1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: are Young. It's time for the tech news for Thursday, 5 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: April thirteenth, twenty twenty three, and first up, Carl Bode 6 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: of tech Dirt has an article about how telecommunications companies 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: are running into trouble when it comes to accessing the 8 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: money meant to fund the rip and replace mandate they 9 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: are under all right, So to understand this, we actually 10 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: have to go back a little bit. Several years ago, 11 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,599 Speaker 1: beginning under the Trump administration, the US government demanded that 12 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: US telecom companies remove and replace any telecom infrastructure components 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: that came from the Chinese company Huawei. The main concern 14 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 1: is that these components could potentially serve as a way 15 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: for Huawei and then by extension, the Chinese government, to 16 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: penetrate US communications networks and spy on US. Essentially, this 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: is understandably a concern for one thing. As Boat actually 18 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: points out, the US has a history of doing this 19 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: to US telecom companies itself. See also the NSA and 20 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,839 Speaker 1: HECK if we're going to do this to ourselves, doesn't 21 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: it stand to reason that other people will try to 22 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: do it to us too. Snarkiness aside, and we should 23 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: still be concerned about our own government, those of us 24 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: in the United States. That's where I am, but our 25 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: own government spying on us should always remain a concern. 26 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: It's also a concern that foreign governments could try to 27 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: do similar things by building into components this capacity. So 28 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: the government told companies, hey, if you got any Huawei 29 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: gear in your infrastructure, you need to ditch and replace 30 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: it with something else. And to that end, the government 31 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: has authorized around two billion dollars in funds to help 32 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: companies do this, particularly these smaller telecom companies that don't 33 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: have the same resources as the ginormous telecom companies. But 34 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: now it appears as though one the money allocated isn't 35 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: nearly enough to cover the job, and two a lot 36 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: of companies have encountered resistance or at the very least 37 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: and unresponsive government as far as getting hold of those 38 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: funds goes. Meanwhile, Bode points out the government has sort 39 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: of pivoted to really focus on TikTok rather than Huawei, 40 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: and while TikTok may also pose a risk to some degree. 41 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: By comparison, it's really nothing when you take into account 42 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: the actual infrastructure of the communication system within the United 43 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: States itself. So I think it's fair to say that 44 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: Bode at least feels leaders are leaning harder on optics 45 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: and easier to sell story than they are in putting 46 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: in the work to actually follow through on an earlier mandate. 47 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: On the AI front, China's Cyberspace Administration has published proposed 48 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: regulations with regard to AI development, and to be specific, 49 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 1: we're talking about generative AI stuff like chat GPT, for example, 50 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: And I'm currently working on an episode that will cover 51 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: stuff like AI and regulations because I feel like, similar 52 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: to what Bode was saying about TikTok in the earlier story, 53 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: we're kind of being led to a perspective on AI 54 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: that I think is reductive and also ultimately misleading. Now 55 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: I am not saying that we shouldn't be concerned about 56 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: generative AI, but I am concerned about generalizing generative AI 57 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: to mean artificial intelligence in total, because I think it 58 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: misses the big picture and creates opportunities for lots of 59 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: comes down the road. But anyway, that's for a future 60 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: episode that's going to take me a long time to 61 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: put together. Anyway, officials in China are pushing for laws 62 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: that would place tight restrictions on generative AI. Such AI. 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: These regulation state would need to avoid creating statements that 64 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: undermine or contradict the state itself. Now, some of this 65 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: comes across as being kind of reasonable, right, like, not 66 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: the upset the state, but that generative AI should have 67 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: some restriction so that doesn't do stuff like promote terrorism 68 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: or extremism. That sounds reasonable, though we do have to 69 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: remember that what China officials define as terrorism and extremism 70 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: can cover a wide spectrum and can include stuff like 71 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: I'm not sure the government is doing the right thing here. Anyway, 72 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: it should come as no surprise that China wants to 73 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: avoid a future in which AI could subvert the state's power, 74 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: because that's powerful the course for China in general. A 75 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: lot of stuff in China law. The laws in China 76 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: ultimately kind of lead back to cementing the state's authority. 