WEBVTT - Tech News: AOL and Yahoo Might Get Sold Again

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>and I love all things tech. And this is the

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<v Speaker 1>tech news for Tuesday, May the fourth, twenty one, May

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<v Speaker 1>the fourth be with you. It's Star Wars Day. I

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<v Speaker 1>wish I had a full story about the retractable lightsaber

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<v Speaker 1>that tomorrow. The head of Walt disney World amusement parks

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<v Speaker 1>showed off last month, but I don't have any extra

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<v Speaker 1>info to give. I just I really want to see

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<v Speaker 1>one of these things working in action. From what we understand,

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<v Speaker 1>the one he had was a prototype. It wasn't like

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<v Speaker 1>fully machined to look like a lightsaber hilt, but it

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<v Speaker 1>demonstrated the basic technology, which is kind of like having

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<v Speaker 1>a pair of um tape measures extendable tape measures move

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<v Speaker 1>out and then retract back. Only they happen to have,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, lights that allow it to light up like

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<v Speaker 1>a lightsaber. Super cool. Can't wait to see it. Wish

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<v Speaker 1>I had more to talk about about that for Star

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<v Speaker 1>Wars Day, but don't, so instead let's move on to

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<v Speaker 1>the actual tech news. The top story is one I'm

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<v Speaker 1>sure many of you have already seen. Verizon is prepping

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<v Speaker 1>for the sale of two companies that have changed hands

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<v Speaker 1>a few times over the years, that being Yahoo and

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<v Speaker 1>A O L. All right, let's walk through this, shall

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<v Speaker 1>we so. Way back in the day, A O L

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<v Speaker 1>and Yahoo were both unquestionably two of the most powerful

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<v Speaker 1>companies of the early days of the Internet. Uh. It

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<v Speaker 1>was something of a running gag in the nineties that

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<v Speaker 1>if you went out to check your mail, you had

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<v Speaker 1>a decent shot of bringing back at least one A

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<v Speaker 1>O L boot c D into the house. The company

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<v Speaker 1>sent out starter kits like crazy in the nineties, and

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<v Speaker 1>for a lot of people in the early days of

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<v Speaker 1>the Internet, America Online was synonymous with Internet. A O

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<v Speaker 1>L's history dates back to the nineteen eighties. If you

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<v Speaker 1>look at the constituent parts that made up the company,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was an online service provider first, which meant

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<v Speaker 1>it kind of served as like a news portal and

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<v Speaker 1>a message board system and email for other AOLL members,

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<v Speaker 1>but not to like the Internet at large. Even hosted

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<v Speaker 1>a few games. Later, it incorporated a web browser and

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<v Speaker 1>became a gateway that a lot of folks relied upon

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<v Speaker 1>to actually explore the world Wide Web, not just a

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<v Speaker 1>you know, segmented version of it on a O L servers.

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<v Speaker 1>In two thousand, Time Warner and a o L announced

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<v Speaker 1>a merger plan which came to fruition in early two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand one, and in retrospect a lot of people identify

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<v Speaker 1>that particular merger as a huge mist eight. The value

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<v Speaker 1>of AOL Time Warner went into decline, which is a

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<v Speaker 1>gentle way of putting it. It kind of plummeted, and

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<v Speaker 1>Time Warner ultimately spun off a O L as a

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<v Speaker 1>separate company in two thousand nine. Verizon would turn around

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<v Speaker 1>and purchase a O L in two thousand and fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>for four point four billion dollars. As for Yahoo, it

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<v Speaker 1>started off as a web portal with curated content back

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen nine four. Yahoo employees would actually find cool

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<v Speaker 1>stuff and feature it on the Yahoo page. It mostly

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<v Speaker 1>became known for search and also hosting and later generating

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<v Speaker 1>content and of course the recently deceased Yahoo answers service.

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<v Speaker 1>Yahoo was incredibly popular as a website, but it began

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<v Speaker 1>to lose ground to Google for the search business. It

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<v Speaker 1>was particularly susceptible to stock price inflation. During the dot

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<v Speaker 1>com bubble, shares rose up to around a hundred eighteen dollars,

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<v Speaker 1>but during the low point post the dot com bubble bursting,

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<v Speaker 1>the low was around eight dollars a share. That's an

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<v Speaker 1>a crazy drop from eighteen dollars per share to eight

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<v Speaker 1>dollars per share. Yikes. Microsoft attempted to acquire Yahoo in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand and eight, but that deal fell through. Yahoo

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<v Speaker 1>saw leadership changes happen a few times in the two thousand's,

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<v Speaker 1>with Marissa Meyer coming on over from Google to be

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<v Speaker 1>the CEO of Yahoo. In two thousand twelve. Meyer oversaw

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<v Speaker 1>a huge acquisition with Tumbler. That year, Yeah who purchased

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<v Speaker 1>Tumbler for one point one billion dollars. This, by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>it would also be called a really bad business deal

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<v Speaker 1>in tech, at least in retrospect, though to be fair,

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<v Speaker 1>Yahoo had made an even worse deal much earlier back

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<v Speaker 1>in when it bought geo Cities for four billion dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>Tumbler is no longer under Yahoo, by the way, uh, Verizon,

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<v Speaker 1>after purchasing Yahoo, would spin off Tumbler and sell it

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<v Speaker 1>off to a different company. Verizon announced its intent to

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<v Speaker 1>acquire Yahoo in twenty sixteen for four point eight three

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<v Speaker 1>billion dollars. So now Verizon, the latest company to discover

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<v Speaker 1>that it couldn't really leverage the acquisitions it had made,

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<v Speaker 1>is now selling off both A O L and Yahoo.

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<v Speaker 1>The buyer is a private equity firm called Apollo Global Management,

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<v Speaker 1>and according to The New York Times, the talks are

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<v Speaker 1>still in the early stages and could fall apart. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>who knows, maybe they've dissolved by the time you hear this.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, but from what I understand, the two

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<v Speaker 1>companies together are valued in the four to five billion

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<v Speaker 1>dollar range. So that is effectively half of what Verizon

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<v Speaker 1>paid for them when it made the two separate purchases

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<v Speaker 1>in twenty fifteen and sixteen. So that's a toughie. As

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<v Speaker 1>for Apollo, it's hard for me to get a handle

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<v Speaker 1>on that company. It's acquired a lot of stuff already,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's not exactly all in the tech space. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>it includes the Venetian resort in Las Vegas and the

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<v Speaker 1>retail store chain Michaels that sells, you know, hobby equipment,

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<v Speaker 1>So it is looks like it's just an inequity company

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<v Speaker 1>that's just investing in a very diverse group of businesses.

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<v Speaker 1>I will follow up on this story as it develops.

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<v Speaker 1>The Verges. Tom Warren has a fun piece titled Sony

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<v Speaker 1>Really Hated PS four cross Play Confidential Documents Reveal, and

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<v Speaker 1>I recommend actually, you know, going over and reading that

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<v Speaker 1>on the Verge. But here's the really short version. So

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<v Speaker 1>cross play is when you've got a game that has

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of online component and people who are playing

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<v Speaker 1>that game on different systems can still play together online

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<v Speaker 1>in that game. So let's use an example like Minecraft.

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<v Speaker 1>This game exists some pretty much every platform that exists.

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<v Speaker 1>You can play it on PC or Xbox or Nintendo

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<v Speaker 1>or PlayStation or mobile and friends and to like to

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<v Speaker 1>play in the same games together online. But if I'm

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<v Speaker 1>running Minecraft on an Xbox and you happen to have

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<v Speaker 1>it on PlayStation, we can't play together unless the title

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<v Speaker 1>we're playing supports cross play and more importantly, that the

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<v Speaker 1>consoles support cross play. Minecraft did support cross play, but

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<v Speaker 1>needed console buy in to make that happen. Nintendo was

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<v Speaker 1>a little slow to adopt it, possibly because Nintendo traditionally

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't care to get involved in any experience that the

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<v Speaker 1>company doesn't have full control over and if it should

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<v Speaker 1>pass that kids on Nintendo were to encounter adults on Xbox,

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<v Speaker 1>the whole world could catch on fire. But Nintendo did

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately support cross play, Sony not so much well. Warren

