1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff 3 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: and Happy New Year. I'm your host, executive producer Jonathan Strickland, 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: and I am in I Heart Radio Land, where I'm 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: coming to you from twenty to talk about the past. 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: You see, I recently did a pair of episodes about 7 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: the big tech news stories of twenty nineteen. But now 8 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: we're in and I thought it might be fun to 9 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: look back at, you know, the big stuff that happened 10 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: over the previous decade. And I guess we're gonna see 11 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: how many episodes this takes up. Spoiler alert, it'll take 12 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: up to I wrote these notes before I got the 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: end of the second episode. I really just planned to 14 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: give high level details on most of these stories. I'm 15 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: not going into deep detail. Obviously. I spent two full 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: episodes just talking about two thousand nineteen, so I clearly 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: can't do the same for every single year. It would 18 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,960 Speaker 1: go through half of So we're just gonna take sort 19 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: of a high level look at the big stories of 20 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: those years. And also, spoiler alert, we're not going to 21 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: cover twenty nineteen because I just did that. You'll hear 22 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 1: me say that a couple of times during these episodes. 23 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: I really want to nail that home, all right, So 24 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: let's begin with two thousand nine. Now, for those of 25 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: you who are curious, I had been with my previous employer, 26 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,199 Speaker 1: how Stuffworks dot Com for two years at that point. 27 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: I had been hired in two thousand seven. I had 28 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: actually been podcasting since June of two thousand eight, so 29 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: two thousand nine would actually be my first full calendar 30 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: year of being a podcast host. But this pair of episodes, 31 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: these aren't really about me. I just thought it'd be 32 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: fun to start off with that. Much more important than 33 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: my career was the fact that the world was in 34 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: a global recession, largely on about by some frankly dumb 35 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: decisions made back in two thousand seven or so revolving 36 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: around subprime mortgages. But that is beyond the scope of 37 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: tech stuff. The effects went well beyond the real estate industry, however, 38 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: and many industries were hit hard by this recession. Tech 39 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: in particular was really struggling with this, and while there 40 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: were signs of recovery on the horizon, it was still 41 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: a pretty hefty recession covering the world for most of 42 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: two thousand nine. Now, the effect that was felt in 43 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: the tech world was felt by both established companies and 44 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: emerging ones. Several startups fizzled out for lack of funding. 45 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: Because investors were starting to hold onto their money more tightly, 46 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: they were less likely to invest because they were worried 47 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: about the outcomes. Advertising also took a huge hit in 48 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: two thousand nine, and since many web related businesses depend 49 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: largely or sometimes entirely, upon a tizing dollars, they really 50 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: felt that squeeze. Some companies were forced to layoff employees 51 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: and cost cutting measures, tightening up their belts to get 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: through the recession. Now, it wasn't all doom and gloom. 53 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: Two thousand nine was the year that Microsoft launched Windows seven. 54 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: That's hard for me to believe, but yeah, Windows seven 55 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: came out in two thousand nine. That version was meant 56 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: to be more streamlined and faster than the preceding version. 57 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: The one that came before that one was Windows Vista. Now, 58 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: in general, Vista had received some pretty mixed reviews, which 59 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: is being kind at of the reviews were pretty negative, 60 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: and the corporate world at large had stayed away from 61 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: adopting Windows Vista, largely due to those criticisms. So, in 62 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: other words, the big big customers, you know, big corporate 63 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: customers that would be using Microsoft, uh, you know, operating 64 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: systems on their their computers for all their employees, they 65 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: weren't signing on two Windows Vista, and so the company 66 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: had to do something about it. Many people saw Windows 67 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: seven as sort of a course correction from Microsoft, and 68 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: you would think that that would mean that Microsoft would 69 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: learn valuable lessons in this process and that it would 70 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: be able to take advantage of that experience when they 71 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: were ready to launch the next operating system version. But 72 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,119 Speaker 1: as we will eventually see, that's not exactly how things 73 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: would shake out. Microsoft also struck a deal with Yahoo 74 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: in two thousand nine that would see Microsoft's search technology 75 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: bing power Yahoo searches and return Yahoo would sell ad 76 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: services for Microsoft. Now, this arose after Microsoft had led 77 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: a failed attempt and un welcome unsolicited attempt to acquire 78 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,359 Speaker 1: Yahoo outright that fell through, so instead the two struck 79 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: this partnership. Meanwhile, over at Google, Google would release the 80 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: Chrome operating system in two thousand nine, which meant Google 81 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: was essentially acknowledging that it was going to go toe 82 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: to toe with companies like Microsoft. Now, unlike bigger, bulk 83 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,599 Speaker 1: here operating systems like Mac OS or Windows, the Chrome 84 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: version of an operating system is much more lean and streamlined. 85 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: It moves most of the computational processes to the cloud 86 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: rather than on the device that the OS is installed upon, 87 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: so it's really only useful if you have a persistent 88 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: Internet connection. Google was responding to a trend that was 89 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: still in the process of emerging back in two thousand nine, 90 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: and that trend was that users were starting to rely 91 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 1: more on connected services and less on native programs running 92 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: on their own hardware. So, in other words, instead of 93 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: having a word processing program on your machine, you would 94 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 1: log into a web service where you would use a 95 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: web based word processing program. Now that being said, if 96 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: you look at the market share for operating systems on 97 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: dusk top and laptop computers and compare them against each other, 98 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: you will see that today Windows is still the overall 99 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: king by a landslide. Then in second place distant second 100 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:16,239 Speaker 1: place is Apple's operating system, and then Chrome barely even 101 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: registers on the charts. So while Google did recognize a 102 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: growing trend in the way we access services that more 103 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: and more people are using mobile devices, for example, that 104 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: has not actually translated over that much into the laptop 105 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: and desktop world. People seem to still want to have 106 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:40,359 Speaker 1: a more beefy device for those particular form factors. In 107 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: two thousand nine, some leaks revealed that Google was preparing 108 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: its own branded phone. Android phones were already on the 109 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,280 Speaker 1: market in two thousand nine, and the iPhone had really 110 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: kicked off the smartphone era back in two thousand seven, 111 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: but Google was content at first just to create the 112 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,840 Speaker 1: operating system and some apps and then would allow other 113 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: manufacturers to put that operating system on their phones. But 114 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: in two thousand nine, the company started handing out Nexus 115 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: one branded smartphones to Google employees, and it would take 116 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: a little while longer before these would become available for 117 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: the general public to purchase, but it did show that 118 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: Google was actually interested in getting into the hardware game 119 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: as well. Also in two thousand nine, Eric Schmidt, who 120 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: was Google's CEO at that time, resigned from the board 121 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: of directors over at Apple, and this was over concerned 122 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: that there might be a conflict of interest issue that 123 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: was growing there because now Google was getting into the 124 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: smartphone business, so he stepped down. Another Apple related event, 125 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: that happened in two thousand nine centered on the health 126 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: of co founder Steve Jobs. Now, Jobs had been in 127 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: treatment for pancreatic cancer in the past, and then he 128 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: took a medical leave of absence from Apple in January 129 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: two thou nine. The stated reason was that Jobs was 130 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: dealing with quote unquote a hormonal imbalance, but it later 131 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: came to light in June of two thousand nine that 132 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: he had actually received a liver transplant. The belated revelation 133 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: did not please investors, who felt that they were owed 134 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: more transparency regarding Jobs as health since his iconic leadership 135 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: was so intrinsically linked to Apple's performance. The incident also 136 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: prompted people to wonder what Apple would be like without 137 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: Jobs as CEO, and it would become a question that 138 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: we'd sadly get answers to only a couple of years later. 139 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: Now it's easy to forget that. Back into thousand nine, 140 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,719 Speaker 1: the only cell phone carrier in the United States that 141 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: could hold the iPhone, the only one that supported the 142 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: iPhone was a T and T. Apple had signed an 143 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: exclusivity agreement with a T and T that lasted a 144 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,839 Speaker 1: couple of years. That exclusivity would be used against both 145 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: Apple and A T and T as people reported dissatisfaction 146 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: with A T and T S three G coverage, and 147 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: competing cell phone carriers would claim that their own networks 148 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: were far more robust and reliable for fast connections, though 149 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,319 Speaker 1: you would obviously have to use a different phone from 150 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: the iPhone because they couldn't support it. They couldn't carry 151 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: the iPhone at that point. Intel lost some fights in 152 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: court rooms around the world in two thousand nine, as 153 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 1: various agencies charged that the company was engaging in anti 154 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 1: competitive practices and using its dominant position in the market 155 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: as a way to squash competition. The EU Commission find 156 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: Intel more than a billion that's billion with a b 157 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: euro truly princely some Intel also settled an antitrust lawsuit 158 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: brought against it by a m D for another one 159 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: point to five billion dollars. And here's some other things 160 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,320 Speaker 1: that happened in two thousand nine. Bitcoin launched in early 161 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: two thousand nine, and the digital cryptocurrency would introduce concepts 162 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: like blockchain to the tech world at large as a result, 163 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: and then over the years we would see the value 164 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: of a bitcoin go all over the place, going into 165 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,320 Speaker 1: the stratosphere and diving deep and then going back up 166 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: again in a very crazy way. And to this day, 167 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: I think it remains more of a commodity than a currency. 168 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 1: It's still hard for me to imagine spending Bitcoin like 169 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: a like a regular currency. In two thousand nine, eBay 170 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 1: would sell off most of its steak in Skype did 171 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: so at a substantial loss. A couple of years after that, 172 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: Microsoft would acquire Skype for an astronomical eight point five 173 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 1: billion dollars. Also in two thousand nine, Palm, You guys 174 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: remember Palm. That's the company that dominated in the personal 175 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: digital assistant or a p d A industry for a 176 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: really long time. Well, in two thousand nine, it launched 177 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: the Palm pre. It was meant to be the smartphone 178 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: that would return Palm to prominence after it started to 179 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: lag behind competitors like Apple and Google. Although many tech 180 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: reviewers gave the pretty pretty positive reviews, they kind of 181 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:11,439 Speaker 1: liked it, sales just didn't follow. They were just lackluster, 182 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: and the following year, HP would purchase Palm. In a 183 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: year after that, HP announced it was discontinuing production of 184 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: Palm devices. I could save that for the following years 185 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: I could have, you know, said all right, well, now 186 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: we're in two thousand etcetera, etcetera, But I figured it 187 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: made more sense to just kind of wrap it all 188 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: up in this one little spot. Oh and uh. Two 189 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: thousand nine was also the founding year for Maker Bought, 190 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: the three D printer company that brought additive manufacturing to 191 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,959 Speaker 1: the hobbyists and consumer market. And also a little company 192 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: called Uber launched in two thousand nine. More on that 193 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: little company later, particularly in the next episode. All right, 194 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: so let's move on to that year. Microsoft introduced the 195 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: Connect peripheral for the Xbox three six cons Soul and 196 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: for those of you who don't know, the Connect has cameras, 197 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: including an infrared camera that can detect user movements and 198 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: gestures as inputs for games and other applications. It can 199 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: also use image recognition software so that it can authorize 200 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: a profile on a specific console, so that if you 201 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: stand in front of the Connect, it knows that you're 202 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,599 Speaker 1: the one playing it, whereas if your roommate stands in 203 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: front of Connect, it goes to your roommates profile on 204 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: that same machine, et cetera. You can also pick up 205 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: voice commands through a microphone and to the hacker community, 206 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 1: the connect represented an interesting opportunity to leverage some cool 207 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:41,000 Speaker 1: technology for us is far beyond a video game peripheral, 208 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: such as in robotic vision or three D scanning. Microsoft 209 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: would flip flop between being supportive towards these endeavors and 210 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: then locking down the connect to try and prevent unauthorized use, 211 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: and going back and forth between those two. While the 212 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: changing stance would irritate the hacking community, it didn't stop 213 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: people from finding new ways to take advantage of the technology. However, 214 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,839 Speaker 1: as far as what the connect was actually intended to do, 215 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: it was largely a failure. Gamers cited a lack of 216 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: good games with compelling implementations of connect controls as a 217 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,680 Speaker 1: reason for the peripheral's ultimate failure in the gaming space. 218 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:23,479 Speaker 1: Oh and Sony would also debut its own motion control system, 219 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: the move now over. In Iran, computer scientists discovered a 220 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,199 Speaker 1: type of malicious code called stucks net that had been 221 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: causing equipment failures in nuclear processing plants. The code would 222 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: ultimately cause centrifuges to operate at the wrong speed, damaging 223 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: the centrifuges to the point that they would no longer operate. 224 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: The implication is that the malware came from a state 225 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: sponsored source as a means of cyber warfare, It was 226 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure specifically. While no official acknowledgement has 227 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: ever urged as to which country or countries were behind 228 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: the development of Stuck's net, speculation generally points to Israel 229 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: and the United States as having developed it together. One 230 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:16,200 Speaker 1: big consumer product that launched in was the iPad, which 231 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: I infamously predicted would be a failure. Before the iPad, 232 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: tablet computers had seen limited success, most of which was 233 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: limited to niche markets like the medical industry. No one 234 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: had made a tablet computer that succeeded in the general 235 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: consumer market. But Apple had already started to rack up 236 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: a history of creating markets where previously there were none, 237 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: And in January Steve Jobs announced the iPad, and at 238 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: the time we all snickered at the name, and then 239 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: the company was set on a path to yet another 240 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: home run success. Not only did the iPad selve very well, 241 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: it also inspired numerous other companies to produce their own 242 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: tablet computers, and it would take a couple of years 243 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: before anyone made a tablet that could really go toe 244 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: to toe with Apple's design in the market, but it 245 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: would eventually happen. Apple's iPhone four was in the spotlight 246 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: in Actually, it was in the spotlight a little earlier 247 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: than the company had anticipated, because an Apple employee accidentally 248 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: left behind a prototype iPhone four in a bar in California. 249 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: Someone swooped it up and quickly realized that despite the 250 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: fact that it was disguised as an iPhone three g S, 251 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: it was in fact an iPhone four Gizmoto then coughed 252 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: up several thousand dollars to get hold of the thing. 253 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: The whole affair was a pretty nasty mess, complete with 254 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: police actions and threatened lawsuits. When the iPhone four did 255 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: come out, it got some pretty harsh reviews. Consumer reports 256 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: stated that the antenna in the iPhone four was a 257 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: bit wonky and that the phone's reception wasn't always so 258 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: hot as a result. Apple disputed this review, then said, 259 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: you know what, maybe the problem is that you're just 260 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: holding it wrong. Yeah, this was the old holding it 261 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: wrong argument, saying people should just not hold the lower 262 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: left corner of the phone when they're making calls, because 263 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: that seemed to be what was blocking all the signals. 264 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: There are also reports that said that people inside Apple 265 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: had been warning that the placement of the antenna was 266 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: going to cause problems, but that Steve Jobs ultimately overruled 267 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: them because that design is what allowed the phone to 268 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: look the way it did. Now. Facebook would become the 269 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: world's most visited site in twenty ten, surpassing Google for 270 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: the first time in its history. At that point, Facebook 271 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: boasted almost half a billion users, which by today's standards, 272 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: almost seems quaint. The company also became the focus of 273 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: an Aron Sorkin film titled The Social Network And I 274 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: can't believe that movie came out all the way back 275 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: in in my head that movie is like three year 276 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: is old, but no, it came out. Oh and has 277 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,360 Speaker 1: also when Magic Leap, the augmented reality headset company, came 278 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: into being, the company wouldn't have a commercial headset available 279 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: until two thousand nineteen with the Magic Leap one, which 280 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: retails for about The company was promising big, big things 281 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: and all the the demos and the the vision videos 282 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: that you saw were amazing, And um, I hear that 283 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: the response is a little more lackluster to the actual product, 284 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 1: But I haven't had my hands on it, nor have 285 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: I had it on my head, so I can't speak 286 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: from experience. All right, We've got more to talk about, 287 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: starting with in just a second, but first let's take 288 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: a quick break. We're picking up with two thousand eleven, 289 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: and I think one of the biggest stories that year 290 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,239 Speaker 1: was the death of Apple co founder Steve Jobs. Now. 291 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 1: Jobs was a true icon in technology. He was known 292 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: to be demanding, sometimes to excess. He had high