WEBVTT - Google breathes new life into old computers 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:14.600 Sony reinvents the earbuds for an always on world. Google's 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.680 new software turns any computer into a Chromebook, an app 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.520 that lets you do an I test right from your smartphone, 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:25.440 plus your tech questions answered. What's going on? I'm Rich 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:28.360 Schemiro and this is Rich on Tech, the podcast where 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.560 I talk about the tech stuff I think you should 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.800 know about. It's also the place where I answer the 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.800 questions you send me. I'm a tech reporter at KTLA 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.000 Channel five in Los Angeles. Welcome to the show man. 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:45.360 It feels good to be doing a show that's proper 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:48.920 this week, because last week was just you have no idea. 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.360 So I so I had a problem with my board 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:55.840 where whenever I would talk or even not talk, it 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:59.000 would just have this like hum and so it sounded 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.280 just like a metallic I don't know what the deal was, 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.679 and so I spent like two hours trying different MIC setups, 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.280 doing different things, moving the board into different plug outlets. 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.400 I thought maybe it was like the wiring or something, 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:12.960 and nothing worked. So I ended up recording the podcast 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:15.360 like directly into my computer with like a USB MIC. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:16.720 I think I don't even remember how I did it 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:20.400 because I blocked it all out. But long story short, 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:22.640 when I picked up the board to like put it 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:26.440 away later on, somehow it shook and I heard like 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:31.040 a rattling inside my podcasting board and so my mixer, 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.920 and so I'm like, wait a second to what's going on. 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:36.640 And I think it's some sort of like little piece 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:41.399 that came detached inside, probably from my lack of proper 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.000 transport when I took it to different places like Chattanooga, 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:49.080 in Las Vegas and other places. I've taken it back 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:51.880 and forth to the station, and so I think that 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.680 whatever that little metal thing is in there, whenever it 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.640 hits something else, it creates some sort of circuit in 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.280 the board that makes the hum. So anyway, what I 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.320 did was, this is my hack, which I can't believe 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.360 I'm saying this even, but I shook the board to 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.040 get the little rattling part like into the corner of 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:12.239 the board so that hopefully it just stays in like 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.040 a corner, not touching any metal. And I left my board. 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.560 Oh gosh, I can't believe that's what I'm doing. Anyway, 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.640 I'm gonna have the engineers at the station take a 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:22.959 look at it. Hopefully they can take this thing apart 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.079 and see what's inside there. I'll be curious what actually 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:32.040 what actually messed this thing up. Anyway, So if you 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.000 saw me on Instagram or Facebook at rich on Tech, 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:38.480 you already know this. But this is my This week 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:44.840 marks my eleventh year at KTLA Los Angeles. I cannot 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.720 believe it. So, since you're the podcast listener and this 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.160 doesn't you go out wide, I can tell you a 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:57.480 little secret story. But when I joined KTLA, they literally 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:02.359 offered me ninety days. Ninety days now, given I had 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:05.200 a fantastic job at another station across town. I wasn't 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:08.080 on air, but I was behind the scenes and I 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:12.640 had a very very good gig, and it was something 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.720 that was, you know, I'd never done before. It was 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.280 you know, as a producer basically, but it was really cool. 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.960 And you know, I was building something and they come 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:22.000 to me and they're like, hey, you want to do 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:23.800 this really cool thing. It's it was like everything I 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:25.600 wanted to do. It's like my dream to be on 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:29.440 air doing technology. But the reality was they were like, Okay, 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:30.880 we'll try you out for ninety days and we'll go 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.240 from there. I'm like, who wha hold on I'm not 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:36.640 leaving a really good job, and I had a kid 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:38.760 on the way. I'm not leaving a really good job 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.080 to go somewhere that's you know, offering me ninety days 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.120 like that is not going to happen. So I knew 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.120 that this was a great opportunity, but I really had 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.440 to just be firm in that because I didn't want 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.200 to mess up my life, especially with a kid on 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:54.680 the way. And quickly I realized as an adult, you 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.600 mess up your life in many different ways. But I 0:03:57.640 --> 0:03:59.640 was a little bit younger and you know, didn't realize that. 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:03.080 But anyway, I digress, So long story short. I think 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:07.320 they gave me like a year or two contract, and yeah, 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.800 it's been eleven ever since. So anyway, I don't want 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:12.520 to bore you with all my details in my life, 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:14.640 but it's been an amazing ride. It's been a really 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:18.479 fun time there. KTLA for the most part, has not 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:20.560 changed since I've been there. I mean, yeah, there's been 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:22.800 like some changes in management and things like that, but 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.760 my core job has remained the same, and quite honestly, 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:28.279 it's really funny because the easy way to do my 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.000 job is to just scare people all day long. And 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.640 to tell them the worst things about technology and how 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.800 your phone is spying on you and all this good stuff. 