77 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: Now that being said, many of the proposed regulations are 78 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: not that different to what we're hearing in other countries, 79 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: including the United States. Namely that generative AI should not 80 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: compromise a person's privacy. That's reasonable. They should respect laws, 81 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: including those protecting intellectual property. That's something that a lot 82 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: of creators have been calling for. That they should not 83 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: create discriminatory content. They should not promote things like hate 84 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: speech and racism, they should not propagate misinformation. All of 85 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: these are regulations that we're hearing about, or at least 86 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: proposed regulations. We're hearing about all over the world, not 87 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: just in China, and I do think that regulations for 88 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: generative AI are likely a necessary step. You could argue, hey, 89 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: we should just leave this up to the companies to 90 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: build in these protections themselves, but generally speaking, when you 91 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: just leave stuff to an industry, the stuff that comes 92 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: out is not necessarily the best for the public good. Overall, 93 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: I feel that a lot of nations can look at 94 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: China's example, or rather it's proposed example, and use that 95 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: when thinking about how to frame their regulations. They can 96 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: sit there and say, well, here are things that we 97 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: should try and aim for, and here are the things 98 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: that we should try to avoid. Right, so you can 99 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: take it as both an example of what to do 100 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: and what not to do. There's a line, and maybe 101 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: sometimes it's a fine line between protecting the public and 102 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: then protecting the status quo. Also on the subject of 103 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: AI and a bit about Elon Musk, but trust me, 104 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: this is not going to be like Tuesday's episode, where 105 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: more than half the show focused on Musk and Twitter. 106 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: Ours Technica and Business Insider have reported that Musk is 107 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: purchasing around ten thousand GPUs or graphics processing units. In fact, 108 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: that he's already done so and spent millions in the process, 109 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: And you might wonder, well, why would you want ten 110 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: thousand GPUs. That's not entirely clear, but the speculation is 111 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: that this is part of Musk's plan to create a 112 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: competing artificial intelligence lab. So y'all might remember that a 113 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: month or two ago I did an episode about open ai, 114 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: and in that episode I mentioned that Musk was one 115 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: of the founders of open ai, but that he left 116 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: the organization in twenty eighteen. There are different stories about 117 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: why he left, and it's possible that the truth is 118 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: either unknown to the public or that the truth is 119 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: actually a combination of the various stories that are out there. 120 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: But one thing that's pretty clear is that Musk did 121 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: not like the direction open Ai was going in. According 122 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: to Ours Technica, one complaint Musk had was that open 123 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: Ai was to quote unquote woke. Now, Originally, when I 124 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: was framing out this episode, I had a whole lot 125 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: I was going to say about that, But honestly, anyone 126 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: who has listened to me for a while already knows 127 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: where I would go with that. So I'm going to 128 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: drop it because there's no need for me to get 129 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: on the soapbox anyway. Musk's move seemingly contradicts his participation 130 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: in signing a letter for AI Research to kind of 131 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: pump the brakes a bit out of a concern that 132 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: AI could do more harm than good if we don't 133 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:36,319 Speaker 1: create some checks and balances. And for the cynics among you, 134 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,079 Speaker 1: you might say, Aha, Musk was doing this not because 135 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: of his concern that AI is going to go all 136 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: terminator on us, but because he wanted to put a 137 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: freeze on the AI industry in general so that he 138 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: could make up some lost ground because they're getting started 139 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: late in the game. And I'll leave it to you 140 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: to figure out, like what scenario was most likely true. 141 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: We don't know at the end of the day. You know, 142 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: unless you happen to be one of Musk's closest circle, 143 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: you'd probably don't know. But yeah, you know, it's kind 144 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: of fun to speculate. One other quick update on Twitter 145 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: related stories. NPR, which I mentioned earlier this week, Twitter 146 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: had previously labeled as state affiliated media, and then after 147 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: objections were raised, they change that label to government funded 148 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: has now said sayonara to Twitter. So reportedly National Public 149 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: Radio will halt the use of its fifty two Twitter feeds. 