WEBVTT - South Korea Gets Tough With Apple and Google 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:14.600 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.800 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.840 and how the tech Are You? Is time for the 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:26.280 tech news for Tuesday, January eleven, twenty twenty two. And 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:28.800 one of the big stories from last year was about 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:33.559 how companies like Google and Apple are being challenged around 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:37.800 the world for having effectively a closed off ecosystem when 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:42.680 it comes to in app payments. The too long, didn't 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.479 read version of that is that Google and Apple typically 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:49.599 require app developers to use their in house payment systems 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.400 for all customer purchases within an app. So we're talking 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:57.760 about like virtual purpose purchases. This isn't the same rules 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.600 don't apply if you're talking about things like rye haling 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:04.399 or ordering a pizza like a real pizza. Anyway, this 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.200 was something that video game studio Epic challenged with their 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.880 game Fortnite when they gave gamers an opportunity to kind 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.640 of circumvent these rules, and that led to all these 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:18.240 different lawsuits they got filed between Epic and and notably Apple, 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:22.959 but Google was also involved. Anyway, now you can actually 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:28.160 choose a different payment option within apps than just the 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.560 you know, in house payment option if you happen to 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:36.080 live in South Korea. That is, because South Korea passed 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:40.600 a law that bans app stores from forcing apps to 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.360 use the stores payment system. Apple claims to already be 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.440 in compliance with the law in South Korea, while Google 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:50.360 said it was working on it. And at the heart 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:54.440 of this is the concept of anti competitive practices. After all, 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:57.000 if you tell folks that your system is the only 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.760 game in town, well that's that's not competitive by definition. 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:03.880 And so we've seen courts and governments around the world 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:08.480 pushback against that practice. Now whether we'll see other countries 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.240 follow South Korea's lead remains to be seen, but we 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.440 have been seeing some movement in various court cases that 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.120 are in theory at least forcing these companies to change 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:24.400 their practices. In other Apple news, Bloomberg's Mark German recently 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:29.120 blogged that Apple seems uninterested in the whole metaverse concept, 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:34.640 more specifically in the company meta as in former Facebook 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:38.720 Meta their vision for what the metaverse will be. And 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.400 I think that's really interesting since Apple may actually unveil 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:47.160 a mixed reality headset sometime this year. That not so 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.280 secret project at Apple has been rumored for a few 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:54.560 years now, and yet the company really hasn't acknowledged it publicly, 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:57.880 at least not as far as I'm aware. This might 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.480 be the year that changes all of that. According to German, 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:04.440 it sounds like Apple's strategy is to take a more 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:10.560 augmented reality versus virtual reality approach. Augmented reality is when 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.079 you have a headset that allows you or some other 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:14.680 method doesn't have to be a headset, but you have 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.000 a technology that allows you to actually see the world 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:20.960 around you, like the real world. You can see it, 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:25.560 and then the system overlays digital information on top of 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.920 your real world view. So it doesn't have to be 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.360 a headset. It could be something like a smart window 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.760 or just an app on your phone that can display 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:39.240 information over your view of the real world. Um but 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.520 the way I typically think of it as like a 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:44.560 pair of glasses that could give you, say, directions as 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:46.680 you make your way to a secret location to meet 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:51.240 up with your undercover contact or whatever. Hi Jeff. Anyway, 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:55.320 it sounds like Apple isn't on board with the metaverse 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:58.440 approach and views VR as something that should be done 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.400 as a sometimes activity, you know, like cookie monster now 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:05.880 knows that cookies are just as sometimes food instead of 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.760 like treating VR as a way where we should all 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.360 interface with each other and the world around us through 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.520 this metaverse thing. Now, I'm kind of on board with 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:18.479 that idea, because I suspect if the metaverse really does 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.080 become a thing, and I'm still very skeptical of that, 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:25.080 I'm skeptical that will become something more than just little 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:29.520 pockets of islands operated by single companies like Facebook. If 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.480 it ever does become a big thing, I suspect I'm 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:34.720 going to be the equivalent of a hermit and not 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:39.280 be a participant in that ecosystem. That's just my guess. 