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.400 But I don't do any of that. I actually take 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:43.760 a much more positive approach to technology. But I also 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.320 let people know what I think they need to know 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:50.440 and not just the lowest common denominator of trying to 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.320 scare you every chance I can. Now, I think that 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.159 it's very smart for people to be informed, but I 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.080 also kind of cut through a lot of the clutter 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:00.919 of stuff that I don't think you need to really 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:02.839 care about, and so I'm not going to give that 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:05.719 stuff the light of day. Honestly, for many many years, 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.359 I didn't even cover Apple rumors because I had a 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.680 rule that if it was a rumor, like why would 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:12.600 I cover it? It's not something that's happened, Like, well, 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.839 this is literally speculation, and so I didn't do that 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.680 for a long time. The Apple rumors are kind of 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:20.840 avoidable at this point, which you know, and people kind 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.000 of like them, myself included so and quite frankly, a 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.080 lot of them come true at this point. So anyway, 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.640 that's my story, My my entire goal. Every story that 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.640 I present on air is something or on my Facebook 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.440 or on my Twitter or on whatever it is, is 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.960 really something that either I find interesting, is something that 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:44.080 is an indicator of something to come, or is something 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.560 that you know you should find useful when it comes 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.839 to tech. So that's really what guides me, not just 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.800 the flash and trash that so many other people just 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.680 do to get clicks and listens and all that stuff 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.000 and views. And maybe that's why I'm not more popular. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.119 Maybe I should start trying that for the next ten years. 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.479 But no, I'm just kidding. So let's get to the 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.960 first story of the week, Sony earbuds. These link buds 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.560 they're called. This was an interesting one because Sony comes 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.120 to me, and now that this is all out there, 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:16.800 I can give you a little bit of the backstory. 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:18.480 But Sony comes to me and they're like, Okay, we've 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.480 got something super secretive, you know, can you sign this, 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:23.280 can you talk? You know, can you do this? And 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.080 it's like, okay, sure, what what is this? They wouldn't 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.800 tell me a thing before they sent me whatever the 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.200 thing was, and so I'm like, all right, I haven't 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:33.440 heard from Sony in a long time. I'm just gonna 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.240 sort of trust them to send me something that's interesting 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.200 and we'll see I mean, obviously I don't have to 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:40.159 cover it if I open this thing up and it's 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.520 not very cool. So I get this box that is 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:45.719 just like super heavy. I'm like, what in the world 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.440 is this? And you know, open up this box you 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:50.880 can see some other people. I don't do a lot 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.240 of unboxings, but some other you know folks do, so 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.120 you can see what they did with the unboxing. But 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.760 it's like it came in this like wildly, like a 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:03.479 lie laborate locked box that you opened and there's some 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.800 sort of like Sony's take on an NFT in there. 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:07.680 I think, I don't know, but anyway, you open it 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:09.520 up and finally get smaller and smaller. So you find 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:12.280 these little link buds, and these are wireless earbuds that 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.640 have a really unique design and style, and the whole 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:17.160 point of them is that you leave them in your 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.160 ears pretty much all day long so that you can 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.800 listen to your music, take phone calls, but also hear 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.840 the world around you. So they've got this really unique 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:29.320 open ring design they call it, which kind of pops 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:31.280 into your ear. It almost looks like you rotated the 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:36.640 link buds apart and they're small, they're lightweight. Obviously it's sony, 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.440 so they have really good audio quality and they don't 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:44.320 they're not noise cancellation headphones because that would require them 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:46.600 to be always on, but they are, you know, they 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.440 do kind of I guess they have like a clear 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.040 voice functionality so that you can, you know, people can 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.280 hear you better when you talk. But a couple of 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.400 the unique features three of them that I want to 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.600 talk about adaptive volume control, so this automatically brings up 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:03.760 the volume higher and lower based on your surroundings. Then 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:06.360 there's this thing they call wide tap area, so there's 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.440 a little sensor inside these link buds. Usually you have 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.640 to kind of tap the actual earbud, but that puts 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:13.680 some pressure on your ear every time you do it. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.480 So with this, you can actually tap on your cheekbone 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.720 right in front of the earbud, and there's a little 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.760 vibration sensor inside the link buds that you will know 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:23.840 if you're double tapping or triple tapping to pause your 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.560 music or do something else. And then finally there's something 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.040 called speak to Chat, and this I thought at first 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.000 was really really cool because what it does is when 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:35.400 you talk, it pauses your music. Oh my gosh, amazing. 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:38.880 Well then I quickly realized on my first run that 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:42.720 number one, I talk to myself a lot. Anytime you 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.120 talk to yourself, the earbuds are going to pause. Anytime 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.360 you cough, they're gonna pause. If you talk to someone else, 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.640 they're gonna pause, which is kind of the point, but 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.000 I actually ended up having to turn that feature off 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:57.120 because it just wasn't working enough for me. So anyway, 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.960 really really neat earbuds. There are one hundred and eighty 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:04.200 to me, I will say I don't find them to 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.680 be the most comfortable in my ears. They're They're just fine. 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.079 I think that some other earbuds feel better. Personally, I'm 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.520 not a big earbuds person in general, Like I am 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:16.400 not one of those people that keeps earbuds in all 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:18.400 the time, even if I'm in the airport or whatever. 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:20.360 I just I put them in when I need them, 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:22.480 I take them out when I don't, And honestly, I 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.520 just I'm not a huge, huge earbuds person. And so 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:28.480 these are cool, and I love that Sony is trying 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.199 something totally new and refreshing and different. And I think 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.480 they've succeeded, honestly. And this is the other thing about 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.960 doing reviews kind of under embargo, is that I had 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.000 these in my hand, and you know, I didn't know 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:43.560 what anyone else was gonna think of them. So I 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:45.160 had to write my review and come up with all 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.439 this stuff before you know, you see anyone else's and 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:49.880 that's typically what I do in general. But it's just 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:51.840 really interesting. When I saw some of the first reviews 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:53.440 coming out, I was like, okay, these you know, I 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.199 didn't really read them, but I saw some of the 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:58.280 headlines and it seemed like everyone sort of agrees that 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:02.079 these things are pretty well done, and Sony is definitely 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:05.000 doing a pretty good job of doing something different here. 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.360 So anyway, Sony link Bud's if you want to learn 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:14.000 more information about them. All right, so far this is 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:18.440 going so much better than the last one. So happy. 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.040 It's like my board is just working properly and that's 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:24.040 exciting enough. First question, Hey, Rich, without telling me too 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:25.960 many trade secrets, can you help me decide on a 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.040 new phone? I usually purchase them out right, so I 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.040 want to keep the cost around five hundred. Here's what 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.480 I need. Number one got to be Android. I had 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:34.960 Apple one time and hated it. Number two with like 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:38.199 five G keeping up with the Joneses. Number three basic features. 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:40.440 I'm not that worried about a fancy camera or waking 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.520 me up on time. Just making calls and taking pictures. 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:47.560 That's interesting. Number four maybe waterproof. I might drop it 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:49.280 in a puddle or a pool if you can help me. 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.480 Would like to know your thoughts. Thank you, Larry. Larry, 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:56.840 I have one word for you, and that is Pixel six. 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.240 That is going to be the best phone for you. Now, 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.679 it's a little more expensive than your budget, which is 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.920 five hundred, but this phone is six hundred. You might 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.040 be able to find it, you know, if you trade 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.040 in something, or you know, maybe someone has it on 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:11.880 a deal if you sign up for five or something. 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.160 But I think that's gonna be the best. And the 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.920 reason why I think that's the best case scenario for 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.560 you is that you want Android, you want five G, 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.320 you want basic features. This has very simple software that's 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.080 constantly updated, or at least it should be by Google 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.800 for at least I think it's five years. It's going 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:33.560 to be well water resistant. Nothing's truly waterproof, but it's fine. 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:37.640 It's got a good level of water resistance, It's a 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.400 decently smaller size than the Pixel six Pro. It's got 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.640 a good camera probably well, it's got the best camera 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.360 you can get out there, so that's good news. And yes, 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.000 it will wake you up on time, even though it's 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:49.360 not important to you, but you never know when you 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.160 want to set an alarm. Now. The closest competition to 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:56.360 this phone would probably be the Samsung Galaxy S twenty 0:11:56.400 --> 0:12:00.480 one fe. It is the same price typically on so 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.240 it's six hundred dollars on sale. The only difference, I mean, 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.360 it's really a matter of preference. Do you want Samsung, 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:07.840 do you want Google. I would go with Google just 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:12.280 because it's a little bit more, it's a little bit 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:16.280 simpler to kind of use than a Samsung. But if 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.480 you want Samsung, if you prefer that, and go ahead. 