Stay ConnectedTechnology podcast that both experts and novices can enjoy.
Pop culture you love. Tech you dream about.
Shelly Palmer and Seth Everett cover topics that mean a lot to those in the tech space and those who just love tech.
Learn what’s new, what’s next, and what it means for you and your business.
Could Batman’s toys exist in the real world? Is Star Trek still science fiction, or has it become science fact?
Copyright: © 2021
Elon Musk has said a lot of things about what he wants Twitter to be. He's noted issues he has with bots, content moderation, and more. The reality is one of two options: either Elon has deeply thought through Twitter's content management issues… or he hasn't. Today, we talk about whether or not Elon's Twitter problems are solvable, how Twitter is different from other platforms, and which kinds of users still find value in Twitter. Plus, a Techstream POAP reminder!
Seth spent this past weekend traveling all over the Northeast, driving from event to event in his hybrid vehicle. It made him wonder: if he were driving a 100% electric car, how would he have gotten where he needed to go? We're kicking off a two-part Techstream mini-series about the state of electric vehicles (EVs). We talk about utility companies incentivizing EV owners to get chargers installed, EVs as a “lifestyle choice,” and what's being done to quell range anxiety. Here's where you, the listener, come in. Are electric vehicles better than gas vehicles? Do your research and hit us up on Twitter @Techstream. (Keep politics out of it; let's focus on science.) Plus! Yankees vs. Astros talk (and cheating in Major League Baseball); Seth meets a real, live listener in the flesh; and we offer the first-ever Techstream POAP! Request yours at http://www.shellypalmer.com/poap
In case you've been living under a rock, we're in the heart of election season with the midterm elections just a few weeks away. For one race in Pennsylvania, things got so heated - and lawn signs were stolen so often - that an Apple AirTag was used to locate the trash receptacle where all the stolen signs wound up. We talk about the ways technology is bleeding into elections and political races. Then, we discuss the Supreme Court case determining “fair use” and Prince's likeness. We talk about what's at stake and how technology will need to change or adapt based on the outcome. Plus: is Sinead O'Connor's documentary missing her best song? Is Netflix launching an ad-free tier?
Local news has been a television staple for many viewers for years. Do they have any need to exist in 2022? That's the topic of today's episode. Every local news broadcast seemingly starts with reporting on a fire or a stabbing or other local tragedy as stations vie for relevance. The old adage of “if it bleeds, it leads” has never been more true. Will local news die out, or is it here to stay? There's also a vast difference between local news in New York City (where there are always things to report on) and the fictional town of Deer's Ears, Indiana. How do smaller local news outlets stay relevant in the internet era? We discuss whether anyone is watching local news for any reason other than loyalty, why reporting on sports scores seems antiquated, and how to sustain local news.
Shelly and Seth are both under the weather, so we're using deep fake technology to record this episode for you. (Just kidding. Kind of.) Shelly just got back from the Block IM Park Conference in Germany, and he recaps the ways European sports leagues do things differently than the stateside ones we know and love, along with how they're trying to enhance the experience for sports fans across the world. Then, Shelly and Seth talk about Bruce Willis selling his likeness to Web3 firm Deepcake. (Note: since this episode was recorded, Willis and his representation have denied doing this.) They talk about what that means, whether or not it was a good idea, and how it would work. Shelly quizzes Seth on whether or not he's been keeping up with his metaverse homework. They talk about Star Wars. (Again.)
The iPhone 14 may have gotten most of the headlines when Apple unveiled it a few weeks ago, but it wasn't the only new gear that Apple debuted. When we did our episode on Apple's latest and greatest, Seth doubted that the new AirPods Pro would be worth the money. Shelly wanted to test that out, so he picked up Apple's new headphones and took them for a test drive. (Well, it was a test walk.) In this episode, Shelly shares his thoughts on the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation), and whether or not you should rush out to pick them up. