1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: He there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: Johnan Strickland. I'm an executive producer for I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you. It's time for the 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: tech news for Thursday, July seven, two thousand twenty two. 6 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: And while the biggest news today is about a world 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: leader resigning, that's not directly related to text. So we'll 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: just have to settle on some runners up and this 9 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,319 Speaker 1: will be a fairly quick episode, I think. Now. Our 10 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: first story is about a man named Brennan Lawson who 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: has sued his former employer, which happens to be Meta, 12 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:50,599 Speaker 1: you know, Facebook. Lawslin was part of Facebook's escalations team. 13 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: For those who are not in the know, and I 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: count myself among them because I learned about this today. 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: The escalations team is part of Facebook's content moderation strategy. UH. 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: The escalation team typically handles higher profile content moderation instances, 17 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 1: such as when someone in a government position flags content 18 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: on Facebook, so it's kind of the fast lane for 19 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: content review and moderation. Anyway, Lawson claims that while he 20 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: was working in that department, he saw that Facebook employees 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: could retrieve information that users had deleted, such as messages 22 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 1: that were sent between different users on Facebook Messenger. That 23 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: actually contradicts Facebook's claims that once a user deletes content 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: off the platform, Facebook subsequently wipes that content off its 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: own servers. Lawson said that there were cases in which 26 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: law enforcement would demand access to user information during investigations, 27 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: for example, and that Facebook employees would regularly retrieve information, 28 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: including the deleted stuff, and then review it before deciding 29 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: what to pass on to law enforcement. Lawson objected to 30 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: this practice, saying that Facebook was, you know, being disingenuous, 31 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: is being dishonest with its users. Lawson claims he was 32 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: subsequently fired in a retaliatory action, one that Facebook masked 33 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: by saying that it was actually because Lawson had mishandled 34 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: a situation in which he attempted to help his grandmother, 35 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: who said her account had been hacked. According to Business Insider, 36 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: Facebook said Lawson failed to fill out a field in 37 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: an online form with his grandmother's email address. Now, I 38 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: didn't realize that was such a terrible mistake that it 39 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: would warrant termination anyway. If Lawson's claims are true, then 40 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: I expect we'll see a lot more pressure applied to Facebook. 41 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: Presumably this capability to look at deleted material wouldn't work 42 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: if you were to enable end to end encryption in 43 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: your Facebook messenger app, assuming that it really is true 44 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: end to end encryption, because if it is is, then 45 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 1: no other parties besides the ones actually in the conversation 46 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 1: should be able to see the contents of that conversation. 47 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: So I guess this is really me saying that if 48 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: you want your private messages to remain private, you should 49 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: switch to end to end encryption, because that's not on 50 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: by default. We've got a couple of stories about law 51 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: enforcement agencies and intelligence operations issuing warnings about hackers, and 52 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: first up, it's all about China. The US FBI and 53 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: the u k m I five issued a joint statement 54 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: warning the world about Chinese hackers and the country's increased 55 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: online activity. The warning largely focused on two different kinds 56 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: of threats. One involves attempts to interfere in political and 57 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: democratic processes in various countries. The two agencies indicated that 58 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: Chinese hackers had been actively attempting to disrupt elections in 59 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: various countries, really in an effort to shape global politics. Uh, 60 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: most lee in a way that benefits China, which is 61 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: pretty you know, that's that's pretty obvious. I guess The 62 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: other big branch involves technological espionage, namely that Chinese hackers 63 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: are attempting to steal technology and information, and that China 64 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: poses as a huge threat to Western businesses. In fact, 65 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: FBI Director Christopher Ray said that China's hacking department is 66 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: quote bigger than that of every other major country combined 67 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: end quote. Representatives from China were quick to dismiss the claims, 68 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,599 Speaker 1: saying that they are untrue and it's an example of 69 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: Western countries demonizing China. The FBI also issued another warning 70 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: about hackers, this time regarding North Korean state sponsored hacking groups. 