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:22.640 I am absolutely loving the latest Samsung S twenty two series, 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.160 and so I have no problem recommending the Samsung. The 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.600 S twenty one is excellent as well. It's a great phone. 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.120 I do think the camera is going to be better 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.200 on the pixel for that price, so that's what I'd recommend. 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.040 Those two phones are probably the best bang for your 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:41.640 book at that price. Tag. All right, speaking of Google, 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.400 this I think is just phenomenal. I can't get over 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.960 how exciting this is. Maybe not for me, but for 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:50.960 a lot of people out there that have either an 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:55.080 older computer or that work at some sort of nonprofit 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:58.079 or a school or even a business. Maybe not so much. 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:01.360 I mean they want it for business anyway. This is 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:06.200 Chrome os flex. This is a chrome basically, it's software 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:10.120 from Google that turns any old Mac or PC into 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.920 a chromebook. And you're probably familiar with the idea of 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.119 a chromebook. All the kids were using them during the pandemic. 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:18.839 That's what the schools were handing out like candy. And 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:23.120 so it's a very simple computer. It's kind of like 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.040 what I was talking about with the pixel. It's simple, 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:29.080 it works, it's fast, it's speedy. So even on an 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:31.760 old computer, this can work. I read up to like 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.040 computers up to thirteen years old. Let's just say ten 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:36.520 years old. Ten year old computers pretty old. But you 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.959 put this Chrome os flex on it, which is a 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:44.040 free operating system that you download from Google. It's primarily 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.960 aimed at businesses in schools, but I think it looks 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.320 like anyone can just download it and install it, but 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.760 you get all the benefits of sort of a Chromebook 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.640 on these old PCs or max which those benefits are 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:58.960 that it boots up really fast, it doesn't slow down 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.960 that much over time time, system updates happen in the background. 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.480 There's no worry about viruses because everything is sandboxed, and 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.840 you know, it's all. It doesn't even have much to 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.400 like run on the system. It's like mostly running from 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.800 the cloud. Now, the downside of this is that it's 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:21.680 mostly meant for things very simple tasks web surfing, watching YouTube, 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:25.720 you know, looking at photos, doing your emails, those kind 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:28.240 of things. You're not going to be editing a wildly 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:30.760 elaborate video on this thing. You're not going to be 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.320 doing photoshop on it. Yes, you can do those things 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.120 if they operate in the cloud, but this is primarily 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:38.840 a cloud computer. I think you can install some Android 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.160 apps on there, so that would work as well. But 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:43.640 the reality is, and of course you have Google Assistant. 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.840 This is just such a cool way that Google has 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:52.880 immediately breathed, breathed, given a breath of new life. I 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:56.080 don't know how to say that, but just some breathe 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:58.040 some fresh air into an old computer. So if you 0:14:58.080 --> 0:14:59.520 have an old computer around your house you might have 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.000 thrown away. This is an amazing way that you can 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:04.600 now install this software on that computer and give it 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.320 to someone, give it to a young kid, or you 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.240 can give it donate it to a charity, or you know, 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.480 just whatever. There's so many great things about this and 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.200 the fact that Google is fully supporting this, at least 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:18.960 for now. We all know Google has a very short 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.800 attention span, but I do think that they will see 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.400 that this is very popular and continue to kind of 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.400 work on this system. Again. It's called Chrome os Flex 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.560 And just by mentioning this on TV just a response 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.840 I got clearly there onto something now. I did a 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:37.480 story a couple of years ago with a guy named 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:41.000 the Laptop Elf, and he does this on the side, 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.640 so he would take donations of old computers and he 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.360 would really go to town on getting everything installed in 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.760 that computer. But it was not easy because there was 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.080 no sort of like Chrome os that you could just 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:57.960 download and easily install it was. There were some variations 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.600 on it out there, but nothing official from Google that 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.920 you can do. So Google making this official and offering 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.400 it up for free, I think is a huge win 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.080 for so many people out there, so thank you Google 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:13.240 and check it out Chrome os Flex. You can actually 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.240 just try it out on your current computer, which I'm 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:19.040 going to do by running it off off of a 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.880 USB drive. You can boot your computer up directly from 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.520 there and then or I guess you can boot Chrome 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.560 os flex directly from there and then if you like it, 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.400 you can actually install it on your Mac or PC. 