More tech layoffs as AI takes hold Ep 146

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more Tech layoffs indicate a couple of disturbing  Trends the doomsayers might be right in that AI   is going to be taking your job we're going to look  at this possibility along with other Tech news of   the week in this episode of today and [Music] Tech  hi everybody Welcome to today and Tech I'm Keith   Shaw the guy behind the glowing monitors is Chris  hello Chris hey how's it going it's going well and   joining me again guest co-host is Brandon man  he is the co-founder of the mangrove Collective   and CTO at glassos hello Brandon from the West  Coast hello ke I feel like you're our West Coast   correspondent now your your your thumb is on the  the heartbeat of Silicon Valley culture which is   great because we need that from the East Coast  here big shoes to fill but I'll do my best uh   you we were off for a week so uh because Brandon  had a vacation time um and so he looks tan rested   and and and ready to go here right yes can wait  all right so the big the big news of of last week   and and this week was we saw another wave of  layoffs in the technology and Automotive space   uh Tesla Tesla rivian Google take to interactive  and Best Buy were among the companies that have   eliminated significant number of their employees  but the reasons that are given are different so   we're going to group them into two different  reasons so first off let's let's start with the   big one Tesla has laid off more than 10% of its  Workforce or plans to at some point and they've   lost a lot of their top Executives uh this came  because uh a few weeks after it reported its first   year-over-year decline in vehicle delivery since  2020 Tesla is now planning to lay off over 10%   of its Global Workforce according to an internal  companywide email that works out to about 14,000   of the 14,475 employees that Tesla reported in his  latest annual earnings um and at the moment it's   not clear which teams of Tesla will be impacted uh  if you go to that layoffs FYI site and you look at   the numbers of of of employees that were being  released like the 14,000 is now the biggest one   of the last since the pandemic I think um so it  is the the biggest single company layoff if they   get to all 14,000 people um Elon Musk actually did  confirm that um the layoffs would happen there's   an interesting quote in this story where he says  uh the musk said about every five years we need   to reorganize and streamline the company for the  next phase of growth that could just be corporate   speak because it could be corporate speak it's  like we're not laying off because electri vehicle   demand has gone down um but oh like you know  making it almost feel like it's a normal part   of the company's lifespan is that every 5 years  you have to go through I find I don't know I find   that very awkward CU I feel like you should be  aiming to do the opposite wouldn't you when you   want to try grow yeah you should be hiring every  five years grow your footprint new tier yeah yeah   grow your product um which you know they very M  they very well may be growing their product yes   but when he says about every 5 years we need to  reorganize streamline the company for the next   phase of growth I don't know I just feel like I  just feel like what this what he might be trying   to say in Disguise is we need to reorganize and  streamline the company to fit in the current   economic climate could be maybe because I I I I  just again I just find that hard to believe after   every five years we need a we need a chop and  it's like well why would you want to work there   if every 5 years you're going to yeah I mean that  that company culture would just be like oh wow I   got to be on on my toes and isn't it a wouldn't  that be a subtle dig at your hiring practices   like if like if you can't find people to grow the  company it's almost like you're if you're growing   a plant every five years you have to like trim the  yeah it's like I pr the plant or the fat I don't   want to work at a company for just 5 years I mean  maybe there are people that are that that do want   to do that but it's like I want to really you know  maximize potential there and it's like about every   five years I just find that I just find it weird  but hey he's Elon Musk maybe he knows something   we don't I don't know maybe there's some sort of  secret algorithm to this hiring process thing he   knows or I don't know I don't know yeah I thought  the interesting part it felt like this was some   like Twitter hiring or more on the software side  that was leaking into the physical world and into   the automotive every five years turn over the  restructuring given how thing fast things move   in software those are some cycles that we are  definitely used to and we've been conditioned   work within but seeing it happen in automotive  and More Physical goods and more Hardware side I   think that's very different I I just think I mean  the the big reason obviously is because demand has   gone down for electric vehicles over the last  couple of years it could be that yeah and maybe   it's just because there's more competition out  there now on the market I mean rivan does really   well I mean everywhere you look there's a rivan  except for the fact that rivan is also going to   call 1% of it Workforce so maybe it is maybe  it is just there's not that much of a demand   that they that they thought that there would be I  don't know yeah I mean Tesla also had issues with   its cyber truck I saw you saw a couple of those  articles where um deliveries were delayed and   then there were some rumors that the gas P was  it the accelerator something was falling off of   the accelerator the you know the thing you push  oh yeah um that's such a technical term uh so   there were rumors of that and so that's slowing  deliveries and that's that can't be good news   um but yeah so so at least those two groups of  layoffs the Tesla ones and the rivan ones were   because of lower demand and so but then the other  two that I want to talk about Google is the f is   the first one um they're basically restructuring  their Finance team as part of an AI shift the CFO   told employees in a memo alphabet Chief Financial  Officer Ruth Pat said in a memo Wednesday or this   last week that Google is restructuring its Finance  organization a move that will include layoffs and   relocations as the company pushes resources to  favor investments in artificial intelligence now   if you're saying the the the loud part out loud  wait the the truth out loud what's that phrase   quiet part out loud yes you're saying the quiet  part out loud it's like we're putting so much   money into AI that we can't afford some of your  the finance employees so bye um well the tell   tell me if this quote makes it sound like you  know okay so here's the quote the tech sector   is in the midst of a tremendous platform form  shift with AI uh as a company this means we have   the opportunity to make more helpful products for  billions of users and provide faster solutions to   our customers but it also means we collectively  have to make tough decisions including how and   where we work to align with our highest priority  areas so I think it's because they're putting so   much money into into building AI products that  they can't so they have to cut back somewhere and   so they chose to you know cut within the finance  well accountants is that like really going to move   the needle that's like you said the Fugler I mean  they're put yeah like really they're putting so   much money behind AI that they're going to have  I mean when they do cut jobs the AI that they're   creating is going to fill those jobs well yeah  and then this CNBC article says the latest Cuts   follow a broader effort by Google to rearrange  its Workforce and resources to accommodate further   investments in new technologies such as AI as  advertising growth slows uh the CEO Sundar I   can't remember Pai told employees in January that  more job Cuts were likely coming in 2024 though   we did not specify which teams would be affected  so that's kind of an indication that you know in   at least investing in it's not like the AI is  directly taking your job it's not like they're   saying we're getting rid of you because AI can  do your job better but investing in AI yes we   need the money you're expensive Mr CPA accountant  you're out of here all right and they talk about   their H model right so they're moving it talks  about their Hub model in that article and how   they're moving to the workforces around like all  of that accounting all that Finance stuff still   needs to get done I the way I read it is that  they're moving to Offshore or other lower cost   I think I think subtly they'll probably Institute  probably some AI tools that might speed up some   of those processes and maybe automate internally  and you know maybe use the excuse of the layoff at   least to subtly indicate that they're going to be  doing more AI internally for for those processes   or whatever those people were doing yeah I I  I know um people say out there that you know   AI isn't going to replace your job but I just I  feel like it's going to slowly slowly trickle in   and yeah you're going to start to notice something  and they'll just try to word it so that it sounds   different it's like well it's not directly we're  not directly replacing you with this but we are   adding new tools and those tools will do processes  that you were doing and you know efficien   efficiency efficiency yeah the smart the smart  companies or the smart employees will learn how   to use these tools to make themselves more useful  and better maybe and you know I don't know it all   depends on I guess the company and and how smart  they are with with handling all this but here's   the other evidence so there were there was a story  this week about uh Best Buy getting getting rid   of a lot of its Geek Squad employees um and so  initially I was going to talk about the the value   of the Geek Squad at at Best Buy but now there  was another story that came out today basically   announcing that they plan on launching an AI  powered customer support service a week after   conducting Mass layoffs of Geek Squad employees  okay so Best Buy is developing the project using   Google's Gemini Gemini AI models that's a horrible  idea with the goal of launching the AI powered   self-service customer support option in late  Summer according to the retailer the tool promises   to quote greatly improve the experience for Best  Buy customers you know what's a great experience   for Best Buy customers actually talking to someone  at Best Buy or actually talking to an employee who   can help you or fix fix things for you um I just  want to say I'm such a huge fan of the Greek squad   or The Geek Squad and what provide yeah I think  that you know from my time in in engineering and   software I've worked with a ton of really talented  it professionals a number of them have come up   through the Geek Squad it's a great way for people  to who are you know can get Hands-On technology to   learn to interact with the public to make some  money um to launch into other technical career   so I'm a huge fan of what it sort of provides as  a a launching Stone into a career I was really   sad to see that this uh was happening and and  the direction that Best Buy was taking yeah now   there the the story does further say that you know  they are saying that it doesn't suggest a complete   overlap between the two it notes the AI agent will  be accessible VI best bub.com the old mobile app   and over the phone uh Geek Squad employees often  focus on inhome installs of appliances or repairs   of electronics although they can take customer  support calls so technically they're not more   than that like it's just bad timing I think on  the on the on the side of uh of Best Buy home   installs and stuff like that n we should be able  to bring like if we have an actual like technical   error with a computer we should be able to bring  it in I don't know I just find that well so from   from my perspective I never understood the Geeks  Squad from my own technical knowledge but again   I've been a technology guy I i' I've installed  my own home network I've done all of this stuff   but I know that I'm a I'm I'm an outlier in that  World um you know the The Geek Squad is more for   the people I don't want to say my grandmother or  grandmother I think so you know it's the general   consumer who's like I I don't want to touch any of  this stuff I don't want to learn any of the stuff   just install it make sure I know how it works  and then if something goes wrong you can fix   and that's what the Geek Squad always was um from  a consumer standpoint and so um yeah if if those   people are gone like how you know an AI is not  going to tell my mother-in-law how to basically   reboot a router no I mean we so like you're gonna  get that call Keith yes I'm the home it guy right   so I get the call and and and and for the most  part what my mother-in-law has done is instead   of trying to fix it or call me she just willingly  accept having either a broken iPad or something   like that and and it's not until it gets really  bad that we go down and and go to our house and   fix everything for her so so I I mean deep down  I'm actually surprised that Geek Squad still   exists still because totally because YouTube okay  if you have a question or a problem but what if   you can't get connected to the internet well then  that's when we go I guess that's when that's when   we call you okay but I mean because of you know  because of YouTube and the internet well you also   have this thing too you have a phone right right  yeah you can use a mobile network and when I but   whatever but I like it's so easy for anybody to  just I mean you can learn how to build your own   computer on YouTube you can troubleshoot a lot of  things um from influencers on you know influencers   on YouTube but I I think if you're you're you  know if you're a casual citizen human being or or   something like that or you know someone who who's  a little bit you know older who isn't familiar   with yeah you know how how the internet works you  know GE Squad is probably your best bet you know   what my