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<v Speaker 1>published an email that was written by an executive from

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<v Speaker 1>Epic Games. Those are the makers of Fortnite, and the

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<v Speaker 1>letter spells out the case to support cross play for Fortnite,

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<v Speaker 1>essentially pointing out that ultimately Sony had very little choice

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<v Speaker 1>in the matter, considering the PlayStation popularity of Fortnite and

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<v Speaker 1>how players wanted the chance to play with their friends

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<v Speaker 1>who might be playing the game on other platforms. The

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<v Speaker 1>letter is remarkable in that the executive makes several suggestions

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<v Speaker 1>as to how Epic could support PlayStation adoption, including several

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<v Speaker 1>ideas all geared toward making Sony you know, some sweet

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<v Speaker 1>sweet cash, But Sony declined to acquiesce to epics request

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<v Speaker 1>until Sony implemented a pretty brutal strategy. Essentially, if it's

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<v Speaker 1>clear that Sony PlayStation gamers are making up more than

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<v Speaker 1>a given percentage of the bottom line of a game

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<v Speaker 1>that has cross platform play, Sony wants a royalty from

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<v Speaker 1>developers and wants to get money if it says, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>if we're contributing to the success of this game, we

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<v Speaker 1>want you to pay us for it. And this is

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<v Speaker 1>meant to quote offset the reduction in revenue end quote

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<v Speaker 1>resulting from Sony enabling cross play. So how does enabling

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<v Speaker 1>cross play reduce revenue? That's an excellent question. If the

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<v Speaker 1>games were exclusive to Sony, you'd have an easy argument, right,

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<v Speaker 1>you would say, well, if you have an exclusive title

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly become available on another platform, it means gamers have choice,

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<v Speaker 1>and if they have choice, then maybe they choose something else.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you have an online game that already is

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<v Speaker 1>on multiple platforms, well, people already have a choice. They

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<v Speaker 1>can go to whichever platform it's on and play it there.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's the whole point. They just want to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to play with each other, you know, whether you're

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<v Speaker 1>on Xbox or PlayStation or PC or whatever. That's the

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<v Speaker 1>whole point. I honestly don't know where the reduction and

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<v Speaker 1>revenue comes from. Now, I'm not saying it doesn't exist.

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<v Speaker 1>It may very well be a factor, and I just

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not getting it. I don't understand how it works.

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<v Speaker 1>So maybe it's a real thing. But and I'm just

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the wrong way. But when I look at

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<v Speaker 1>I think that doesn't seem to track to me. By

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<v Speaker 1>the way, if you guys here, and I should have

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<v Speaker 1>said this at the beginning, but if you hear any

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<v Speaker 1>thunder or whatever, Atlanta is in the middle of some

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<v Speaker 1>pretty nasty thunderstorms right now. In fact, we had a

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<v Speaker 1>tornado this morning. Um didn't touch down close to where

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<v Speaker 1>I live, but it did touch down in the city

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<v Speaker 1>of Atlanta, so across town from where I am. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>also in the city of Atlanta. I'm just not in

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<v Speaker 1>that part. But yeah, we're still getting some thunder. I

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<v Speaker 1>apologize for the Rumbley's, but um, the show, as they say,

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<v Speaker 1>has to keep going. I think that's I think that's

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<v Speaker 1>how that's saying goes, all right, So sticking with Sony

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<v Speaker 1>for just a second longer. The company also announced a

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<v Speaker 1>new partnership between Discord and Sony Interactive Entertainment. So. Discord

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<v Speaker 1>is a popular social platform that grew up around gaming

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<v Speaker 1>tho whole lot of activity and Discord doesn't involve gaming

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<v Speaker 1>at all, and Discord allows users to create what are

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<v Speaker 1>called servers, though these are not the same thing as

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<v Speaker 1>like Web servers. Anyway. Servers can host chat rooms, text

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<v Speaker 1>based chat rooms, or video and audio chat voice chat.

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<v Speaker 1>So a lot of gamers will use Discord as a

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<v Speaker 1>chat tool to communicate with their friends while they play

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<v Speaker 1>games together. You know, some games don't support in game chat.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh some games, Oh my gosh, the storms really coming in.

