of almost 27 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 1: turning products into black boxes. And meanwhile you have people 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: who say, I want to be able to fix this 29 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: if something goes wrong and not have to bring it 30 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: all the way back to some official store. Now, a 31 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: lot of companies will actually tell you the reason that 32 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:58,919 Speaker 1: they even do this, that they do all this locking 33 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: away stuff is for your own good. Take Apple for example. Traditionally, 34 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: Apple had argued that locking down its systems really keeps 35 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: customers safe because Apple can guarantee a high level of service. 36 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: And if just any Yahoo out there could open up 37 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: an iPhone and make changes, then who knows what evil 38 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: doers would get up to. Maybe you would think that 39 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,079 Speaker 1: you're taking your phone to get your battery swapped out, 40 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: but what's really happening is Joe Schmo of Joe Schmo's 41 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: iPhone and VCR repair is actually installing like geo trackers 42 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: on your device or something. Other companies like e bike companies, 43 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: I talked about this this week. They have argued that 44 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: any repairs that are done outside the company's own ecosystem 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: could lead to dangerous situations like a fire. And it's 46 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: true that some electric vehicles, you know, stuff like hoverboards 47 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: and even some e bikes have been involved in some fires, 48 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: some of them really catastrophic ones. But these fires typically 49 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: result from poor manufacturing processes and damage to batteries. And 50 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: in this case, you talk about a battery where you've 51 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: got a flaw somewhere that creates a short circuit inside 52 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: the battery itself. It is a pathway through which the 53 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: electrochemical system that can generate electricity has a shortcut. It 54 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: bypasses everything else. This leads to the battery overheating very 55 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: quickly and in some cases exploding into flame. But again 56 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: that's not necessarily because some e bike owner decided they 57 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: were going to replace a battery on their own. More 58 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: often than not, it happens because there's a flaw in 59 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: the actual manufacturing process and the owner had nothing to 60 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: do with it whatsoever. In fact, in yesterday's news episode, 61 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: I talked about how a representative for the lobbying organization 62 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: called People for Bikes, which by the way, represents the 63 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: bike industry. It doesn't represent the bicyclist community anyway. This 64 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: representative couldn't give evidence of this being a situation at all. Instead, 65 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: this person said the evidence was quote unquote anecdotal. Does 66 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: this mean that it would be impossible for someone to 67 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: accidentally cause a fire while trying to repair their own 68 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,239 Speaker 1: e bike? No, it would be possible, but it isn't 69 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: something that's actually been documented. So the reason for the 70 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 1: policy is based upon something that hasn't been proven to 71 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: actually happen. You know, it's like one of those protective measures, 72 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: and you're saying, but if the thing that it's protecting 73 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: against hasn't happened, how is it protecting anyone other than 74 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: your own interests? Anyway. A big reason why companies actually 75 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: do this is that it makes them a lot more money. 76 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: A company like Apple, by controlling the entire ecosystem, can 77 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: make money throughout the whole life cycle of your Apple device. 78 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: So let's say it's an iPhone. Well, first, Apple gets 79 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: money when you buy your eye phone. They get money 80 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: if you pay for Apple Care. They also make money 81 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: if you don't have Apple Care, and then you have 82 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: to bring the phone into an Apple store for repairs, 83 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 1: or they make money by granting a license to repair 84 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: shops that pay for the privilege of being able to 85 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: work on Apple devices. By controlling the big picture, Apple 86 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: can generate revenue the whole time. There's every touch point 87 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: is a place where Apple makes money. So recently, Apple 88 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: has actually backed off of this a little bit. The 89 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: company has started to offer a self service repair kit, 90 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: which includes some of the tools needed to access the 91 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: innerds of stuff like iPhones, and you can purchase a kit, 92 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: or you can rent one for a week. You know, 93 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: if you're someone who doesn't need to own one of 94 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: these kits, you could just rent it for a week 95 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: for like fifty bucks and then use it to do 96 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: your own repairs. You can also purchase replacement parts from 97 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: Apple and repair manuals Apples providing those as well. It's 98 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: not exactly cheap, and if you're just working on your 99 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: own device, you might eventually come to the conclusion that 100 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: it would actually be less hassle and less expensive to 101 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: bring your device into Apple anyway. But if you're an 102 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: independent repair shop owner, the program could make a lot 103 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: of financial sense anyway. The whole reason that I'm bringing 104 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: this up again is to talk about something that has 105 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,919 