favorite YouTube how-to thing is what's  that and and you're going to laugh at me probably   okay so it's It's All About Auto Repair and auto  maintenance for me so I take I took my car to get   um uh anyway I I took it to a you know a friend of  ours who's a mechanic and he says to me he goes oh   uh I couldn't replace the air filter on your car  cuz we just couldn't get like they didn't have   the the stock in in part they didn't have the part  in stock so they did everything else and so I was   like oh I'll just go to AutoZone or one of those  car you know I'll just pick one up there cuz it   was on the way home okay why why are you shaking  your head Chris which I shouldn't go to AutoZone   well sometimes they don't care OEM parts so he  just want to try to get that you know well for   an air filter I I'm pretty sure that oh okay it  was just an air filter it was just an air filter   however when I opened up my trunk or opened up the  top of my car I couldn't find where the air filter   was so I go on to YouTube and go how do I change  the air filter in you know the year of my car and   you know instantly on YouTube a thing will pop up  and then it says oh okay now I know where because   again this you know Honda they cover everything  and so you know learning how to basically uncp   the thing so that I'm not breaking the car it was  it just your cabin air filter no the cabin no that   easy that's I could do that without a video no  the the the air filter that's in the engine part   oh that's easy yeah yeah as long as yeah  it's easy to change it once you find out   where it is come on Keith you should know this  should be instinctual they're all no it's all   covered by like you know plastic and even  I think the batter is even plastic you know   covered now and so they've all you know because  you want to protect it from moisture or rain or   whatever like traps in all that heat anyway and  so this is not the first you know again if you   if you go to YouTube to find all that stuff it's  a lot easier than trying to like a look it up on   your manual or B take it to a shop obviously  you're you're not going to do that so yeah um   do is there any angle of of how-to stuff Brandon  that that you use YouTube for uh definitely the   car stuff right as you were going through that I  was thinking my windshield wiper Replacements or   you know little things I'll I'll order it it'll  come to the house and then I'll I'll go down to   the garage and try and give it a shot um that's  the one that comes the most to mind right now uh   I guess maybe some cooking stuff too I was going  to bring up cooking see if you do do the cooking   stuff yeah I like th those are the two big ones  of like oh yeah how do like a hardboiled egg how   long do you do it for is it 11 minutes when is it  a soft boil do you use ice like yeah see I don't   think AI is going to be able to completely replace  that video howto part of it I mean they might I   mean I I use AI to find out how how long to cook  something and what temperature I should cook it at   so that I don't get a you know bacteria but other  than that you know the I I still like watching a   video because again it's specific to my car model  for the for the car stuff all right there was one   more story of layoffs I wanted to talk about the  um take two interactive is laying off about 5% of   its Workforce or about 579 workers and canceling  several projects now what's interesting about   this is that this this was is the publisher of  Grand Theft Auto 6 so they're associated with   Rockstar Games but they're the ones that are are  building the game is that how that works Chris   uh publisher yeah yeah they're the publisher  okay the news follows claims from CEO Strauss   zelnick that the publisher had no plans for  layoffs admid its planed cost Reduction Program   um basically it expects to incur between $160  $200 million in total charges with $120 million   to $140 million related to title cancellations  so they're also eliminating some other product   that are in development but it's weird to see the  developer of you know something that is looking   to be the world's biggest game if they get it  out next year yeah um because it's been 10 plus   years since Grand Theft Auto 5 came out and it's  going to be this huge thing so it's weird to see a   company that that has such high potential growth  down the road um you were watching some videos   around this Chris right yeah I mean it's uh it's  a little surprising I mean yeah they're going to   make probably a couple billion dollars off of GTA  6 it's going to be probably one of the most bought   game in history I mean when Rockstar comes out  with a game it's finished it's done it's polished   yeah to an extent well this was 10 well so 10  years ago that was the case but you know since   then we've had 10 10 years of other companies that  have screwed up they've had 10 years to make this   game and it's like it's probably going to be 10  out of 10 probably just guessing and the other   thing too that you have to take into consideration  too is they're going to increase the price of this   game so it's no longer like I have a feeling it's  going to be more than $7 it's probably going to   be closer to 80 um just based off of how long it  took for them to make this game but not only that   I think they have to try to adapt to again the  current yeah um would we would we have noticed   this story if it came out in a week where you  didn't have the Tesla and Google announcements   and the other big ones um I mean I mean if you try  to stay up to date with the gaming industry I mean   I think you would have you would have noticed  it but um again can can we can we figure out   why they would have done it then or why they were  doing this I mean you're really not going to know   I mean the only thing they published is you know  your atypical corporate boilerplate you know we're   trying to align ourselves to be streamlined and  you know kind of similar to what Elon said it's   your typical corporate speech to say that you  know our layoffs are Justified because we need   a you know it's for the company and whatnot and  maybe it is maybe it isn't I don't think we're   ever really going to know but if I were to take a  guess I think they're just trying to better align   themselves to be able to survive in the in the  current you know our current economic situation   right uh cuz you know inflation is still there  they're still trying to you know the other thing   too about Rockstar and I don't think many people  think about this but like their their game Life   their game cycle their game production cycle is  like 5 to eight years yeah it's long yeah you   know so it's like they'll release a game one year  and then wait 5 6 7 8 years later to make another   one it's not like they make one game and then next  year they have a new one and then the year after   that they make another one so you know I feel like  they got to make they got to make some sort of   profit in between I mean they do have their live  Services right for for their game but still you   know it's I I don't know if I were to come up with  another you know