71 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: This warning was about ransomware attacks. North Korean hackers have 72 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: been targeting various healthcare institutions with these attacks, attempting to 73 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: lock down computer network systems while demanding ransoms to return 74 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: operations to the healthcare entities. Obviously, any disruption of a 75 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: healthcare company's system is a crisis, which is why hackers 76 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: target these organizations in the first place. It's very difficult 77 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: to tell a hospital to be patient and to not 78 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: pay off a ransom when patients lives could potentially hang 79 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: in the balance. The FBI stresses that paying a ransom 80 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: is never a good idea. For one thing, there's never 81 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: a guarantee that the hackers will actually return access to 82 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: the locked off systems, so you could pay and still 83 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: be locked out. But another reason is because every ransom 84 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: that is paid ends up justifying the attack. If the 85 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,479 Speaker 1: attacks end up being profitable, then there's going to be 86 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: more attacks. If targets refuse to pay ransoms, the attacks 87 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: don't pay off, and you know, the thought goes the 88 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: hackers will turn to something else rather than spending their 89 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: time and effort doing something that nets them no financial gain. 90 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: As for why North Korea sponsoring these attacks, the hypothesis 91 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: is that it's all in an effort to secure more 92 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: funds to pay for weapons such as nuclear weapons, as 93 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: various sanctions around the world have otherwise placed tight restrictions 94 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: on North Korea. One hacking story that we've talked about 95 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: several times on Tech Stuff involves Apple devices. You might 96 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: remember the Israeli company n s O Group famous for 97 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: creating a product called Pegasus. Pegasus is essentially an attack 98 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: that can compromise an iOS device like an iPhone simply 99 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: by sending this attack over I message. The target wouldn't 100 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,919 Speaker 1: even have to open the message for that attack to work, 101 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: at least previously, so their phone would just become a 102 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: surveillance device that was really under the control of the 103 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 1: person who committed the attack. While Apple would subsequently patch 104 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: out that particular vulnerability, The experience prompted the company to 105 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: create a new feature called lockdown Mode. Now, lockdown mode 106 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: is meant for high profile iPhone users, people like politicians, journalists, 107 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: political activists, that kind of thing, the type of people 108 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: who would frequently become the targets of this type of attack, 109 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: because you know, NSL group sells this this tool to 110 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: various country governments, many of which are, let's say they 111 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: lean heavily authoritarian. And while the claim is that this 112 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: tool is meant to help fight things like terrorism, the 113 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: reality is this tool has been used to attack lots 114 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: of different people, many of whom are not terrorists, but 115 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: do pose a threat to authoritarian regimes. So lockdown mode 116 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: turns off many of the iPhones features in an effort 117 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: to reduce the pathways that a hacker could take to 118 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: compromise an iOS device. So one such feature would be 119 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: the preview function and eye message. You know this, this 120 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: function that would have activated an attack like Pegasus. However, 121 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: there are also a ton of other features that lockdown 122 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: mode disables, including ones that most users would probably want 123 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: to retain access to. Like, you probably don't want to 124 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: put your phone in lockdown mode if you're just a 125 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: typical user. And again, Apple intends lockdown mode for those 126 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: users who are more likely to be targeted by these 127 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: kinds of attacks, you know, like state sponsored attacks. Most 128 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: of us don't warrant that kind of attention. Uh. The 129 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,719 Speaker 1: mode goes into a beta test this week, and from 130 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: what I understand, it will be available to all iPhone 131 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: users later this year. So while you might not have 132 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: a need for this feature, it should be available to 133 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: you if you would want to enable it. Just know 134 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: that if you do enable it, you'll be eliminating a 135 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: whole bunch of the selling points that Apple leans on 136 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: when it's promoting the iPhone. Then again, if you are 137 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: a high profile user, that tradeoff might not be such 138 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: a bad deal. It's been a hot minute since I've 139 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: mentioned Elon Musk in one of these episodes, and really 140 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,079 Speaker 1: it's just gonna be a tangential thing here because this 141 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: is more about how employees who are leaving Tesla are 142 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: getting scooped up in other big tech companies. So Musk 143 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: tweeted a few weeks ago that they were going to 144 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: be cutbacks at Tesla. Then he kind of went back 145 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: and forth about what that actually meant. And he also 146 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: demanded that employees put in a full forty hour work 147 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: week at the office before even thinking about working remotely, 148 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: which you know, some folks interpreted as an attempt to 149 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: encourage employees to resign rather than have to go through layoffs. Well, 150 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: a report from Punks and pen Stripes, which describes itself 151 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: as a quote private network of transformation executives end quote, 152 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: has tracked some four fifty former Tesla employees as they 153 