expectations, 293 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: and it was said little patients for those who failed 294 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: to meet those high expectations. He had been ousted from 295 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: his own company in the eighties, returned to take the 296 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,679 Speaker 1: company back in the late nineties, and oversaw its meteoric 297 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 1: rise in consumer electronics with the release of products like 298 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. He had stepped 299 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: down as CEO earlier in two thousand eleven, passing away 300 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: in October of that year. Many people in technology expressed 301 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: their thoughts and feelings and reaction to Jobs as passing, 302 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: including his Apple co founder Steve Wozniak, the then head 303 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: of Pixar, John Lassender, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, and even 304 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: US President Barack Obama. The tech world at large wondered 305 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: what would happen to Apple without jobs at the helm, 306 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: he was so tightly associated with the company that many 307 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 1: weren't sure if it would survive without him, and there 308 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: are still people to this day who wonder how different 309 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: the company would be if jobs had not passed away. 310 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: While jobs is passing was a dark moment in tech 311 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,959 Speaker 1: for many. One bright spot in technology in eleven was 312 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: how it played an important role as people in the 313 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 1: Middle East use tech to help organize protests and revolutions 314 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:24,199 Speaker 1: against oppressive governments. This was a time called the Arab Spring. 315 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 1: Technically it started right at the tail end of but 316 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: many of the major events would follow in countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, 317 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: and Bahrain. Al saw enormous organizational efforts among the population 318 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: in a move to force massive political and social change, 319 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,880 Speaker 1: and tools like social media platforms played an important part 320 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: in those efforts. Over at Sony, the company found its 321 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: PlayStation network service hacked by someone or a group of 322 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: someone's who left a file titled anonymous on their servers. 323 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: That file contained the message we our legion in it. 324 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:05,159 Speaker 1: The hackers were able to access email addresses and user 325 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: birth dates, and potentially other information, including credit card information. 326 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: In two thousand and eleven, Google shut down one social 327 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: media platform and launched another. The shuttered platform was Google Buzz, 328 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,199 Speaker 1: which was a failed experiment that had launched in but 329 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: didn't get much traction. The new social media platform was 330 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: Google Plus, which initially got a lot of buzz itself 331 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: during its invitation only beta. Many folks in the tech space, 332 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:39,159 Speaker 1: including tech journalists like yours, truly got early access, but 333 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: Google Plus wasn't really compelling enough to pull people over 334 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 1: off of Facebook, and Facebook had such momentum that it 335 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,400 Speaker 1: wasn't going to give up the title for super heavyweight 336 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: champ of the world as far as social media goes. 337 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 1: Google would make some pretty radical decisions with Google Plus 338 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: down the road, such as requiring YouTube accounts to be 339 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: linked to a Google Plus account, and moreover, requiring YouTube 340 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: users to use their real names as opposed to a 341 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: screen name, which was a decision the company would walk 342 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 1: back on later. The platform stuck around longer than Google 343 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: Buzz did, but in April two thou nineteen, Google chose 344 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,919 Speaker 1: to shut it down as well. Also in two thousand eleven, 345 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,199 Speaker 1: Google made a bid to acquire Motorola for twelve and 346 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: a half billion dollars. It appeared as though Google was 347 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: intent on making its own hardware in addition to supplying 348 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: software to other original equipment manufacturers. Google would hold on 349 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 1: to the company for only a few years before selling 350 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: it in two thousand fourteen to Lenovo for two point 351 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: nine one billion. Google held onto some of the R 352 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: and D departments from Motorola and also held on to 353 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: a couple of thousand patents, but otherwise parted with its 354 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,880 Speaker 1: prize possession. In September two thousand eleven, Amazon announced the 355 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,159 Speaker 1: launch of the Kindle Fire, a low cost tablet with 356 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: a simple interface meant to take aim at a market 357 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: that couldn't afford Apple's pricier iPad. Android tablets were plentiful 358 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eleven, but for the most part, 359 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: they weren't really making much headway. Amazon was able to 360 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: launch a tablet tied into its other services and make 361 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 1: it work, posing the first real competitor to the iPad 362 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,679 Speaker 1: at that point. Going back to Apple for a second. 363 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: Two thousand eleven was when the world was introduced to 364 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: a new digital entity. SIRIE. The Virtual Personal Assistant, was 365 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: one of the first killer implementations. Many of the features 366 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: could be found in other services, but none had encapsulated 367 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 1: them the way Apple did, and Sirie was a big 368 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 1: hit as people immediately tried to find different ways of 369 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: making her or him say weird stuff. Adobe discontinued support 370 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: for the development of the Flash plug in for mobile 371 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: browsers that year as well. Flash was meant to help 372 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: web developers create dynamic web page elements and players, but 373 00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: the creation of HTML five had largely superseded flashes useful us, 374 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: plus the plug in created potential security vulnerabilities. A year earlier, 375 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs had pretty much slammed Flash, stating that no 376 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: Apple device would ever support it, So it didn't come 377 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: as a big surprise that Adobe decided to say farewell 378 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,120 Speaker 1: to it. A. T and T had made a bid 379 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: to acquire Tea Mobile in two thousand eleven, but gave 380 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: up on that plan later in the year, and Snapchat 381 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 1: also became a thing in two thousand eleven. Oh and 382 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: Leo Apothica resigned from Hewitt Packard, being replaced by Meg 383 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: Whitman in eleven. Now let's move on to two thousand twelve. 384 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: You know, the year when the world ended because the 385 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: mayan calendar thing well. Early in two thousand twelve, the 386 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,919 Speaker 1: tech community in the United States largely united in opposition 387 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: to two pieces of proposed legislation that we're going through 388 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: the various houses of government in the US. One was 389 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 1: the Stop Online Piracy Act otherwise known as SOAPA, and 390 00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: the other was the Protect I p Act or PIPPA. 