reason why just pulling something   out of my hat maybe it's just because they need to  they need to readjust their game cycle or or they   just needed the my my feeling is the financial  stuff they just needed to show a better profit   or a better indicator for whatever uh shareholders  they got if they're a public company I mean yeah   shareholders yeah could could be shareholders or  you know the CEO wants a little more in his pocket   yeah you know double double the salary or triple  it you know what what bothers me about that is   that it feels too easy now for a lot of companies  to just go the layoff fruit and that's what's   disturbing to me is that you know layoffs for a  company always used to be kind of a last resort   and now it's starting to feel like especially  you get a comment like that from Elon Musk where   oh that's just part of our normal five-year  cycle like they're trying to make it sound   like oh well layoffs are just inevitable part of  working I never had to worry about a layoff at a   company that I worked at until you know where  I was I was 20 years into my career except for   the one time that I worked for a newspaper  and they shut down the the entire newspaper   so that was not like I didn't have to worry cuz  everybody was gone at that point yeah um but then   you know you start worrying about financial based  layoffs and it used to be that was the last resort   and now it feels like it's the first option and  that's what's disturbing that's what bothers me   the part that I don't get is isn't this sort of  crunch time in the last year where they're putting   everything into this game they're doing testing  they're like now is when they need the most people   you would think and so as we look back on this  if there are issues with the game or it didn't   take off and have the fit and finish that Chris  was talking about that we've come to expect is   this going to be something that we'll be able to  point back to and maybe there's some ramifications   I I don't know it doesn't the timing doesn't  make sense for where they are in development   yeah I wouldn't be surprised if at some point you  see game developers just in general get together   and start to unionize um because for them to keep  being I wouldn't say abused but it just seems like   common practice that you know layoffs they're  just they just keep happening so I wouldn't be   surprised if they start to unionize I get I get it  like yeah game development you know the industry   it's it's a meat grinder it's a meat grinder when  you're done with a game when a publisher is done   with a game they're moving on to another you  know a different game you know they might look   for different Talent stuff like that like I get  it it's probably a project by project basis but   still I mean if that's the case then they should  probably try to unionize yeah brand Brandon you   were you've you've been involved in a lot of  development projects right from from your te   role is the is the culture of game development  similar to other kind of development areas like   if you were just a in a in an IT department or if  you were in a group that was developing something   that wasn't a game is is it the same cuz because  you've he you've heard stories of that whole game   culture development where it's you know 70 hour  weeks and you're all you're drinking Mountain   Dew and Red Bull and all that other stuff  to to stay awake is it like that with other   groups so so gaming is so interesting as far as  a a development culture um it from a management   perspective it feels a little bit more predatory  mainly because people want to be there you have   testers who can go over to their friends because  they got an early cut of Zelda and that you know   around the neighborhood around the internet makes  them gives them you know esteem and and Status   yeah so you have this large swath of people that  are semi- technical or are technical who are doing   the things that they love and they're working for  their pastime and so financially it's not usually   you know the most rewarding but you get those  other sort of less tangible benefits I think   there some of the hardest working people in in  software development when people have come out   of gaming to come work for me or come to you know  more traditional software development um they are   willing and ready to put in those hours and when  they find some of that work life balance like   their motor doesn't stop turning um you just get  a lot out of those folks and I think they bring   a creativity That You Don't See in the financial  side or you know Automotive because they used to   looking at things not only visually but debugging  into the code thinking big world and and through   a lot of different scenarios so I'm a big fan of  that industry I think from a quality assurance   like their testers are some of the best that that  that I've had the privilege to work with and um   yeah but it is very different than fintech or  you know other SAS things as far as how the   development goes right I I also think that that  might be a nature of of any job that you get if   if you're a young person in in the field you go  in with an assumption of I'm going to work long   hours for low pay just because that's how I'm  going to get ahead and maybe that because it was   like that for me in the in the journalism industry  my first job you know as working at a newspaper I   was working 50 to 60 hours a week for for no money  but getting that experience and you know doing the   grind and realizing like there's a lot of other  better jobs out there so when I landed at a job   that told me oh yeah you can we're only working  9 to5 you know Monday through Friday I was like   holy crap that's great I I I love that because I  started because I got married and I started having   a family and that kind of stuff I was like yeah  that's that's a that's an awesome proposition you   mean I don't have to work on a Sunday shift or  I don't have to work at a holiday and they were   actually apologetic to me because they're like  yeah on Thursdays we stay until 7 or 8 I'm like I   I was working till midnight half the time at at at  my other jobs so do you do you get that do you get   that relief from Gamers when they come to work for  you oh yeah well and I think what does everybody's   parents tell them or you know is some sort of  mentor when you start working it's you know do   something you love and you'll never work a day in  your life and with Gamers they're just going to go   home in game anyway like that's all that they  want to do and so doesn't feel like work um I   think that while while they are relieved what they  miss out on is sort of that some of that mission   driven the things that they really love and you  know they're going to go and try and test the the   newest software or the newest game they're going  to go out and buy it and be inundated with it so   they're going to still get that that adrenaline  and and fulfill that need uh it just doesn't come   through work anymore right right okay I want to  I want to switch gears to uh our our second topic   uh which was uh AMD rolled out