Speaker 1: been a long standing issue, one that has led to 106 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,119 Speaker 1: endless jokes and posts and memes and videos of people 107 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: really frustrated as they go through drive through I'm talking 108 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: about the much maligned ice cream machines at the fast 109 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: food chain McDonald's. So the company I fix It, which 110 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: I love, by the way, I fix It, is a 111 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: phenomenal resource. If you want to learn how stuff works, 112 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: check out I fix it because they have these detailed 113 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 1: repair sections on all these different devices and as a result, 114 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: you will learn how those devices work. You have to again, 115 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: if you want to be able to fix something, you 116 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: gotta know how it works in the first place. It 117 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: does get very technical, but it is incredibly detailed. Anyway, 118 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: I fix It has been documenting how to repair all 119 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: types of technology for years, and they recently did a 120 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: piece on the ice cream machines at McDonald's and it's 121 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: actually well worth checking out their YouTube video on the subject. 122 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: It is really fantastic. It's entertaining and informative, and it's 123 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: you know, like just like ten minutes long. It's not 124 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: long at all, so it's really worth checking out. So 125 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: some of the stuff I'm going to talk about will 126 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: overlap what they cover in that video, but I'm also 127 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: looking at some other things as well. Now, the issue 128 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: here is that there's this essentially a perception more but 129 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: really based in reality, that the ice cream machines at 130 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: McDonald's are quote unquote always broken. So I fix it 131 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: found that this perception has at least some merit to it, 132 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: because at any given time, according to various tools online, 133 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: around a third of McDonald's franchises have an ice cream 134 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: machine that's not currently working, which almost makes it sound 135 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: like it's a conspiracy. So what's going on here? Well, 136 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: to answer that, we have to learn a little bit 137 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: about the company that provides those ice cream machines. Once 138 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: upon a time, it was called the Tailor Freezer Corporation. 139 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: Now it's just known as the Tailor Company. And way 140 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,679 Speaker 1: back in nineteen twenty six, a man named Charles Taylor, 141 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: whom the company describes as a third generation ice cream maker, 142 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,679 Speaker 1: wanted to create a means of making ice cream without 143 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: having to hand crank a device, and to guarantee better 144 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: consistency between ice cream batches. I guess it would benefit 145 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: us to first understand how ice cream actually you know 146 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: happens which involves some physics and some chemistry. So essentially, 147 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: you need to take your ice cream mixture, which typically 148 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: includes ingredients like sugar, milk, and fat, and then any 149 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: other flavorings that you want, and you might be using 150 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: something like heavy cream to provide the fat, and you 151 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: want to freeze this mixture. But the structure of this liquid, 152 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: you know, in order to get to crystallize, it actually 153 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: requires a lower freezing point than what we get using 154 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: just ice, and that presents a challenge. How do you 155 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,839 Speaker 1: get a mixture to a cold enough temperature to freeze, 156 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: particularly if you want to make ice cream during the 157 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: dog days of summer, how do you get that mixture 158 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: colder than the temperature of ice. If you've ever used 159 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: an old fashioned ice cream churn, you know, the hand 160 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 1: cranked kind, you know that you pack the perimeter of 161 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: the churn like there's a gap inside the churn between 162 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: the outer wall and the ice cream chamber, right, and 163 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: you pack that with a mixture of ice and salt. 164 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: Why do you use salt? What does the salt do well? 165 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,319 Speaker 1: Salt lowers the freezing point for water if you're talking 166 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: about pure water, that of course freezes at zero degrees 167 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: celsius or thirty two degrees fahrenheit. When you introduce salt 168 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 1: to water, it will require a lower temperature for that 169 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: water to freeze. How much lower depends upon the concentration 170 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: of salt. So this is also why people will salt 171 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: roads and walkways either before or during a snow or 172 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: ice storm. It lowers the freezing point. That means the 173 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 1: ice will actually start to melt at a lower temperature 174 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: than it normally would. So if you're on a winter day, 175 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: maybe the high temperature is going to be like twenty 176 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: eight degrees well fahrenheit. Twenty eight degrees fahrenheit is still 177 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: below the freezing point for water, right, and so typically 178 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: the frozen roads would remain frozen. But if you put 179 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: salt on those roads, it will lower the freezing point 180 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: of water, and maybe you get it down so that 181 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 1: the freezing point of water would be twenty degrees fahrenheit. 