1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: and how the tech are you? It is time for 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: the Tech News for November twenty second, two thousand twenty two, 6 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: the Tuesday before American Thanksgiving. So the rest of this 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: week is going to be reruns and then we'll be 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: back next week with all new episodes. But let's get 9 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: to the news today, and you know the drill. We 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: need to get the Twitter stuff out of the way first, 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: because obviously a ton has happened since our last news 12 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: episode on Thursday of last week. So last Thursday, Elon 13 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: Musk's ultimatum hit. Employees had to sign a form indicating 14 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: whether they would stick it out and work longer, harder 15 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: hours to build what Musk calls Twitter two point oh, 16 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: which we'll talk about the it in a second, or 17 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: if they would take a severance package and just walk. 18 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: And reportedly a lot of folks, maybe as many as 19 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: a thousand, took that package. It's hard to get a 20 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: real number because I feel some of the reporting has 21 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: been fueled by schadenfreude and also Twitter no longer has 22 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: a public relations office Elon must got rid of that 23 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: early on in the layoffs, so there's no one to 24 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: ask to get official feedback on this stuff. There were 25 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 1: stories about entire departments within Twitter essentially being emptied, including 26 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: departments like payroll, which obviously would create a real hassle 27 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: at the company. One story that proved to at least 28 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: have some substance was that the folks in charge of 29 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: monitoring badge access to Twitter h q had left, and 30 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: since Musk had directed Twitter HQ two essentially go on 31 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: lockdown for this week, the idea being they want to 32 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: keep the area safe from disgruntled former employees while things 33 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: settle down. Uh. It also meant that no one, not 34 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: even Musk, could regain access to the building because all 35 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: the people who maintain that had left, So Musk actually 36 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: had to call up a now former employee to come 37 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: in and open the building up again, which is pretty 38 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: wild anyway. Tons of people popped on Twitter throughout the weekend, 39 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: waiting to see if it might crash and not come 40 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: back up, you know, kind of like I was there 41 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: when Twitter went away, but for now the site is 42 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: still active. I imagine the people left at Twitter are 43 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: really working super hard to make sure that stays the case. Meanwhile, 44 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: Musk has also sent a memo in Twitter indicating that 45 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: many employee perks are now gonzo, as in they are 46 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: no more at least for the time being. And that 47 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: includes stuff like company allowances for home internet, employee wellness programs, 48 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: training and development programs, daycare, and quarterly team activities, among 49 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: other things. So for the folks who are left behind, 50 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: there are fewer and fewer benefits that they can take 51 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: advantage of while they work longer and longer hours. Of course, 52 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: for some employees, working for Twitter is absolutely critical. Some 53 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: are here in the US on work visas and if 54 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: their employment ends, they have to leave the country. Some 55 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: are dependent upon healthcare for ongoing treatments. So even if 56 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: you never use Twitter, or you've never liked Twitter, or 57 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: maybe you hate Twitter now, whatever it might be, please 58 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: send out good vibes for the people who are in 59 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: tough situations that are just continuing to get tougher. I mean, 60 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: for all the people who resigned, who are laid off, 61 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: and for the people who are still at Twitter. It 62 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: is a tough time to be in that situation, especially 63 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: right as the holidays are picking up. But wait, there's more. 64 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: After all that drama late last week, this week opened 65 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: with even more drama. Musk announced that he was holding 66 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: even more layoffs, this time specifically targeting twitters sales teams. 67 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: Last week, the company saw the head of ads Ales 68 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: and the VP of Partnerships both get their walking papers. Reportedly, 69 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: these leaders were fired because they refused directives to lay 70 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: off more of their employees. They were trying to protect 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: the people who are working in their departments, and they've 72 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: been canned as a result. So must decide that if 73 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: these folks are not going to follow his orders, they 74 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: gots to go. And then the head of US Content 75 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: Partnerships left the company. From what I can tell, she 76 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: made that choice on her own. So it's possible that 77 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: she saw what was going on in other departments and 78 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: said I can't be a part of this, or maybe 79 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: she had other reasons. I don't know, but she left 80 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,239 Speaker 1: the company as well. So the senior leadership at Twitter 81 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: continues to dwindle. When Musk assumed control