its latest chips  for AIP PCS as competition with Nvidia and Intel   heats up uh us chip design for Advanced Micro  Devices has unveiled new processors to power Ai   and enabled PCS as it seeks to gain leadership in  the aipc race against Rivals like Nvidia and Intel   uh basically an aipc is a personal computer  equipped with processors designed to perform   AI tasks such as real-time language translation  and summarization so um AMD made a big pretty big   splash uh again it's it's it's still a three  three company race is that is that fair to say yes okay yep all right yes I'm I just  want to make sure I'm not missing a four   company um cuz and again so uh the question that  I have around this idea of AIP PCS it's really   I'm just using that this news as a Launchpad is  do you think people from the consumer side or   even a business user is going to want aips it  feels like the news is is like all right chip   makers hey we've got these chips and put them in  your PCS and the PC makers are like great we need   something new to to to to really try to get sales  going and so they put their AP they put these AI   PC chips into their PCS and then I think the next  step is like you should want one of these and this   is going to be great but to be honest I haven't  seen that that marketing message yet on why I   need to to buy another PC that has AI chips on it  um because it's not like you can't like I can use   this current PC I have and and do all of those AI  things like go to open Ai and and and and you know   anthropic and all those other sites to build  my wacky picture or chat GPT so I don't think   they've made the case yet of like why I'm going  to need an aipc smarter faster better it's like   yeah we've heard that before or is it just the  fact that I'm a Mac guy and maybe I'll just wait   for Tim Cook to get up on stage and going reg got  AI now haha buy this buy the system I mean you're   probably 100% right with apple Apple's going  to come out with it Y and then I'm going to get   about it they invented Ai and um it's going to  be the best AI application we've ever seen and   it's going to be the future Y and oh yeah oh  oops your feed went oh there we go I'm back   um Brandon what I mean am you know again I'm  not I'm not fishing for this but am I right uh   you know I I don't see the need for consumers  to yeah have to have these chips at this point   um I I don't really get it outside of marketing um  I don't know I I I guess it's cool one interesting   thing that this made me think of though right  so if you have an entire consumer base that has   these underutilized gpus out there is they're  going to become a race in order to push things   down and you know process locally versus doing it  in the cloud to minimize costs and right are we   just seeing you know from sort of the bit mining  uh you know Bitcoin mining happening elsewhere   and is that is that going to Usher this in I don't  know what else it could do I don't I don't see a   use case right now right and it's the same thing  that we saw in the phone in the phone world so   Samsung came out with you know their big Galaxy  announcement I think from January at CES was oh   we've got AI chips on our new Galaxy and again  I'm expecting Apple to put it on the new iPhone   um i' would be CRA you know it'd be crazy if they  didn't um it would be news if they didn't it'd be   like oh yeah we're still looking at it we're  like okay really why um but you know but the   features it's like great that you've got a chip on  it but then the features or the apps that they're   promoting are well okay so Brandon I'm looking at  you now and you've got a little wreath behind you   I was like well if I took a photo of you right  now I could erase that wreath or if someone's   like oh I don't like what's on top of Keith's  uh laptop here I can erase this if I'm taking a   photo of him um things like that it's the AI photo  eraser uh or it's the hey you know Chad GPT will   be integrated so that you can now ask a question  on your phone I haven't seen a use case for me   to jump out and go and buy a phone so it's going  to be the same issue with a PC because it always   used to be like well there would be an application  I would need that you know if I was doing photo   editing and video editing that's why you needed  a faster computer back in the day um if you were   a gamer you you would always go to that you know  you're like I need a faster gamer so that I can   play um you know what was the game back then you  you know because Grand Theft Auto five or whatever   yeah yeah so there hasn't there has not yet  been a use case for an aipc and I think that   could get a lot of Hardware makers in trouble  as they release these these these systems unless   I'm missing something completely and if you're in  marketing and you know what the marketing message   is going to be just comment below because I  haven't seen any cool marketing messages yet   from any of the hardware makers have you have  you guys seen anything I mean I I haven't no   okay um we'll figure it out and then we'll talk  about it once they actually start coming up with   these marketing messages exactly okay because  even at CES I I think some of the you know the   hardware makers their big announcements were yeah  were're going to include the chips but then they   didn't say what people were going to be using them  for and even if it was a lot of processing that   needed to be done locally those are still highly  specific probably job roles like data scientist   or if you're running an AI algorithm you know yeah  and that's boring like no one wants to hear about   that kind of stuff all right I want to move on to  the next story this is this is actually now you   said you had a personal uh connection to this  story so Amazon sellers have been plagued by a   surge and scam returns um Amazon built one of the  world's most efficient Delivery Systems yet people   regularly ship junk back to Sellers and claim  they are returns often with little to no penalty   according to merchants Amazon has long believed  in a system based on pleasing customers above all   including easy returns but that ethos has hurt  the merchants who make up most of its online   sales return theft represents one sore point in  what has become an often contentious relationship   between Amazon and its independent sellers um  basically sellers count on Amazon to recover   money lost from scam returns but they say the time  and effort required to submit a retail theft claim   is not often worth it because it could take weeks  to be processed and even if Amazon accepts it to   might not get the full amount back for what the  Adam costs many times sellers just say they take   the loss so theft comes from both networks of  Thieves as well as individuals who knowingly   scam retailers the frauds can happen in several  forms such as returning used items or shoplifted   items to counterfeit products um I didn't realize  how big of a problem this was until kind of I read   this article so it's basically I could order uh  a pair of sneakers um and then deliver the new   sneakers and I could say well I didn't like them  and