182 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: And since you're high at twenty eight, it means the 183 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: ice will actually start to melt. So that's why we 184 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: add salt to roads in the way times. On a 185 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: molecular level, what's going on is that the salt is 186 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:08,359 Speaker 1: interfering with the water ability to form the crystalline structure 187 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: of ice. So that means the freezing point has to 188 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: go down in order to get a temperature low enough 189 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: to overcome salt inhibiting the water in this way, and again, 190 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: the concentration of salt will determine exactly how low you 191 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: have to get before the water will freeze. But what 192 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: does that mean for our ice cream? Well, let's imagine 193 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: the ice cream maker is an enclosed thermal system. The 194 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: ice and salt mixture is at a lower temperature than 195 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: the ice cream mixture, right Like, let's say we've poured 196 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: the ice cream mixture in, it's more or less at 197 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: room temperature, and the surrounding ice and salt mixture is 198 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: closer to the freezing point for water, so it's closer 199 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: to zero degrees celsius. We know that the laws of 200 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 1: thermo dynamic state that if you have stuff that is 201 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: of different energy levels, the system will tend toward an equilibrium. 202 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 1: And that we know that energy has to flow from 203 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: high concentrations to low concentrations. It can't go the other way. 204 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,319 Speaker 1: Energy can't go from low to high. It has to 205 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: go from high to low. So our ice mixture begins 206 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: to melt, so the heat from our ice cream mixture 207 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: starts to transfer to the outer part of the ice 208 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:28,199 Speaker 1: cream chamber. That heat transfers to the ice and salt mixture, 209 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: and so the ice is absorbing heat and thus the 210 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: temperature of the ice cream mixture is going down. So 211 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,839 Speaker 1: it then is going to need to get cold enough 212 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: to freeze that ice cream mixture. If we were just 213 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,439 Speaker 1: using ice, we wouldn't get there because the temperature we 214 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: would be at would be essentially zero degrees celsius or 215 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: thirty two degrees fahrenheit. It wouldn't be cold enough to 216 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,200 Speaker 1: get to the temperature that would be required to turn 217 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: the ice cream mixture into actual ice cream. But the 218 00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: salt we've added has lowered the freezing point for the 219 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: ice ice in the churn. This is important. Let's think 220 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: about the different phases of water in terms of energy, right. 221 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: So ice is water with its low energy point at 222 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: this stage. In this phase, water molecules are in that 223 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: crystalline structure. They pretty much stop moving, so they are 224 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: very low energy. So we can then think of liquid 225 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: water as water that has a medium energy phase. In 226 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: this phase, the water molecules can move around, and they do, 227 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: and water will also take the shape of whatever container 228 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 1: it's in, So stuff is happening when it's in liquid form. 229 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: If we were to go even warmer and increase the 230 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: energy more, then we would have the water evaporate into gas, 231 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,080 Speaker 1: and then it would be at a very high energy phase. 232 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: Those molecules would be zipping around all over the place. 233 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: But anyway, our ice, the solid water starts to melt, 234 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: but the salt we've added has lowered that freezing point 235 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: to below zero celsius or thirty two fahrenheit. Meanwhile, we 236 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: have this salty water that's inside the churn, and that 237 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: salty water is going to continue to transfer energy to 238 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: the ice because remember the liquid water has a higher 239 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: energy than the solid water does than the ice does, 240 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: So the decreased freezing point means that the liquid water 241 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: will actually keep giving energy to the ice even below 242 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: the normal point for freezing, because you know, as it's 243 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: transferring heat to the ice, the liquid water's temperature continues 244 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: to drop, and now the freezing point is lower, so 245 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: it remains freezing longer and you end up getting this salty, 246 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 1: icy slurry inside the churn that gets to a much 247 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: lower temperature than the freezing point for water, and thus 248 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: you can have a low enough temperature where the ice 249 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: cream mixture inside the chamber will reach a temperature low 250 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: enough to start to crystallize and become ice cream. So yeah, 251 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: it's really cool that it works this way just by 252 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,040 Speaker 1: using salt and ice. And I gotta tell you, like, 253 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: it's been so long since I've had basic physics that 254 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: it took me a while to really get my mind 255 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: wrapped around this, because it seems like it seems almost 256 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: counterintuitive in some ways, but as you think about it, 257 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: you start to realize, oh, it makes sense. You're just 258 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: thinking about the wrong way, or at least for me. 259 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm not suggesting you thought of it that way, but 260 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: for me, it was like there was a little block there. Anyway, 261 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: these days, a lot of ice cream makers use other 262 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: stuff to chill the mixture down low enough for it 