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<v Speaker 1>Some games support in game chat, but they don't have

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<v Speaker 1>really good tools for it, and Discords meant to work

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<v Speaker 1>around that. According to Jim Ryan, the president and CEO

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<v Speaker 1>of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the goal is to merge the

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<v Speaker 1>PlayStation and Discord experiences on consoles and mobile, and it

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<v Speaker 1>sounds like the timeline is aiming for a twenty two integration,

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<v Speaker 1>which sounds pretty nifty, unlike the thunder outside, which just

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<v Speaker 1>sounds intimidating. Is all get out now, I'm sure all

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<v Speaker 1>of y'all have heard about Clubhouse, the io s app

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<v Speaker 1>that lets people log into audio only rooms and listen

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<v Speaker 1>to people chat about stuff. Now, we got a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of early buzz with lots of famous people using it

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about famous people's stuff, or for tech executives

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about tech executive stuff, you know, like how

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<v Speaker 1>many islands they've bought or whatever. My own knowledge of

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<v Speaker 1>clubhouse is pretty vague because I don't own an iPhone,

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<v Speaker 1>so I'm not allowed in the clubhouse. It says no

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<v Speaker 1>androids allowed, so I'm not I'm not in there. I

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<v Speaker 1>do know that there have been numerous concerns about the

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<v Speaker 1>security of Clubhouse, however, but that's not what this story

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<v Speaker 1>is about. Instead, I want to talk about Twitter because

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<v Speaker 1>it's been slowly rolling out its own version of the

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<v Speaker 1>same general idea, and Twitter's version is called spaces and

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<v Speaker 1>now any Twitter user who has at least six hundred

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<v Speaker 1>followers can potentially host an audio only chat room, and

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<v Speaker 1>that includes me. I've got more than six hundred followers.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe I'll try it out. Twitter also plans to experiment

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<v Speaker 1>with ticketed events in the near future, so in these experiences,

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<v Speaker 1>hosts will determine a ticket price to charge p bol

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<v Speaker 1>who want to be part of this experience. Hosts will

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<v Speaker 1>also get a chance to decide the limit the cap

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<v Speaker 1>of the number of tickets that are allowed to be sold,

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<v Speaker 1>and Twitter will undoubtedly take a cut of those sales,

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<v Speaker 1>but the company claims that the host will earn most

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<v Speaker 1>of the revenue generated by the ticket sales. Now I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not likely to try and host a ticketed event because

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<v Speaker 1>I don't need the experience of that level of rejection. Plus,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, what the heck would I even do that

0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.280
<v Speaker 1>would seem worthy of asking folks to hand over their

0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:33.760
<v Speaker 1>hard earned cash just to hear me yap about stuff.

0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.959
<v Speaker 1>I guess I could do my amazing rendition of classic

0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:39.560
<v Speaker 1>Beastie Boys songs, but most of the time people pay

0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.600
<v Speaker 1>me to stop doing that. But hey, maybe we'll do

0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.160
<v Speaker 1>an experiment with tech stuff at some point. Maybe I'll

0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.559
<v Speaker 1>do like a teaser for upcoming episodes, or maybe a

0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:51.800
<v Speaker 1>discussion about past topics. Who knows. Anyway, keep an eye

0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:56.559
<v Speaker 1>out for spaces on Twitter. Sharman The Toilet Paper Company

0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.880
<v Speaker 1>has done it again. A few years back at at

0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:05.680
<v Speaker 1>e S the company introduced and um cheeky little robot

0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.800
<v Speaker 1>that would fetch toilet paper for you in case you

0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.600
<v Speaker 1>were out. This was a little two wheeled robot had

0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.080
<v Speaker 1>a little like bare face on it, and it could

0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.360
<v Speaker 1>balance a roll of toilet paper on top of the

0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.520
<v Speaker 1>robot had like a spindle on the very top that

0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.080
<v Speaker 1>you could put a roll of toilet paper on. They

0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.360
<v Speaker 1>were presenting this as if the robot was retrieving the

0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.800
<v Speaker 1>paper for you. But obviously someone had to put the

0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:30.320
<v Speaker 1>toilet paper roll on the robot and then it could

0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:33.920
<v Speaker 1>wheel around and get to you. It also was not

0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:37.080
<v Speaker 1>um autonomous, it was remote controlled. It was all like

0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:40.000
<v Speaker 1>a publicity stunt. It's very cute. But now Sharmon has

0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.040
<v Speaker 1>swooped in to help folks who are stuck on video

0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.240
<v Speaker 1>calls when suddenly they feel the need to visit the facilities.