150 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: Individual NPR stations, like the local affiliates, may or may 151 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: not follow suit. A lot of them already have. Also, 152 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:48,080 Speaker 1: NPR is not forcing staff to suspend their own personal 153 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,839 Speaker 1: Twitter accounts. They can maintain them if they want to. PBS, 154 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: that's the public broadcast TV organization here in the United States, 155 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: has also issued a statement indicating that it will no 156 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: longer use Twitter. So for people like me, this feels 157 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: like a pretty massive blow to Twitter. Now, I recognize 158 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: that my own experience on Twitter is not universal, so 159 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: I don't want to fall into the trap of generalizing 160 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 1: from my own experience and then just projecting that on everybody. Instead, 161 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: I will say that when I was on Twitter, regularly. 162 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: There were three main things that drew me there. One, 163 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: Twitter gave me a platform where I could share my thoughts, 164 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: which more often than not were stupid jokes that were 165 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: not very funny to anyone other than myself, which is 166 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: essentially the kind of stuff I say on the show 167 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: all the time. Two, I could follow celebrities, and that 168 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: was fun because there were people that I admired in 169 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: show business, and sometimes they would tweet to other people 170 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: that I also admired in show business, and it was 171 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: kind of like I was eavesdropping on famous people chit 172 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: chatting with each other, and that was kind of fun. 173 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: And Three, and most importantly, I would go to Twitter 174 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: because news outlets were using Twitter to post breaking news stories. 175 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,359 Speaker 1: So if you just kept Twitter running on in the background, 176 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: it meant that you were keeping up to date with 177 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: the latest news. But for a major media organization to 178 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: pull out of Twitter, well that takes a swing at 179 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: one of those foundational pillars for Twitter content. Now, of course, 180 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 1: I have no clue what the majority of Twitter users 181 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: use as the reason they go to Twitter, right Like, 182 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: I don't know what most people use Twitter for. It's 183 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 1: entirely possible that the vast majority of them don't give 184 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: a fig about the news. And even if other media 185 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: organizations follow the lead of NPR and PBS, these users 186 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: are not going to bat an eyelash at that, because 187 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: that's not what they go to Twitter four in the 188 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: first place. I just think that for folks who are 189 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: like me, this becomes yet another reason to just ditch Twitter. Okay, 190 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 1: we've got more news stories to cover before we get 191 00:11:51,720 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: to those, let's take a quick break. We're back. So 192 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: morale over at Meta is unsurprisingly on the decline, according 193 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: to various news reports. The company has obviously held a 194 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: couple of high profile rounds of layoffs, with potentially more 195 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: in the future, and according to The Straits Times, those 196 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: layoffs amount to nearly thirty percent of the company's staff. 197 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: So just imagine. Let's say that you work in a company, 198 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: or you know, whatever business you work at. Imagine that 199 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,079 Speaker 1: you're in a room with all of your coworkers and 200 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 1: you're told that out of every three of them, one 201 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: is going to be laid off. One out of every 202 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,719 Speaker 1: three employees are going to be laid off, which may 203 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: or may not include you. And it's all in the 204 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: name of the Year of efficiency. That's what Zuckerberg has said. 205 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: The Straits Times goes on to say that while Zuckerberg 206 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: has been pushing employees to go back to the office, 207 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: the same is not necessarily true for upper management. A 208 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: lot of executives have ended up working remotely from other locations, 209 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: and so unlike the rank and file of META, they 210 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: are not required to come in. So you're being coerced 211 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: or forced to come back to your office. But meanwhile 212 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: you are seeing that the leadership are not under the 213 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: same rules. That also starts to contribute to problems with morale. 214 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: There becomes this very obvious disconnect between what's expected of 215 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: you and what's expected of leadership. Zuckerberg himself is on 216 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: parental leave, which you know, first of all, parental leave 217 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: is a great benefit. All employees should have access to 218 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: parental leave. Parental leave is what allows parents to spend 219 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: that time they need with their children in order to 220 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 1: make certain that their kids are going to be growing 221 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: up healthy and safe. And I am fully in favor 222 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 1: of parental leaf for all employees. And I'm not a parent, 223 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: like I don't have kids and I'm never going to 224 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 1: have kids, but I am fully in favor of parental 225 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: leave because I want those kids to grow up to 226 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: being well adjusted, productive members of society so they can 227 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: take care of me when I'm too old to do anything. 