of Twitter, the 82 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: company had seventy five hundred employees seven thousand, five hundred people. Now, 83 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: The Verge reports that the head count is down to 84 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: around two thousand, seven hundred, and Business Insider is even 85 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: more pessimistic. They say it's actually two thousand, three hundred employees. Yesterday, 86 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: after the sales team layoffs, must held in all hands 87 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: meeting where he announced that he'd be hiring again, specifically 88 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: that he was looking to hire people in engineering, and 89 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: hang on a second, says here sales, you know the 90 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: department where he had just laid people off. Well, details 91 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: are somewhat scarce because you know, again no public relations 92 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: department within the company, so you can't really reach out 93 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: to get comment. But outlets are saying that Musk himself 94 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 1: was fairly vague about what these people would be doing. So, yeah, 95 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: he needs engineers and he needs needs salespeople, but he 96 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: didn't specify what roles he was looking to fill. Um 97 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: And at least as of yesterday, there were no job 98 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 1: openings listed on Twitter's corporate site, but Musk said, quote, 99 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: in terms of critical hires, I would say people who 100 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: are great at writing software are the highest priority end quote. 101 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: And one recent higher well and in turn is George 102 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: hots H o t Z. If you're not familiar with 103 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: Hotts's name, he's a hacker, and he made his name 104 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: doing things like jail breaking iOS devices. Uh. He figured 105 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: out how the PlayStation three works, he reverse engineered it. Uh. Infamously, 106 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: he had a real kind of tiff with Elon Musk. 107 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: Musk apparently wanted Hots to come over and work for 108 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: Tesla because Hatts was looking to replicate Tesla's auto pilot system, 109 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: but make it like a kit that you could just 110 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: get and install into other machines, like other cars, and 111 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: so Musk reportedly wanted to offer Hots a job, but 112 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: Hots says that while they were sitting down to work 113 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 1: out terms, they couldn't come to an agreement, and eventually 114 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: Hots split and he got irritated at Musk. But now 115 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: Hots has agreed to spend twelve weeks working at Twitter, 116 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,679 Speaker 1: and he says it's his main focus is to work 117 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: on search functions for Twitter itself. So what do you 118 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: do after you lay off half of your company, your 119 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: newly purchased company. You then convince another one thousand or 120 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: so folks to resign. You require engineers to come in 121 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: on a weekend to cram on code and keep things afloat, 122 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: and then you call in all hands, meaning to talk 123 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: about hiring again, well, you also unveil your plan for 124 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: the next incarnation of your company. Musk's Twitter two point 125 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: oh is going to have voice calls and video chat 126 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: and encryption for direct messages, according to Elon himself, and 127 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: it's sounding like Musk is merging his vision of Twitter 128 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: with his desire to build and everything app that he 129 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: had previously referred to as X. You may not know this, 130 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: but when Musk was first founding UH, I believe it 131 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: was PayPal co founding PayPal, he wanted to call it 132 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: X and ended up not calling it that because they 133 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: thought that probably wouldn't be a viable business name. But 134 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: now he wants to make an everything app called X 135 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: that would be similar to China's we Chat app, and 136 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: we Chat incorporates tons of off like communications, social networking, 137 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: commerce features, all these sort of things. Elon Musk kind 138 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: of wants to make a similar app to that, but 139 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: for markets outside of China. Obviously, whether he can do 140 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 1: that with a team that has been so heavily affected 141 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: by layoffs and resignations remains to be seen. Reportedly, a 142 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: lot of the folks who have left Twitter were ones 143 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: who are senior members of their respective teams, which could 144 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: represent a huge loss of knowledge like that alone is 145 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: going to set people back when you've got people who 146 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: were sort of the the depositories of knowledge within the 147 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: company and they leave. I mean, if the documentation is there, 148 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: then you can you can muscle your way through it, 149 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: but it takes time. But the documentation isn't there, then 150 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: it gets increasingly difficult. Elon Musk himself has said that 151 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: several of Twitter's departments are going to need to be 152 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: rebuilt from scratch, which seems to me to be a 153 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: monumental undertaking of itself that where people are going to 154 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: be around to actually tackle. So it definitely sounds like 155 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: it's gonna be a tough time ahead. Um and in 156 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,719 Speaker 1: the meantime, we don't know if any of this is realistic, 157 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: even from inside Twitter, because again there's no PR department there. Well, 158 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: that's it for the Twitter dues. Will move on to 159 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: some other things after we come back from this quick break. Okay, 160 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: we're back. So last spring, the National Labor Relations Board, 161 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: or in l RB here in the United States brought 162 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: a lawsuit against Amazon, saying that the company had engaged 163 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: in retaliatory actions against employees who are workplace activists, namely 164 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: that Amazon fired former employee Gerald Bryson after Bryson worked 165 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: to organize employees at a warehouse on Staten Island that 166 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: went on to actually vote to unionize. Now, a judge 167 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 1: has partly ruled in favor of the n l RBS argument. 