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.640 Over in Europe, Google is trying to sway EU Parliament 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.279 members to ease off a bit on language contained in 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.159 a proposed law called the Digital Markets Act or d 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:53.200 m A. According to Javier Espinosa of The Financial Times, 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.839 Google has spent buckets of cash on advertisements and action 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:02.240 groups to convince lawmakers that placing regulations and restrictions on 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.880 Google would be a really bad thing, particularly for small 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.800 business owners. And one of the big factors in this 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:14.239 law is the practice of promoting Google's own businesses within search. 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.479 So you know how Google will serve up AD results 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.320 as the first couple of entries on the search results page. Well, 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.360 the issue here is that Google, according to the EU, 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:28.760 tends to promote its own businesses above other businesses and 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:34.000 thus gives itself preferential treatment in a marketplace that it controls. 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:37.080 So think of it like this. Imagine that you go 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:40.760 to a grocery store. I'm in the southeast. We'll call 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:42.760 it Kroger, but you know it could be a g 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.760 B or all these or whatever. You go into the Kroger, 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:50.719 and all the Kroger brand items have prominent placement in 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.080 all the different aisles, Like that's front and center. That's 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:56.440 what you see, and all the other stuff from other 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.480 companies is kind of hidden further back on shelves. That's 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.640 kind of what the EU says Google has been doing. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:07.200 And it's something that another big tech company, namely Amazon, 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.400 has been accused of doing. And even Apple has been 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.320 lumped in here with the way Apple prioritizes its own 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.479 products on devices like the iPhone. So the d m 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:20.320 A law would potentially make it illegal for Google and 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.839 other big tech companies that merit the consideration of being 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:28.040 a quote unquote gatekeeper, it would make that that practice 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:31.599 illegal for them. Now. I don't know how effective Google's 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:35.359 lobbying campaign has been, but based off the people that 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.880 Espinosa quotes in his piece and in the Financial Times, 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.520 it sounds to me as though lawmakers are not really 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.239 swayed by Google's arguments. Over Here in the United States, 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.840 Google is getting called out for an internal project called 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:53.839 Project Vivian, which was active from two thousand eighteen to 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:57.880 two thousand twenty. So what was the project about? Well, 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.680 according to the National Labor Relations Board or in l 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:06.039 r B, the project was all about convincing Google employees 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:11.120 that organizing and unionizing is you know, it's such a hassle, 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:15.080 they shouldn't do it, Okay, Like, come on, folks, come on, 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.040 let's all go to the cafe, get some pretzels. Okay. So, 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.640 according to the n l RB, Google's director of Employment Law, 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:26.200 a guy named Michael phil said, Project Vivian was designed 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:31.200 quote to engage employees more positively and convince them that 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:38.280 unions suck end quote Huh yeah, that sounds legit. And 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.440 n l r B judge has ruled that Google must 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:46.400 hand over one eighty internal documents related to Project Vivian, 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.120 which up to now, Google has shown no intention of sharing. 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.960 That might change with this judge's ruling remains to be seen. 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:58.120 So what does Google have to say about this project. Well, 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:02.160 mother Board reports that a Google spokesperson said, quote, the 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:06.560 underlying case here has nothing to do with unionization. It's 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:11.840 about employees breaching clear security protocols to access confidential information 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:17.120 and systems inappropriately. End quote. I personally remained skeptical of that. 