Episodes

May 5, 2020

Tue. 05/05 – UK’s Contact Tracing App Won’t Work In the Background

The virtual WWDC begins June 22! The UK hasn’t played by Google and Apple’s rules and it seems like their contact tracing app is failing because of that. And yet, are Google and Apple making decisions above their station? Uber might be bailing out Lime. Microsoft is reconsidering its Windows X strategy. And Sensor Tower is the interesting raise of the day. Sponsors: Tibco.com/ride DoubleUp.agency Links: Apple kicking off week of virtual WWDC on June 22, jackets and pins for Swift Challenge winne...
Tue. 05/05 – UK’s Contact Tracing App Won’t Work In the Background
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Tue. 05/05 – UK’s Contact Tracing App Won’t Work In the Background
May 4, 2020

Mon. 05/04 - Usable Keyboards Return to the 13-inch MacBook Pro

Usable keyboards return to the 13-inch MacBook Pro. What is going on at Amazon? Jio Platforms gets another huge investment. Another potential blockbuster acquisition in the Israeli transport-tech space. And can the Apple watch help with Covid-19? Sort of. Let me explain. Sponsors: DoubleUp.agency Kiwico.com/ride Links: Apple announces new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard (The Verge) Amazon VP Resigns, Calls Company ‘Chickenshit’ for Firing Protesting Workers (Vice) Bye, Amazon (Tim Bray) ...
Mon. 05/04 - Usable Keyboards Return to the 13-inch MacBook Pro
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Mon. 05/04 - Usable Keyboards Return to the 13-inch MacBook Pro
May 1, 2020

Fri. 05/01 - Sometime Sanity Wins (ICANN Edition)

ICANN finally does the right thing on the whole .org mess. Earnings from Apple and Amazon. Could Amazon face actual perjury charges? Reddit walks back those chat rooms. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: MintMobile.com/ride Links: A Private Equity Firm Is Blocked From Buying .Org (NYTimes) Amazon says it’ll spend $4 billion or more dealing with COVID-19 (The Verge) House lawmakers demand Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos testify in antitrust probe, threatening potential subpoena (W...
Fri. 05/01 - Sometime Sanity Wins (ICANN Edition)
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Fri. 05/01 - Sometime Sanity Wins (ICANN Edition)
April 30, 2020

Thu. 04/30 – Don’t Fight The Tape (Tech Earnings Edition)

Four big earnings reports for four big tech companies, but we’ll leave that to the end. Intel launches a new flagship clip line, Andreessen Horowitz launches a new crypto fund, Zoom fesses up on MAUs, and Reddit goes old school with chat rooms.Sponsors:Tovala (text TOVALARIDE to 710-23)Metalab.coLinks: Intel's 10th Gen Comet Lake for Desktops: Skylake-S Hits 10 Cores and 5.3 GHz (AnAndTech) Andreessen Horowitz raises $515 million for second crypto fund (Axios) Zoom admits it doesn’t have 30...
Thu. 04/30 – Don’t Fight The Tape (Tech Earnings Edition)
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Thu. 04/30 – Don’t Fight The Tape (Tech Earnings Edition)
April 29, 2020

Wed. 04/29 – Here Come the Tech Earnings…

The biggest tech earnings season in a while kicks off and so far, it’s so good for Alphabet. Spotify says its holding up as well. Though Uber might lay off 20% of its workforce, Ford is delaying its self-driving road map, and that has me asking again, why isn’t this the perfect moment for self-driving tech? Sponsors: Tovala (text TOVALARIDE to 710-23) Metalab.co Links: Alphabet earnings hit by ‘significant slowdown’ in ad sales, but revenue boosts stock (Marketwatch) Google Meet video conferenci...
Wed. 04/29 – Here Come the Tech Earnings…
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Wed. 04/29 – Here Come the Tech Earnings…
April 28, 2020

Tue. 04/28 – Deepfakes As A Killer (Advertising) App

Shopify unveils its own shopping app. DJI unveils the Mavic Air 2. The Pixel Buds 2 finally arrive. Tesla pushes out a new auto driving update. What really accounts for Magic Leap’s crash and burn? And why deepfakes are probably going to be in a bunch of commercials soon. Sponsors: Metalab.co Plume.com/techmeme Links: Shopify launches Shop, a new mobile app (TechCrunch) NHS rejects Apple-Google coronavirus app plan (BBC News) DJI’s new Mavic Air 2 has an upgraded camera and much longer flying ti...
Tue. 04/28 – Deepfakes As A Killer (Advertising) App
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Tue. 04/28 – Deepfakes As A Killer (Advertising) App
April 27, 2020