168 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: They have said that Amazon did engage in such behaviors 169 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: and that Amazon needs to knock that crap off in 170 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: the future. However, the judge did not go so far 171 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: as to agree with the n l r B the 172 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: Amazon's actions impacted employees efforts to unionize and that the 173 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: company should reinstate Bryson. So, the n l RB said 174 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,839 Speaker 1: Bryson's firing was intended to scare other employees away from organizing, 175 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: because firing Bryson showed that other employees would receive no 176 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: protection during the actual organization process. That yes, once you 177 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: are unionized, you have an organization that can protect you 178 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 1: from the company, but until that happens, you are incredibly vulnerable. 179 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: But the judge determined that employees continue to organize even 180 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: in the wake of Bryson's firing, and so did not 181 00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: agree to the request to have Bryson reinstated as an 182 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: Ama on employee. So Amazon does have a cease and 183 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: desist order against it regarding interfering and employee organization efforts, 184 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: but the company will not have to hire Bryson back 185 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: on the team. As I mentioned last week, Amazon is 186 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: holding layoffs that are expected to hit around ten thousand 187 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: employees before they're all done, and the hardware divisions have 188 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: been affected a lot by this, and Business Insider reports 189 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: that the Amazon Alexa division is in real jeopardy right now. 190 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: My apologies for any of you who have Amazon devices 191 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: in ear shot, but we are going to have to 192 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: say that name a couple of times. The project began 193 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: as a Jeff Bezos backed idea. That is, Alexa was 194 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: like Jeff Bezos's baby for a little while, but after 195 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: a few years of failing to find any way to 196 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: drive revenue via Alexa, the shine on the product has 197 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: really worn off for the company. Of course, Bezos has 198 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: no longer had Hancho at Amazon. You've got Andy Jase 199 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: there as CEO now, and he tends to take a 200 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: more pragmatic view of the business. And according to various reports, 201 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: a big part of the problem is that while Amazon's 202 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: Echo devices are really popular, they sell really well. The 203 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: company is selling them at cost with the goal of 204 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,719 Speaker 1: making money off of the use of the devices, rather 205 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: than through the sale of devices themselves. So this is 206 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: similar to how companies that make game consoles will sell 207 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: those consoles close to the cost of production. So while 208 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: a game console might be hundreds of dollars, that typically 209 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: isn't making the company a lot of profit or any 210 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: profit with each sale. Sometimes companies even take a loss 211 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: on it because their ideas that they'll make their money 212 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: by selling you games and services that leverage the console, 213 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: the consoles the entry point to making revenue. Well, that's 214 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: how Amazon was looking at the Echo line of products. 215 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: But the problem is the team never quite figured out 216 00:12:55,520 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: a way to monetize Alexa's use, and so the division 217 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: and accrued more and more financial losses over time, and 218 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: according to Ours Technica, that division is headed toward a 219 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: ten billion dollar loss this year billion with a B 220 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: Holy cow. Just to be clear, this problem is not 221 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 1: unique to Amazon. Apple and Google each have found it 222 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: difficult to monetize their digital voice assistant products. People have 223 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: been using them, but there hasn't really been a way 224 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: to tap into that use and generate revenue. And that 225 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: could mean that the days of us talking to our 226 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: electronics like we're aboard the starship Enterprise and we're chatting 227 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: with the ship's computer could be living on borrowed time 228 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: across the pond. In the United Kingdom, regulators are taking 229 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: a closer look at the mobile operating system landscape. So 230 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: the concern is that Google's Android and Apple's iOS represent 231 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: a duopoli, you know, two companies that control pretty much 232 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: the entire mobile operating system landscape. And I don't think 233 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: you can really argue that. I think that's pretty much 234 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: effectively the case. I mean, there's not really that many 235 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: operating systems in the laptop desktop universe either. You've got 236 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: a few, but the two dominant ones, really the dominant 237 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: one is Windows and then you've got mac os. There 238 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 1: are others as well, their Linux systems, their unique systems, 239 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: but those represent such a a small percentage of at 240 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: least a particular slice of computer. Like if we're talking 241 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: about web servers is a totally different thing. But anyway, 242 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: this do woppoli may have a negative impact on app developers. Specifically, 243 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK or the 244 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: c m A is looking into issues that impact mobile gaming. 