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.640 All right, let's get to the next question. Carol says, Hey, Rich, 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.239 I just saw your segment on Amazon Prime rate increases. 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.320 One of your suggestions was to combine household accounts. I'm 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.600 wondering if we combine ours, would one of us lose 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:54.960 our shopping history. Always enjoy your news spots. Thank you, Carol, Carol, 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.640 good question. Yes, Today on the news, I talked about 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:01.480 how Amazon Prime is raising prices for their membership from 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:03.840 one nineteen a year to one thirty nine a year 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:06.520 with tax in California, that's about one hundred and fifty 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.240 bucks a year. And this charge always gets me by 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.800 surprise because it happens on like January second, and I 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.760 get a charge for like one hundred and forty bucks 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.280 or this year was one hundred and thirty and I 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.240 was like, wait, what I buy for one hundred and 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:20.919 thirty dollars? I was hacked and then I realized, oh, no, 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.919 Prime just renewed. Now, I will tell you I did 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.280 two hundred and thirty five orders on Prime last year. 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.159 There's no way I'm giving up Amazon Prime. I ordered 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:33.320 something two things this week, well, many many things this week. 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:35.840 I probably placed four orders this week. But you know, 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:40.040 in La where I live, the orders literally come either 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.760 well same day. I'm not seeing as much anymore, but 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.399 especially next day. I mean same day used to be 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.359 a thing. I don't. It definitely doesn't show up as 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.600 much on many products as I order, but the next 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.880 day definitely is like kind of the standard same day sometimes. 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.080 And then of course you know you've got Amazon the 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.080 groceries with the two hour delivery. I mean, there's just 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:01.520 so many benefits backup of the pictures. I use that 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.760 as my kind of my photo backup for my backup 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:07.280 of my backup. I watched like one or two Amazon 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.160 Prime movies last year, so that's cool. I mean, if 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.880 those are like five six bucks each, if you rented them, 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.480 then there you go. That's twelve dollars right there. So 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.000 there are so many benefits to Amazon. I don't think 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.240 anyone can keep up with them or catch up to 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.840 them at this point. It's gonna take a lot Like Walmart, 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.959 Target they are, it's gonna take a while for them 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:28.200 to figure out the logistics of this. I mean, Amazon 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.240 has it down. I mean ninety nine percent of the 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:35.520 deliveries now come from Amazon vans or the flex workers 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:39.680 you know, the gig workers whatever. I mean, it's quite amazing, 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.919 or the uh postal people. So no matter what it is, 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.280 really really like fast and it's efficient. Like they know 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.359 that if something is small, lightweight and they can just 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.240 slide it into the post office, it arrives with your 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:54.679 your postal carrier, you know, the next day or something. 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.080 I mean, it's pretty pretty remarkable anyway. So yes, they're 0:18:58.119 --> 0:18:59.879 raising their rate to one point forty. And one of 0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:03.159 the things I mentioned is this lesser known option with 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:08.400 Amazon that lets you share your membership with one adult 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.960 in your household and a couple of teenagers and a 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.800 couple kids. Now, yes, did Amazon imagine this to be 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:17.359 so that mom and dad could have their own accounts, probably, 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:22.119 But the reality is Amazon is very loose about the 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:26.160 definition of household and I looked at all their documentation. 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:29.160 It never says you need to live under the same roof. 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.679 It never says that. Now. I'm sure Amazon has ways 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.359 of cross checking people and making sure you're not just 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:39.280 selling half of your membership to someone on eBay or whatever, 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.080 but the reality is you are. I just said that 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:46.160 like seventeen times. But here's the thing, I'll just switch 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:50.639 to another cliche. If you have someone like this woman 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.719 is saying, like Carol is saying, can we you know, 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.680 it sounds like they have two different accounts in their household, 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:01.160 Like that's wild. Why are you paying double? No combine 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.359 those accounts and would they lose your shopping history? I 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:06.280 don't think so. I mean, think about it. This is 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.040 just a premium upgrade to an account you already have. 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:13.200 It's kind of like upgrading to Spotify premium or any 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.679 other any other online service where it has a basic 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.119 free service and then you can upgrade to a paid plan. 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:23.120