228 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: So it is in my own self interest to care 229 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: about the kids. But anyway, I'm not going to throw 230 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: shade at anybody for taking parental leave, and that includes 231 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: Mark Zuckerberg. I am not going to shame the leader 232 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: of the company who's telling people to go back into 233 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: the office for taking time off if that's if it 234 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: means that he's spending time with his child is newborn. 235 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: To me, that's justifiable. However, his absence again adds to 236 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: morale issues within the company. Employees have said that they 237 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: felt increased pressure to show that they are working hard 238 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: on projects. You know, a lot of the framing of 239 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: this has been around executive saying that they had more 240 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 1: employees than they had work to do, and that a 241 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: lot of employees we're spending the majority of their time 242 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: not really being productive at all because there wasn't enough 243 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: work for them to tackle. So part of this was 244 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: talking about like a reorganization to bring into alignment the 245 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: workload with the workforce, and that may or may not 246 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: be true. It probably is true to a certain degree, 247 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: and the remaining employees feel that they need to justify 248 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: their employment right, that they need to make certain that 249 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: they are not doing anything that could potentially put their 250 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: job at risk in the current economic climate. That is 251 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: incredibly understandable. But meanwhile top leadership is largely absent from 252 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: Meta HQ. Also, the company has been scaling back on 253 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: employee benefits like meals and subsidies for ride healing services 254 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: and that kind of thing, which again makes sense the 255 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: companies cutting back on costs, although employees might be asking, 256 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: are these the costs that make the most sense to 257 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: cut back on its stuff that affects quality of life. 258 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: You have already laid off a third of us. The 259 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: bosses are never around. You know, you're making us come 260 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: back into the office, but are pulling out some of 261 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: the benefits of working in an office. The icing of 262 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: the cake, of course, is that tech companies at large 263 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: are implementing hiring freezes or they're even actively downsizing. So 264 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: it's not like the solution for the employees just to 265 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: hand in their resignation and then go find their dream 266 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: jobs somewhere else. It is a really bad situation. Potentially 267 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: made worse by Meta continually emphasizing business strategies that, at 268 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: least in the near term, are not likely to generate 269 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: significant revenue, which means that not only are the employees 270 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: getting more and more unhappy, that's not going to make 271 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: shareholders happy either, which in turn will potentially fuel other 272 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: cutbacks in the future, and it becomes this kind of 273 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: perpetuating cycle. The state of Arkansas has followed the state 274 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: of Utah's lead in passing a bill that will require 275 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: anyone under the age of eighteen to get parental consent 276 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: before they can open a social media account. Rob Thubron 277 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: of tech Spot has a piece about this in which 278 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:20,160 Speaker 1: he talks about how the law has some perplexing exceptions, 279 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: some of which could potentially really undermine the whole law itself. So, 280 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: for example, Lebron says that some of the amendments to 281 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: this bill appear to exempt social platforms where users can 282 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: quote generate short video clips of dancing, voiceovers, or other 283 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,199 Speaker 1: acts of entertainment in which the primary purpose is not 284 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: educational or informative end quote. So, first of all, there's 285 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: all sorts of content on all of these social platforms, right, 286 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: some of which is intended to be educational at least 287 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: to some degree, or informative. You know, you have the 288 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: infotainments where it's trying to teach you something, and that 289 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: same platform may also host content that has nothing to 290 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: do with education or information. It's all about just entertainment, right, 291 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: like making you laugh or creating a scary video or 292 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: whatever it may be. And with this wording, it makes 293 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: it sound like a platform like TikTok, for example, would 294 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: potentially be exempt from the rule because it's a platform 295 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: that allows users to generate short video clips of dancing 296 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,919 Speaker 1: and voiceovers and other kinds of entertainment. So that's weird 297 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: because the government in general is really down on TikTok 298 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: right now. But based on that wording, it sounds like 299 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,919 Speaker 1: TikTok would not be subjected to these rules. Potentially, a 300 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: platform like Instagram or Snapchat would not be subjected to 301 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,680 Speaker 1: that rule. In addition to those other amendments, exempt services 302 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 1: like email and messaging services as well as video streaming, 303 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: professional networking, and gaming focused social services. So with those exemptions, 304 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: it sounds like okay, so LinkedIn would not be covered 305 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: by this rule. You could create a LinkedIn account and 306 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: not have to go through age verification. But then that 307 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: kind of makes sense. I mean, what thirteen year old 308 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: wants to build a LinkedIn profile? But then you start 309 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: to wonder, well, if gaming focused services are potentially exempt, 310 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: does that mean that Twitch is exempt from this rule 311 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: as well. I mean, I guess what I'm saying is 312 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: that there sounds like there's a ton of wiggle room 313 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: with these amendments, and it could be that this particular 314 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: law won't actually do anything but take up space in 315 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 1: a rule book. So the intent is to make sure 316 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: that children receive some protection, particularly when it comes to 317 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: the practices of data collection and exploitation, and I'm fully 318 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: in agreement with that. I don't think that kids should 319 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: be necessarily subjected that. I don't think anyone should. Honestly, 320 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: I think at this point that the power of our 321 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: information should be shifted back toward the individual, kind of 322 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: the way the EU tries to do it. I think 323 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: that that needs to be sort of a global rule. 324 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 1: It just isn't. But I certainly think that that should 325 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: apply to children. But I'm not sure that this bill 326 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:19,199 Speaker 1: as reported achieves that goal. Maybe I'm wrong anyway. For 327 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: the few social platforms out there, that somehow cannot argue 328 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 1: their way out of being subject to this rule. They 329 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: will have to enlist the services of a third party 330 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: verification company, which will end up going through steps so 331 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,679 Speaker 1: that users will have to submit information about themselves to 332 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: prove their identity and their age before citizens in Arkansas 333 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: have a chance to sign up for an account. This 334 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: does not go It's not retroactive, so existing accounts are 335 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:54,160 Speaker 1: grandfathered in. If a fourteen year old already has, say 336 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: a Facebook account, that fourteen year old doesn't have to 337 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: go through this process, but moving forward, knew users would 338 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: have to, assuming that the platform was subjected to this 339 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:10,399 Speaker 1: kind of restriction, and anyone below the age of eighteen 340 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: will need parental consent before they are allowed to create 341 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:18,880 Speaker 1: that profile. So yeah, I don't know. We'll have to see. 342 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: I haven't. In full disclosure, I have not read this law. 343 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,879 Speaker 1: I haven't sat down to read the actual language of 344 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: the law itself. I'm not an expert in law either, 345 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: so even if I did read it, I would probably 346 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: not walk away with a full understanding of it. But yeah, 347 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: it sounds to me like there's some pretty big gaps here, 348 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: and it's potentially a useless law. If it turns out 349 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: that everyone falls under at least one exemption, then the 350 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 1: law doesn't apply to anybody, So we'll have to see. 351 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: I do know that the state of Utah's version is 352 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 1: far more restrictive than the state of Arkansas, so that's 353 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: a much different story, and other states are currently debating 354 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: their own version of this kind of law. Again, I 355 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: do think it's important to have laws in place to 356 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,679 Speaker 1: protect children. I don't know if age verification is the 357 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: big one. I guess it's part of it, because you 358 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: do need to know who needs to be protected, right, 359 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: But I think there need to be some laws that 360 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: just are going across the board to protect the privacy 361 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: of children online and to do it better than the 362 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: way it's been done in the past, because often it 363 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: feels like the cannon is being pointed in the wrong direction. 364 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: But again, I'm no expert in law, so all I 365 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: know is that the consequences often end up being unintentionally 366 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: harmful toward parties that have very little to do with 367 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: the actual problem. All Right, we're gonna take another quick break. 368 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: When we come back, I've got a couple more stories 369 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:10,479 Speaker 1: I want to cover. All right, Now, here's some good news. Today, 370 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,719 Speaker 1: Apple posted that the company has set a target to 371 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: use one hundred percent recycled cobalt by twenty twenty five 372 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: in Apple design batteries. This follows some other initiatives that 373 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,400 Speaker 1: also look to increase recycled material content and Apple products. 374 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: In fact, Apple said that you know, for products that 375 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: have magnets in them, they're going to aim for one 376 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,719 Speaker 1: hundred percent recycled rare earth elements by twenty twenty five. Now, 377 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 1: I've talked in past episodes about how modern electronics require 378 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:47,120 Speaker 1: some specific materials, and some of these materials are difficult 379 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: to come by. Some of them rely upon mining operations 380 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: in areas of the world where the mine operations are 381 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: using what amounts to slave labor. Like it contributes to 382 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: human misery, it contributes to human trafficking. It also ends 383 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: up supporting militias that end up creating instability in various regions. 