391 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: Both pieces of legislation sought to combat intellectual property theft 392 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,240 Speaker 1: by limiting access to sites that were accused of housing 393 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,959 Speaker 1: stolen material, and the proposals went even further than that. 394 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,920 Speaker 1: They actually placed potential restrictions and finds on any companies 395 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: that would advertise on such sites or search engines that 396 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:25,240 Speaker 1: would list such sites in their search results. So even 397 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: referring to or supporting the sites in any way, even 398 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: if if it was inadvertently, could get you fined. And 399 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: the way web advertising works is you might not know 400 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 1: where your ads are showing up. You might be working 401 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: with a firm that's securing ad space for your brand 402 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: on various sites. If one of those happened to be 403 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 1: one of these that would get targeted by these these 404 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: pieces of legislation, you could find yourself in hot water. 405 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: So there was obviously a lot of resistance to these, 406 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: so many major sites like Google protests of the proposals, 407 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: calling them overreach and censorship and perhaps even impossible bole 408 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: to implement, and ultimately neither proposal would be enacted into 409 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: law and they both fizzled away. Mega Upload founder Kim 410 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:13,160 Speaker 1: dot Com formerly Kim Schmitz, was arrested in January two 411 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: thousand twelve on charges of housing and distributing pirated material. 412 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: His home in New Zealand was the site of a 413 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: massive police raid, and since then he has fought efforts 414 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: to extradite him to the United States for trial. The 415 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: case has made its way through the New Zealand court 416 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: system to the point where the next case will be 417 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: heard before the New Zealand Supreme Court, if they choose 418 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: to hear it. At that point, it will be decided 419 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: whether or not he will be sent to the US 420 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 1: for prosecution and trial. Right now, as it stands, the 421 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 1: decision is he can be extradited, so unless the Supreme 422 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,159 Speaker 1: Court overturns that decision, he will ultimately have to face 423 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: trial in the United States at some point, But the 424 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: story is still unfolding today. Owen one super cool thing 425 00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: to happen in two thousand twelve was that researchers at 426 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 1: the Large Hadron Collider found evidence that the Higgs Boson particle, 427 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,159 Speaker 1: a theoretical particle that would explain why matter has mass, 428 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: actually exists. It's not just theoretical. That was super awesome, 429 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: And another super awesome text story of two thousand twelve 430 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 1: involved NASA landing the Curiosity Rover on Mars using a capsule, 431 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: lowering the rover to the surface of the planet using 432 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: a sky grain. That's hard to call any single element 433 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: of this operation the most impressive, because it's all amazing, 434 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: But to me, what was super nifty was that the 435 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: whole process had to happen through automation because the distance 436 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,439 Speaker 1: between Mars and Earth means that there's a delay of 437 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: several minutes between when things are happening in one place 438 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: and when we can know about them in the other place. 439 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,880 Speaker 1: It takes time for information to travel between the two points, 440 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,880 Speaker 1: so that would mean that by the time we learn 441 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,520 Speaker 1: about conditions on Mars, several minutes have already passed since 442 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: that moment happened. There's no way for us to be 443 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 1: able to control say a uh, you know, a drone 444 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:14,119 Speaker 1: or a rover or a capsule from Earth that's moving 445 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 1: around Mars. The delay is too long, so it had 446 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: to be automated. Everything happen to happen just right for 447 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: this to work, and it did, and that is super cool. 448 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: It was also the year that Felix Baumgartner did his 449 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 1: spectacular space dive from a hot air balloon at the 450 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:36,639 Speaker 1: very edge of space. That was a pretty amazing moment too. 451 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: I remember watching that with not a small amount of 452 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: anxiety as he plummeted through the atmosphere. NASA also retired 453 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: the space shuttles that year, and a space X capsule 454 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: docked with the International Space Station for the first time. 455 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 1: That was also the year that Blue Origin tested its 456 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: reusable rockets for the first time, although not with a 457 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: landing procedure that would wait a little bit longer. Plus, 458 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: this was around the time when private companies were starting 459 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:10,239 Speaker 1: to seriously talk about mining asteroids. But let's let's get 460 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: a little more terrestrial. So you remember how back in 461 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: two thousand nine, Microsoft was able to reverse some of 462 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 1: the criticism directed toward it for the Vista operating system 463 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: by releasing Windows seven, and how the company managed it 464 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: to change course to help bring corporate customers back into 465 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: the fold. With that launch, we'll get ready for another 466 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: sharp turn because it's time to talk about Windows eight Baby. 467 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 1: Windows eight was a big change from earlier versions of Windows. 468 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: Microsoft was gambling on the rise of tablets and on 469 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: touch screen interfaces, and the Windows eight UY was evidence 470 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: of that gamble. Rather than a desktop of icons and 471 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: a menu with a full list of programs on the device, 472 00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: the Windows eight Metro UI had apps on tie oles. Ideally, 473 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: you would use a touch screen interface to swipe through 474 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: the different options, selecting the one you wanted. You could 475 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: opt to use a slightly more traditional UI if you 476 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: wanted to, but it wasn't the default. Along with this 477 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 1: operating system, Microsoft also launched the Surface tablet. Now that 478 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 1: made sense. The tablet would be built to support the 479 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 1: OS and show off all of its Metro features, and 480 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: a lot of reviewers praised the Windows eight tablet when 481 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: it came to this implementation. They cited the look and 482 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 1: feel of the OS on the tablet was more robust 483 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: than what Apple's iPad could could provide, so they said, 484 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: in some ways, this is superior to Apple's iPad, But 485 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,959 Speaker 1: there was one small problem a lot of people hated 486 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,520 Speaker 1: the desktop version of Windows eight a lot, to the 487 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: point where there were a lot of people and companies 488 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: who treated eight the way they had treated Windows Vista, 489 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: by not adopting it, then holding for another course correction. 