WEBVTT - TechStuff's Wishlist for 2019 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.160 Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:14.120 stuff Works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.599 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:20.320 how Staffworks and my Heart Radio and I love all 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:25.720 things tech and Happy New Year. But the last several 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:28.920 years and I've said aside an episode at the end 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:31.400 of the calendar year or beginning of the new year 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:36.080 to make predictions that will follow in the months ahead, 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.199 I do pretty well, and most of the time, I 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:41.080 you know, I end up being at least partly right 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.400 about a few things and entirely wrong about other things. 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:47.440 The future is pretty hard to predict, even for someone 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.920 who's really smart, So for a goof is like me, 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:53.559 it's nearly a coin flip situation in some cases. So 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:55.480 this year I thought I would change it up a 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:57.640 little bit. I thought I would give myself a break. 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.080 Rather than make predictions of what I think might or 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:03.720 might not happen over the next year, I am going 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:07.000 to talk about what I hope to see happen. So 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.800 these are based off of stuff that happens to be 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.480 going on today and the outcomes that I hope to 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.479 see from those things that are going on. I don't 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:20.440 necessarily believe that all or even most of these outcomes 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.880 will happen, but I figure we can all engage in 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.400 a little wishful thinking now and then, as long as 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.400 we remember that it is in fact wishful and not 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.640 necessarily realistic, and it gives us something to work for now. 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.600 I'll warn you some of you might find this episode 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.600 to be preaching, and I understand that, and I can't 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.920 really argue against it, though my intent isn't to preach, 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.720 but to beseech perhaps or just kind of explain where 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.680 I'm coming from. However, if you find the whole idea 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.960 to be off putting, I won't blame you for skipping 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.840 this episode. I understand. I would rather you spend your 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.920 time doing something you enjoy doing, and it's totally fine. 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.320 There's no hard feelings on my end. So if you 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.560 think it ends up sounding preachy and you don't want 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.640 to listen to it, that's fine. You don't have to 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.919 write me or tweet me to let me know, because 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:14.560 you know I'm doing it anyway. So here we go. 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:20.040 With that in mind, let's start with transparency. Ifen had 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.800 one super strong theme for some of the biggest companies 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:28.680 out there, and talking about companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.239 that kind of thing. It was that there was a 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.920 lack of transparency in general, and it can make a 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:38.639 tricky situation turned into a disastrous one. So, for example, 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.440 it's bad if you discover a data breach, right if 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.000 you find out someone has managed to get hold of 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:49.160 information that should have been under protection, that's bad. But 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.440 that bad situation can be made much worse if you 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.119 then try to keep that information quiet. If you're trying 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.360 to keep it away from the public until it is 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.720 no longer possible to hide it and then it all 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:04.680 become public. That sort of behavior breeds distrust and anger, 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.680 and it should because the general public tends to be 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:12.000 unknowing victims of these breaches, so it's only fair to 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:14.640 let them know what has happened as soon as possible 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.880 so that they can, you know, make moves to protect themselves. 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.640 So my hope for twenty nineteen is that companies adopt 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.760 a more transparent approach in general, not just for data breaches, 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:28.800 but for other stuff too. They should think ahead about 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.320 the possible impact that their decisions are going to have 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.600 on their customers and the public. At large, they should 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.880 explain those decisions as best they can without you know, 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:42.240 obviously getting into the point where you're revealing too much 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:44.760 about your strategy or you know, you're talking about insider 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:48.600 trading or something like that. They should consider the consequences 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.760 and make better choices and be clear about those choices 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.640 when communicating them to the world at large. So, if 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:57.640 a company experiences a data breach, I would hope that 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:01.280 after the initial investigation, which I think is still necessary, 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:03.400 if nothing else, just to get a handle on what 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:07.880 the scope of the breach was, after that initial investigation, 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:13.080 the company probably should come forward and let people know 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:15.360 so that they can in fact go out to try 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:17.440 and make sure their their stuff is as safe as 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.760 it can be and to help mitigate the amount of 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.599 harm that can be done Otherwise. Likewise, if a company 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.359 decides to make a change in policy that's going to 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.560 affect customers or employees, I would like to see them 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:33.080 do that in a clear and honest way. When Apple 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:36.480 admitted that it had been throttling the performance of older 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.560 models of the iPhone, ostensibly to preserve the battery life 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.640 of those old phones, that was a bit too late, 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.920 because people had already figured out that Apple was throttling 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.960 those old phones, and they had already assigned motivation to Apple. 