WEBVTT - Tech News: Apple Announces New iPhones and More 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.160 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:16.880 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio. And 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.919 how the tech are you. It's time for the tech 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:25.720 news for Thursday, September eight, twenty two, and Apple held 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:31.320 it's far Out event yesterday and unveiled its iPhone fourteen lineup, 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.520 as well as updates to the Apple Watch line and 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:38.040 to its air pods. So we'll do a quick rundown 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.080 on some of the highlights. One thing that Apple has 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:45.680 done is it has ditched the physical SIM card. SIM 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:51.920 stands for Subscriber Identification Module, and it's that little micro 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.080 trip that's typically embedded into a little piece of plastic 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.279 that you have to insert into a new phone in 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.600 order to port your phone number over to a device. 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.200 Or you might go and get a SIM card if 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.560 you're traveling to a foreign country, and this way you 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:11.840 can operate on that country cellular network without ramping up 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:17.000 those massive roaming charges. Well, Apple already had incorporated digital 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:21.559 sims into iPhones, but had kept the physical ones as well. 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:24.679 Now that's no longer the case. The physical ones are out, 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.959 so transferring your phone number from one phone to another 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:32.440 requires a slightly different process, and we'll actually a very 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:36.320 different process because there's no move of physical components anymore. 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:40.160 But it's you know, digital rather than physical. And if 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.800 you are an international traveler, you might have a harder 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.080 time getting an e SIM so that you can operate 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:50.240 on the native cellular network, so that's kind of a bummer. 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:54.320 On the flip side, digital sims can let you support 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.000 more than one phone number on a single device, so 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.840 you could potentially have like a business line and a 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.480 personal line both going to the same device but using 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.800 different phone numbers. So there are pros and there are 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:11.040 cons to this approach. Another new feature is the addition 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.920 of satellite connectivity in the event of an emergency. So 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:18.520 let's say you're a teenager and you've stumbled into one 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:22.280 of those ding dang darn slasher movies. You're at a 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.080 remote camp ground, maybe it's even Crystal Lake, and there's 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.080 no cellular service, and you need to get an emergency 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.160 message out to authorities or first responders to come and 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:36.120 rescue you. With the satellite connectivity feature, you can use 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.280 an iPhone four team to locate the satellite overhead and 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.560 then connect to it to send essentially an S O 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.360 S signal so that first responders will know where you 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.560 are and they can come help you. The feature does 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:49.440 require you to have a clear view of the sky, 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.280 so if there's cover overhead, you might not be able 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:57.400 to connect, or it might take significantly longer to connect 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.639 and send a message through. Still, this is a great 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.160 addition to the iPhone. It's the sort of thing that 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.920 you hope you will never need, but you're happy to 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.880 have it available. Apple introduced four models of the iPhone 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.840 fourteen at this event, and the base model, which has 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.520 a six point one inch screen and still runs on 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:21.000 the last generation A fifteen microchip, comes in at seven bucks. 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.240 The iPhone fourteen Plus is a larger version of the 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.239 base model, is six point seven inches with the screen, 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.200 It has a longer battery life, and it costs eight 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:34.040 hundred nine bucks. It also runs on the A fifteen microchip. 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:39.440 I think these models are a modest upgrade to the 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.680 base iPhone thirteen model. The phones that I think are 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:46.680 are much more interesting are the iPhone fourteen Pro and 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.720 the iPhone fourteen Pro Max. So the Pro is six 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:54.520 point one inches, the Max is six point seven. Uh. 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.920 That mostly is the difference between the two. Also, the 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:01.800 difference that involves the price, and the you know, pro 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:06.640 is going to be based at Bucks, the max at 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:11.240 one thousand bucks. So yeah, both of those phones come 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.800 with a forty eight megapixel rear facing camera. That's four 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.440 times greater than the Base and Plus models, which have 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:24.040 twelve megapixel cameras. Now, just as a reminder, the megapixels 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.839 refer to the pixel density of an image, right the resolution. 