1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech stuff a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,600 Speaker 1: You see a sponsored post as your browsing Instagram, then 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: you go to a shopping app to buy a product 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 1: that you saw on Instagram. Well, you know that Facebook 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: would love to know all about that. And so numerous 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: app developers gather even more information about users than the 7 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: users might be aware, because that information can include stuff 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: outside of the developers own apps. What the A T 9 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: T function does is give users a notification about how 10 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,919 Speaker 1: an app wants to access their data, including whether they 11 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: want to collect data that is generated in between different apps, 12 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: and it gives users the opportunity to opt out of that. 13 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: And businesses like Facebook do not like this because they 14 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: suspect and probably correct e, that most people are going 15 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: to decline to share such data. That's not fair, yells Facebook, 16 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: you're hurting small businesses. Ah yes, Facebook, champion of small business. 17 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: All Right, I'm gonna drop the sarcasm and just say 18 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,839 Speaker 1: outright that if Facebook is upset about a feature that's 19 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: meant to give users more transparency as to how their 20 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: data is being collected and used, it's not because it 21 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:34,919 Speaker 1: will quote hurt small businesses end quote. It's because Facebook 22 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: profits off of user data, and any restriction to access 23 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: of user data represents a decrease in revenue for Facebook. Anyway, 24 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: Apple isn't backing down, though. I will say a t 25 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: T was ready months ago, but Apple actually held off 26 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: implementing it in order to get developer feedback and build 27 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: in some other options that would protect user data while 28 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: still giving companies marketing data. I'm signing with Apple on 29 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: this one, and that I think giving people the option 30 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: to either be part of a data collection system or 31 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: to be excluded from it, that's a good thing for 32 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 1: the individual consumer. Not that I think Apple is necessarily 33 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: being angelic here, that the company is taking a stance 34 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: that I can agree with. It also seems to be 35 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:27,839 Speaker 1: in line with previous conversations Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg 36 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: reportedly had with one another. Uh. There's a story that 37 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: Zuckerberg asked Cook about his advice of what Zuckerberg should 38 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: do in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal over 39 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: at Facebook, and Cook said that Facebook should just delete 40 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: all user data that was generated by third parties, and 41 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: Zuckerberg totally thought that was unreasonable. Um. Again, I side 42 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: with Cook on this one, But then Apple's business is 43 00:02:55,919 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: fundamentally different from Facebook's business. A Taiwanese publication claims that 44 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: Apple is behind schedule with regard to testing out it's 45 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: augmented reality glasses. According to reports, those glasses look a 46 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: lot like you know, high end sunglasses, but with thicker 47 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: frames to house all the electronics. The lenses themselves would 48 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: act as displays and allow you to see augmented reality 49 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: views of the world around you. If Apple can get 50 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: this right, they could represent a truly revolutionary a R device. 51 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: They could you know, step away from the dorky awkwardness 52 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: of products like Google Glass. And I say that as 53 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: someone who used to own a pair of Google Glass. 54 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: The original schedule, according to these reports, would have had 55 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: Apple in the second phase of testing at this point, 56 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: but that appears to have not happened yet. I should 57 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: add all of these reports are coming from non Apple sources, 58 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: and the company itself has remained pretty quiet about this 59 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: whole project. Apple would likely need to hold another phase 60 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: of testing after the second one, before going through you know, 61 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: more refined testing to tweak things and get it just right, 62 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: and then move toward volume production to make them at scale. 63 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: The original plan, according to these various third party sources. 64 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: Was to get into volume production by the beginning of 65 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, but now that might not be very likely. 66 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: We might see Apple announced this project at some point 67 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: this year, but we shouldn't expect to actually get our 68 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: hands on a pair of these until mid twenty twenty 69 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: two at the earliest, and it might be significantly later 70 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: than that. Then again, it's always possible that these sources 71 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: are off and maybe we'll get one more thing by 72 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: the end of one That would be spectacular. I imagine 73 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: these things are also going to be really expensive once 74 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: they launch. And one bit of good news for Apple, 75 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: the company has announced it will be opening up an 76 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: East Coast campus in North Carolina within the raw A. 77 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: Durham Research Triangle Park area. This is a part of 78 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: North Carolina that has a very high density of tech 79 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: companies doing some pretty amazing R and D in fields 80 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: like qualtum computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and lots of 81 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: stuff that requires people way smarter than I am. Apple 82 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: says it's going to invest more than a billion dollars 83 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: into creating this campus and that they will employ at 84 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: least three thousand people there. That's a big office Anyway, 85 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: I'm excited to see what sort of facility they create. 86 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: Maybe I'll even be able to visit it one day. 87 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: I mean, North Carolina is like next door to me, 88 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: kind of switching from Apple to fellow goliath Google. There 89 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: is a battle raging between Google and Roku, the company 90 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: that makes online video streaming devices like the Roku stick. 