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: moved on and updated their linked in profiles to indicate 154 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: where they had gone to. So, according to those changes 155 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: on LinkedIn, ninety former Tesla employees found work with rival 156 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: electric vehicle companies Rivian and Lucid Motors. Eight former Tesla 157 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: employees listed their new employer as one of the more 158 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 1: traditional auto manufacturing companies. That is, you know, a company 159 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: that might make electric vehicles, but it's not exclusively in 160 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: that business, so companies like Ford or General Motors. Other 161 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: former Tesla folks moved to companies like Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, 162 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: and Amazon, some of them going to an Amazon backed 163 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: company called zooks zo o X, which is an autonomous 164 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: vehicle company. A few ten in fact kept it in 165 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: the family then moved on over to SpaceX, a different 166 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: elhon must company. And this report is kind of interesting 167 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: because a lot of news pieces have talked about how 168 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: companies in the tech sector have largely initiated hiring free 169 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: is uh and and these changes make it sound like 170 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: it's not quite at that level. There are companies that 171 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: have put in hiring freezes, but it's not industry wide. 172 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: A lot of companies have been cutting back on hiring, 173 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,839 Speaker 1: but they haven't eliminated it entirely. So just to kind 174 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: of mitigate some of the fear, uncertainty and doubt out there. 175 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: Not to say that things are hunky dory and all rosy, 176 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: but they're not. They're also not as dire as some 177 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: reports tend to make it out to be. Now, there 178 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: are plenty of signs of concern that economic factors are 179 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: going to remain let's say, challenging for the near future, 180 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: so we should keep that in mind as well. We'll 181 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: have some more stories, but first let's take a quick break. 182 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 1: Before the break, we were talking electric vehicles, and speaking 183 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: of e vs, Consumer Reports released a survey result that 184 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: indicated that twenty eight percent of Americans who are surveyed 185 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: say they would not buy an electric vehicle. And you 186 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: might wonder, well, what's the reason why did they say that? 187 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: And there are actually several different reasons that people cited. 188 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: One is the concern about driving range. You know, how 189 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: far you can go on a single charge in an 190 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: electric vehicle. There's this continuing fear of becoming stranded, like 191 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: on a highway because your car ran out of juice. 192 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: That fear really isn't an issue for most people under 193 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,719 Speaker 1: normal driving situations. Electric vehicles have ranges well beyond what 194 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: most commutes involved. So like the average commute in the 195 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: United States is between thirty and forty miles round trip, 196 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: and electric vehicles typically have a driving range of more 197 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: than two hundred miles, like two hundred thirty miles. A 198 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: couple of years ago, it was actually higher, it was 199 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: like two fifty miles on a single charge. So assuming 200 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: you were recharging your v hicle at home every day, 201 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: you'd be fine to go to and from work, plus 202 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: run all your errands and not have to worry about 203 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: running out of battery. Road trips would be a different story, 204 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: of course. But another big concern that people cited was 205 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,319 Speaker 1: the lack of charging stations. That there's not the infrastructure 206 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,719 Speaker 1: to support electric vehicles. And it is true that there 207 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: are not nearly as many electric vehicle recharging stations, and 208 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: they're not nearly as accessible as gas stations are, like 209 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: those outnumber electric vehicle charging stations by a huge factor. 210 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,079 Speaker 1: But another reason that people said they wouldn't buy any 211 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: v was because of the cost of electric vehicles. And 212 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,080 Speaker 1: they are pretty darn expensive. And that's even within the 213 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: context of how all cars are pretty darn expensive right now. 214 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: Consumer Reports indicates that a lack of education about electric 215 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: vehicles is one of the reasons for this significant response. 216 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:58,560 Speaker 1: I mean, we're talking about more than a quarter of 217 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: all those who were surveyed here. It appears that many 218 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: of those survey didn't know about various economic incentives that 219 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: can offset the price of electric vehicles, nor did they 220 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: understand the driving range capability of these vehicles, So it 221 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: could be that more education would mean future surveys would 222 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: show very different results. More education is definitely needed if 223 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 1: we want to see more states push for moving off 224 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: of internal combustion engine vehicles in favor of electric vehicles. Uh. 225 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: If we don't have education and people are acting on 226 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: a misunderstanding of the capabilities of e vs, then they're 227 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: more likely to you know, vote against it, which when 228 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: you're talking about finding ways to reduce climate impact. Uh, 229 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: we need every single step to go in the right direction, 230 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: and any delay is just gonna make matters worse. The 231 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: Competition and Markets Authority or c m A in the 232 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: UK is investigating Amazon to see if the company is 233 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: unfairly rigging the game on its platform. And I almost 234 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: didn't include this story because I'm certain it's one we've 235 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: talked about before, but apparently this is a more recent investigation. 