490 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: They would stick with Windows seven instead. Some places would 491 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: stick with an even older version, Windows XP, which was 492 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: not super smart, but you can kind of understand why 493 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: they went with it. The departure from the traditional UI 494 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: for desktop owners and the emphasis on touch screen interfaces 495 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: didn't really go over so well. Now. As I said 496 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: in an episode of tech Stuff last year, I think 497 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 1: a lot of people on laptops and desktops rarely, if ever, 498 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: used touch screen displays with their devices. It just it's 499 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: the kind of UY that makes more sense from a 500 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: tablet or smartphone form factor, but tends to be awkward 501 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: for other types of devices. Over at Yahoo, the company 502 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: hired away Marissa Meyer from Google. Meyer would become the 503 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 1: new CEO of Yahoo in an effort to shake things 504 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: up and turn things around for the bloated, stumbling company. 505 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,560 Speaker 1: Many hoped she would be the source of energy that 506 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: the company needed, but lots of factors played into her tenure, 507 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: largely being viewed as a earlier Some but not all, 508 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: of those factors were under her control. Initially, the company 509 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: looked like it was on the right path, with climbing 510 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: stock prices and a shake up and leadership, but decisions 511 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: to do stuff like acquire Tumbler would prove to be wasteful, 512 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: and later still, the company would be at the center 513 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: of a truly massive data breach scandal, which I'll touch 514 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: on when we get there. Oh and uh. Google also 515 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 1: revealed its driver less car initiative in two thousand and twelve. 516 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,719 Speaker 1: The company had been secretly conducting tests for a while, 517 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: but it became public in two thousand twelve. The initiative 518 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: would eventually evolve into its own spinoff startup company called 519 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 1: Weymo a few years later. Apple unveiled the iPhone five 520 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: in two thousand twelve and gave Google Maps the boot, 521 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: favoring the company's own Apple Maps app instead. But the 522 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,680 Speaker 1: Apple version was a bit um lost in the weeds. 523 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 1: I guess. Users found inaccuracies in some maps. Some maps 524 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 1: seemed to be missing roads, or they had roads placed 525 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 1: where no roads actually were, or they would be told 526 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: to turn onto our river. The app initially had no 527 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 1: transit direction service either. So it was a mess, and 528 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: it had a lot of people telling jokes at Apple's expense. 529 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: Because of this, users found the experience frustrating and counterproductive. 530 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: It prompted a rare apology from Apple as CEO Tim 531 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: Cook acknowledged the problems, and then a few heads rolled 532 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 1: over at Apple h Q as a result. Now, I've 533 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: got a little bit more to say about two thousand 534 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: and twelve, but first let's take another quick break over 535 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:56,200 Speaker 1: at Facebook. The company was barreling towards its initial public offering, 536 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: which would make the company a publicly traded entity for 537 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: the first time, but the process did not go smoothly. 538 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,480 Speaker 1: There were multiple problems with the i p O launch, 539 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: from too many shares that were issued to an overvalued 540 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,920 Speaker 1: stock price of thirty eight dollars per share. There were 541 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 1: lots of shenanigans going on the day of launch, including 542 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,239 Speaker 1: charges that Morgan Stanley, the financial institution that was the 543 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: underwriter for the I p O, had influenced stock shares 544 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: in a way that was you know, kind of illegal 545 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: or at the very least very much frowned upon. Facebook's 546 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:33,120 Speaker 1: stock price took a tumble as a result, singing below 547 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: eighteen dollars per share, and giving the company a pretty 548 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: sharp blow to the solar plexus as far as its 549 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 1: valuation was concerned. The company has more than recovered in 550 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,240 Speaker 1: the years since, however, with stock prices now more than 551 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:50,480 Speaker 1: two hundred bucks per share. That same year, Facebook made 552 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: one of its big acquisitions, purchasing the photo sharing app 553 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 1: Instagram for about a billion dollars. However, the plummeting price 554 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: of Facebook stocks would actual make that more like seven 555 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: forty million dollars at the end. Heaven Systrom and Mike Krieger, 556 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,240 Speaker 1: the co founders of Instagram, would stay with Facebook until 557 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:14,239 Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. After leaving, details would slowly spread as 558 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 1: to why they had departed the company in the first place, 559 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,319 Speaker 1: and it was largely because, despite early promises not to 560 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,799 Speaker 1: do this, Facebook was frequently lifting features from Instagram to 561 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:28,759 Speaker 1: incorporate in other Facebook services, and would also interfere with 562 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: Instagram's operations. So these days there are regulatory agencies that 563 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,920 Speaker 1: are looking to separate Instagram from Facebook, breaking up the 564 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,759 Speaker 1: company's at whatever happens, Well, I mean, we're gonna have 565 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: to wait. It just hasn't happened yet. But they're still 566 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:48,440 Speaker 1: ongoing conversations about breaking up Facebook. We'll talk about that 567 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,919 Speaker 1: a little bit more when we get to WhatsApp. That's 568 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,520 Speaker 1: that's in the future. Spoiler alert. Nintendo launched the WU 569 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: in two thousand twelve. It was an update to the 570 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: two thousand six console than into No We, and it 571 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: featured a controller called the game Pad, which housed a 572 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: tablet touch screen as part of the controller. The control 573 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,280 Speaker 1: scheme created new opportunities for gameplay mechanics, but the console 574 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,760 Speaker 1: itself was a disappointment in the market. One major problem 575 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 1: was that there were very few titles that actually took 576 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: advantage of the innovation, and it left gamers feeling like 577 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: they had bought a console with features that no one 578 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,960 Speaker 1: was really taking advantage of. The WU would go on 579 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: to be one of the bigger disappointments in Nintendo's console history. 