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:54.560 A lot of people believe that the whole reason it 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.599 was done was the company was trying to convince people 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:01.200 to upgrade to newer iPhone model. You know, you just 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.239 sit there and say, Wow, my old iPhone just doesn't 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:04.720 run as fast as it used to. I guess I 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.480 need a new one. That was what people were saying 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:13.400 Apple's intent was, and maybe that was true. But assuming 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.920 Tim Cook was sincere when he said that Apple wasn't 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.920 trying to push people into buying new phones, but rather 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:23.080 they were throttling the old ones so that they wouldn't 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:28.280 burn through battery life so quickly, that was the official 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:34.279 uh explanation. Even if that's true, that explanation came too late. 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:39.159 People had already made and believed another story, which again 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:43.279 might also possibly be true. Sometimes I think it's necessary 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.720 for a company to make a change in policy in 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.880 order to do business or to optimize the technology, and 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:53.760 sometimes those changes, while necessary, are not popular with customers. 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.560 But I think it's for that reason that companies need 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.600 to be more transparent about the whole thing. I think 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.520 people are more likely to accept, even if it's begrudgingly 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:07.440 a change, if they at least understand the reasoning behind 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.680 the change. Otherwise they get the feeling that companies are 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:15.000 either hoping their customers are ignorant or stupid or unobservant, 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:18.520 that we're all marks. In other words, we're all suckers. 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.280 And if you feel a company holds you in contempt, 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.600 you're not likely to feel particularly warm toward it. So 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:26.800 I hope in twenty nineteen we see companies treat the 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.400 general public with a little more respect in these policies. 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.600 I also hope to see companies respond more quickly to 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:37.480 concerns that have legitimacy behind them, if customers have a 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:41.640 legitimate complaint about a product or service, or if employees 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:45.400 object to corporate policies, or and I think this is 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:50.480 incredibly important, if an employee brings allegations of sexual harassment 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:54.320 or sexual discrimination against a fellow employee or an executive. 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.360 I want companies to treat those events with the attention 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.320 they deserve, and not to be slow in doing so. 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:05.000 In ten there were stories of companies failing to do this, 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.840 or at least failing to do it adequately. And timely, 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:12.160 until public scrutiny and criticism essentially forced them to change 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:16.200 their policies. Google was faced with enormous pressure, both from 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.360 within the company and from outside the company to change 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:23.120 its mandatory arbitration policy. That was the policy that required 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:27.680 employees to try and resolve conflicts, including allegations of sexual 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:32.800 harassment and discrimination internally inside Google. That usually meant that 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.800 very little was being done about the problems, and it 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:40.160 perpetuated a harmful culture in some departments. Now Google has 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.920 since backed off this policy. They've decided to make the 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.480 arbitration optional, not mandatory, which is a really good step. 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.520 I want to see companies like Google be more responsive, 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:51.560 and that is to say, I want there to be 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:56.880 a reckoning, but not like a reckoning against employees, but 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:00.560 against bad policies. I want these companies to prove that 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.920 they take these matters seriously and will investigate and react 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:07.480 in appropriate ways. I think that changing the culture within 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.160 those companies will be a step in the right direction 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.400 to create workplaces that are more productive and positive in general, 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:17.240 and then that improvement in workplace culture will manifest in 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.240 the actual work. So, in other words, companies are going 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:23.840 to get better results with better work environments. Now along 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.560 that same vein, I want to see a continuation of 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.960 a trend of seeing a greater representation in technology at 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:35.720 all levels for anyone who's not young and male. And 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.880 that's essentially what I mean by representation. Uh, young, male 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:43.920 and white would be even more specific, although in technology 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:49.200 we're seeing other folks besides just Caucasian men in the field. 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:50.920 I want to see more of that. I want to 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:58.800 see people who are of all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations. 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:02.080 I want to see more of everybody in technology. I 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:04.120 think that the world of technology needs to be a 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.840 reflection of the world around us. That way, the stuff 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:12.319 that we're making tends to be representative of who we 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:17.280 are as a collective group, and it doesn't leave people out. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.280 You also see less chance for things like bias to 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:25.040 be inserted into the design process. I talked about that 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:29.400 with artificial intelligence and machine learning and about how bias, 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:33.120 even unconscious bias, can find its way into these sorts 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:37.760 of systems and that can be harmful in the long run. Well, 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:42.840 with increased representation, that can be something we can reduce. 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:45.960 And I'm not talking about just throwing people in there 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.000 for the sake of throwing them in there. There are 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.240 lots of people who are very interested and qualified in 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:55.800 these fields who are finding it difficult to get a 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.480 real working job in those spaces. I want to see 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:03.880 that chain. So I also want to see changes in 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:08.480 our various institutions to encourage greater representation. And I'm talking 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:13.400 from education, to employment, to entertainment, because we've constructed this 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:18.400 reality and then we've reinforced this reality. This idea of 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.440 to be in technology means that you need to be 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:26.840 a guy that tends to be the the messaging that 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.120 we make with our various systems and even our entertainment 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:33.959 and culture. I don't believe it's necessarily real. Some women 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.840 have no interest in these fields. That's true. There's some 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.520 women who have no interest in technology, but there's some 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:43.079 men who don't have interest in technology. Some women are 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.600 very much interested and accomplished in these fields. But these 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:51.360 women must frequently work against a reinforced system that discourages 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:56.280 their participation there, working even harder than men are in 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.360 order to just be in the field. Not saying that 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.400 they have to work harder than men to succeed, but 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.199 rather they have a system that does not favor them, 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.120 they have to work to get past that. And I'm 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.720 talking about women versus men, But a lot of these 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:15.000 concepts applied to those other factors like ethnicity or sexual orientation. 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.840 We've constructed ideas of where people should fit based upon 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.280 whatever categories they seem to belong to, and in my mind, 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.000 that has been a huge problem, not just for people 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.480 who find themselves having to overcome those preconceptions, but for 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:31.960 all of us. Now, I really believe that technology improves 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.079 as we include more people in the design and construction 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:38.520 of that technology. So by encouraging a wider spectrum of 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.560 people into the field, we bring in new perspectives, we 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:45.160 bring in new ideas, new approaches. Are stuff improves because 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.560 we're getting more of the best ideas and implementations. When 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:52.360 we discourage people from going into these fields that they 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.560 are otherwise interested in, we're denying ourselves the benefit of 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:59.959 their work. So remember, the first computers weren't electronic, They 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.800 weren't even electro mechanical. The first computers were women who 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:08.200 are calculating ballistics tables for the military. Let's not do 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:13.679 anything to discourage that representation. Now that's the super heavy 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:15.360 stuff I wanted to talk about I got it all 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.120 the way. First thing. When we come back, we'll go 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.640 to some more general ideas about technology that aren't quite 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.520 so heavy handed. The first let's take a quick break 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:34.000 to thank our sponsor. All right, let's talk about some 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.640 of the other wishes I have for nineteen. One of 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.480 those wishes is something that a lot of people have 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:43.600 been asking for for a very long time. I want 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:48.559 us to see. In twenty nineteen, Twitter introduced the option 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:51.720 to edit a tweet within a certain amount of time 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:55.720 of having posted that tweet. That way, when someone posts 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:57.880 something that has a typo in it, or maybe it's 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.080 not a fully formed thought, maybe they accidentally posted it 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.720 before they had even finished writing out the tweet. Maybe 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:06.280 they posted something and thought, oh man, no, that really 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:10.920 needs a little more context. It's easy that you could 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.679 add another tweet to that, You could thread tweets to 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:16.240 explain it. But it would be great if you could 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:17.720 edit it. It It would be nice if you could do 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.480 so so that the tweet isn't immediately seized upon by 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:25.440 the general Twitter public, which is pretty judgmental. If you've 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.960 been on Twitter, you can see that a bad tweet 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.800 can get a lot of very negative reaction very quickly, 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.160 and it might be the case where someone didn't intend 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.520 for the tweet to come across the way it did. Now, 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.000 in some of those cases, it's pretty undeniable someone's trolling 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:46.840 or just espousing terrible beliefs or thoughts or whatever. But 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.600 in other cases, I think it really just genuinely comes 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:51.920 across as a goof. So it would be really nice 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:53.600 if we could edit it now. I don't think the 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.720 edit feature should allow people to change tweets years after 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:00.079 they made those tweets. Maybe the time limit could be 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.600 a couple of minutes from the posted tweet, just a 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.120 couple of minutes max. And I wouldn't even mind if 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:09.240 the tweet indicated that it had been edited, that if 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.720 anyone saw the tweet after the edit, it would actually 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:15.560 show this tweet has been edited at such and such timestamp. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.120 That's fine. Just let me fix my typos without having 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.440 to delete and repost a message or follow up with 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.800 a done goofed up tweet. We should also see in 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:29.760 twenty nineteen some early deployment and roll out of five 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.200 G technology, and I haven't really talked about five G 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:35.640 on tech stuff very much yet. So I'll have to 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.360 do an episode on it pretty soon. But it is 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:42.520 the next generation of wireless data transmission protocols. It is 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:47.520 a promising um uh technology. We're gonna see some pretty 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.760 wicked speed from this thing, like a gigabit per second 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.160 download rate for users, which is really fast for wireless. 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.920 I mean it's I consider it really fast period. I 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.800 can't get a gig a bit download on my service 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.040 and I have the best that I can possibly have 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:06.200 in my neighborhood. I'm pretty sure we won't see global 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.720 five G coverage until about at the earliest, but we 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.400 should at least have some areas covered in twenty nineteen 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.560 and some technology incorporating five G in it. So my 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.600 wish list is for me to be in that coverage 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.120 area so I can change how I access the Internet 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:24.840 at home. Yes, this is a selfish wish that is 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.640 ultimately all about me. More generally, I look forward to 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:32.040 seeing how five G can support new technologies, including expansive 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:35.240 Internet of Things technologies. If I had one big wish 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:37.440 for it, it would be that all the people building 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.440 the tech that's going to be running on five G 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.800 are doing so with security in mind, and that the 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:49.440 tech would be really strong against hackers and people who 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.360 want to leverage and exploit that system, because it presents 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.080 an incredibly tempting target and a potentially rich environment for 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.680 people for to actually exploit it. So we've got to 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:03.280 be careful out there. I think we're gonna see a 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.720 lot more large scale renewable energy projects come online in 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.440 twenty nineteen, So my wish is that these are successful 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:14.560 and can show how renewable energy, when properly deployed, can 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.960 help offset our need to depend upon fossil fuels. I'm 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.680 pretty much convinced that renewable energy has to be at 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.840 least part of our strategy to meet our energy needs 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.760 moving forward, at least until we can crack sustainable fusion. 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:32.000 My wish is that the global community, the US included, 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:35.680 would invest more in building out renewable energy power plants, 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:38.120 and that we use that to decrease the load on 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:42.920 fossil fuel burning power plants rather than just generate and 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.240 then gobble up extra energy. That is a big wish 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:49.480 because typically when it comes to stuff like electricity, we 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.960 just tend to use more if we generate more. We 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:55.840 don't tend to say, oh, well, now we have more 0:16:55.880 --> 0:17:00.200 electricity than we need, so we can shift of our 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.240 production to renewables or whatever. So my wishes that we 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.080 buck that trend, we really start moving off of fossil 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.880 fuels as much as we can. And on a related note, 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.280 my wish is that we as a whole will develop 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:16.360 an adopt strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, whether that's uh, 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.399 you know, embracing electric vehicles more and then also making 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.800 sure that the way we generate electricity doesn't use a 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.320 lot of fossil fuels, or also that we come up 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:32.199 with more strategies to capture carbon from the atmosphere, and 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.600 this would help us mitigate the effects of climate change. Now, 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:37.640 I want to be clear, even if I'm being at 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:40.679 my most optimistic, there's no way that we're going to 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:43.760 reverse the trend on any sort of near term basis 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.359 for climate change. For that we're talking generations down the road. 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.200 But we can work to reduce climate change is impact 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:55.320 in the lifetime that we have, and then we can 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.080 also set the stage for recovery for future generations. It 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.200 requires us to be a little selfless, because we're gonna 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.360 have to make some sacrifices on the way in order 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.800 to make that happen, but I think it's absolutely necessary 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:09.760 if we want to avoid global catastrophe. Another wish I 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.440 have to see in twenty nineteen, or I hope to 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.639 see in twenty nineteen, are some good advances in autonomous 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.000 car technology. I did all those episodes and I talked 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:19.800 about where we are and where we need to be. 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.320 We've seen a ton of progress so far, don't get 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.080 me wrong. I mean, I am incredibly impressed with where 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.479 we are, but I also feel we're not nearly as 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.159 far along as would be indicated with the launch of 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.000 something like Weymo one, or at least the way it's marketed, 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:38.560 or the deployment of Tesla's autopilot feature. Um, these things 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:42.639 give us, I think, an unrealistic expectation of where we 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.880 are with autonomous car technology. We're not nearly as far 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.760 along as I think a lot of people just assume. Now. 