263 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: to freeze. And in fact, if you're looking at industrial ones, 264 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: you're typically looking at a device that uses condensers and 265 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: refrigerant to build in a sort of heat exchanger. It's 266 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: the same as you would find in a refrigerator or 267 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: an air conditioner. And I've talked about this process a 268 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: lot too, but we will cover that a little bit 269 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: when we come back from this quick break. Okay, before 270 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: the break, I mentioned a heat exchanger, the kind of 271 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: you would find in a refrigerator or you know, like 272 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 1: an industrial freezer, that kind of stuff, including ice cream machines, 273 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: and how do these work well. They also take advantage 274 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: of the physics of different phases of a material, in 275 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: this case a refrigerant, a liquid, or a liquid that 276 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: also in some parts of the system is a gas. 277 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: So when a liquid evaporates, that liquid absorbs heat. This 278 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: is why when you have water on your skin and 279 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: it starts to evaporate off your skin, it feels cool 280 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: because the water is absorbing heat from your body as 281 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: part of that evaporation process. When water condenses, then it 282 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: releases heat. So when a gas condenses into a liquid, 283 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: it is releasing heat. When it's a liquid that it's 284 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: a vaporing into a gas, it absorbs heat. So if 285 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: you create a system in which you have a refrigerant 286 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: running through a tube and it evaporates in parts of 287 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: that system, it will absorb heat in that part, and 288 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: if it condenses in another part of the system, it 289 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: will release heat in that part. You can actually transfer 290 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: heat from one part into the outside part. And that's 291 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: how refrigerators and freezers work. Right. You've got essentially some piping, 292 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: a tube, if you will, that runs through a freezer, 293 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:27,359 Speaker 1: and in this process, the refrigerant in that tube is 294 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: boiling off into a gas and as such is absorbing 295 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,439 Speaker 1: heat through the entire pathway that's inside the freezer. It 296 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: then passes through a condenser. The condenser's job is to 297 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: pressurize this very now warm gas, and it becomes even 298 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,119 Speaker 1: hotter liquid because you've increased the pressure, you've increased the 299 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,120 Speaker 1: boiling point of this gas. It now has condensed into 300 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:56,359 Speaker 1: a liquid. The liquid you allow to pass through condenser 301 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: coils and as it does so, it releases heat the 302 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 1: external environment and then eventually it reaches an expansion valve. 303 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: This valve only works in one direction. It allows the 304 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:14,679 Speaker 1: high pressure liquid to go through this expansion valve and 305 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: then drop into an area of much lower pressure, at 306 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: which point the liquid boils off and thus begins to 307 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,199 Speaker 1: absorb heat. So as it goes through the expansion valve, 308 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: it's moving into the freezer again, right, that's where it's 309 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: pulling the heat from the freezer into this boiled off 310 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: refrigerant and it goes through the system again. So really 311 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 1: you can think of the expansion valve and the condenser 312 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: as creating two different sections of this system. In one 313 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:46,200 Speaker 1: section you have low pressure and that's where the refrigerant 314 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,719 Speaker 1: can absorb heat, and then the other section you have 315 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: high pressure and that's where the refrigerant condenses and releases 316 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:58,120 Speaker 1: heat to the outside environment. So a lot of industrial 317 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: modern ice cream machines use this method, and again it's 318 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: pretty simple really when you get down to it. I mean, 319 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: you do have a motor that you have to deal 320 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 1: with with the condenser, right like, that's an actual motorized 321 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: part of the system. But otherwise you're using valves and 322 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: pipes to just take advantage of physics in order to 323 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: make a section very cold and to transfer that heat 324 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: to the outside again, same way the air conditioners work. 325 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 1: So pretty cool anyway, This is just one component obviously, 326 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: of ice cream machines, even the one we talked about 327 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: earlier with the ice and rock salt. Cooling it down 328 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:40,920 Speaker 1: is just one part of it. Another part of it 329 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: is churning the ice cream. When you churn ice cream, 330 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: you're introducing air into the mixture, into the fat, the milk, 331 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: and the sugar and whatever else may be in it. 332 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: This makes the ice cream fluffier. You wouldn't want just 333 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: a solid block of sweetened cream. It would be very 334 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: difficult to eat. You want it to have that consistency 335 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: where it's kind of cloudlike and fluffy. Churning more and 336 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 1: more air into this mixture will make it softer and softer. 