91 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: Roku sent a message out to customers on Monday saying 92 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: that the live TV service part of YouTube TV might 93 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: be shut down on Roku and possibly removed entirely. So 94 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: why is that Moroku's saying we're not doing it? According 95 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 1: to Roku, Google has been engaging in some anti competitive 96 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: demands and that Google has been looking to implement practices 97 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 1: that would quote manipulate your search results, impact the usage 98 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: of your data, and ultimately cost you more end quote. 99 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: A Roku rep also said Google might remove consumer access 100 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: to YouTube TV on Roku because Google has been demanding 101 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: these processes and Roku has been resisting those demands. It's 102 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: all a bit vague, and as I record this, I 103 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: don't have many more details. It sounds kind of like 104 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: the next generation version of carriage disputes, and these are 105 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: disagreements and negotiations that happened between platforms like a cable 106 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: service provider and content providers like channels. So, like I said, 107 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: you would occasionally see this with cable TV packages. If 108 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: you've ever been a customer of a specific cable company 109 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: and you wondered why a particular channel, or maybe even 110 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: a group of channels just mysteriously vanished from your service, 111 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: it's likely due to a carriage disagreement. We're seeing similar 112 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: issues now in the world of streaming, but it obviously 113 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: is taking a slightly different tack than the cable version 114 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: and sticking with the online entertainment world. Engagement in that 115 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: world is currency. Creators who can show that they get 116 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: great engagement numbers, can secure sponsorships, and they can make 117 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: lucrative deals. They can get contract work. Heck, drive enough 118 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: engagement and you don't have to hustle. Instead, you have 119 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: to manage the influx of collaboration and sponsorship requests, and 120 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: you get to decide who you're going to work with 121 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,679 Speaker 1: and who you're not. But what happens if it turns 122 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: out that those engagement numbers of yours are based on 123 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: a lie, Well, that's not so good. And sure enough 124 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: it is a problem. Just as people would pay money 125 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: in order to get tons of followers on Twitter and 126 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: raise their online social standing, there have been those who 127 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: have been doing that on Twitch to boost viewer numbers, 128 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: and recently Twitch struck back. The Amazon owned company has 129 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,239 Speaker 1: banned more than seven and a half million bot accounts 130 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: that Twitch says we're contributing to fake engagement. In other words, 131 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: these were bots that exist solely for the purpose of 132 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: making Twitch streamers seem more popular than they really are. 133 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: The accounts didn't belong to real people, according to Twitch, 134 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: They're all just sort of empty shells. And now Twitch 135 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: is using a machine learning process to discover fake accounts 136 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: and then banned them, cutting way back on those fake 137 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: engagement numbers. Now related to this issue are other issues 138 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: where people have used fake accounts to harass streamers, not 139 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: to boost their numbers, but to give them grief. They 140 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: might direct accounts to join a particular person stream and 141 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: then use those accounts to flood that streamer's chat with 142 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: abut and those streamers who weren't trying to boost their 143 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: own numbers, they had nothing, you know, connected to all 144 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: those bots suddenly coming on. They might have their reputations 145 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,439 Speaker 1: tarnished in the process because their numbers take this huge 146 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: jump that they can't easily explain. It makes them look 147 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: like they were the ones trying to buy views. So 148 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:25,559 Speaker 1: from hustlers taking shortcuts to abusers leveraging tech to intimidate 149 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: or harass other streamers, these boats are pretty lousy, and 150 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: I'm glad Twitch is making moves to get them off 151 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: the platform. Hey have you ever wanted to go to Mars? 152 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: Are you just dying to go there? Well you might 153 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: want to give Elon Musk a call. Then, the SpaceX 154 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: founder said in an interview that people going to Mars 155 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,439 Speaker 1: might not come back alive and that quote a bunch 156 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: of people will probably die in the beginning end quote. 157 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: So if you're looking for a one way ticket now, 158 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: I should say that. On the one hand, I credit 159 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: Musk's blind honesty here. Space is incredibly dangerous. I have 160 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: said many times that space is trying to kill you, 161 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: and Mars isn't much friendlier. The planet's atmosphere is far 162 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: too thin, with too little oxygen for people to breathe, 163 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: so you would have to wear a space suit or 164 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: otherwise be in a pressurized craft. The thin atmosphere coupled 165 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: with a lack of magneto sphere, means that Mars offers 166 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:32,239 Speaker 1: no real protection against stuff like cosmic radiation, and exposure 167 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: to cosmic radiation is not great. Most proposals I've seen 168 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: for colonies on Mars include building structures underground to take 169 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 1: advantage of the soil's protection. Cosmic radiation is not good 170 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: at penetrating soil, so you know, put a meter or 171 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: three of ground between you and the cosmos isn't a 172 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: bad idea. We might be able to harvest water on 173 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: Mars and thus be able to both supply water and 174 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,360 Speaker 1: potentially oxygen to people, as well as create rocket fuel, 175 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: but there are unanswered questions as to whether we'd be 176 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:10,079 Speaker 1: able to actually grow anything in Martian soil yet. And 177 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: the trip to Mars requires months of travel, and once 178 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: you're there, you gotta wait around two years of Earth 179 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: time before Earth and Mars are lined up so that 180 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: you can make a trip back home. That also means 181 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: you have to figure out how you're going to make 182 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: that trip back home, so you have to use a 183 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: spacecraft that can land and then take off again from Mars. 184 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: You could presumably take stuff with you to make this easier. 