384 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:15,920 Speaker 1: It's a really big human rights nightmare in some parts 385 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: of the world, and even in the places where that's 386 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,119 Speaker 1: not an issue, where the human rights piece of the 387 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: puzzle isn't really relevant, all of these mining operations create 388 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: environmental problems. So switching to recycled materials is a huge deal. 389 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: It removes the reliance upon new mining operations for those 390 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: particular components. It drastically reduces e waste, which is a 391 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: huge deal. It's incredibly frustrating that we've got mountains of 392 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 1: defunct or unwanted electronics that either are not being reused 393 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: so that they continue useful life beyond their initial one 394 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: or recycled. The recycling process is tricky. It's not the 395 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 1: easiest thing in the world to do, and to do 396 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: it in a way where you're actually doing it economically 397 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: and efficiently is hard. So in some ways it's understandable 398 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: that there's this issue here, but Apple is framing this 399 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 1: as part of the company's overall strategy to achieve carbon 400 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: neutral status by twenty thirty. And I really hope Apple 401 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: achieves these various goals because it helps deal with some 402 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: really troubling problems in tech that we don't often talk 403 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:40,880 Speaker 1: about because they're they're not always obvious, and that includes 404 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,880 Speaker 1: e waste, which I've talked about on this show before, 405 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: and I hope to see more companies follow suit. And 406 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: of course, activist groups and consumers should always keep an 407 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: eye on companies to pressure them to make these sorts 408 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,199 Speaker 1: of goals and then to sincerely pursue those goals, not 409 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: just to say they want to do this, but then 410 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: to follow through. And it may mean that in the 411 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,719 Speaker 1: long run, certain things get more expensive because it's not 412 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: always you know, economically advantageous to go the recycling route 413 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: versus mining new materials, but it may do the best 414 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,479 Speaker 1: public good in the long run, and you have to 415 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 1: start balancing these things out at some point. We can't 416 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: just all continue to live like it's the nineteen eighties. 417 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: I lived through the nineteen eighties. We don't really need 418 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:32,159 Speaker 1: to go back there, y'all. I mean, the music was dope, 419 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: you know, new wave, fantastic, but there was a lot 420 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: of other stuff about the eighties that was not good. 421 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: We now know when Google is going to shut down 422 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 1: Google Currents, which is yet another Google service that will 423 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: shuffle off its digital coil and go into the great 424 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: Graveyard of Google products and services. So Google introduced this 425 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,399 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, back in twenty nineteen actually, 426 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: and now we'll shut it down. But it's done that 427 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: with lots of stuff. In fact, if you are to 428 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: look at a list of things that Google introduced then 429 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: later shut down it is a very long list. I've 430 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: done full episodes about it and only covered like ten 431 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: percent of the various products that Google has abandoned. And 432 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: I also think that probably a lot of y'all are 433 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: unfamiliar with Currents. So Currents was a collaborative platform. Technically 434 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 1: it still is. It hasn't been shut down yet. It's 435 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: a collaborative platform for G Suite customers. And the g 436 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: Suite is a suite of productivity services that companies use, 437 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: so kind of like Microsoft Office, it's a cloud based 438 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 1: group of services, and it comes out of Google. So 439 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: Currents was kind of a collaborative tool that worked with 440 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:51,360 Speaker 1: these various G Suite services and itself, it was kind 441 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: of a replacement for Google Plus. Google Plus was shut 442 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: down by Google several years ago. At this point, Google 443 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: introduced Currents in twenty nineteen, like I said, and now 444 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: the company has indicated it will start to shut it 445 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: down beginning on July fifth. Now we've known that Google 446 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 1: was going to phase out Currents for a while. It's 447 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 1: just that the news now is that we know when 448 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: it's going to start to happen. And that's like I said. 449 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: The fifth of July. Also, Google already has a kind 450 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: of a replacement in line. It's a service called spaces. 