337 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,159 Speaker 1: So if you are able to do this enough, you 338 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: can make it soft enough so that you can treat 339 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: the ice cream as if it's a semi liquid. You know, 340 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,680 Speaker 1: you can use you know, pumps and stuff, or even 341 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:27,199 Speaker 1: just gravity to allow it to flow through pipes or 342 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,199 Speaker 1: a valve or a spigot as it were. Now this 343 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: brings us back to mister Charles Taylor back in nineteen 344 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: twenty six, so he files his patent in December nineteen 345 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 1: twenty six. The patent is still available for you to read. 346 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:43,879 Speaker 1: In fact, I did read it. I looked at the 347 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: images and everything. It's pretty cool. No pun intended it 348 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,360 Speaker 1: used a compressor and use condenser coils and that kind 349 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,880 Speaker 1: of thing. It did rely on a salted liquid as 350 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: the refrigerant and It used an electric motor to provide 351 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: the churning motion in the freezing chambers, so it didn't 352 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: require a human being to use their actual physical labor 353 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,440 Speaker 1: to churn the ice cream. And his ice cream chamber 354 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: also featured a spout where you could draw the soft 355 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: ice cream out by opening up a valve. There's some 356 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: disagreement in the world of ice cream, which I did 357 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,400 Speaker 1: not realize was a thing, but it is. But there's 358 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 1: some disagreement as to whether Chuck Taylor, Charlie Taylor, Charles 359 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: I guess I should say, invented soft serve ice cream actually, 360 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 1: or if someone else did, Whether he invented soft serve 361 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: ice cream or he just made a machine that was 362 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,160 Speaker 1: really good at making it. The end of the line 363 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: is that his device worked, and that's when he moved 364 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,640 Speaker 1: out of becoming an ice cream businessman to a ice 365 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: cream maker businessman. He made the equipment that other ice 366 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:02,119 Speaker 1: cream shops would end up using, and thus was born 367 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: the Taylor Freezer Company. Okay, we're gonna now flash forward 368 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: by three decades. Now. We're up to nineteen fifty six. 369 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: That was the year when the head of the McDonald's Corporation, 370 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: a guy named Ray Croc, whom you can learn about 371 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: in Other Stuff podcasts. I think Stuff you Should Know 372 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: has done an episode on him. I'm sure like there's 373 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,880 Speaker 1: been stuff I Know. Ben Bullen must have talked about 374 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 1: Ray Croc at least once or twice in some of 375 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,919 Speaker 1: his shows. Anyway, Raycroc made a deal with the Taylor 376 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: Freezer Company to buy Taylor machines so that his restaurants 377 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: could make milkshakes and that kind of thing, and this 378 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,959 Speaker 1: became a long standing partnership between McDonald's and Taylor. That 379 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: partnership continues to this very day. Now. A few years back, 380 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: McDonald's did sign a contract with another ice cream machine 381 00:22:55,560 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: company called Carpigiani. So technically franchises have two options when 382 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 1: it comes to buying an ice cream machine for their store, 383 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,120 Speaker 1: but they have to buy it from one of those 384 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: two vendors because of this contract. Like you, as a 385 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 1: franchise owner, you do own the store, but you still 386 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: have obligations to the corporate entity of McDonald's and one 387 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,399 Speaker 1: of those is you've got to work with McDonald's suppliers, 388 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: and that includes the suppliers for their equipment. You can't 389 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: go outside the restaurant's family to do that kind of stuff. 390 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,719 Speaker 1: But this still raises a question. Here are these tailor 391 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,400 Speaker 1: you know, freezer machines, these ice cream machines that can 392 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: make all sorts of stuff when they're working, But why 393 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: are they so frequently out of order? Right? Like, this 394 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: is a company that traces its history back to nineteen 395 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,959 Speaker 1: twenty six, What is the problem that causes essentially a 396 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: third of all of the McDonald's franchises in the United 397 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: States to list that their ice cream machine is currently 398 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 1: you know, off the menu as it were. Why are 399 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: they not working? Well? This comes down to a few 400 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: key factors. One is that proper operation of the tailor 401 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:13,119 Speaker 1: ice cream machine that you find in McDonald's includes a 402 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: cleaning process that is complicated. To put it lightly, part 403 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: of that process is a four hour cleaning mode. During 404 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: that mode, the machine actually heats up with the purpose 405 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,679 Speaker 1: to sanitize everything, which makes sense, right You're handling a 406 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:34,679 Speaker 1: lot of food items. You don't want anything to potentially 407 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: cause food poisoning or for any contaminated food to cause 408 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: an issue, So obviously cleaning is important and sanitizing makes sense. 409 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: But when you are sanitizing it, you can't be using 410 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: it to make ice cream, right. It's heating up and 411 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: the process, like I said, takes four hours to do it. 412 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,879 Speaker 1: Whether or not the four hours aren't necessary for this process, 413 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: I can't say, but that's how long it takes, and 414 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,399 Speaker 1: that means there's four hours of not making ice cream 415 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: per day. Now. Of course, you could just run this 416 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,959 Speaker 1: mode as the McDonald's is closing for the night, and 417 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,200 Speaker 1: then technically it should just be ready to go by 418 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,119 Speaker 1: opening of the next day, right, But it is just 419 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,479 Speaker 1: one part of a multi step process. I think there 420 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: were eleven steps total for cleaning these ice cream machines. 