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:31.479 In other words, that's just one component that determines the 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:36.760 quality of a picture. But generally speaking, higher resolution tends 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:38.320 to be better, at least if you want to do 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:41.440 things like, you know, blow up the photo to a 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.200 much larger size, if you want to do digital zoom 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:47.000 in and that kind of stuff, having higher resolution is 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.920 important anyway. They also have several other features that set 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:53.120 them apart from the base models, not the least of 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.560 which is that they run on the A six team microchip, 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:01.599 so Apple's latest microchip. Uh. And for all four of 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.640 these models, you can start pre orders tomorrow September nine, 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:10.160 and the phones will start to ship on September. These 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.560 are not quite enough to convince me to abandon my 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.039 Android phone and switch over to iPhone, But then I'm 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.080 so deep in the Google ecosystem that it's hard for 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.000 me to make the move, which, believe me, is all 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:23.760 part of the strategy for companies like Google and Apple. 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.320 The Apple Watch models that the company showed off we're interesting, 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.760 but I've only ever owned one smart watch, and that 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.480 was the Pebble back before Pebble got acquired and then 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:39.039 subsequently dismantled, so I am not the best person to 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:43.320 hype up wearables. Still, one feature I liked was the 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.480 inclusion of accelerometers that can detect if someone has been 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.640 involved in an accident like a car crash, and it 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.040 activates a feature that lets you call for help right 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.560 away if in fact you were involved in in an accident. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.640 And I love seeing safety features like this become standard 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:02.320 in devices. Again, you hope you never have to use it, 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:06.120 but you are thankful that it's there. Apple also unveiled 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.080 an Ultra Watch, which is meant for folks who are 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.400 hard on their gear, like those who are into extreme sports, 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.839 so it's more rugged than other models. It also costs 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:20.520 a pretty penny, starting at seven bucks. Then you've got 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:24.280 the new Air pods, which reportedly have better noise cancelation 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:28.280 capabilities than earlier models. They also have a speaker that 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.520 lets you find out where the heck you put your 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.719 darn air pods. You can use the find my app 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:36.640 and look for your air pods and it will make 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:38.440 a little noise and you can track them down. And 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.560 that's a feature I could definitely use because I have 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:43.919 a feeling that whenever it comes time for me to 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.400 move house, when I start packing stuff up, I'm gonna 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.680 come across at least seventy pairs of earbuds that I've 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.320 misplaced at one time or another. So this is definitely 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.520 one of those features I could use in my earbuds. Still, 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.760 I'm not likely to drop two fifty bucks on a 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.440 air of earbuds. And also I'm not an iPhone user, 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.520 so I'm not ready to make the leap just yet. SIMI. 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.680 Related to this is a little tidbit from the twenty 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:13.480 twenty two Code Conference. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.200 was asked by a journalist if Apple would address issues 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:20.840 when it comes to messaging between Apple and Android devices 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.880 a k a. The Green bubble issue in I message, 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:30.160 where messages from non iOS devices pop up as green bubbles. Uh, 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:34.040 and there are certain features that I message supports that 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:39.600 don't work across platforms. This incompatibility means that certain functions 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:43.680 like sending videos from one device to another aren't always supported. 