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.280 I hope that the various programs that are in place, 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.959 like Weymo one, are able to gather more information and 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:59.240 build out better and better models so that we can 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:03.440 get to autonomous cars where we feel safe with them 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.560 on the road in wide deployment. And I'm hoping we 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:09.400 see a lot of that In twenty nineteen, we see 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.720 a lot of advance toward that. I honestly don't think 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.600 we're gonna get to a future where autonomous cars are 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:20.280 going to integrate seamlessly with traffic for another probably five 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:23.800 or six years. I would guess at least that's me 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:27.480 being kind of conservative with those I think really or 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:29.480 actually being generous, because I think, really it's going to 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.800 be more like ten years before we're really really certain. 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:39.160 And that's because driving as such a complicated process, and 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.920 so many different things can happen that you can't easily 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.440 plan for when you're building out an autonomous system. But 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:46.160 I think we're going to see a lot more advanced 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.200 in it next year, just not to the point where 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.639 we're going to have super duper robot cars. Now. Shortly 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:55.359 after this episode airs, I'm going to be in Las Vegas, 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:59.159 Nevada to attend or Nevada. I'm sorry to attend the 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:01.679 two thousand nine teen ce S. So here are some 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:05.040 things I hope I will see at CES. There's some 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:06.920 things I know I'm gonna see. I'm going to see 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.359 the latest in televisions. You know, they're gonna be ultra 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:13.280 high definition, beautiful four K, eight K sets. I'm going 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:15.440 to see all that kind of stuff there. I hope 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.199 I'm going to see some truly cool innovations in some 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.360 technology that's just kind of hitting a slump right now, 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.080 stuff like virtual reality and augmented reality. You know, those 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:28.560 just haven't really been able to take hold the way 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:31.080 people were hoping just a couple of years ago. And 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.719 I still think both technologies are really incredible. There are 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.199 also technologies that tend to be hard to promote for 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.920 a lot of reasons. One is that they all all 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:41.919 tend to be pretty expensive. Most of the time, you 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:44.800 have to pair the headset with some other piece of technology, 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:49.400 such as a game console or a high performing computer 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:52.280 or a smartphone. So if you're just starting out that 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:54.520 you don't have any of these things, you may have 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:57.160 to buy several pieces of equipment, not just the headset 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.440 or a headset and a controller. So for consoles and mutters, 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:04.040 that typically means you've also got a physical cable connecting 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:07.159 the headset to the device. There are some wireless solutions 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:09.760 out there, but they're not many, so I'm hoping I'll 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:12.119 see some wireless tech on display for a R and 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:14.240 v R at c S Sough, then itself is a 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:16.280 challenge when you go to a show like CES, because 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:20.040 they're just hundreds of companies showing off wireless technologies. So 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:23.240 there's a lot of potential interference at c S. But 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.280 I hope to see it anyway. Beyond all these technical 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:29.480 and economic challenges to getting VR and R out the door, 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:33.600 there's another big obstacle. It's really hard to promote these 0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:37.320 technologies without having someone actually experience it. It's one of 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:39.639 those things that you kind of have to try to 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:42.480 get a feel for how incredible it could be. Also, 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:45.440 I tend to be a little reticent to try these 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:50.199 kinds of technologies at c S cause you're in an 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:54.119 enormous convention with tens of thousands of people, many of 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:57.159 whom have tried that technology before you got there, which 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:00.000 seems like a really good way to get conjunctive itis. 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:03.320 But my wish is to see better v R and 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.320 A R technology and some really cool applications this year 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:09.399 at CES. There are a lot of outlets predicting that 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:12.480 we're gonna see various foldable screens at c E S, 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:14.159 which could be cool. I'm talking about like things like 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:17.679 foldable phones and laptops that are taking advantage of oh 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:21.399 LED technology, screens that you can actually fold themselves, so 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:24.440 it's not just a hinged thing, but something that can 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:27.480 fold and bend because of the nature of the o 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:31.320 LED technology. My wishes to see really innovative designs that 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:34.760 take full advantage of this quality, for the novelty factor 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:41.119 wears off. The nice thing about ce S wishes is 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:42.880 that I'm going to find out if they come true 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:44.680 or not right at the very start of the year, 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:48.080 so that will get out of the way pretty early on. 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:52.800