580 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: As for companies established in two thousand twelve, well, the 581 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,600 Speaker 1: one most of you would likely recognize by name is 582 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 1: Oculus VR. The company aimed to bring virtual reality to 583 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: the home consumer. More on that later too. All right, 584 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:46,520 Speaker 1: let's move on to two thousand thirteen, and yeah, um, 585 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:48,880 Speaker 1: this is definitely a two parter episode. So on the 586 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:50,799 Speaker 1: bright side, like I said, I'm going to skip all 587 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:52,680 Speaker 1: of two thousand nineteen at the end of the next 588 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 1: one because I just did two episodes about that, so 589 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 1: you know, you have that to look forward to. So 590 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,800 Speaker 1: it was two thousand thirteen when a man named Edward 591 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: Snowden became a public figure as the former contractor for 592 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 1: the n s A blew the whistle on how the 593 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 1: National Security Agency had been conducting a truly massive data 594 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: collection and espionage program on American citizens, largely centered on 595 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:22,680 Speaker 1: phone and computer data transmissions and potentially affecting millions of people. 596 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,319 Speaker 1: The n s A denied allegations of wrongdoing and said 597 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,799 Speaker 1: that it was operating within the bounds the law. But 598 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,719 Speaker 1: then the laws themselves allowed for such secrecy that this 599 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:36,239 Speaker 1: was not much of a comfort. Add to that the 600 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 1: fact that while the agency might be founded on sound principles, 601 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: people can still be jerk faces, and you've got a 602 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 1: big problem there, right. There were stories of n s 603 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,800 Speaker 1: A employees who are taking advantage of this enormous amount 604 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: of data surveillance and using it to look into personal 605 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: matters of their own, like to spy on x's and 606 00:36:56,719 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: things like that, nasty stuff. While the n s a story. 607 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 1: Rays have largely died down since two thousand thirteen. Snowden 608 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:08,600 Speaker 1: continues to live in effective exile in Russia. There was 609 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:12,880 Speaker 1: an increase in cybersecurity attacks in two thousand thirteen. There 610 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:17,360 Speaker 1: were targets like Well the retail store target that found 611 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,400 Speaker 1: themselves the victims of hacker attacks. Now, I'd love to 612 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,680 Speaker 1: say that things have gotten better since then, but every 613 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,840 Speaker 1: year we've seen more stories about data breaches, not fewer stories. 614 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:32,360 Speaker 1: Some of these stories are brought on by hackers exploiting vulnerabilities, 615 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: and others are the result of dumb mistakes in which 616 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:39,680 Speaker 1: companies accidentally exposed treasure troves of personal information to the 617 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:43,919 Speaker 1: world at large. Two thousand thirteen saw Twitter hold its 618 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 1: own initial public offering, and unlike Facebook's bungled i p O, 619 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,360 Speaker 1: the Twitter one went off britty darn well. The company 620 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:54,200 Speaker 1: had not yet proven to be profitable, but still managed 621 00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: to have a successful I p O and made a 622 00:37:56,640 --> 00:38:01,279 Speaker 1: lot of early investors a lot of money. Now, we 623 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 1: first heard about Elon Musk's proposed high speed rail system 624 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:09,160 Speaker 1: called hyperloop back in two thousand thirteen. The idea would 625 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: have trains moving through tunnel systems in which most of 626 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,160 Speaker 1: the air would get pumped out and that would cut 627 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:18,920 Speaker 1: way down on wind resistance. The rails would connect cities 628 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: like San Francisco and Los Angeles, providing an alternative to 629 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:25,880 Speaker 1: a drive that lasts several hours or a short but 630 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:30,799 Speaker 1: environmentally wasteful flight. We're still seeing various companies compete to 631 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,120 Speaker 1: bring some variation of Musk's vision to life, and it 632 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 1: remains to be seen if any approach will prove feasible 633 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:40,960 Speaker 1: enough to tackle the incredible challenge associated with building out 634 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: new high speed rail infrastructure. You might get all the 635 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:47,360 Speaker 1: technology to fall into place and show that it works 636 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:51,080 Speaker 1: and that it's safe and efficient, but you still have 637 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,359 Speaker 1: to build the darn stuff, and that's where I think 638 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:57,320 Speaker 1: we're going to see a lot of issues moving forward. Meanwhile, 639 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,759 Speaker 1: Amazon founder and Uber billion their Jeff Bezos announced that 640 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:05,000 Speaker 1: Amazon had long term plans to introduce a delivery service 641 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:08,600 Speaker 1: in which drones would drop off packages. He also spent 642 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:12,440 Speaker 1: some of his considerable wealth to purchase the newspaper The 643 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 1: Washington Post. We started seeing big changes in entertainment in 644 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,040 Speaker 1: two thousand and thirteen as Netflix launched its own studio 645 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 1: to create original content. Now these days, that's a given, 646 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,280 Speaker 1: but back then it was a pretty big move. Suddenly 647 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:29,279 Speaker 1: a streaming service was actually getting into the business of 648 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,359 Speaker 1: making the stuff it was streaming, and it came out 649 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,680 Speaker 1: swinging with the series House of Cards, which earned the 650 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 1: service some pretty positive reviews and fourteen Emmy nominations. It 651 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,160 Speaker 1: also opened up the opportunity for other services to get 652 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:47,320 Speaker 1: into the production game, leading to our current environment in 653 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:50,040 Speaker 1: which you need to subscribe to a half dozen different 654 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:54,239 Speaker 1: services to see all the various programming available. Welcome to 655 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 1: the new cable age. No. And in the United States, 656 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,400 Speaker 1: we saw, you know, a very rough launch of a 657 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:08,120 Speaker 1: very important service in healthcare dot gov. This site was 658 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:12,480 Speaker 1: the first Internet only US national government service, and it 659 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:16,360 Speaker 1: had so many errors and problems at launch that it 660 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:19,520 Speaker 1: helped create a pretty negative overview of the U. S 661 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:23,720 Speaker 1: Government's Affordable Care Act in general. It did, however, start 662 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 1: up a much needed conversation about how to reform the 663 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:31,239 Speaker 1: process by which the US government acquires and implements technology, 664 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 1: because this was not the right way to do it. 665 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:41,719 Speaker 1: It was pretty rotten. Also, in Microsoft unveiled the Xbox one, 666 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:46,000 Speaker 1: the successor to the Xbox three sixty. The initial