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:49.120 Cook's response was essentially, whomever has an Android device in 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:52.840 this communication chain should just buy an iPhone and that 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.800 will solve the problem. Like, rather than solve the compatibility issues, 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:01.880 you should just jump on the iPhone bandwagon, and that 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:06.160 Apple customers haven't really pressed Apple to address this issue, 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.280 so the company hasn't. Now Google has been pushing Apple 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:14.480 to adopt the Rich Communications Service or r CS standard, 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:21.280 but Apple has um declined to acquiesce to Google's request. Why. Well, again, 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:24.320 it's about convincing folks that they need to stay within 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:28.600 the Apple ecosystem. I Message is another feature that reinforces 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:32.920 lock in fun times. Oh and uh a different take 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:37.160 on Apple and lock in. Let's talk about Apple's iCloud 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.800 data center in China. That's where employees have been locked 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:45.280 into a closed loop system within the facility for the 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:48.960 last week. They are not allowed to go home, they're 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:51.800 not allowed to see their families. And yes, this has 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:54.959 to do with another COVID nineteen issue in China. So 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.440 China has a zero tolerance approach to any kind of 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.400 outbreak of COVID nineteen, no matter are how small, and 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:06.880 requires regions to lock down whenever a case arises in 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:11.640 order to avoid downtime. Some facilities like this iCloud data 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:15.760 center will force employees to live at the data center 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.160 for the duration of the lockdown and continue working. We've 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:23.560 covered similar situations with Tesla, and this is brutal. Now, 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.200 arguably you could say it's an effective way to limit 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:31.120 the spread of COVID nineteen, but it's you know, a 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.880 massive trade off here. Anyway, Apple hasn't had much of 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.560 an option when this comes down to it, because as 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.960 long as the company wants to operate in China, it 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.160 has to play by China's rules. And part of that 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.240 is that, you know, China requires all companies that have 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:53.600 that deal with with the private data of Chinese citizens 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:58.280 to operate solely on Chinese soil. Apple cannot operate a 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:03.120 data center that handle is Chinese citizen private data outside 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:07.400 of China. In fact, the government required Apple to partner 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.360 with a company called cloud Big Data, which the Chinese 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:17.000 government owns, so Apple really had no other options when 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.240 it comes to this. I don't want to cast too 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:23.559 many aspersions. I do think it is a brutal policy 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:29.600 and inhumane to employees, but uh, at least at least 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:31.800 did this part. I mean, I can't fully blame Apple, 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.640 although you could argue the company could just choose not 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:38.320 to operate in China. Hard to do that because China 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:43.840 it represents such a huge market. But which is You know, 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:45.679 it's kind of hard to tell investors, Hey, we're not 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:49.400 going to operate in the most populous country in the world. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:54.280 But um, yeah, it's ah, there's some real tough ethical 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:57.800 issues here. All right, We've got a lot more news 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.040 to cover, some of which doesn't even involve Apple, But first, 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:12.600 let's take a quick break. We're back and we're starting 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.400 to hear about what happened during a court hearing back 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:20.040 in March of this year when two longtime meta engineers 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.880 folks who had been working with Facebook had to sit 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:26.520 down and answer some questions stemming from an investigation that 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:29.319 relates all the way back to the Cambridge analytic affair, 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:33.520 you know, the thing that was going on in and 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:37.559 the court has recently unsealed the transcript of that hearing, 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:41.040 which is why we're now hearing about what happened. And 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:45.000 boy howdy, it sounds like the court appointed special master 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:50.320 guy named Daniel Gary was really getting frustrated the deeper 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:55.640 he tried to go into Facebook's labyrinthian systems. So Gary 0:11:55.800 --> 0:12:00.240 was asking the engineers fairly straightforward questions, such as, air 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:04.840 is a person's data stored within Facebook's subsystems. We know 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.560 Facebook is combing everybody for their data, collecting huge amounts 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:16.040 of data, including generating data from inferences about what people 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:21.120 like based upon their behaviors, but the engineers answers were 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:27.400 unsettling because the engineers admitted they didn't know the answer. Further, 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:31.720 they said that it's likely no one knows that answer 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:35.160 because the amount of data collected and the different ways 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.600 that it's collected, and the different ways that Facebook uses 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:45.280 personal information are involving multiple subsystems that are collecting and 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:48.640 storing this information, and it's hard to know who is 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.480 collecting what and for what purpose and how frequently they're 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:55.560 using it. So they said, it's essentially impossible for us 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.360 to answer these questions in a meaningful way, like there's 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:01.120 no way for me to answer your question. And now 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.640 in a way I can at least understand how this happened. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.320 Because Facebook is a company that grew very rapidly. It 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.080 incorporated new systems at an incredible pace, and you had 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.880 lots of different teams working on different projects all at 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.760 the same time. These teams were sometimes operating more or 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:22.040 less independently of each other, so there's likely overlap between 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:26.240 projects as well as unique approaches used by specific subsystems. 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:33.240 And Facebook never adopted a culture that, you know, documented things. 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.679 It just didn't. It didn't create documents about these systems 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.640 to explain what they were, how they work, and what 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:44.760 information they actually use. So there are no official documents 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.960 that detail these subsystems or the types of data that 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:52.360 flow into them. Instead, according to the engineers, the code 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:54.559 itself is about as close as you can get to 0:13:54.760 --> 0:14:00.840 actual documentation. Now, this raises some very trouble ling questions. 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:05.720 For example, how can Facebook assure that it is complying 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:10.719 with various data privacy laws around the world if no 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:14.040 one at the company actually knows where all the data 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:19.120 is going. And the answer is it can't. It's impossible 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:23.800 unless you make the ludicrous argument that there's security through obscurity. 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.720 In other words, the system is so complex that no 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:28.120 one is going to be able to find their way 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.160 through it, so you don't have to worry about people 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:33.520 abusing it. But that is not a really good answer, 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.880 and so it looks like there is no way for 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.440 Facebook to actually be transparent because no one at the 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:45.680 company even knows how to make that happen. That transparency 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:49.240 is impossible due to the way these various subsystems were 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:54.640 designed and no one documented in anything. So this transcript, 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.320 this court transcript, is available to read, but I warn 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.040 you it's like a descent into madness if you you 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:05.600 are at all concerned about data security and privacy. Not 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.360 long ago, the US government passed a bill that will 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.440 provide federal money to companies that are building out semiconductor 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.240 manufacturing facilities in the United States budded. Order to get 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.080 hands on that cold, hard cash, the companies are going 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.840 to have to agree to some firm rules, and one 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.240 big one is that the companies will not be allowed 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:29.840 to build quote advanced technology facilities end quote in China 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.040 for ten years now. The purpose for that restriction is 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:36.880 to protect national security. According to Gina Romundo, the U 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:41.320 S Commerce Secretary, and that's definitely a massive concern. I've 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.080 talked in previous episodes about how China allegedly has a 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:50.600 very long history of industrial espionage stealing technology from other companies. 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:55.280 To curb China's technological advancement, the US is looking to 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:58.720 make the States more self reliant when it comes to 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.640 semiconductor tech as well as cut off or at least 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.520 reduce the chance of Chinese spies stealing US design technology. 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:10.920 That also includes a moratorium on companies sending advanced technology 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.840 to China, so they're not supposed to build facilities in China, 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:19.800 they're not supposed to ship advanced tech to China. And 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:22.680 really there are other related rules that are meant to 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:29.120 cut off this flow of technology, and I p to 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:35.080 the Chinese. Now, I have a habit of criticizing Tesla 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.840 pretty harshly for lots of things. You know, I I 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:42.760 acknowledge I go hard against Tesla pretty frequently, But I 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.680 do want to give the company its props when they 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:50.480 are deserved and over in Europe, Tesla's model why ranked 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:55.800 first in a European safety test of driver assist systems. Now, 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:58.920 