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:22.360 Google has fired employees for those on those grounds. At 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.160 least that's what the company has said. Sometimes the employees 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.320 say no, it's because we were speaking out against practices 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:32.800 that we viewed as being harmful or unfair or dangerous, 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.120 and we got punished as a result when we were 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:37.959 trying to get support for our point of view. So 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:43.800 this is a continuation of issues that that originate several 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.559 years back. So we'll have to keep an eye out 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.959 to see how this continues. Now, I have a question 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.640 for you. Have you ever had to go through the 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:57.800 process of a job performance review. If so, you've probably 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:02.280 encountered some kind of ratings system that explains that you 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:07.600 are performing at or above or below expectations, But why 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.680 have you just got kind of an overall rank compared 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:15.440 to your fellow employees and no details? Like does that 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:19.360 even sound practical? I mean, if you are told that 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:23.680 you stink as an employee, but there's no elaboration, then 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.160 how would anyone expect for you to improve? How could 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:29.720 you take action to be a better employee if you 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.560 don't know where the problems are. That's kind of at 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:36.000 the heart of a situation that's brewing over at Amazon. 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.480 So a former employee named Pat mcgawe, who was a 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:44.480 drone engineer at Amazon, quit the company last year. And 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:46.960 why did he quit? Well, he was told he was 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.360 one of the least effective members of his team. However, 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.520 he says he wasn't given any actual useful information on 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.839 what led managers to designate him as being one of 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.480 the least effective members on this team. He is told 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.560 he could either submit a thirty day plan to show 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.720 how he would improve his performance, which again, it's pretty 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.319 hard if you're not really told where your performance is 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.240 lacking in the first place. Or he could leave the 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.240 company with a severance package. So he took that option. 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.520 Now he is scheduled to provide testimony in a lawmaking 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:25.800 session in the state of Washington, that's where Amazon is headquartered. 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.839 And this is all part of a bill that's kind 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.920 of been in limbo for about a year. That bill, 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.240 if it were signed into law, would require employers to 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:40.400 provide their employees their personnel thoughts, their specific personnel files, 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.040 something that Mega says that Amazon has refused to do 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.800 for him. Uh. Now, of course this is not a 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.520 law yet, and macgau's testimony is just part of the 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:53.640 proceedings that will you know, in theory, convinced lawmakers whether 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.040 or not the bill is merited merited or if they 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.720 should just you know, abandon it. Now. If the bill 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.520 does pass, it could mean we all see some pretty 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:06.520 significant changes in HR practices in the state of Washington. 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:11.480 As I understand it, Amazon has a mandate to managers 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:15.600 where they have to designate a certain percentage of their 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:20.080 direct reports as being least effective, right, you know, like 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:23.880 the whole idea being Okay, Well, if you're looking at 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.480 the performance of all your employees, some of them are 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:28.480 going to be high performers, some of them are going 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.200 to be typical, and some will be least effective, and 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:36.400 Amazon apparently has specific percentages of people who have to 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:41.440 fall into that, which seems like counterintuitive to me. If 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:45.000 I had a big workforce underneath me and everybody is 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.360 operating at essentially the same level, then that would mean 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.679 that I would have to arbitrarily choose which employees fall 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:56.720 into that percentage to merit being the least effective. I 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:59.640 think that might be what's at the heart of this 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.920 issue here. Well, we have some more stories to cover, 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:06.680 but before we get to that, let's take a quick break. 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:18.560 We're back in Japan. The company Panasonic announced it will 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.800 offer a four day work week schedule for its employees 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.520 as part of an effort to motivate its workforce and 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.520 to attract new talent. There's been a lot in the 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.559 news lately of the talent shortage. You've got a lot 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:32.880 of folks who are making the decision to leave their 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:37.520 jobs and demand better working conditions and better compensation and benefits. 