421 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: And if someone goofs up while going through this cleaning process, 422 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,120 Speaker 1: you might end up getting an error code. Now, as 423 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: I fix It discovered, the support documentation for the Tailor 424 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:46,440 Speaker 1: ice cream machines is let's just say it's somewhat lacking. 425 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: It lacks comprehensibility. It may be difficult for you to 426 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: even find an error code in the manual, and once 427 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,639 Speaker 1: you do, the explanation in the manual may not be 428 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: sufficient for you to be able to figure out what 429 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:05,439 Speaker 1: exactly is wrong and how to fix it. So if 430 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 1: you do mess something up, you could get an error code, 431 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: but have no idea of what to do in order 432 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 1: to clear the problem. At that point, the solution is 433 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:20,000 Speaker 1: to call a service person from Taylor and they send 434 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: out a licensed, authorized service person to your your store 435 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: and they do some maintenance and repair on the machine. 436 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: That service has a very high price tag. According to 437 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: I fix It. For fifteen minutes of service time, it 438 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: costs three hundred and fifteen dollars, not an hour of 439 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,199 Speaker 1: service time. That's just fifteen minutes. If you took an 440 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: entire hour to have this machine repaired, if it took 441 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: the service person an hour to fix whatever the problem was, 442 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: that would set you back oney two hundred and sixty bucks. 443 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 1: That's some expensive ice cream, my friend. And again, according 444 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: to ifix it, one quarter of tailor's revenue comes from 445 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: the service calls, So wrap your head around that. A 446 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,440 Speaker 1: company that makes ice cream machines and other stuff too. 447 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: Admittedly they make grills another equipment. Anyway, twenty five percent 448 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: of their revenue comes not from their sales, but by 449 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: sending out folks to fix those machines, which probably not 450 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: a great selling point. Really, Like, if you are a 451 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,399 Speaker 1: customer and you find out that the vendor you're considering 452 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 1: makes one quarter of their revenue by fixing the devices 453 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,959 Speaker 1: they sell. That raises the question of, well, how reliable 454 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: is your product? Because if you're making one quarter of 455 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: your revenue just from fixing the stuff you make, how 456 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,480 Speaker 1: often does it break? Because that sounds like it breaks 457 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: a lot, because these are not cheap machines either. So 458 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: I fix it suggests that perhaps, again this is just 459 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: an observation, it's not a conclusion, but perhaps the uninformative 460 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: technical manuals and the complicated cleaning process could be intentional 461 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: in part as a way to generate service calls. It's 462 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,200 Speaker 1: kind of like planned obsolescence, you know. That's that concept 463 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,200 Speaker 1: that companies build into their devices a limited shelf life 464 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,679 Speaker 1: or a limited life cycle, so that they will break 465 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: at a point where someone will have to replace it. 466 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: It's kind of related to that that if Taylor's documentation 467 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: were actually more helpful, maybe someone at the McDonald's could 468 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: just hop in and do whatever was needed to clear 469 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 1: out the error code, and then the ice cream would 470 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: be back on the menu and there'd be very little 471 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: downtime for the machine. But it appears that Taylor decided 472 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: to make it very challenging for anyone other than someone 473 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: from within their ecosystem to do this kind of stuff. 474 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: That really became are in a few years ago when 475 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: some hackers built a device using a Raspberry pie board. 476 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: I've talked about the Raspberry Pie before. It's essentially a 477 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 1: computer on a chip. Super cool. Anyway, this company created 478 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: a device, and actually the company itself had the same 479 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: name as the device, Kitch Kytch. This Kitch device could 480 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,960 Speaker 1: plug into a USB port that's inside the tailor ice 481 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:27,960 Speaker 1: cream machine. If you watch that I Fix It video, 482 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: they'll actually show you where that USB port would be found. 