I and I return them but I don't return the new   sneakers and I just put a couple of old sneakers  in and then you know it becomes a it becomes a   return scam right that's how that works yep or yes  you take in you buy you know the the official item   on Amazon from the official seller and then  you buy one of the you know outside sellers   or counterfeit item and you take the one that  you want and you return the counterfeit one in   the primary sellers box and you send it back to  them oh that's even a better scam sorry uh that   that's the one so when I was reading this story I  reached out uh my sister has a a great uh business   on Amazon where she's building up and and trying  to combat this and she was telling me all kinds of   horror stories of when this happens how Amazon is  not very helpful and how much of the uh impetus to   prove fraud and to do this actually falls on the  sellers and that there are tools that get taken   away if you over report on other people so uh it  seems like a really big mess and uh needs some   attention I just don't know because Amazon's so  customer focused right it's gonna be a priority   or not yeah I I just I I find it interesting that  there are again if there's a giant enough system   that's taking in a lot of money there are probably  ways to scam the system and they just won't find   the time like they're just like well it's it's  just it would take too much effort for us to try   to track all these down but in the meantime it  does hurt those those independent sellers does   your sister feel like she has to be on Amazon in  order to kind of like survive the business she's   in so it's not like she anywhere else right yeah  well we talked so she's on Etsy uh since she's   creating her own products she also has her own  direct uh store that she tries to get sell through   Google or sell direct but 90 plus% of her Revenue  takes and comes in through Amazon so that that's   where she gets a lot of of all of her her sales  from it's super lucrative she can't turn them away   um she'd love to but she just wants the system to  work better and be more fair um and it's like who   do you even talk to Amazon's big and faceless  there isn't a liaison right especially for like   the makers you know and I think that's where where  she's really frustrated yeah yeah I don't know if   I would if if I became a maker of some sort not  that I have any of those skills um I don't know if   I would use Amazon as a as a as a support I mean  it's but even doesn't Etsy have this issue too   they do yeah I know that that with Etsy I think  returns are probably a problem as well um the   volume's just a lot smaller yeah yeah um and I'm  wondering if this might get in this might get   integrated into the FTC lawsuit that they're going  after Amazon 4 because I know that a big chunk of   that lawsuit is is about how Amazon treats its  uh independent Sellers and you can always tell   like Amazon does you know they ramp up the pr  machine and go look how great you know they they   they find sellers on their site that're like that  are benefiting from the Amazon relationship but at   the same time you've got other stories about how  they're basically not helping those independent   retailers or smaller ones and and so this I think  the answer is somewhere in the middle uh I agree   yeah uh all right so speaking of of lawsuits and  things like that there's another topic we that we   you know the Wall Street Journal reported that the  Justice dep department is preparing to sue Live   Nation yay as soon as next month an antitrust  challenge that could spur major changes the   biggest name in concert promotion and ticketing um  and we can thank Taylor Swift for this uh because   of this whole debacle of the ticketing last year  it spurred Congressional hearings um that Senate   hearing was highly entertaining watching the  Live Nation president squirm um through a lot   of the testimony it was one of those rare cases  where you had Democrats and Republicans kind of   agreeing um probably because their sons and  daughters and grandkids were like this is   a mess and this and we and and anybody who's  gone to a concert knows that Live Nation and   Ticket Master is a monopoly now it's just a matter  of whether of how to prove that um so basically   the the the journal reported that they're going to  file an Anti-Trust lawsuit against a Ticket Master   parent in the coming weeks that would allege the  nation's biggest concert promoter has leveraged   its dominance in a way that undermined competition  for ticketing Live Events uh and the the federal   government opted out of trying to block Live  Nation and Ticket Masters 2010 merger so I think   finally admitting like yeah maybe we shouldn't  have done this approval um and I know that from   a technology standpoint when when this whole  issue came up it was all about the Bots um but   we've all learned from this um I think I learned  it from the whole PS5 roll out from Sony um you   know about scalper Bots and how they were able  to get products faster than any any normal human   uh the same thing happens in ticketing uh Ticket  Master allegedly has this issue you know this this   program but the Digger the more you dig deep  into it you know when Ticket Master benefits   from a resale they get a a cut of it and like  well so they're not really going to look at the   whole scalper bot issue if they're making some  some money on on resales and things like that   but um yeah I'm I'm just ha I you know sometimes  there's good news in the world when you're talking   about some government things and maybe this will  lead to some you know better better options for   for customers that are going to an event or or  a concert so it's about time yeah all right any   anything else to add on that you're a big Taylor  Swift fan though Chris right absolutely not see   the so the only problem with this story is that  once they do sue them you're going to have news   news articles and headlines that are all going to  try to use Taylor Swift lyrics or that's the one   thing I hate about this story is that they all  try to prove how they are by putting in Taylor   Swift lyrics or song titles Taylor Swift Will  Taylor Swift will come out and try to save Ticket   Master yeah yeah why don't we just let her be in  charge of it because apparently everybody loves   Taylor Swift so much and you know including my  two including two of my you know my two daughters   I'm sorry I'm sorry but t-swift music it just all  sounds the same to me I know it does to me as well   it does to me as well I'm I'm not saying she's a  bad singer she's a bad she's not a bad artist and   she's a great and she's a great business mind for  for doing what she's doing like the whole Taylor's   version where she's re-recorded all of her songs  because of oh do you know this story I don't   again I've got two teenage daughters so this is I  hear about this all the time it's fine my entire   vacation was nothing but Taylor Swift in an RV for  seven days so oh I I got my finger on that pulse   yeah like like I don't want to listen to a song  about oh you breaking up with your boyfriend or   whatever