0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.000
<v Speaker 1>The company calls it the b R B butt, the

0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:50.800
<v Speaker 1>b right back butt, and it's in beta right now.

0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.840
<v Speaker 1>And here's how it works. You start up the bot

0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:57.920
<v Speaker 1>app and it actually takes video of you, and you're

0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:00.880
<v Speaker 1>prompted to do a few different reactions so that the

0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.640
<v Speaker 1>bot can learn how you respond to certain stimuli such

0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.960
<v Speaker 1>as maybe someone makes a joke or someone says something

0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:11.320
<v Speaker 1>particularly interesting. Uh. It even prompts you to make some

0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:15.680
<v Speaker 1>vocal responses, specifically I'll get right on that. Then when

0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.040
<v Speaker 1>you feel the need to scoot off to the bathroom,

0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:21.800
<v Speaker 1>you can activate the bot, which will then supposedly have

0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:25.080
<v Speaker 1>an AI powered video doppel ganger of yourself sitting in

0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.840
<v Speaker 1>your place, reacting on your behalf. The idea being that

0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.600
<v Speaker 1>is using AI and machine learning to do this um.

0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.680
<v Speaker 1>It works with a few different video conferencing services, and

0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.080
<v Speaker 1>what I've seen is pretty funny. Uh. I don't know

0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.120
<v Speaker 1>that it's actually using AI and machine learning all that much.

0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:43.920
<v Speaker 1>To me, it just looked like it was running through

0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.720
<v Speaker 1>the various facial expressions on kind of a loop. But

0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.560
<v Speaker 1>I could be totally wrong about that. However, the company

0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:52.880
<v Speaker 1>doesn't plan to release this app to the general public.

0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.360
<v Speaker 1>It's another kind of PR stunt sort of thing. It

0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.240
<v Speaker 1>does seem like a real shame because I could just

0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:00.800
<v Speaker 1>imagine it saving me a lot of time by having

0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.680
<v Speaker 1>it attend meetings on my behalf. But it looks like

0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:06.360
<v Speaker 1>I'm just going to be out of luck on that one.

0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:10.000
<v Speaker 1>And our final story, Apple has rolled out the iOS

0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.640
<v Speaker 1>Update fourteen point five, which includes in it new rules

0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:18.040
<v Speaker 1>regarding apps that Facebook really really hates. In fact, I

0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.880
<v Speaker 1>think Facebook hates this more than Sony hates cross play.

0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:23.680
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I'm sure other apps hate it too, but

0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:28.320
<v Speaker 1>Facebook has made it incredibly apparent. So the new rules

0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:31.640
<v Speaker 1>say that apps are no longer allowed to track users

0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.160
<v Speaker 1>from app to app, like what what other apps they're

0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.400
<v Speaker 1>using and how they're using other apps, like tracking information

0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:42.920
<v Speaker 1>outside of the apps themselves without giving the option for

0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.240
<v Speaker 1>the users to opt out. So they have to say, hey,

0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.680
<v Speaker 1>we want to track all your activity, but you do

0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:50.960
<v Speaker 1>have the option to say don't do that. But Facebook

0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.160
<v Speaker 1>loves to track users. I mean, that is the product

0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.720
<v Speaker 1>that Facebook is selling. It's your data. Facebook can take

0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:01.480
<v Speaker 1>that data, your data, and use it to sell ads space.

0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:06.439
<v Speaker 1>So Facebook's value proposition to advertisers is, hey, we know

0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.400
<v Speaker 1>what our users like. We know what they look at

0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.600
<v Speaker 1>on Facebook, we know what they look at on Instagram,

0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.400
<v Speaker 1>and we know what they're looking at outside of Facebook

0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.480
<v Speaker 1>and Instagram because we can track which apps they're using

0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.520
<v Speaker 1>and how they're using and what they're doing on those apps.