I want to be clear here, the systems like autopilot 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:02.120 and full self driving mode are meant to be driver 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:06.640 assist features in order to improve safety. They are not 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:12.720 meant to be autonomous driving modes. So if you are 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.720 using the systems the way they are meant to be used, 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:19.040 then they are incredibly effective. They work very well, well 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.680 enough so that Tesla took first place in these tests, 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.800 But that doesn't erase the fact that some Tesla owners 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:29.600 use these features irresponsibly, nor does it push aside the 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.119 problem with Tesla's marketing of these features, which at least 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.000 I feel implies that the tech can do more than 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:39.240 it's actually capable of doing, or that it's meant to 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:44.000 perform a job other than what it's actually designed to do. Hey, 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:48.520 do you remember Travis Killenic, co founder of Uber. He's 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:52.160 the guy who has a truly terrible reputation as far 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:55.359 as how he treats other human beings, and he was 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:59.240 ultimately forced to vacate his position of CEO of Uber 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:02.879 and two thousands venteen and to surrender his seat on 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.040 the board of directors in two thousand nineteen when he 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:09.399 cashed out of Uber entirely. And a lot of folks 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:11.880 point at Kala Nick when they talk about the toxic 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.840 work culture that was in the spotlight back in two 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:19.359 thousand seventeen. That was a very, very tough year for Uber, 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.880 at least on the pr front. Kalin Nick has kept 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:26.320 a relatively low profile in the public eye since then, 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:28.920 but he's been working on something else that just got 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:33.240 a big influx of cash thanks to Microsoft. That thing 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:37.160 is called Cloud Kitchen. Kala Nick has used the money 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.400 that he made from cashing out an Uber, which amounted 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:44.800 to like two and a half billion dollars, to initially 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:49.240 fund this project. He has received investments from other parties 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:53.160 as well, and he purchased steak in an existing company 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:57.640 that was called City Storage Systems before converting that over, 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.560 and City Storage Systems was buying up warehouse space in 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:05.040 various cities. He converted that to Cloud Kitchen, which is 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:07.760 a company that offers restaurants the chance to operate water 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:12.879 called dark kitchens, which sounds you know, scary and stuff, 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.840 but it's not really. A dark kitchen in this sense 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:20.680 is a facility where a restaurant can produce it's dishes, 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:25.080 specifically for delivery services like door dash. So the idea 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.760 here is that the home restaurant can really focus on 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:32.280 serving customers at that location, whether it's people who are 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:35.600 dining in or picking up or whatever. And the dark 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:39.919 kitchens will make the same dishes, but in facilities that 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.440 are inside these warehouses that are dedicated just to producing 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:48.040 meals meant for delivery services. So you can order a 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:52.280 delivery of that delicious pia from your favorite Spanish restaurant, 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:55.720 but it could be that the dishes actually made in 0:19:55.720 --> 0:20:00.760 a warehouse somewhere, not in that restaurant's dedicated kitchen. Anyway. 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.920 Microsoft is reportedly the first US based company that had 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:09.080 previously invested in Uber to then go and invest in 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.399 Cloud Kitchen, and according to FT dot com, some folks 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:16.200 who were at least at one time associated with Cloud 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.880 Kitchen are saying that the culture there is just as 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:24.000 toxic or perhaps even worse as the bad old days 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:27.840 at Uber, saying there's this massive issue with turnover due 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:33.080 to that terrible culture. So I guess some thing's never change, 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:36.760 all right. We've got a few more stories that we 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:38.600 need to cover before we get to that. Let's take 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:51.080 another quick break over at Google. The company is cutting 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.239 way back on expenses and we've seen a lot of 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:57.360 tech companies in particular cut back on things like hiring, 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:00.920 and some are going much further by being off employees 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:03.840 at least in certain divisions, all in an effort to 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:08.360 reduce expenses during our current economic turmoil. Now, I want 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:12.359 to say recession, but economists are still divided about whether 