it's like come on that's so high school  yeah then yeah and then the fact that it creeped   into the NFL season last year kind of irks me  a little bit too um but I'm I'm happy for for   you know if listen if Taylor Swift has found her  her true man like good good for her but she found   her boo all right this this episode is just going  off the rail so let's finish with um what the the   real reason I wanted to talk to you guys this week  was Fallout um yeah the Fallout TV series has like   exploded I'm a big fan I played Fallout 3 Fallout  4 i' I've dabbled in a couple of the other games   love the lore I love the series I love the game  so I was very excited when when Amazon said oh   we're going to make a TV show out of it and so  I've been following this stuff you know for a   long time and so I was like I got to look for a  story that I could talk about this on on the show   and thankfully there was so Fallout has more than  doubled its concurrent players on Steam following   the re release of Amazon Prime's Blockbuster TV  show despite approaching Mo almost a decade old   Fallout 4 is currently sitting in steam's top  top 20 games by concurrent numbers making it   one of the most popular games on Steam this past  weekend but it's not just Fallout 4 that senior   Resurgence in Resurgence in players Fallout  76 Fallout New Vegas have seen similar number   increase in the player base since the TV series  debuted uh on April 11th I believe was when they   did it um so and and I'm just like everybody  else as you know I finished the series and the   first thing I thought of and I was even telling  this to my son we were watching the show together   I said he goes this makes you want to play Fallout  again doesn't it Dad I go yes absolutely I want   to go back in the problem I've had is that I I  redownloaded Fallout 4 and there's a glitch with   my DLC so I can't play with the DLC but then  I heard that they're going to be doing a nextg   update anyway for PS5 owners um so and everybody  on April 25th so I'm just going to wait for that I   I think what it is is because the show was done so  well it reminds you how good The Source material   was so it makes you want to go back and experience  it again and I myself also went back I have   Fallout 4 yeah and uh I'm like wow for a game that  was made about 10 years ago it's really good yeah   it's incredibly good still hold up right holds up  to 20 in 2024 and uh yeah I mean there's really   nothing much else to say about it I mean I was  surprised how good the show was that's for sure   yeah and and and you know you and I have talked  before about about video game adaptations and   there's a lot of disappointment sometimes where  they try to make a like a hollywoodized version of   something and they don't get what the the you know  essence or the vibe of the game is but after that   first episode I was like well they nailed it like  they they got the vibe right it it's it's it's not   like you didn't get like a dark Fallout you didn't  get like a moody type of of post-apocalyptic world   it's a world that's that's funny as hell when  you're you know lot of the little anecdotes they   have during the series is like that that I could  see this happening exactly in the game this is   a side quest for example when when you know they  show something and they make and and but they also   don't do a lot of fan service I think this is what  the the the Star Wars and Marvel Universe problems   they've had is they try too much to do the fan  service thing um I like when they do fan service   and it's subtle but it's still entertaining for  someone who's never seen never played the game   and and Brandon like what's your level of Fallout  enthusiasm uh so I got swept up in the hype it's   I I've noticed that it was coming out I started  to see some reviews uh I got to watch the the   first episode last night and just totally Blown  Away um no no pun intended but um it it was just   amazing the World building I never played the  games but they were always around and you know   see clips and those things but to me like how far  have we come since super Mario Brothers 1993 oh   man that movie with King Koopa right and like to  see where we are now not only the new Super Mario   Brothers movie was amazing oh no no no no no no no  no come on Brandon no it was awful oh I it was for   me I know I know I know I can do you one better I  can do you one better all right the HALO Series I   haven't watched that yet I don't want to oh so  you're saying the Halo SE is is not good oh no   I mean any any Halo fan would say don't take  your helmet off and what do they do the first   episod yeah he takes his freaking helmet off  like anyways Brandon just really quickly and   I and I know you're a little bit younger than  me so I know you've got the Nostalgia for Super   Mario more than I do um yes I just think that if  you rewatch The Super Mario movie the dialogue   is so bad and the the the characters are like I  think if you rewatch it with that knowing like   this is really bad voice acting and the the  voice acting was bad and the dialogue was was awful oh did we lose you uh oh froze I just I was  sitting there and Mario oh am I Frozen yeah you're   there go you're coming back check check there we  go back okay okay uh I I I was just sitting there   and I was watching Mario taking train and he was  grabbing little mushrooms and jumping and Peach   was teaching how him how to do it like this I was  s sitting there like in 1985 with the controller   in my hand feeling all of those things when I you  know crushed my first uh uh Koopa and all those   like it was awesome right but that feels more  like fan service than than actual development of   a plot or characters one 100% okay so given that  I think you know the fact that you can still do   fan service but then also you know broaden it out  to an audience um is what makes Fallout at least   exciting for me yeah they done it very smart  and tactfully yeah you know instead of just   in your face but to EXA what you're saying so  one other question I wanted to ask you guys too   was um there were some there was some criticism  about Amazon releasing all Eight Episodes at once   so it was the binge model which I think Netflix  made popular most of the Netflix shows Once they   started like stranger things all released all at  the same time at least the first couple of Seasons   but then you started seeing companies releasing  their shows in a more episodic format so you might   get the first in the first two episodes but then  you'd have to wait a week now I'm I'm in that in   that generation where I remember that's what you  had to do when you watched a regular TV show you   would watch it and then you would wait a week and  I'm always amazed when I tell my kids about this   it's like you know I showed them an episode of of  oh God this is going to really age me but Happy   Days um or something with a cliffhanger and the  Cliffhanger was like at the end of an EP at the   end either at the end of an episode and you said  well now we have to wait a week like like the old   Batman series you know when they were trapped in  you