451 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:28,479 Speaker 1: This is also pretty much Google's m O. The company 452 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: will introduce something, it will then evaluate that's something that product, 453 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: It will scavenge all the most useful features off of 454 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: that product, and then incorporate those features into something else, 455 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,920 Speaker 1: either a new Google product or maybe an existing Google service, 456 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: and then it will kill off whatever the original something 457 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: was so fairthee well Google currents, we didn't even know ye. Finally, 458 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: the state of Colorado has passed the Consumer Right to 459 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: Repair Agricultural Equipment Act this week. It makes Colorado the 460 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: first state to pass a law giving farmers and independent 461 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: technicians the legal right to repair equipment agricultural equipment beginning 462 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: next year. As I have covered on this show, there's 463 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: been a history of companies such as John Deer. It's 464 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: not the only one that does it, it's just arguably 465 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 1: the most famous one to include features on the equipment 466 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: they sell to farmers. That makes it difficult or even impossible, 467 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: for someone to do their own maintenance on equipment that 468 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 1: they have purchased. Instead, farmers would have to haul their 469 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: equipment to the closest licensed John deer repair operation for 470 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: maintenance and repair. So for people who depend on heavy 471 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: machinery working properly in order to do their jobs, and 472 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: these are jobs that are on a deadline when it 473 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: comes to stuff like planting and harvesting while avoiding waste. Right, 474 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: you have a limited amount of time where you can 475 00:29:55,080 --> 00:30:00,240 Speaker 1: work before you're losing the yield you could have, and 476 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: you don't want to contribute to things like food waste 477 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: that's already a huge problem. So this is a big obstacle. 478 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: Right if you are not able to do this maintenance 479 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,479 Speaker 1: and repair work when you need it, and you have 480 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: to take more time out of your operations in order 481 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:20,239 Speaker 1: to transport a piece of equipment, however many miles it 482 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: may be to the closest licensed repair center, that's a 483 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: huge deal. And without the legislative system stepping into force 484 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,959 Speaker 1: companies to allow customers a chance to maintain and repair 485 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: their equipment, there was very little reason to believe that 486 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: it was ever going to change. The agricultural equipment industry 487 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: has spent a decent amount of time and money lobbying 488 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: against this kind of legislation, arguing that as equipment becomes 489 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: more sophisticated, it can become dangerous or impractical for anyone 490 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: not licensed to work on the equipment to be able 491 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: to access it. I mean, based on this argument, that 492 00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: you can make the dang problem so much worse. But 493 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: critics have argued that this stance is at best not 494 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: the whole story. At worst, it's completely insincere, and that 495 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: the real reason behind turning equipment into a black box 496 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: is just to provide an ongoing source of revenue because 497 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: those repair shops have to pay licensing fees to the 498 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: company like John Deer in our example, and having a 499 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: closed off ecosystem creates a lot more revenue streams that 500 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: all go to you instead of potentially to some independent 501 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: repair person. So the new law, which takes effect next January, 502 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: will require manufacturers to provide diagnostic tools and repair manuals 503 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: and similar resources to farmers and independent repair technicians. There 504 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: are a couple of exceptions, however, matters relating to security 505 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:53,040 Speaker 1: or to emissions are not covered by this new law, 506 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: so farmers will still have to rely on officially licensed 507 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: technicians for repairs or maintenance that fall under the situations. 508 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: Now we'll have to watch to see if the industry 509 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: tries to categorize pretty much every single problem as falling 510 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: into one or both of those buckets. And that's it. 511 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: That's all the news I have for you today, Thursday, 512 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: April thirteenth, twenty twenty three. Hope you are all well. 513 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: If you would like to reach out to me, you 514 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 1: can still do so on Twitter. The handle there is 515 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: tech Stuff hsw. I will have to get an alternative 516 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 1: to that, because it's hard to do story after story 517 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: about problems at Twitter and then still give people a 518 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,880 Speaker 1: Twitter handle in order to reach out to me. You 519 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: can also download the iHeartRadio app. It's free to download, 520 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: it's free to use. You can navigate over to tech 521 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:45,719 Speaker 1: Stuff by putting it in the little search field. It'll 522 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: have the podcast page pop up. You go into that, 523 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: you'll see a little microphone icon, and if you click 524 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:52,480 Speaker 1: on that, you can leave a voice message up to 525 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: thirty seconds in link. Let me know what you'd like 526 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: to hear in a future episode, and I will talk 527 00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. 528 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 529 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:14,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.