WEBVTT - TechStuff and Friends Predict 2017 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:12.000 Get in touch with technology with tex Stuff from dot Com. 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:15.680 Happy New Year, everyone, I'm Jonathan Strickland and this is 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.680 tech Stuff. Today's episode is an annual tradition. It's the 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:23.360 one in which I make predictions about the twelve months 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:26.480 ahead of us. What do we have in store with 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:30.000 tech now? Normally I do this with a co host, 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:32.920 but this year I thought I'd try something a little different. 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.680 I invited a few friends to send me a prediction 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.440 or two an audio format, and so in this show, 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.360 I'll occasionally play a clip from some good friends of 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.639 mine with their insights into what two thousand and seventeen 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:49.559 may bring us. So let's get started, and I want 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.320 to start things off with a look ahead to c 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.440 E S two thousand seventeen. It is on the mind 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:57.800 right now for both me and my producer Dylan, who 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.400 is in the room with me. We literally just got 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:04.200 out of a meeting about c E and the stuff 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.200 what we will bring with us when we go. So 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.960 I'll be sitting through press conferences in Las Vegas by 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:15.520 the time this particular episode goes live. Actually Dylan might 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.679 be too, and we'll be listening to what companies plan 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.640 to bring to market in the near future, but I 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:26.200 am recording this episode in December two thousand sixteen, so 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.760 right now it's still a mystery to me. So here 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.080 are some of my predictions of stuff that I will 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.840 see at c E S. First of all, VR and 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.160 A are are gonna be everywhere. There's gonna be a 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.600 whole section for VR and A R at c E S, 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:42.399 but I would not be surprised to see it pop 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.880 up in booths throughout the show, so there'll be a 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:50.320 dedicated section. But then big big booths like Intel are 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.000 likely going to have these on display sony, probably with 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:58.040 the PlayStation VR. We're gonna see that everywhere. Plus we're 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:01.960 gonna see tons of smart home devices and home automation 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.240 that's also going to be omnipresent at c e S. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:09.360 Driverless car technologies and related products are going to have 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:14.400 a big, strong showing at at c e Drones will 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.560 be everywhere and come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.160 I've been playing with a Star Wars drone for the 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.440 last couple of days, irritating people and ramming it into 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:27.120 people's faces. It is amazing, and I think we'll also 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.000 see a lot of three sixty degree cameras at the show. 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.679 That seems to be like the new hot tech stuff 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.760 at C E S. I think three sixty degree cameras 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.560 are gonna be at a lot of different booths. We're 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.119 gonna see a lot of different approaches. You're gonna see 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.760 people claiming to have four K or eight K or 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:49.400 maybe even sixteen kgree cameras, So we'll explore that when 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.680 we're there. Now, I plan on recording an episode of 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.400 tech Stuff while I'm at C E S with a 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.760 certain Mr Ben Bolan as my co host, and I 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:02.600 think he's gonna have me on an episode of car stuff, uh, 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:04.320 and I will be his co host for that, So 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.120 we're gonna kind of trade shows while we're there, and 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:09.960 at that time, we'll see if I'm on track with 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:14.359 these predictions. So you'll actually hear that in next week's episode. 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:17.440 It's really weird to say next week's episode because I'm 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.080 recording this on December twenty one, and I won't be 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.640 recording the c S episode until early January. But for 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.320 you guys, it's like only a week past. So hello 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:31.120 from the past. I guess that's what I'm saying there. Anyway, 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.760 that's the e So let's move on. How about a 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:38.440 prediction about Apple. So two thousand seventeen, we'll mark the 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:43.480 tenth anniversary of the debut of the iPhone. Steve Jobs 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.000 debut the iPhone in two thousand seven, So because of that, 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.280 I think the next iPhone, the next generation, whatever it 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:54.520 might be called, will be a bigger and bolder departure 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:59.360 from the current design than the last couple of generations were. Um, 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.119 I think Apple really needs to capitalize on this tenth 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:05.280 year anniversary. So I think we're gonna see some really 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:08.720 bold choices, hopefully that won't involve getting rid of more 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.520 features like the headphone jack. But I also think that 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.520 two is the year in which Apple gives us at 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:19.440 least a sneak peek at their autonomous car technology. Now 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.960 they're they're not building autonomous cars from what we understand, 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:27.159 they're building systems, autonomous car systems that would be or 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.640 at least things that would pair with autonomous car systems. 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.200 Uh So I think we might actually get a sneak 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.320 peek of that next year. That's kind of a long 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.240 shot because Apple is not known for showing their technology early. 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.720 They're much more likely to wait until it's ready to go, 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.560 maybe show it off a month in advance of launching it. 