launch 667 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:50,440 Speaker 1: event didn't go super smoothly, with a general backlash directed 668 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:52,799 Speaker 1: at Microsoft over the fact that the Xbox one was 669 00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 1: meant to have a persistent Internet connection, a requirement that 670 00:40:56,600 --> 00:41:01,240 Speaker 1: the company would subsequently drop before launch day. Meanwhile, Sony 671 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:05,600 Speaker 1: announced and later launched the PlayStation four, and while Microsoft 672 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,880 Speaker 1: had done pretty well against Sony with the Xbox three sixty, 673 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:11,000 Speaker 1: helped in large part by the fact that they had 674 00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:14,400 Speaker 1: a year's head start on the PS three, the PS 675 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:17,879 Speaker 1: four would outperform Microsoft's console in the sales department by 676 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:22,120 Speaker 1: a long shot. Also at Microsoft, in two thousand thirteen, 677 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:25,440 Speaker 1: we saw a change in leadership. Steve Balmber announced he 678 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:29,600 Speaker 1: would retire as CEO. Bomber had led the company since 679 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:32,120 Speaker 1: Bill Gates had stepped down as CEO way back in 680 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 1: two thousand and He would actually stay on with Microsoft 681 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,680 Speaker 1: until two thousand and fourteen so that they could establish 682 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,160 Speaker 1: a new CEO, so this was just him announcing his retirement. Oilver. 683 00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:47,200 Speaker 1: At Google, the company killed off it's RSS aggregator service 684 00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,839 Speaker 1: called Google Reader. I don't know how many of you 685 00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:52,480 Speaker 1: remember that. It was really important to me. I loved it, 686 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,600 Speaker 1: but it left a lot of dedicaid users like myself upset. However, 687 00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:00,160 Speaker 1: other services like Feedley would sweep in to keep RSS 688 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:02,879 Speaker 1: clients relevant. I still use them myself to keep up 689 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,360 Speaker 1: with the latest news in various areas, you know, like tech. 690 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,720 Speaker 1: We also saw the Pebble debut in two thousand thirteen. 691 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,240 Speaker 1: The Kickstarter project was one of the most successful in history, 692 00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:18,800 Speaker 1: and it was also an early example of wearable technology. 693 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,359 Speaker 1: For a while, like wearables were going to be the 694 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,920 Speaker 1: next step beyond smartphones as far as computing is concerned, 695 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:28,560 Speaker 1: we had already seen a major move from traditional computers 696 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:32,200 Speaker 1: to mobile devices by two thousand thirteen. But while numerous 697 00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 1: companies have produced various smart watches and activity trackers and 698 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:40,160 Speaker 1: other wearable types of tech, only a few, like Fitbit, 699 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:44,960 Speaker 1: saw any real adoption success, and Pebble's own early victory 700 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,719 Speaker 1: wouldn't be enough to sustain the company over the long term. 701 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:50,239 Speaker 1: It would eventually get acquired by Fitbit a couple of 702 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:54,640 Speaker 1: years later and largely dismantled. Two thousand thirteen was also 703 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:58,680 Speaker 1: when the gamer Gate nastiness got started. It began as 704 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:02,480 Speaker 1: a backlash against a game developer named Zoe Quinn, but 705 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:07,600 Speaker 1: it escalated rapidly beyond that. Now ostensibly it was about 706 00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:11,440 Speaker 1: game development and ethics and game journalism. But how it 707 00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:16,160 Speaker 1: really played out was as a series of campaigns of 708 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:19,800 Speaker 1: harassment aimed at a number of people in and connected 709 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,520 Speaker 1: to the games industry, most of them women. There was 710 00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:27,239 Speaker 1: no official leadership of this so called movement, but the 711 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:31,480 Speaker 1: coordination of attacks was pretty sophisticated, making extensive use of 712 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:35,480 Speaker 1: online communities like Reddit and four Chan. And you don't 713 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:39,080 Speaker 1: even need that many people to have an effective, uh 714 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:42,560 Speaker 1: campaign of harassment for it to really get to people. 715 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:46,359 Speaker 1: And we saw that happen a lot with gamer Gate. 716 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:50,680 Speaker 1: It was truly awful stuff. In two thousand thirteen, one 717 00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:53,840 Speaker 1: company launched that would end up dominating the news cycle 718 00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:56,279 Speaker 1: a few years later down the road for all the 719 00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:01,000 Speaker 1: wrong reasons. That company was Cambridge Analytics come, a political 720 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:03,520 Speaker 1: consulting firm that was based in the United Kingdom but 721 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:06,719 Speaker 1: would operate around the world. Now. I did episodes about 722 00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:10,160 Speaker 1: Cambridge Analytica and the scandal around it and how that 723 00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:13,560 Speaker 1: company operated, including how a good deal of its data 724 00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:17,440 Speaker 1: on people came from an unethical Facebook survey app that 725 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:20,920 Speaker 1: collected information on users without their consent. The whole story 726 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:24,759 Speaker 1: gets super complicated and super ugly, not just in the 727 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,880 Speaker 1: United States, but around the world. The company would eventually 728 00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 1: go bankrupt in two thousand eighteen, but many related consulting firms, 729 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,719 Speaker 1: some operated by people who worked at Cambridge Analytica, are 730 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,880 Speaker 1: still very much an operation to this day. The Cambridge 731 00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:42,920 Speaker 1: Analytica scandal is part of what brought Facebook under intense 732 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:46,600 Speaker 1: scrutiny a few years later, and also created suspicion around 733 00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:51,040 Speaker 1: the possibility of even holding fair elections in general. So, yeah, 734 00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:54,960 Speaker 1: this was a big story and one that had incredibly 735 00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:59,000 Speaker 1: powerful consequences. Now, in our next episode, we're gonna take 736 00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:01,040 Speaker 1: a look at some of the big stories that unfolded 737 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:03,560 Speaker 1: from two thousand fourteen to two thousand and eighteen. And 738 00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:05,360 Speaker 1: if you want to hear about two thousand nineteen, like 739 00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:07,440 Speaker 1: I said, just go back a couple of episodes before 740 00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:10,600 Speaker 1: this one, because I pretty much covered all of that already. 741 00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:13,640 Speaker 1: In the meantime, if you guys have suggestions for future 742 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:15,759 Speaker 1: topics I should cover on tech stuff, reach out to 743 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:19,120 Speaker 1: me on social networks. The place you can do that 744 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,680 Speaker 1: with it would be like Facebook or or Twitter. The 745 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:23,840 Speaker 1: handle for both of those is tech stuff hs W. 746 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:27,000 Speaker 1: Just tag me in that and I'll see it, and uh, 747 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:31,120 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again about the two thousand fourteen 748 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:39,000 Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen really Soon. Tex Stuff is a production 749 00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: of I heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts 750 00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:44,800 Speaker 1: from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 751 00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:48,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.