483 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: And whenever you would have an inevitable error message pop 484 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: up on this machine, you could plug the Kitch device 485 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: into the ice cream maker. It would read the error 486 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,720 Speaker 1: code and it would actually tell you what the problem was, 487 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: and you know, potentially even how to fix it. So 488 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: rather than have to thumb through this technical manual and 489 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 1: maybe you never even find the error code in there 490 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 1: because it's not arranged in a way that makes a 491 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: whole lot of sense, you get a readout right away 492 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: on a connected device and you're able to take action. Now, 493 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: a McDonald's franchise owner could purchase one of these Kitch 494 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: devices and have the ability to address at least the 495 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: less serious issues with their ice cream machines, you know, 496 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: ones that wouldn't require someone to come out and maybe 497 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: swap out apart or anything like that, and the ice 498 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: cream machine would have less downtime. That would be great news. 499 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:33,800 Speaker 1: But I bet you can already guess what happened next. 500 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: If you can't, don't worry. After this quick break, I'll 501 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: be back and I'll explain what happened next. So Kitch 502 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: comes out with this USB device built on a Raspberry 503 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: Pie that will explain what the error codes and these 504 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: tailor ice cream machines actually mean and potentially help you 505 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: fix the problem. But McDonald's corporate was not happy about 506 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:10,040 Speaker 1: this because at the corporate level, McDonald's had signed an 507 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: exclusive service contract with Taylor and this would mean that 508 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: if they allowed their franchise operators to use a Kitch 509 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 1: device and potentially sidestep the service contract, they would be 510 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: in violation of that contract with Taylor. So the corporate 511 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: leaders decided to send out a message to all franchises saying, hey, 512 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 1: we know this thing exists, this diagnostic tool, but don't 513 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 1: go us in it and Essentially, they put the pressure 514 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: on the different restaurant franchisees who for the most part 515 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: stopped using the Kitch device because it wasn't worth the 516 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: frustration and the pressure from corporate and the threats that 517 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: you know, maybe the franchise would end up getting into 518 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: real trouble if they didn't just play ball with the 519 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 1: service contract stuff. Now, the folks that I Fix it 520 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: say that the two really big issues with these machines 521 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: are that one, they will stop working if they overheat, right, 522 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: which not that unusual for technology. Technology when it gets 523 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 1: too hot, often will just stop working, and these ice 524 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: cream machines are no different. So if they're in high demand, 525 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: they can overheat, and then what you end up is 526 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 1: ice cream that never actually solidifies. It just becomes goofy, 527 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: and it can take a while for the machines to 528 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: cool down enough to work again, so they essentially become offline. 529 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: The other big issue is the one we've talked about 530 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: just just recently. This idea about these error codes, paired 531 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: with a really substandard technical manual, make it difficult, if 532 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 1: not impossible, to figure out just what has gone wrong 533 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 1: at any given time, so you can't really do anything 534 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: about it except make a service call request. The I 535 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: fix It video is great. They even open up a machine, 536 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: They show all the different components. They explain, you know, 537 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,719 Speaker 1: where some of the issues can happen, explain what some 538 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 1: of the switches do. They also talk about a really 539 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: infuriating legal problem here in the United States that blocks 540 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: I fix It or anyone else from creating a tool 541 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: like the kitch. Why that's technically against the law because 542 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 1: of the DMCA or Digital Millennial Copyright Act. And maybe 543 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:29,760 Speaker 1: you're thinking, how the heck does copyright law get into this. Well, 544 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: the DMCA allows for essentially the owner of intellectual property 545 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:41,720 Speaker 1: to create digital locks to protect that property, and it's 546 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: illegal to try and get around those locks. This, in 547 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 1: my opinion, is a big, old stupid decision that the 548 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: government made that has terrible consequences, and it's been in 549 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: place since the nineties. So let me put it another way. 550 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: Let's imagine a scenario where you've bought yourself a shiny 551 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: music CD and I get it. You know CDs are 552 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:11,000 Speaker 1: not really the popular format, but let's just imagine for 553 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,880 Speaker 1: the sake of argument, you've gone out you bought yourself 554 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 1: a CD of an album that you've always wanted. Maybe 555 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: it's one that's not available digitally, and you love the 556 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: music on this CD and you plan to listen to 557 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 1: it a lot. You're going to even take it around 558 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: with you and stuff. So you're a little concerned that 559 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 1: you could be putting through the CD through a lot 560 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,759 Speaker 1: of wear and tear, and as such, you want to 561 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,840 Speaker 1: make a backup copy of the contents of that CD 562 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,240 Speaker 1: so that you still have that in case something happens 563 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 1: to the CD itself. Now, copyright law in the United 564 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: States allows you to do this. It is covered under 565 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,360 Speaker 1: fair use. You can make a copy of material for 566 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: the purposes of backup or archival. That's fine as long 567 00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:59,239 Speaker 1: as you're not distributing it, and you know you're pretty 568 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:01,240 Speaker 1: much in the clear. Just you can make a copy 569 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: for your own purposes. But let's say that the company 570 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:10,920 Speaker 1: that pressed this music CD included some digital rights management, 571 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:15,080 Speaker 1: some DRM stuff on the CD itself, and that is 572 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:18,759 Speaker 1: meant to prevent unauthorized copying. But the problem is it 573 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 1: actually prevents all copying, even if it otherwise would be legal, 574 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,759 Speaker 1: because you can't you can't really create a digital system 575 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: that's like, oh, in this instance, we'll let you make 576 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:31,920 Speaker 1: a backup copy, but in every other case we're going 577 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:34,760 Speaker 1: to prevent it from happening. Instead, it's an all or nothing, 578 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:39,279 Speaker 1: We're going to prevent any kind of copying whatsoever that happens. Right. 