185 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: But obviously everything you end up taking is going to 186 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 1: require a much larger effort back here on Earth and 187 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: or descended to Mars in the first place. And all 188 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: of this is really theoretical right now, Obviously we haven't 189 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: sent anyone to Mars. But Musk is right, the project 190 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: of going to Mars is incredibly dangerous with really high risks. Ideally, 191 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,239 Speaker 1: whomever undertakes this challenge will do so with enough support 192 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: to stand a good chance of making it to Mars 193 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: and back again alive. Like that. That is the goal, right, 194 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: You shouldn't just dismiss it. So I don't disagree with 195 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: Musk's assessment that it is incredibly dangerous. However, I do 196 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 1: feel the way you phrased it seems to be dismissive 197 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: of human life, which I do have a problem with. 198 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: And you know what else, I have a problem with 199 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: some mammals. You see, Residents of Tumbler Bridge, British Columbia, 200 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: experienced a series of Internet outages early Saturday morning this 201 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: past weekend, and the reason was pretty much exactly what 202 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: you would expect. Beavers. Yep, it was a beaver problem, 203 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: as some of those furry critters chewed through fiber cable 204 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: at a couple of different points, severing the connection to 205 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,320 Speaker 1: the Internet at large. The cable had been buried three 206 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: ft underground and it also was coated with a conduit 207 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: that was four and a half inches thick to protect it. 208 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: But that beaver, it didn't care and went to town 209 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: on that cable. It dug it up and chewed through. 210 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: It turns out the beaver was upset at how Bitcoin 211 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: took a tumble last week. Just kidding, The beaver just 212 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,439 Speaker 1: didn't like the way the Falcon and the Winter Soldier ended, 213 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: and it was very upset. It's gonna have to wait 214 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: weeks for Loki to come out on Disney Plus. Now 215 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: I'm still kidding. The beaver, as far as I know, 216 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: has never actually been online, so this was not some 217 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: form of, you know, technological commentary. It did, however, use 218 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: some of the stuff it chewed through to be part 219 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: of its dam, so it made better use of the 220 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: Internet than a lot of us do. And finally, in 221 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 1: our news that has no relevance to Jonathan whatsoever segment 222 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,679 Speaker 1: Amazon is opening up a quote high tech hair salon 223 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: end quote in London. Now, I have not had to 224 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: see a barber since nine that's the last time I 225 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,719 Speaker 1: had hair. So for all I know, hair salons now 226 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: have robots and food and pill form and flying hairdressers. 227 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: But according to the BBC, this high tech sal on 228 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: will have magic mirrors. Okay, well they're not magic, but 229 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: they are mirrors that incorporate augmented reality features in them 230 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: that will allow customers to see how certain hairstyles and 231 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: colors would look on them before they commit to anything. 232 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: So they'll see their reflection in the mirror, but their 233 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: hairstyle will be a digital overlay and they can figure 234 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: out which one they prefer, So a customer could sit 235 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: down in the chair and flip through different options on 236 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: the mirror to find one that suits them. And I 237 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: think that's pretty cool, and it would mean that people 238 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: like me would avoid the embarrassment that comes with agreeing 239 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: to a stylist feathering your hair when you don't happen 240 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: to know what that actually means. And it was the 241 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: eighties and shut up. The hair salon will also offer 242 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: various beauty products, each one coupled with a QR code, 243 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: so customers can just scan the code on their phones 244 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: and then purchase those beauty products. Through trumpet Please Amazon, 245 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: big surprise there. The whole thing is an experi perament 246 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: that Amazon says isn't an indicator of the future. The 247 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: company says it doesn't have plans to expand this further. 248 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: There are other hairdressers in London who have already expressed 249 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: criticism for Amazon's move, pointing out that the salon industry 250 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: as a whole was hit really hard because of the pandemic, 251 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: like lots of those places went out of business and 252 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: had no way of coming back, and people lost their livelihoods. 253 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, Amazon has been breaking in enormous amounts of 254 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: revenue all through the pandemic. It does feel a little 255 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: bit like the big, mega corporation is making huge moves 256 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: on smaller businesses. But you could also say that's Amazon's 257 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: corporate history from the beginning when you really break it 258 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: all down. And that wraps up the news for today, Tuesday, 259 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: April twenty one. If you have suggestions for topics I 260 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: should cover on tech Stuff, let me know over on Twitter. 261 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: The handle there is text Stuff h s W and 262 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is 263 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from I 264 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 265 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.