245 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: So one thing they're looking at is cloud gaming, which 246 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: is where you have servers that run an instance of 247 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: a game and then stream that instance too and in 248 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: device like a smartphone. Another is that developers claim Apple 249 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: and Google have failed to address deficiencies in their respective browsers, 250 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: which in turn forces developers to create workarounds to try 251 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: and deal with these shortfalls. So the CMA is going 252 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: to investigate these developer concerns. They're gonna look into this 253 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: and then if they decide that the concerns are merited 254 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: and changes are warranted, they will issue a kind of 255 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: patch response. Now, there is an entire department within the 256 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: UK that is intended to deal with just this kind 257 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: of thing, and it's called the Digital Markets Unit. But 258 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: the problem is this particular agency lacks any regulatory authority, 259 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:41,440 Speaker 1: Like they have no way of creating any implements of 260 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:45,479 Speaker 1: change because they don't have any authority yet. So that's 261 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: that's an agency that's still kind of forming and until 262 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: it gets some bite to it, it really it really 263 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: can't do much. So the dirty work is following falling 264 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: to other departments for the time being. Alphabet Google's parent 265 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: company appears to be bending to pressure brought against it 266 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: by Sir Christopher Hone, whom you might remember owns some 267 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: six billion dollars worth of steak in the company, and 268 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: Hone had argued that Google was overstaffed and that employees 269 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: there are overpaid, which, again I want to say, is 270 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: really saying something when you're a freaking billionaire. Okay, when 271 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: you're a billionaire and you're saying other people are overpaid, 272 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: maybe rethink your statements a bit, But enough commentary. The 273 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: crux of this story is that Alphabet has directed Google 274 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: managers to identify the low performers in their departments, and 275 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: the bottom six percent or so, which would be around 276 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: ten thousand employees, will presumably be shown the door. And 277 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: it's a really tough time to be working for tech 278 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: companies right now. Amazon, Meta, Twitter, infamously, Alphabet and many 279 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: others have been laying off thousands of people right at 280 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: the start of the holiday season. So if you're listening 281 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: to the show and you've been affected directly or indirectly 282 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: by these layoffs, I just want to say I wish 283 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 1: you the absolute best. I hope things turn around quickly. 284 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 1: And as for the argument that companies like Alphabet and 285 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: particularly Google have too many employees. Part of that can 286 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: actually be a strategy to scoop up talent so that 287 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 1: this talent doesn't end up working for a competitor because 288 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: it is a cut road business out in Silicon Valley, y'all. 289 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: Just in case my fellow Americans weren't worried enough that 290 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: Meta slash Facebook is gathering all of their data, let's 291 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:37,360 Speaker 1: talk about taxes, shall we. So The Markup has published 292 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 1: a piece that says tax services like tax Slayer, tax Act, 293 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: and H and R Block have been transmitting financial information 294 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: from web clients that are coming to do their taxes 295 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: online to Facebook. And that information being sent to Facebook 296 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: includes some pretty you know, standard stuff like like person 297 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: names and their email addresses and user names, that kind 298 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: of stuff. But in some cases at least, it also 299 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:11,680 Speaker 1: includes more privileged information like income filing status, refund amounts, 300 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: the actual amount of income a person makes, that kind 301 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,360 Speaker 1: of thing. And you might be saying to yourself, Huh, 302 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 1: does matter really know how much I make? Do they 303 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: need to know that how much I pay in taxes 304 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: or whether or not I qualify for a refund? Do 305 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,199 Speaker 1: I want Meta to use that kind of information as 306 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: a way to sell more targeted ads to me. I mean, 307 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: you can easily see why Meta would like that information 308 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: in the first place, because advertisers would love to be 309 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: able to more accurately target their customers. At the heart 310 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: of this is the pixel. This is a product that 311 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: Facebook offers up for free for companies to use, and 312 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,919 Speaker 1: installing pixel into a web page allows several things, Like 313 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: on the web page side, it allows for a lot 314 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: of customization of an experience, but the Facebook side, it 315 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,159 Speaker 1: means that users who visit these pages that have the 316 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 1: pixel on it are sending data to Facebook. Facebook gets 317 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: more information about user behaviors, like what websites are they visiting, 318 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: how long are they spending time there, what are they 319 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: doing in some cases, So in these cases the activities appear, 320 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: at least in some instances to include sensitive financial data. Now, 321 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: not all tax preparation services have the pixel installed on 322 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: sensitive pages, even if they have used the pixel so 323 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: into its Turbo Tax, which has its own history of issues, 324 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: does use pixel, but it only has it at the 325 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: log in page, which means that the pixel on that 326 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:49,159 Speaker 1: page sends information like user names and how frequently a 327 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: specific device has logged into the service, but it doesn't 328 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: include any financial information or anything like that, and the 329 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 1: pixel is not included on any pages beyond the log 330 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: in page. So Facebook isn't getting any more information about 331 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: turbo taxes clients in that case. But for other tax 332 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: preparation preparation services that's not necessarily the case. And if 333 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: you don't live in the US, and you're wondering why 334 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,360 Speaker 1: I'm even talking about all this, because most places outside 335 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: of the US, the government handles all this stuff, and 336 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 1: really it just comes down to the individual citizen to 337 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: sign off on what the government has found or to 338 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,640 Speaker 1: you know, take issue with it and explain, hey, you 339 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: you missed this thing that should change the amount of 340 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: taxes i owe. US does not do that. The tax 341 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: preparation sequences is highly privatized here in the United States. 342 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 1: Taxes are incredibly complex. If you do have a good 343 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 1: grounding in how taxes are prepared, you can do it yourself, 344 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: nothing stopping you. But a lot of people find them 345 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: intimidating because the language used, the forms used, they're not 346 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: they're not user friendly. So frequently people turn to professional 347 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: services or web services that that automate A lot of 348 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: the stuff. So that's why this is a huge issue 349 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: here in the United States. And there's a lot more 350 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: to this story, but I actually recommend heading over to 351 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: the Verge and reading their article. It's titled tax filing. 352 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:20,199 Speaker 1: Websites have been sending users financial information to Facebook. Go 353 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,720 Speaker 1: check out that article. It's very well done. It's exhaustive, 354 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,880 Speaker 1: it's a very long article and incredibly informative. So check 355 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: that out. Okay, we've got a few more news items 356 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: to cover before we conclude, but first let's take one 357 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:49,360 Speaker 1: more break. We're back. Researchers at MISK, that's m Y 358 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 1: s k are saying that Apple talks the talk, but 359 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: does not necessarily walk the walk when it comes to 360 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,680 Speaker 1: user activity and privacy on iOS devices. So Apple famously 361 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: handed over more control to iOS users when it comes 362 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: to how their data and behavior can be tracked by 363 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: third party apps. This was a huge blow to companies 364 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: like Meta, for example, because users could choose to not 365 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: share their behaviors and other private data with Meta, which 366 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 1: meant that Meta could no longer use that data to 367 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: sell targeted ads and have them target you, the user 368 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,160 Speaker 1: more effectively. But MISK says that Apple's first party apps 369 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 1: don't have the same sort of restrictions, which may mean 370 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,440 Speaker 1: Apple is preventing other companies from being able to do 371 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: what it itself can continue to do. On iOS. Miss 372 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:45,960 Speaker 1: said that some first party apps use what is called 373 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: a Directory Services Identify R or D s I D, 374 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: and that this identifier, in turn is linked to a 375 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 1: user's unique I cloud data and Apple I D. So 376 00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,919 Speaker 1: while Apple might say our apps are not depending on 377 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: data that can personally identify you, it sounds like it's 378 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: at best one degree of separation away from doing just that. Moreover, 379 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,639 Speaker 1: Miss researchers are arguing that other details can converge to 380 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: create a kind of digital fingerprint for a user, so 381 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: that while you might be able to say that no 382 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,199 Speaker 1: single point of data points to a specific person, if 383 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: you collectively take all the different points of data, you 384 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: can start making very educated guesses as to who that 385 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,120 Speaker 1: user is. We've seen this in the past. It really 386 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,679 Speaker 1: takes just a few points of data to kind of 387 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: narrow down a person's identity, and you don't need anything 388 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:43,199 Speaker 1: specific to to really, you know, figure that out. You 389 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: just need a few different general points and that's enough 390 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: for you to make a really good guess. Now, this 391 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: does not necessarily mean that Apple is doing anything with 392 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: that data, right, We don't know that. We don't know 393 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: if Apple is actually taking advantage of this data collection 394 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,479 Speaker 1: and analyzing it in any meaningful way. Uh. The problem 395 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: is Apple's really quiet when it comes to its data 396 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 1: acquisition and analytics, and that means that we do have 397 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: these unanswered questions. We don't know if Apple is actually 398 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: doing anything with data. It just seems like Apple could 399 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,400 Speaker 1: do something that Apple has that capability because of these 400 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: little points of connection. And the problem is we don't 401 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:29,239 Speaker 1: know enough, so that breeds suspicion. But um, yeah, this 402 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: is what happens when you have a lack of transparency. 403 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: The Global Games Market report from New Zoo has good 404 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: news and it has some bad news for the gaming industry. Now, 405 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: the good news is that there are four point six 406 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: percent more gamers there today than there were this time 407 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,400 Speaker 1: last year. Places like Africa in the Middle East saw 408 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: the largest gains in people becoming gamers. North America grew 409 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: the least. But even in North America, we saw two 410 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: point six percent more gamers this year compared to last year. Uh. 411 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: That's impressive because you gotta remember that there was a big, 412 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: big boost in gaming during the pandemic, as people were, 413 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 1: you know, in lockdown and they couldn't leave their their homes. 414 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:16,640 Speaker 1: There was a big surge towards gaming in various ways. Uh. 415 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: So to see growth continue even as the world has 416 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: largely emerged from lockdown is impressive. Now, the bad news 417 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: is that even though there are more gamers, they generated 418 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 1: less revenue this year compared to last year. Uh this 419 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: is where we're reminded that gaming is a multibillion dollar industry, 420 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 1: because even the revenue dropped by four point three percent globally, 421 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: still amounted to a hundred eighty four billion dollars. Now, 422 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: about half of that came just from mobile games. And 423 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: that's a spassive meatball. I know, like quote unquote real 424 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: gamers can often dismiss mobile games, but y'all, that makes 425 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: up like half of all the revenue generated by gaming. 426 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 1: If you look at consoles, that's like a little more 427 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,160 Speaker 1: than a quarter, and then PC is a little less 428 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 1: than that, and then it's everything else. Right, So mobile 429 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 1: gaming is by far the dominant form of gaming if 430 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: you're looking at it from a global perspective. Uh. The 431 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 1: decline in revenue was the first time the gaming industry 432 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: saw a decline in fifteen years. But as tech spot 433 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: points out, that's still not terrible considering how other industries 434 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: have fared in the current era of economic uncertainty. I 435 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 1: still wonder if in the future we will name this 436 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 1: period as the Great Economic Uncertainty, sort of akin to 437 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 1: the Great Depression. Speaking of games, about four years ago, 438 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: it would be Soft made the decision to lean on 439 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 1: the Epic Game Store when it came to digital distribution 440 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: of its titles and its spurned valves competing Steam Store. 441 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: These are online stores where you can purchase games and 442 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,360 Speaker 1: then download them directly to your machine. Now now Ubisoft 443 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 1: is actually bringing some titles back to Steam. On December six, 444 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,920 Speaker 1: gamers will be able to purchase titles like Assassin's Creed, Valhalla, 445 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: or a No. Eight hundred through Steam. So why did 446 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 1: it be Soft ditch Steam in the first place. Well, 447 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: it's very similar to how app developers are frustrated with 448 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:29,320 Speaker 1: Google and Apple because Steam takes a thirty cut off 449 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: sales that are made through its store, so the game 450 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: company only gets each sale it makes. Ubisoft didn't really 451 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,399 Speaker 1: care for that, and so it made the move to 452 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: pull out of Steam. But Steam also has an incredible reach, 453 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,520 Speaker 1: is really popular with gamers. So while you will keep 454 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,880 Speaker 1: more of each individual sale, if you can get gamers 455 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: to come to whichever digital storefront you use, there are 456 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: potentially millions of gamers that you will never reach because 457 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: they are more sticking to the Steam environment. So you 458 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,880 Speaker 1: could say