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.120 But I think next year is going to be a 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:51.880 big year for Apple, or this year for you guys 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.920 listening to this now. Next year from when I'm recording it, 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:57.800 it's gonna be a huge year for Apple, and I 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.760 think they need to have something that is really going 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.520 to blow people away, and I think autonomous car technology 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.279 would be the way to do it. Unless they finally 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.160 came out with an Apple branded television, that might help too. 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:14.240 And if they do show their autonomous car technology, then 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:16.880 that might take some of the sting out. If their 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.880 next generation iPhone is not a huge departure or a 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:25.200 home run, if it's not totally breathtaking, then they can say, 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.440 but we also have this cool thing that's gonna make 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:32.120 automas cars more interesting. Speaking of driverless cars, I think 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.440 we're gonna see a lot more states start to draft 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:38.719 rules and regulations for driverless vehicles. As it stands, Michigan 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:41.279 is the only state that really has a comprehensive legal 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:45.040 framework for autonomous vehicles operating on state roads, but expect 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:48.599 to see more states in the US frame regulations and 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:53.320 not all states might be particularly welcoming of autonomous car technology. 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:57.440 We might see a few that specifically prohibit driverless cars. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:02.719 We're already seeing some for action in California. That's where Uber, 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.400 the car sharing service, although I don't really think of 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.960 as a car sharing service. Uh. They've been butting heads 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.560 with San Francisco officials over the legality of testing autonomous 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:17.680 cars within the city limits. So we're probably gonna see 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.560 more of those kind of growing pains in different areas, 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.320 particularly if companies like Uber don't bother to I don't know, 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:28.239 ask permission before testing an autonomous car on city streets. 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.760 We'll have to see. Uber, by the way, has been 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.679 super aggressive with its move toward autonomous cars. It's weird 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:40.400 to see a company moving so quickly toward a largely 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:44.120 unproven technology, and I say unproven as an unproven in 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.880 real world cases as opposed to just test cases, even 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.960 test drives within the city itself. We haven't really seen 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.880 anyone adopt this technology on a level that Uber has 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:59.880 been attempting to do. Also, it would mean that Uber 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.960 would be replacing a lot of its workforce, or at 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.719 least the the drivers who work on behalf of Uber 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.200 so that also comes across as a little weird. You know, 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.720 they're essentially saying, Hey, we don't want all these people 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:16.040 driving for us, we want robots driving for us. I 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.560 say that before two thousands seventeen is over, expect Uber 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:24.520 to at least test a truly driverless vehicle. I said, 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.720 no one is sitting in the driver's seat in a 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:33.200 major market somewhere. Now, that means there's no human operator 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.000 inside the vehicle as it stands right now. Uber has 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.560 been testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh and San Francisco, but 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.720 they always have a driver in the driver's seat, able 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.640 to take over at any second. So I imagine that 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.440 before the year is out, Uber world test a car 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.600 with no one in the driver's seat. Uh, it may 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:56.760 be a test in which no member of the public 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:58.800 is in the vehicle at all, So the vehicle may 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.000 just be empty, or there might be an Uber employee 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.800 inside who's writing as a passenger but not an actual 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:07.560 member of the public. But I do think Uber is 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.360 so eager to take this step, even if the rest 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.480 of the US isn't prepared for it. I'm guessing there 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:15.600 will be a lot more news about driverless cars in 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.840 two thousand seventeen from other players in the game as well, 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:22.800 like Tesla and Google. In fact, Google recently spun off 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.880 its driverless car division within Google Access, the research and 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.880 development branch of Google, into its own subsidiary company called 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.920 way Mo w A Y m O. I think we're 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:35.800 still a few more years out before we see that 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:39.120 this blossom into something more than just a test bed technology, 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:44.760 but expect to hear more about this throughout two thousand seventeen, 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.480 and I wouldn't be surprised to hear about more pilot 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:51.679 programs or pilotless programs if you prefer in other parts 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.720 of the world, including driverless trucks and driverless shuttle buses. 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.360 We've seen a couple of experiments in that area already. 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:03.120 I think we're going to see more In other big 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:07.520 predictions about new technology, I think hyperloop tests will show 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:11.640 that the concept is basically sound, but requires such an 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.800 enormous investment from both an infrastructure and an operational standpoint 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.600 that it makes it unrealistic. I suspect that, barring any 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.600 phenomenal incentives from state or federal government agencies, it will 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.079 turn out to be financially untenable. So I don't anticipate 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:31.680 any major engineering fails as companies test out hyperloop designs. 