Mon. 04/27 – It’s Always A Good Day When Your Starship Doesn’t Explode

iPhone production might be delayed, but the launch might not be, and actually, that might bounce in Apple’s favor. Autocomplete for coding. A little more background on John Stankey. Progress on my robot burrito delivery. And a crucial SpaceX rocket passes a key test by finally not blowing up.Sponsors:Sanebox.com/techmemeF5.com/rideLinks: Apple Delays Mass Production of 2020 Flagship iPhones (WSJ) Two Million Australians Download Coronavirus Contact-Tracing App (Bloomberg) Germany flips to A...
Mon. 04/27 – It’s Always A Good Day When Your Starship Doesn’t Explode
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Mon. 04/27 – It’s Always A Good Day When Your Starship Doesn’t Explode
April 26, 2020

(Bonus Bonus) The Alfred P. Sloan Era of the Internet Era

This piece: John Luttig's When Tailwinds Vanish caused me to go on a random jag this afternoon. Since I had nothing better to do than post it to Medium, I read it into the microphone too... PS: the medium piece I wrote up is here .
(Bonus Bonus) The Alfred P. Sloan Era of the Internet Era
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(Bonus Bonus) The Alfred P. Sloan Era of the Internet Era
April 25, 2020

(Bonus) Why Shopify Is #Winning With James McLeod

As you’re about to hear, I’ve wanted to do a deep dive episode discussion on Shopify and how they’re suddenly the big up and coming, potential tech behemoth… arguably the most successful tech IPO of the last five years; seemingly the only company that can challenge Amazon in ecommerce… so when James McLeod from the Financial Post got in touch wanting to talk about Shopify, it was like someone was reading my mind. You’ll see why I’ve found the Shopify story so interesting because… well, we get ri...
Guest: James McLeod
(Bonus) Why Shopify Is #Winning With James McLeod
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(Bonus) Why Shopify Is #Winning With James McLeod
April 24, 2020

Fri. 04/24 - Google Battens Down The Hatches

AT&T’s CEO rides off into the sunset is both a surprise and not a surprise at all. Whole bunch of interesting Google news all at once. More on that iOS zero-day, more data on tech industry hiring and layoffs, and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.Sponsors:TinyCapital.comCognitoHQ.comLinks: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson to step down, COO Stankey to take over (CNBC) Google to cut marketing budgets by as much as half, directors warned of hiring freezes (CNBC) Google ditched tipping f...
Fri. 04/24 - Google Battens Down The Hatches
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Fri. 04/24 - Google Battens Down The Hatches
April 23, 2020

Thu. 04/23 – Privacy Hypocrisy From France?

Custom Mac chips by 2021? Robot nurses already in hospitals? Bill Gurley into the sunset? Why some people are accusing France of digital privacy hypocrisy, and an interesting raise in the remote work space. Specifically: remote whiteboarding. Sponsors: F5.com/ride TinyCapital.com Links: Apple Aims to Sell Macs With Its Own Chips Starting in 2021 (Bloomberg) Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot is helping hospitals remotely treat coronavirus patients (The Verge) Magic Leap Cuts Half of Jobs In Major Restr...
Thu. 04/23 – Privacy Hypocrisy From France?
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Thu. 04/23 – Privacy Hypocrisy From France?
April 22, 2020

Wed. 04/22 – Facebook’s Big Play In India

Huge Facebook investment in India. Tech earnings season is back, and this promises to be a super interesting one for all the reasons you can imagine. Two iPhone zero days found out in the wild. Patreon does do layoffs but says creator numbers are holding up. And a roundup of the iPhone SE reviews. Sponsors: CognitoHQ.com Tinycapital.com Links: Facebook invests $5.7B in India's Reliance Jio Partners (TechCrunch) Facebook Invests $5.7 Billion in Indian Internet Giant Jio (NYTimes) Netflix blows aw...
Wed. 04/22 – Facebook’s Big Play In India
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Wed. 04/22 – Facebook’s Big Play In India
April 21, 2020