like, well, yeah, on an individual level, we're 459 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: making more per sale, but look at all these millions 460 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: of sales were not making because we aren't where the 461 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: people are, So it would be soft appears they have 462 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 1: decided to go where the people are. Maybe we soft 463 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,440 Speaker 1: wants to see wants to see them dancing, walking around 464 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 1: on those what do you call them. Finally, in a 465 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: general trend of inclusivity, Axios reports that more big title 466 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:34,680 Speaker 1: games are untethering character creation tools from gendered terms. Players 467 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: will have access to more options to create characters they 468 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 1: feel they want to play. That can include players feeling 469 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: that they are a closer match to the characters that 470 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: they've created, which is nice. To be able to see 471 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 1: representation of yourself in a game is incredible. So we're 472 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: seeing a trend for games to allow players to mix 473 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: and match features that often would have been divided into 474 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: a gendered approach in the past, and now players are 475 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: more frequently discovering they are not being forced down binary 476 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: pathways where choosing one gender will limit you to a 477 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,640 Speaker 1: subset of features and options and remove others. So one 478 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: example of a game that's doing this is World of Warcraft, 479 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 1: which is preparing to release an expansion called Dragonflight. Wow 480 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 1: has ditched the terms male and female in character creation 481 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: instead opted for body type one and body type two. 482 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: Other games like The Sims have done this, and surprisingly, 483 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: so has Hogwarts Legacy. I say surprisingly for Hogwarts Legacy 484 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 1: because Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has made some 485 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: infamous statements, mostly on Twitter, that are critical of the 486 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 1: transgender community, but Hogwarts Legacies character creation system appears to 487 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: allow trans characters. Personally, I think increased inclusivity is great. 488 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: It is a huge benefit to people who otherwise would 489 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: never see represent tation within a game, and on the 490 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: flip side, it doesn't have negative impacts on anyone else 491 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: who already had representation in games, so I see it 492 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: as a net win. I like how games can bring 493 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: people together, though obviously games have also served as incubators 494 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: for hateful behavior, as well, it's complicated. Oh feet, that's 495 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,640 Speaker 1: what you call them. That's the stuff that people are 496 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: dancing on. I'm glad we got that sorted out alright. 497 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: That wraps up this episode of tech Stuff News. Hope 498 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: you are all well. Hope you fellow Americans out there 499 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: are getting ready for a joyful Thanksgiving. I hope you 500 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 1: have lots to be thankful for. And if you have 501 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: any suggestions for topics I should cover in future episodes 502 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff. There are a couple of ways to 503 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: get in touch. One is to download the I Heart 504 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: radio app. It's free to download, free to use. You 505 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,560 Speaker 1: can navigate over to tech Stuff. Just put tech Stuff 506 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: in the little search bar that will bring you over 507 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: to the tech Stuff podcast page. You'll see there a 508 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: little microphone icon. If you click on that, you can 509 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: leave a voice message up to thirty seconds in length 510 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: if you like. You can even indicate if I can 511 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: use that voice message in a future episode of tech Stuff. 512 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: I will not do it unless you tell me it's okay, 513 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: or if you prefer. You can reach out on Twitter, 514 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: assuming that it's up and the handle there is tech 515 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: stuff hs W. I did create an account on Mastodon. 516 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: I will share that in the future when probably do 517 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 1: a full episode about Mastodon, so people who are on 518 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: Mastodon can find me there. And I'm looking at a 519 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: couple of other possibilities. The problem is, of course, that 520 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: one a lot of people are gonna stick with Twitter 521 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 1: until it just isn't a thing anymore if that, in 522 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 1: fact happens, and too if they choose something else. There 523 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: are like a dozen other options, and I can't maintain 524 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: a presence at all of them because I'll always forget 525 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: one and I'll never be like, checking like fourteen different 526 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: accounts for messages is a huge time sink. So we'll 527 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 1: figure it out. We'll keep on going. Maybe I'll reach 528 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: out yet again to get an email address for this show. Uh, 529 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: I know that Ben Bowland keeps sending people to my 530 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 1: personal email address to issue complaints from ridiculous history and 531 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,640 Speaker 1: stuff they don't want you to know because that's fun. 532 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: But anyway, I hope you're all well and I'll talk 533 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I 534 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 535 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 536 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.