0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.200
<v Speaker 1>So if you advertise with us, we will make sure

0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.199
<v Speaker 1>that your ads are seen by the people most likely

0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.919
<v Speaker 1>to act on those ads. That's the sales pitch that

0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.239
<v Speaker 1>Facebook is giving to advertisers. It means that Facebook can

0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:39.199
<v Speaker 1>charge a lot for ultra targeted ads and make billions

0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.720
<v Speaker 1>of dollars every year. But the new Apple rules say

0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.199
<v Speaker 1>that apps like Facebook and Instagram, which I'm sure I

0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.520
<v Speaker 1>don't need to remind you Facebook owns have to alert

0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.720
<v Speaker 1>users to this practice and give them the option to

0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.679
<v Speaker 1>opt out. Now It's clear Facebook does not want to

0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:59.440
<v Speaker 1>do that, but it has to or it risks being

0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:03.280
<v Speaker 1>dropped from the Apple Store. That would be disastrous. So instead,

0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:06.840
<v Speaker 1>the company's opt out message says, Hey, you're on iOS

0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.840
<v Speaker 1>fourt teen point five. This version of iOS requires us

0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.320
<v Speaker 1>to ask for permission to track some data from this

0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.560
<v Speaker 1>device to improve your ads, and it goes on to

0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.640
<v Speaker 1>say that the information used helps quote keep Facebook free

0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.400
<v Speaker 1>of charge end quote. Now the implication here is that

0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.879
<v Speaker 1>we're Facebook not allowed to track all your activity. If

0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:29.159
<v Speaker 1>you were to say, nah, Facebook, I don't want you

0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.760
<v Speaker 1>to do that, that maybe down the line you'd have

0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.800
<v Speaker 1>to pay for the Facebook app, and the same would

0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.600
<v Speaker 1>be true for Instagram. Now, I don't buy any of

0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:43.560
<v Speaker 1>that for a second, because Facebook can still serve tons

0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.680
<v Speaker 1>of ads. Even if you opt out, you're not going

0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:49.320
<v Speaker 1>to an ad free experience. You're still going to get

0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.359
<v Speaker 1>lots of ads. It's just that those ads won't be

0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:55.119
<v Speaker 1>quite as laser focused targeted on you as they would

0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.479
<v Speaker 1>be otherwise. Trust me, Facebook is not in danger of

0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:03.119
<v Speaker 1>being doubt into the cold, harsh world without a scrap

0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:07.520
<v Speaker 1>of bread to eat or place to sleep. Facebook, believe me,

0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:12.000
<v Speaker 1>is doing just fine. But it sure is eager to

0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:16.440
<v Speaker 1>discourage people from opting out of this tracking. Oh Also,

0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.840
<v Speaker 1>discouraging folks from opting out is technically against Apple's rules,

0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.760
<v Speaker 1>or at least the spirit of those rules. So we'll

0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:25.880
<v Speaker 1>have to wait and see if this type of messaging

0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:29.480
<v Speaker 1>sticks around or if Apple pressures Facebook to knock it off.

0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:34.880
<v Speaker 1>And that wraps up the news for Star Wars Day,

0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.760
<v Speaker 1>May the fourth. Hope you guys enjoyed it. If you

0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.719
<v Speaker 1>have any suggestions for things I should cover in future

0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.560
<v Speaker 1>episodes of tech Stuff, reach out to me on Twitter.

0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:46.840
<v Speaker 1>The handle is text stuff h s W. Perhaps I'll

0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.960
<v Speaker 1>be holding some spaces sessions at some point to chat

0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:52.800
<v Speaker 1>with folks. Don't know yet. Haven't really looked into it

0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:56.040
<v Speaker 1>other than seeing the news out of We'll see and

0:19:56.160 --> 0:20:04.640
<v Speaker 1>I will talk to you again really soon. Yeah. Text

0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:08.119
<v Speaker 1>Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts

0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.920
<v Speaker 1>from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,

0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.199
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.