579 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:43,160 Speaker 1: That's part of what a lot of DRM issues run into. Well. 580 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:45,920 Speaker 1: Hackers have spent a lot of time making tools that 581 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,319 Speaker 1: can circumvent different types of DRM, including the kind that 582 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:53,880 Speaker 1: was sometimes put on compact discs. So the DMCA has 583 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:58,319 Speaker 1: within it rules that say it's against the law to 584 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,439 Speaker 1: use or make those kinds of tools or to try 585 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,200 Speaker 1: and get around digital protection in the first place. So 586 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,520 Speaker 1: you have the legal right to back up the material 587 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,600 Speaker 1: that's on that CD, but you do not have the 588 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:15,000 Speaker 1: legal right to get around the digital locks that prevent 589 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 1: you from making the copy. This is kind of like 590 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 1: saying everything inside that bank vault belongs to you. However, 591 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 1: it is illegal for you to open the bank vault, 592 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:26,840 Speaker 1: to breach it in any way to penetrate the walls. 593 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:29,600 Speaker 1: You can't get to the stuff that's inside the vault. 594 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,319 Speaker 1: It belongs to you, but you can't get to it. 595 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,440 Speaker 1: So again, in my opinion, this is dumb. It is 596 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: a dumb consequence here that has really hurt consumers, especially 597 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: just like regular valid consumers who have bought stuff and 598 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: could not make a backup because there were these preventions 599 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,840 Speaker 1: in place for a problem that really isn't as big 600 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:59,480 Speaker 1: as the companies would have you believe. Anyway, The folks 601 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 1: that I Fix It plan to appeal to Congress to 602 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:05,480 Speaker 1: try and create exemptions to DMCA for the purposes of 603 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 1: maintenance and repair, including for industrial equipment like the tailor 604 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: ice cream machine. So not just that machine. This is 605 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:17,480 Speaker 1: an issue that is prevalent throughout the tech sector and 606 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:21,240 Speaker 1: the industrial sector. It's not just for these ice cream machines. 607 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: But until Congress makes such an exemption and writes it 608 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:31,840 Speaker 1: into law, trying to create ways to help folks avoid 609 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:36,400 Speaker 1: what some might view as extortionate service practices is technically 610 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:39,280 Speaker 1: against the law. You can't make the tools that bypass 611 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 1: those locks, even if it's legal for you to make 612 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,719 Speaker 1: the repairs yourself. The locks you can't get around. I mean, 613 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,880 Speaker 1: you could technically get around them, but legally you're not 614 00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:53,560 Speaker 1: supposed to. It is another one of those weird not 615 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: quite a catch twenty two. It's not quite that level, 616 00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:02,719 Speaker 1: but it's real close, and it is infuriating. It's one 617 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 1: of those that lets you makes you look at politics 618 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:08,719 Speaker 1: and bureaucracy and you just say, I'm just gonna go 619 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,879 Speaker 1: live in the woods and I'll take a handcraked ice 620 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:13,560 Speaker 1: cream machine with me because I don't have to worry 621 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,239 Speaker 1: about that one so much. Anyway, I thought that this 622 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:19,399 Speaker 1: was going to be a pretty fun way to kind 623 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,640 Speaker 1: of explore the right to repair, the issues with things 624 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:25,759 Speaker 1: like copyright law that make the right to repair that 625 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:30,880 Speaker 1: much more complicated, and why it always seems to be 626 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 1: the case that when you go to Mickey D's and 627 00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:36,279 Speaker 1: you want yourself an ice cream, you can't get one 628 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: because the ding dang darn machine is down. Now we understand, 629 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,520 Speaker 1: or at least we have a better grip on it. Also, 630 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 1: make sure you go and check out that I Fix 631 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:48,279 Speaker 1: It video. Like I said, it's really good. They talk 632 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,640 Speaker 1: a lot more about the systems inside the machines. They 633 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 1: give a passionate plea for the right to repair and 634 00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:00,160 Speaker 1: the need for change in copyright law in the United States. 635 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:03,160 Speaker 1: It's well worth your time to watch. I don't have 636 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,040 Speaker 1: any connection to the I Fix It people, by the way, 637 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: I don't know any of them personally. I've never worked 638 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:10,160 Speaker 1: for the company. I just like their stuff. That's it 639 00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:13,440 Speaker 1: for this episode. I hope you're all well and staying cool. 640 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:15,799 Speaker 1: Get yourself an ice cream, and I'll talk to you 641 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:26,680 Speaker 1: again really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For 642 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:31,640 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 643 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:37,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.