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:33.599 I don't think we're going to have a catastrophe or 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.240 a massive system failure, but I do think it will 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:43.720 become increasingly challenging to keep things moving from an investment standpoint. Now, 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:47.000 I hope that we do see companies push past this 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:51.079 and create a real hyperloop track that actually functions as 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:54.040 a transportation method. But I think the odds of that 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.439 are pretty slim. But please prove me wrong, hyper loop companies. 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:01.280 I don't want to be right about that addiction. It's 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.760 just kind of a gut feeling I have. Now let's 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.360 hear what my friend I as Actar has to say 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.520 about the tech of two thousand seventeen. Hey, they're tech 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.320 stuff listeners, And Jonathan, it's I as actor seen dot 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.400 dot com, gfqu network dot com and other places, And yes, 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:18.840 I just promoted myself on your show. My tech prediction 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.760 for seventeen is a prediction I keep saying pretty much 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:24.880 every year. It seems Alphabet will get into the wireless 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:28.839 internet game. Huge in the division of Alphabet that runs 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.560 Google Fiber Access put a halt to rolling out. It's 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.320 super fast internet service and a lot of cities back 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:38.200 in August. Now, I think that these divisions of Alphabet 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:42.480 are reevaluating everything possible to become the biggest deal within Alphabet. 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.800 While the fiber rollout may be paused. Reports have said 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:49.640 Access is already looking into wireless tech to get into cities. 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.679 Why bother having to drag out physical fiber to holmes 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.280 if you can build transmitters with five G speeds. S 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.000 Net got to try out Verizons five G wireless service 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.120 and it topped out at three point seven seven gigabits 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:04.600 per second. That's a whole lot of bandwidth, and I 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.480 think that might be enough for Access to invest heavily 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:11.120 in wireless. That's my prediction. I hope everybody listening has 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:16.840 a great and crazy fast wireless Internet Access. I think 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:18.400 i as is right on the money with this one. 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.040 We've seen Google put the brakes on laying out fiber 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.600 infrastructure in the cities that hasn't already committed itself to fully. 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:27.800 So you know, Google announced that they were going to 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:29.920 lay down fiber in a lot of different cities, and 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.120 some of them they either have completed their work or 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.160 they're in the middle of it, Like here in Atlanta, 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:38.960 They're still laying down fiber. Those cities they're still committed 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.760 to do it, but other cities where they experienced they 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.080 expressed an interest, they are no longer going to forward 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.240 with laying down fiber, and I suspect a big reason 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:50.439 for this is that Google is looking at the economic 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:53.600 and engineering factors of going with a wireless strategy versus 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.800 going with a wired one, and they're leaning towards wireless 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:58.839 at this point. And not only that, but as I 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.800 as is predicted in the past, I do think Google 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.880 is seriously thinking about being a bigger player and wireless 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.720 phone infrastructures. Google figh is kind of a first step 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.400 into that world, but that involves partnering with existing cell 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.560 phone carriers and piggybacking off their networks. It would not 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:17.280 shock me to see Google jump into the game wholeheartedly. 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:21.679 In and speaking of games, I think two thousands seventeen 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.560 is the make or break year for virtual reality. Consumer 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.280 VR finally really got off the ground in with the 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.920 launch of the Oculus Rift, the h d C five, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.720 and the ps VR, among others. Google's in the game 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.600 with Daydream. There are dozens of companies that sell headsets 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.960 and apps promising to turn your smartphone into a VR HMD, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.320 but the fact remains that the gear is still in 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:47.720 general heavy, clunky, it's not really comfortable to wear for 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.960 really long play sessions, and it doesn't look like anyone 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.400 has come out with a killer app or game to 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.040 sell systems yet, So no one can point to a 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.000 specific game and say you have to have VR because 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.000 you have to play this thing, and it doesn't look 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.240 like anyone um is finding a way to bring that 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:08.720 price tag down. If you're using a smartphone, then I 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.839 guess the price tag isn't that bad because you're already 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.480 probably already have the phone. But when you're looking at 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:19.439 the headsets themselves, they're still pretty expensive, particularly for systems 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.720 that rely upon a console or a bf PC to work, 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:25.840 so that's a high barrier to entry. For example, if 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.120 you don't already own a p S four, then you 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:30.000 have to buy one of those to have the PSVR. 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:34.040 If you don't already own a powerful gaming computer, then 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:35.720 you're gonna have to buy one of those in order 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:38.240 to play with an Oculus Rift or an HDC five. 