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.479 or not we're actually in one. I say, if it 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.440 walks like a recession and quacks like a recession, it's 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:22.280 a recession. But anyway, since there's not consensus, I'm just 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:27.959 gonna say economic uncertainty or economic turmoil or whatever. Anyway, 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:32.480 these cutbacks now include company travel at Google, so the 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:36.399 company is stressing that all but the most critical company 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:39.640 travel should be considered off the table, and that if 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:42.959 employees have an option to say, attend a virtual event 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:48.480 rather than a physical one, they should choose the virtual option. Now, 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:52.879 if other companies follow suit, that is going to be 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:57.440 a super tough situation for the airline industry, which heavily 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:01.399 counts on regular business travel. And you know, it was 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:03.440 just starting to get back into the swing of things 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:08.200 after the pandemic effectively eliminated nearly all travel, particularly business travel, 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:11.080 for a long while. So we'll have to keep our 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:13.960 eyes on this see if this trend expands beyond Google 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:18.320 and what effects that might cause down the line. Now 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:23.200 that being said, United is reportedly investing fifteen million dollars 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:27.520 into a startup air taxi company. As the name implies, 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:31.080 an air taxi is a vehicle that flies from point 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:33.560 A to point B, and the idea here is that 0:22:33.680 --> 0:22:38.320 this flying vehicle will take passengers from crowded city areas 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:44.119 to nearby airports, skipping all the terrestrial traffic, all for 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:46.560 the low low price of a hundred bucks a seat. 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:49.159 On the low end, it could be much higher than that. 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:53.200 United has conditionally agreed to purchase two hundred air taxis, 0:22:53.200 --> 0:22:56.640 with the option to buy two hundred more. The startup 0:22:57.119 --> 0:23:01.000 is called Eve air Mobility, and we should see its 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:06.360 aircraft in operation sometime around at the earliest. These are 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:09.000 going to be v T o L aircraft that's vertical 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:12.880 takeoff and landing, so similar to how a helicopter operates, 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:16.560 but not an actual helicopter, maybe more like a quad copter, 0:23:16.720 --> 0:23:20.800 but you know, vehicle sized. That's kind of that flying 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:23.480 car concept we've been hearing about for a while now, 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:26.439 and the hope is that United will find enough customers 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:28.639 who are willing to pony up the cash to skip 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:31.560 out on having to navigate through tough traffic in places 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:35.480 like New York City and Chicago. By the way, there 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:39.239 are already helicopter taxi services in New York that can 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:42.639 take you from say, Manhattan to JFK. There's a company 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:45.160 called Blade that does that for the low, low price 0:23:45.160 --> 0:23:49.400 of a bucks per person. And yeah, this is expensive, right, 0:23:49.920 --> 0:23:51.520 That's a lot of money to pay for a one 0:23:51.560 --> 0:23:54.479 way trip to an airport. But y'all, let me tell you. 0:23:54.560 --> 0:23:57.720 I have been in situations in New York where I 0:23:57.800 --> 0:23:59.879 was convinced I was going to miss my flight the 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:02.639 as I was in a taxi that was stuck in 0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:08.040 stand still traffic. And if taking this option means I 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:10.679 can avoid a nervous breakdown, I might be willing to 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:13.560 fork over a couple hundred bucks, especially if I could 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:16.399 expense it. But then we get back to that story 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:22.840 about companies cutting back on travel expenses and shucks. Also, finally, 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:26.679 I somehow missed the news last week that Twitter announced 0:24:26.720 --> 0:24:30.280 it was going to allow users to edit tweets. This 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.800 is a feature that Twitter users have been asking for 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:36.960 for years, but now we've learned a little bit more 0:24:37.040 --> 0:24:40.640 about how that's going to work. So the edit option 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:44.280 is only active for thirty minutes from the point when 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:47.760 you post a tweet, and users will only be able 0:24:47.800 --> 0:24:51.280 to edit it up to five times. So if you've 0:24:51.400 --> 0:24:54.040 edited it five times, or if thirty minutes have passed, 0:24:54.280 --> 0:24:57.720 that's it. You can't touch that tweet again. Moreover, this 0:24:57.800 --> 0:25:00.359 option is only going to go to a sub of 0:25:00.480 --> 0:25:04.879 Twitter Blue users. Twitter Blue is a subscription tier of 0:25:04.880 --> 0:25:08.720 Twitter service, so that means these folks who are accessing 0:25:08.720 --> 0:25:11.800 it are essentially paying to have access to that feature. 0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:16.200 It's initially launching in New Zealand, and Twitter will monitor 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:18.600 how people use it and whether or not folks start 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:22.399 to abuse the feature. You can imagine someone using Twitter 0:25:22.520 --> 0:25:26.399 to post something really controversial or terrible, then waiting a 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:28.919 bit and then go back in and edit the tweet 0:25:28.960 --> 0:25:32.040