Tue. 04/21 – Sonos Radio

Sonos launches its own streaming radio service, huge trove of Facebook accounts purchased on the dark web, Google goes with free to compete with Amazon in product search, Kickstarter is seeing a huge drop in project launches and we finally have a date for the HBO Max launch.Sponsors:TinyCapital.comRhone.com/ridehome promocode ridehome for 20% offLinks: Sonos launches its own streaming radio service (The Verge) 267 million Facebook profiles sold for $600 on the dark web (BleepingComputer) Ap...
Tue. 04/21 – Sonos Radio
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Tue. 04/21 – Sonos Radio
April 20, 2020

Mon. 04/20 – Well, Your iPad IS A Laptop Now, Which Means Bigger And Heavier

Paging Farmville: Facebook takes another stab at owning mobile gaming. Rupert Murdoch's longstanding wish is granted. Dropbox had longstanding doubts about its erstwhile partner Zoom. More data on the health of tech investing, and the first reviews of the iPad as laptop are… mixed. Sponsors: Plume.com/techmeme Mintmobile.com/ride Links: Facebook to Introduce an App for Gaming (NYTimes) Facebook and Google to face mandatory code of conduct to 'level playing field' with traditional news media (ABC...
Mon. 04/20 – Well, Your iPad IS A Laptop Now, Which Means Bigger And Heavier
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Mon. 04/20 – Well, Your iPad IS A Laptop Now, Which Means Bigger And Heavier
April 18, 2020

(Bonus) Who's Right About The Economy? Wall Street Or Silcon Valley? With Alex Wilhelm @alex

I wasn’t supposed to do a weekend episode this weekend. I’ve got one scheduled for next week that I still need to record. But a few days ago, I saw Alex Wilhelm at TechCrunch tweet that he was doing a piece about why everyone in Silicon Valley and the VC world and the startup world still seem to be preparing for a nuclear winter, while the stock market has been roaring back to life, and I was like YES! I need to talk about that with somebody right now! I’m asking myself that question every day. ...
Guest: Alex Wilhelm
(Bonus) Who's Right About The Economy? Wall Street Or Silcon Valley? With Alex Wilhelm @alex
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(Bonus) Who's Right About The Economy? Wall Street Or Silcon Valley? With Alex Wilhelm @alex
April 17, 2020

Fri. 04/17 - Y Combinator Gets Picky

Microsoft has some AI tech that can catch bugs 99% of the time, Y Combinator is going to be more picky about who it invests in, macOS is getting a smarter battery management system for your laptop, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: DoubleUp.agency CognitoHQ.com Links: AI spots critical Microsoft security bugs 97% of the time (VentureBeat) Changing policy, Y Combinator cuts its pro rate stake and makes investments case-by-case (TechCrunch) Google's fast-growing Meet vide...
Fri. 04/17 - Y Combinator Gets Picky
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Fri. 04/17 - Y Combinator Gets Picky
April 16, 2020

Thu. 04/16 - The Video Conferencing Space Is So Hot, We’re Getting Steamy M&A Action Now.

The video conferencing space is so hot, we’re getting steamy M&A action now. Apple wants to get stylish with over the ear headphones. Robinhood bucks a couple of trends with a new round. And is Facebook’s Libra just gonna drop like a stone?Sponsors:Kiwico.com/rideDoubleUp.agencyLinks: Verizon Buys Zoom Conferencing Rival BlueJeans (The Verge) Apple Developing High-End Headphones With Interchangeable Parts (Bloomberg) Sony Plans Limited PlayStation 5 Output in First Year (Bloomberg) Robinhoo...
Thu. 04/16 - The Video Conferencing Space Is So Hot, We’re Getting Steamy M&A Action Now.
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Thu. 04/16 - The Video Conferencing Space Is So Hot, We’re Getting Steamy M&A Action Now.
April 15, 2020

Wed. 04/15 – New iPhone SE!

Hellooooo new iPhone SE. Airbnb raises another debt round. Amazon kneecaps affiliate marketers. Now it’s Medium’s turn to face fake news (or, at least, fake experts) scrutiny. And why Houseparty is now, officially, another unlikely winner of the Coronavirus moment. Sponsors: CognitoHQ.com BuyRaycon.com/tech Podapalooza tickets at: PLZA.org Links: Apple announces the new $399 iPhone SE for 2020 (The Verge) Airbnb raises another $1bn (Financial Times) Amazon slashes commission rates for program th...
Wed. 04/15 – New iPhone SE!
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Wed. 04/15 – New iPhone SE!
April 14, 2020

Tue, 04/14 - Seems Like Old Times! An Actual Smartphone Launch Event!