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.480 This brings that price way up, and it means that 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:46.200 fewer people can actually afford to get into this this world. 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.839 So if VR companies can make more comfortable gear, if 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:52.840 they can offer it at a reasonable price, or at 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.720 least not make it more expensive than it is right now, 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.320 and if developers can create some really compelling experiences and aims, 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.040 I think VR will make it through two thousand seventeen 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.360 just fine. But if not, I fear we'll see VR 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:08.559 kind of take the same role as in Nintendo. We 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.240 so we'll just become something that gathers dust until you 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.600 have a group of friends or family over and then you, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.520 you know, dust it off and you show everybody how 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.840 it works, and everyone's like, oh, that's amazing, that's that's phenomenal. 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:23.360 And then you're done, and then you put it in 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.040 the corner and then you don't touch it again until 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.080 the next big gathering. That's what I'm worried VR will 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:32.240 turn into. And I think two thousand seventeen is the 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:37.040 year where it either faces that future or it becomes 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.200 the ubiquitous type of computing everyone wants to have in 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.120 their home. It's one or the other. I don't think 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:47.160 you can just treadwater for another year. Now. One exception 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:51.720 to that rule with VR is that I think you're 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:55.360 going to see more uses of VR in attractions or 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.640 experiences that you pay to have, like an amusement park 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:02.160 or even the equip plent of a virtual reality arcade, 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.560 if the cost of the hardware and the software is 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.800 on a proprietor, and then you pay the proprietor to 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.440 have access to it, so that way you can have 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:14.480 the experience, but you don't have to pay to have 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:19.200 the whole UH technology in your own home taking up space. 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:21.920 I think people would be willing to do it if 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.600 the experiences are good enough, So I suspect we'll CVR 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:29.840 incorporated into more amusement park rides and related entertainment purposes. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.360 It's possible that even where that's where VR will live, 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.640 they will just live in the entertainment world where you 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:38.680 pay to have access to it, but you don't go 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:42.000 out and buy one of these systems for home use, 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:45.680 kind of like roller coasters. You go and you pay 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.200 to get into a park to ride a roller coaster, 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.120 but you don't pay to have a roller coaster bill 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.440 at your house unless you get a whole lot of 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:56.240 land and an engineering buddy. And if you do, I 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:00.080 want to ride on your roller coaster. Meanwhile, another a 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.320 friend of mine has a prediction about where the world 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:05.560 of cable television is headed. Hello, I'm Tom Merritt, host 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:09.240 of daily tech news show and Chord Killers. So I'm 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.120 gonna make my prediction actually about cord cutting. In the 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:15.520 next year, we're going to see launches of what they 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.600 call over the top services TV services that are delivered 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:24.640 over the Internet, from Hulu, from Google through YouTube. We 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.800 will probably see direct tv now underway, in addition to 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.360 PlayStation View and Sling TV. And there's some rumors out 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:34.720 there that other folks may be getting into the market 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.680 as well. So my prediction for the United States television 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:46.120 market is that by the end of the combined number 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:51.440 of subscribers for these new over the top services so View, Hulu, YouTube, 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:56.760 direct TV Now, Sling will be the number three if 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:58.520 you if you, if you combine them will be the 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:04.040 number three. Large are just cable company in the United States, 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.760 so that would put them after Comcast and what is 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:12.600 being called Spectrum now, the new combination of Charter and 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.200 Time Warner. I think it will put it in front 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:18.600 of cable vision. That you know, if I wanted to 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:20.440 be safe, I'd put it behind cable Vision. But I'm 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:21.960 gonna go out on a limb and I'm going to 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:27.159 say that the combination of people getting their live television service, 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:31.439 their channel television service over the Internet will make it. 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:35.280 The combined will be the number three cable company, if 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:36.639 you were to call it a cable company in the 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:39.760 United States of America. And uh, we will start to 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:44.359 see more of the traditional cable companies offering services or 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:49.160 at least talking about offering services outside of their normal markets. 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:51.920 That that's kind of a corollary to this. We'll start 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.120 to see Comcast saying, hey, we haven't over the top 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.359 service of our own, which they already do right now. 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.280 They only offer it to their existing Comcast subscribers. They'll 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:03.000 start offering in places that aren't Time Warner territory the 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:07.120 Comcast doesn't operate in anyway. That's my prediction, Jonathan, Thanks 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.480 for inviting me on if you'd like to find out 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.600 more about cord cutting, of course, courd killers dot com 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.080 or Daily Tech News Show. Thanks again, Happy New Year. 