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.679 And many studies show that a reduced work week can 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.480 actually boost productivity. And this is kind of in line 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:49.360 with Parkinson's law, which isn't really a law, just like 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.760 Moore's law isn't really a law. Instead, Parkinson's law is 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:56.560 more of a humorous observation. It was made by Cyril 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:01.040 Northcote Parkinson in the nineteen fifties, and the observation says 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:06.280 work will expand to fill the time allotted for work. So, 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.120 in other words, let's say you've got a project and 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:13.840 you've figured out reasonably that this project should take about 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:17.320 three days to complete when assigned to a team of 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.960 five people. Right, that's what you have determined. And you 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:23.840 get two different teams of five people, and the two 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.480 teams are of roughly equal ability, and they have access 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.320 to the same resources in order to complete the task. 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.120 And you give team number one the three days to 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.319 do it, but you tell team number two they get 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.760 a full week to do it. Now, according to Parkinson's law, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:41.880 team one will take the full three days, but they'll 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:45.400 get the job done. Team two will do the same job, 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.199 have the same level of output, like the same level 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:52.560 of of satisfaction with that job, but it will have 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.880 taken them the full five days to do it. Now. Again, 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.760 this was meant to be a humorous observation, but here's 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:02.040 the thing, it kind of plays out that way for 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:06.679 real zs. The Washington Post reported that when Microsoft experimented 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:11.120 with a four day work week. Also in Japan, productivity 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.920 actually increased by so assuming that it was a work 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.360 week of five days a week and they were reduced 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.920 it down to four, that means a reduction in time 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:26.040 at the office needed at improvement in productivity, and by 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.480 that logic, it means if we never came into work 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.600 at all, we would be incredibly productive. All right, that's 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.000 just an absurd joke, but there really are plenty of 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.920 cases in which a reduced work week prompted better performance. 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.080 And in an era where attracting talent is going to 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.840 become even more competitive, it might be a key strategy 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.800 for some companies to start shifting to a four day 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.240 work week. Now does that mean we're going to see 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:55.200 that practice adopted in other countries besides Japan, I don't know. 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:57.880 In fact, I was shocked to learn that workers in 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.080 the United States actually put in more hours on an 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.640 average week then your typical worker does in Japan. I 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.240 always just assumed that, you know, the Japanese culture was 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.760 so work centric that people in Japan were working much 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.800 longer hours than people in America. But apparently, uh the 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:20.640 Organization for Economic Cooperation found otherwise listing the United States 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:24.480 as number eleven for most hours worked on average, and 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.800 Japan ranked all the way down at twenty six. So 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:32.560 that shows me video game company Take two Interactive, which 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:36.880 is famous for publishing games like Borderlands, BioShock, and Grand 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.800 Theft Auto, has a hankering for farming. And by that 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.760 I mean the company has announced it intends to acquire 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:47.800 the mobile game company Zinga in a deal that edges 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:54.520 real darn close to thirteen billion dollars billion with a B. Now, 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:58.080 the transaction would actually not just be a cash transaction. 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:02.000 It would also include many, many, many shares of Take 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:06.720 Two's common stock. Zinga, in case you're not aware, is 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.600 famous for a bunch of uber popular social and mobile 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:15.240 games like Farmville, that one being the infamous one, and 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:19.480 Words with Friends, among others. So if this deal moves 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:24.800 forward and it's not challenged by shareholders or various regulatory bodies, 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.400 it should all be wrapped up by early twenty three. 