We have an actual smartphone launch event to report on! Google is apparently close to powering it’s devices with its own custom-design silicon. Microsoft Teams is getting closer to Zoom in a good, feature-wise way. An update on the venture funding environment and new gaming ratings to alert people to loot boxes.Sponsors:LinkedIN.com/ridePlume.com/techmemeLinks: OnePlus Announces OnePlus 8 & OnePlus 8 Pro: Step-Up 2020 Flagships (AnAndTech) ONEPLUS 8 PRO REVIEW: BIG LEAGUE (The Verge) Q&A: A...
Tue, 04/14 - Seems Like Old Times! An Actual Smartphone Launch Event!
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Tue, 04/14 - Seems Like Old Times! An Actual Smartphone Launch Event!
April 13, 2020

Mon. 04/13 – Back To The iPhone 5 Design Future?

Deeper dives into that Google/Apple contact tracing project, solid rumors about the new iPhone design, the telecom industry might lose $25 billion dollars this year and international roaming charges are to blame, and an open source live streaming and video streaming app that can help you Twitch and YouTube better, without being beholden to their tools. Sponsors: Harrys.com/techmeme F5.com/ride Links: @moxie Tweet Thread How Apple and Google are tackling one of the toughest parts about tracking C...
Mon. 04/13 – Back To The iPhone 5 Design Future?
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Mon. 04/13 – Back To The iPhone 5 Design Future?
April 11, 2020

(Bonus) Tech Giant Psychoanalysis With Alex Kantrowitz

I couldn’t tell you the amount of times, over the last two years, I’ve quoted pieces from Alex Kantrowitz on this show. Hundreds of times? Easy? Alex is the senior tech reporter at Buzzfeed News, and, while I don’t have favorite people to quote from on this show (I shouldn’t anyway) the sheer number of times I quote from someone should tell you something about the amount of news they break. The insights they have. Alex has an amazing new book out called Always Day One- How the Tech Titans Plan t...
(Bonus) Tech Giant Psychoanalysis With Alex Kantrowitz
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(Bonus) Tech Giant Psychoanalysis With Alex Kantrowitz
April 10, 2020

Fri. 04/10 – HUGE: Apple and Google Join Forces For Coronavirus Contact Tracing

Amazon is creating a system to test its own employees for Coronavirus, Google creates a system to help with unemployment claims, one more attempt to keep track of the Google messaging branding mess, more evidence Zuckerberg really is jealous of Instagram, and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride Caramba.store Code: Brian50 Links: Apple, Google debut major effort to help people track if they’ve come in contact with coronavirus (Washington Post) Amazon developin...
Fri. 04/10 – HUGE: Apple and Google Join Forces For Coronavirus Contact Tracing
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Fri. 04/10 – HUGE: Apple and Google Join Forces For Coronavirus Contact Tracing
April 9, 2020

Thu. 04/09 – Why The Pandemic Might Be Long-Term Good For The Internet

Disney+ continues to blow the doors off the place. Good old phone calls are back, along with the Desktop web. Don’t expect to see new emoji for a while. Stadia is free for anyone with a Gmail account, COBAL skills are in high demand and why the pandemic might be a long-term good for Internet infrastructure.Sponsors:Caramba.storeCognitoHQ.comPlume.com/techmemeLinks: Disney+ Surpasses 50 Million Paid Subscribers After Launches in Europe & India (The Streamable) Zoom removes meeting IDs from c...
Thu. 04/09 – Why The Pandemic Might Be Long-Term Good For The Internet
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Thu. 04/09 – Why The Pandemic Might Be Long-Term Good For The Internet
April 8, 2020

Wed. 04/08 – The Desktop Web Is Back (for the time being…)

Jack Dorsey literally puts his money to work for Coronavirus relief. More details on that Airbnb lifeline raise. Details on an interesting telemedicine raise. Netflix has increased parental controls, Google is pushing a mandatory new setup for Android development and why the desktop web is back, for the time being anyway. Sponsors: Caramba.store ; promocode: BRIAN50 CognitoHQ.com Links: @jack's tweet storm Airbnb Paying More Than 10% Interest on $1 Billion Financing Announced Monday (WSJ) Airbnb...
Wed. 04/08 – The Desktop Web Is Back (for the time being…)
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Wed. 04/08 – The Desktop Web Is Back (for the time being…)