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.080 I can't argue with Tom's logic. Over the top or 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.840 o t T services are growing more popular every year plus, 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.760 we're seeing more televisions and entertainment system components that incorporate 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.359 O T T services into the hardware themselves, making it 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:33.280 easier than ever to get content without actually subscribing to cable. 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.640 In two thousand sixteen, we saw some cable companies kind 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.760 of make a bit of a rally against declining subscriber numbers, 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:42.679 which suggests that we may have leveled off of the 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.159 number of people who are just jumping ship and cutting 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:49.560 the court entirely. So maybe we won't see even smaller 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:53.040 numbers of subscribers in the future, but rather a growing 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.560 number of people with O T T services, many of 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.520 whom may also be cable subscribers in addition to having 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:02.240 the O T T services. I've got a lot more 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.080 predictions ahead, but first, let's take a quick break to 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:17.280 thank our sponsor. Okay, now that we're back, let's talk 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.320 about those personal digital assistance that we have out there. 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:22.760 I'm not talking about p d as in the old 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:28.119 fashioned sense, but rather the stuff like Sirie Cortana, Alexa, 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:32.000 Google's assistant who I guess doesn't merit an actual name. 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.560 For a while, those have served primarily as a user 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.440 interface and by that I mean that the early implementations 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:42.080 have mostly been used as a replacement for like a 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:45.800 touch screen or keyboard and mouse. They weren't really living 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:47.800 up to their full potential. It was just a different 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:51.240 way to access your devices and to make them do stuff. 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.439 But beyond that, there wasn't a whole lot of power 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:58.000 to them. As time has gone on, that has changed. 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:01.240 Developers have created more skills for a for example, or 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:03.800 apps for other services, and we started to see a 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:06.639 little bit more functionality in two thousand and sixteen. For 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:10.080 one thing, the companies behind those services are starting to 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:12.320 collect a lot of data to work with and to 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:15.480 see how people are using their services. And by looking 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:18.200 at that data, they can make changes to those services, 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:21.439 make them work better, make them do more things, and 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.240 we'll likely see those services take a more proactive approach 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.840 where it starts to anticipate our needs as we move 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.399 through our routines. So, in other words, if you do 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:36.000 the same thing every work day or school day, if 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:38.720 you have the same kind of routine set up, and 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.199 the systems in your house start to learn what your 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:44.520 routines are, they can start to prepare things in advance 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:47.639 of your routine to make it more smooth. That's the 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:49.359 kind of thing I'm thinking about. By the end of 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.280 two thousand seventeen, I expect to see an enormous increase 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:55.160 in the number of Internet of Things devices that can 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:59.399 interoperate with these digital assistants. So we've already seen Amazon 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.440 be very aggressive in this space. Amazon works very hard 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:05.920 to try and get partnerships with various Internet of things 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:09.600 companies so that Alexa can also interact with things like 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:15.240 lighting systems, thermostats, that kind of stuff, electronic locks, cameras, 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:18.400 everything you can think of, the same thing for Google Home. 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:21.119 I think we're going to continue to see that grow 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:26.440 in ten to a huge extent. Now that actually ties 0:21:26.480 --> 0:21:30.080 into another prediction a different friend of mine made. I'm 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.680 talking about my buddy, Shannon Morse, who was a podcaster, hacker, 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:39.120 and wearer of many hats, both literally and figuratively. Shannon 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:42.119 made two predictions for me this year, and this is 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:46.320 actually her second prediction, but I'm gonna play it first. 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:48.760 I'll play the first one later in the show, but 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:51.560 it fits better in a different discussion. So for now, 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.199 here's what Shannon has to say about the Internet of 0:21:55.240 --> 0:22:01.040 Things in for my second prediction. I believe if that Mirai, 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:04.280 which was a really big bot net this year that 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.600 was able to attack Internet of things devices such as 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:12.840 security cameras and the like, UH will create critical changes 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:15.919 for the Internet of things manufacturers and is going to 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:20.360 spot spur more security focus from consumers on IoT devices. So, 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:23.399 for example, I believe that consumers are going to be 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.240 a lot more aware of what kind of security their 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:29.440 IoT devices have on them before they actually buy them, 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:32.119 and I hope that they will start asking the correct 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:35.840 questions to figure out that security. I also predict that 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:38.879 we are going to see a more consumer focused software 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:43.920 program made to detect IoT vulnerabilities and help you patch them. Currently, 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:46.920 there is nothing that I know of, at least that 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:51.439 allows consumers to really easily check their IoT devices for 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:54.520 any kind of vulnerabilities. Yes, we do have things like 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.800