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.920 And honestly, I totally see how this makes sense. I mean, 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:37.040 look at a game like Grand Theft Auto five. That 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:43.000 video game came out in September of two thousand thirteen, 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.960 and nearly a decade later, g t A Online, which 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:51.120 is a part of g t A five, continues to 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:54.200 be a big money maker for the company now. In 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:56.880 that sense, the game is a lot like a lot 0:16:56.960 --> 0:16:59.960 of mobile games, which operate kind of like a game 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:04.960 as a service. Some mobile games allow players to play 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.080 the game in return for watching ads, so they generate 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.280 revenue through ad views and they just continue to do 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.760 that for as long as there's a player base. Some 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.439 of them allow players to purchase the game outright, and 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:19.399 that way they can play it without ads, but you know, 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:23.000 they've actually ponied up cash to buy the game. Uh. 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.800 And a lot of mobile games use various incentives to 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.679 convince players to fork over money a little bit at 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:32.119 a time in order for the players to access certain 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.360 in game options like the ability to play one more 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.800 turn or get access to certain in game materials. In 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.960 other words, we've been seeing a convergence in how game 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:47.680 publishers do business, using games to be an ongoing revenue 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:52.000 generator rather than the model where you develop and release 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.399 a title and you you know, the title cells as 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:57.359 well as it sells, and then you move on to 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.760 develop the next title, or even moving on to develop 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:05.560 DLC connected to that original title. That model, you know, 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:09.679 the revenue comes in blasts when you release a new game, 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:13.200 but you don't have that long tail of revenue the 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:16.600 way you do with these ongoing experiences like in mobile games, 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:20.480 and we've seen more and more video and computer games 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.880 kind of adopt that model. The deal would give Take 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.520 to a much larger footprint in the mobile marketing space. 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:30.760 I should add Take two does have mobile games in 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:35.160 its portfolio, it's just that Zinga is really a giant 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:39.480 name for mobile games, and presumably we would see more 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:43.080 of Take two his properties get the mobile game treatment, 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:47.600 and see a lot of related games coming out connected 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.879 to things like Grand Theft, Auto and BioShock. This deal, 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.840 assuming it moves forward, would be the largest video game 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:58.280 acquisition deal in history. In fact, when Microsoft purchased Bethesda, 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.639 the studio that's respond stable for the Elder Scrolls games, 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.479 or as a lot of folks think of it, Skyrim 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.480 UM and the Fallout games, that price tag was seven 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:11.800 and a half billion dollars. And remember we're talking about 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:15.240 Zinga being around thirteen billions. So yeah, this is a 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.879 huge acquisition. One gadget that I think I talked about 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:25.600 pretty early on last year was Razors Zefire mask, which 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:30.679 they showed off at ce S twenty twenty one. Of 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.560 course I didn't attend c e S one, but I 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:37.000 remember seeing the mask being shown off, and I'm pretty 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.159 sure I talked about it on tech stuff. Anyway, the 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:42.800 mask looks a bit like the lower half of Darth 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:47.280 Vader's mask, or maybe like one of the more futuristic 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:52.000 Mortal Kombat Ninja masks. Uh. It has led lighting and 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:56.640 it's got these little filtration events in it. Well. Originally, 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:00.400 Razor was promoting the zeph Ear mask and the zeff 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:05.040 ere Pro, which they unveiled at this past CS as 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:10.040 masks that use filters that are of an IN grade 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:15.719 in being the US standard for masks that filter out 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.960 of tiny particles. So you know, they were saying it 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:23.120 doesn't actually have an IN ninety five filter, but it 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:28.920 has something that's comparable to an INN mask. However, now 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:33.160 Razor appears to have walked that back. PC mag reports 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:37.920 that Razor scrubbed references to in grade capabilities and its 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:41.520 materials relating to the zef her Pro and switched over 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:47.240 to the more vague descriptor of quote unquote air purification filters. 