know they were about to fall in the blowing   pit but then even worse was this was the season  finale and you had a cliffhanger then you had to   wait four or five months and so the kid and the  kids just look at me they're like that just you   know I'm sorry Dad stop telling us these horrible  stories of your childhood yeah I think it's just a   reflection of uh how today's media is sold right  cuz like if you think about it really like back   in the day when we didn't have streaming services  right um in order to see a movie um or a TV show   you had to wait right you had to wait till it's in  in theater and then if you wanted to buy it on DVD   you had to wait till it comes out on DVD and stuff  like that but now with streaming it's totally   different the business model is so entirely  different because now it's a business of audience   retention y keeping how do you keep keeping  the subscribers exactly how do you keep your   your viewers subscribe to your streaming service  and so um I I think that's why you're seeing a   lot of streaming services now like holding back  their episodes like just do one a week because   now um it retains that audience longer so that you  don't have to produce more content more frequently   yeah right and so so why do you think Amazon then  released all of all of them all at once instead of   instead of doing that model I mean just it's just  their choice it's just what they decide to do I   mean I think I think you might get people who will  want to watch the series The Second Time Around um   yeah and maybe that wasn't their goal uh right cuz  Amazon is more than just a streaming service they   are yeah I mean we all know that yeah but like  if you're Hulu or Netflix right that's all you   do that's all you do so you know you got to make  your uh decisions um accordingly but with Amazon   they're probably like H we can afford it just dump  it dump it all at once you know people will binge   it and a day or two and that's it so yeah I'm I'm  kind of in between the two the two spectrums where   if you do release episodically I will wait until  there's at least three or four episodes that I   can watch so that I you know or I wait until the  entire series is out and then I'll binge it again   or I'll you know but when and when I say binge you  know it doesn't mean I'm I'm watching all Eight   Episodes at once it's like I'll watch two a night  until I'm caught up right and that's more of a   style choice because of all the other things  I have with the kids and the family and work   and things like that so it's somewhere in between  that that you know if I know that it's an episodic   release I'll wait until there's multiple episodes  um because if it's good enough then I'll want to   watch that NE next episode if I have the time  um but I'm not I'm not opposed to having that   whole all of them released all at once CU then I I  know that I'll get to the end oh yeah I'm not tost   either and especially if it's good yeah you can  continue it so I I was weird to see that outrage I   wish that Amazon would make up their mind because  I like I I Love Invincible right I I I read all   the comics I waited for season one forever from  Robert Kirkman it came out it took forever season   two came out they gave us four episodes and they  stopped for three months and now you know they   just finished up with two more oh they did a  midseason they did a mid-season break yeah yeah   that's what they okay yeah I and again it's weird  that that enough people have have have noticed   that this episodic release well it not only does  it feel like more traditional broadcast TV yeah   then they've all added advertising now so again  we're all going back to that world you know from a   financial standpoint of like they can't just keep  they can't just rely on the subscriber base they   have to now add ads or they have to then you know  add those M you know that money Revenue generation   and Amazon only did that back in January right  that they they added ads back into their their   content and so this is of the first or second big  releases that they have so maybe that's part of   the testing yeah and and then even I think when I  was watching an episode they just before you start   watching it they give you two ads and they're  like this this you know this is now presented   ad free what with this ad like it's one of those  like presented by Samsung or Walmart or whoever   like they put the ad in the beginning but then  they won't bother you for the rest of the show   whereas other ones will be like every 10 minutes  there's another ad which is which feels like   you're watching regular TV um that whole thing  about churn I think is really interesting cuz I'm   I'm now I think a few months ago we were talking  about streaming services Chris where we were like   I'm going to be the type of person that that's  going to be adding and dropping remember we were   talking about I was going to cancel and then I'll  just wait until the next thing comes around and I   think that's because like I'm going to become  more proactive if if I'm not using a service   and then just wait so you might you might see  streaming services try to combat this um yeah   we see it in other services um I don't yeah I  don't yeah I know if they're going to actually   yeah I haven't seen anything yet where they're  doing that I mean I wouldn't be surprised if   they do but you know how they'll have like oh  you you pay this amount per month but you have   to pay it annually right I they might I see  that with some other subscription Services   they give you a discount if you pay a year in  advance versus uh just a monthly service fee   the reason I say that is that so I I'm doing  less and less of that I'm actually saying to   myself well there's still enough good content  where I'm not going to immediately contact   so for example peacock is is my um current  issue like I I I was holding on to Peacock   and I'm planning on holding it because of they're  making the community movie MH so remember that TV   show um and and they in April 1 they actually got  the rights to it so it went from Netflix over to   uh peacock and peacock ha April Fool's jokes but  this one was real yeah and then they put on and   they put they put the the band episode so they  had you know Netflix decided to to there was the   episode where they play D and D and because one  of the characters was playing a Dr and they're   Dark Elves it looked like he was doing blackface  and so they you know Sony and uh Netflix they kind   of overreacted because even in that episode it  was within the context of the game that he was   wearing you know he looked like a dark elf not  it wasn't an African-American blackface issue   was more just he was just role playing the game  he was cosplaying um and you know once you saw   that episode and knew that then but then you know  there was enough outrage from people that were   in the cast that said no they shouldn't have  done that like so that when it moved over to   to Peacock they put that episode back in so got  it that was that was exciting for

2024-04-29

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