236 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: So at issue here is how Amazon promotes Amazon owned 237 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: brands to consumers, and the argument is that Amazon will 238 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: display its own brands ahead of competitors, which pushes customers 239 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: to buy more Amazon products, and those might not be 240 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: the best version of you know, whatever the product is, 241 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: or it might not be the least expensive or whatever, 242 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: so customers could be sent to purchase a quote unquote 243 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: bad deal, and that Amazon is profiting over its competitors 244 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: because it's not giving the competitors a fair shake for 245 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: customers to even see the products. And we've seen this 246 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: sort of case pop up several times, like including in 247 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: the EU and here in America, and not just targeting Amazon, 248 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: although that is a frequent target of this particular criticism. 249 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: Lots of companies have been accused of promoting their own 250 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: products on their own platforms and then subsequently kind of 251 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: burying the competition in the process. If we were to 252 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: use an analogy, imagine that you go to a grocery 253 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: store and all the store branded products are in prominent 254 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: locations on shelves. They're organized, they're shiny, they're lovely, and 255 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: then all the name brand stuff, which is not owned 256 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: by the store is hidden off in corners or high 257 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: up on shelves where they're hard to reach, or maybe 258 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: on the bottom shelf where it's hard to see. That's 259 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: kind of what the c m A is looking into 260 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: with Amazon. Company reps say that Amazon will work with 261 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: the c m A during this investigation and that the 262 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: company has quote always worked hard to help small businesses 263 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: selling on Amazon to succeed, which is both in their 264 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: and our best interests end quote. I suppose the investigation 265 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: will determine if that claim is in fact accurate. Finally, 266 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: research firm Ampere Analysis predicts that we're gonna see a 267 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: dip in video game sales this year, to the tune 268 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: of a one decline. Now, to put that in perspective, 269 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: we should acknowledge that the video game sector had some 270 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: pretty impressive growth over the last two years. From the 271 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: industry saw a growth of and ultimately grew to a 272 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: hundred billion dollar industry. This little dip would mean that 273 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: by the end of this year, we're looking more at 274 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: a one eight billion dollar industry that's still bookoos of buckos. Right. 275 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,439 Speaker 1: As for an explanation of these changes, well, there are 276 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: a couple right. The first, and perhaps most obviously, the 277 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: pandemic created a bit of a boom for video games sales, 278 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: even as we saw numerous titles experienced production delays due 279 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: to COVID. Now we've got more folks going out and 280 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: abountain fewer of them are staying home all day every day. 281 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: Plus you know, the concern over economic recession has a 282 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,160 Speaker 1: lot of people easing off on their purchases, and then 283 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,640 Speaker 1: there are the continuing issues around supply. It still hard 284 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: to find the most recent consoles on the market. It's 285 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 1: still hard to find like the top end video game cards, 286 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: which are slowly becoming less scarce and less expensive, but 287 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 1: they're still not widely available, nor are they backed down 288 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: to m s r P levels. So you could think 289 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: of this dip as a type of market adjustment and 290 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: not some sort of omen that the video game sector 291 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 1: is in trouble as a whole. Though. You know, some 292 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 1: companies like Activision Blizzard are still in the hot seat 293 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: for multiple reasons, but that's another story. That's it for 294 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 1: today's news on tech Stuff. If you have suggestions for 295 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: future topics, please reach out to me. You can do 296 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: that in a couple of ways. One way is just 297 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 1: on Twitter. Our handle is tech stuff hs W. 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I am slowly getting back 308 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: to where I was pre COVID, so I keep hoping 309 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,119 Speaker 1: that the next time I record, I'll be back to 310 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: pre COVID levels of Jonathan. Not quite there yet, but 311 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: getting there, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 312 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: Y Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For 313 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart 314 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 315 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:41,959 Speaker 1: favorite shows.