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:51.879 The company released a tweet saying that quote the Razor 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:57.040 Zephyr and those zef ere Pro are not medical devices, respirators, 0:20:57.160 --> 0:21:02.000 surgical masks, or personal protective equipped ppe and are not 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:06.440 meant to be used in medical or clinical settings end quote. Now, 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.920 Apparently an issue here is that while the mask has 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:14.560 performed well in raisors internal tests and appears to show 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:19.000 that it is equivalent to an IN nine mask, at 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:22.800 least it appears to be, the technology has yet to 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:28.760 be put through strenuous external tests. That is, experts need 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.159 the chance to get their hands on the masks and 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:35.040 determine if, in fact they actually meet the criteria to 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:40.840 be considered in grade. So it doesn't necessarily mean that 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:44.159 the masks aren't up to snuff. It just means that 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:47.640 we can't be sure of it yet, and not being 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:50.520 sure when it comes to equipment that you trust to 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:54.800 provide protection against something like COVID, that's not really good enough. Now, 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:57.800 my hope is that the external reviews will find that 0:21:57.840 --> 0:22:00.880 the zeph Your masks are effective and that they are 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:04.199 in grade, and we can use that label and be 0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:07.000 confident in it. But we have to wait for the 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:10.919 tests and the results of those tests to actually find out. 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:14.479 I figure for the moment, it's good to look at 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:18.640 them as like a really cool costume piece, um, and 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:20.760 you know you're not planning on actually putting it to 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:23.440 the test by wearing it in, say, like a crowded 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:25.960 convention hall filled with people from all over the world, 0:22:26.000 --> 0:22:30.080 like I don't know, c E s. And instead when 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:32.080 you go to something like that, First of all, I 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:34.080 don't think you should go to something like that at all, 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:36.760 But if you do have to go to it, use 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:40.879 an in ninety five or K and mask like a 0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:45.919 real one and just save the the razor stuff for later. Okay, 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:48.480 we've got a couple more stories before we conclude, and 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:58.280 we're gonna take another quick break, all right. In some 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:04.680 sad podcasting, Spotify has shut down its in house podcasting 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:08.880 studio called Studio four. Now, first of all, you might 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:12.600 wonder why was its in house studio called Studio four. 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:15.800 Why did it have that name? Well, before Spotify had 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:19.520 established its own podcasting studio, it had actually gone out 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:26.480 and acquired other podcasting networks, namely Gimlet, The Wringer, and podcast. 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:30.720 So those were the first three podcasting studios that Spotify owned, 0:23:31.119 --> 0:23:33.800 and then they made their own and called it Studio four, 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:38.679 So it was really the fourth studio owned by Spotify. 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:42.760 According to the Verge, folks at Studio for, we're perhaps 0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:46.240 feeling a little bit demoralized. Well before the company decided 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:50.439 to give the studio the acts, uh, there were allegations 0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:53.800 that Spotify had lifted projects that were supposed to be 0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:58.560 Studio four podcasts but then assigned those to one of 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:02.000 the other studios. So think of it like you're at 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:05.080 a brainstorming meeting and you come up with a brilliant 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:08.240 idea and you share it, and your boss says, that's 0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:10.959 a great idea, I'm gonna give it to Susie, and 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:14.359 you're you're they're saying, but I'm I'm not Susie, and 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:16.520 I'm the one who came up with the idea, and 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:19.400 you're just shut out. That's kind of what the Studio 0:24:19.480 --> 0:24:22.840 for folks were saying was sort of happening to them. Also, 0:24:22.920 --> 0:24:26.120 it sounds like Studio four employees were frustrated that their 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:29.679 work received little to no press or promotion, while some 0:24:29.720 --> 0:24:32.159 of the projects coming out of the other studios got 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:36.400 a lot of attention. The affected employees are either going 0:24:36.440 --> 0:24:40.720 to be reassigned to other departments within Spotify or they're 0:24:40.720 --> 0:24:44.280 gonna get laid off. I'm hoping that everyone lands on 0:24:44.320 --> 0:24:48.159 their feet. Also, I remember reading that they were a 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:51.439 little you know, upset and even just the name of 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:56.360 the studio because it gives no sense of identity or direction, 0:24:56.760 --> 0:25:00.760 and they said it made them feel like they were leftovers, 0:25:01.280 --> 0:25:03.520 which is not a good feeling to have. I've been 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:07.200 there myself, and that is not fun. So I'm sure 0:25:07.600 --> 0:25:11.199 that they will all find good spots to be in, 0:25:11.200 --> 0:25:14.760 whether it's at Spotify or somewhere else. My hope is 0:25:14.800 --> 0:25:19.280 that their talent will be well used in in an 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:23.439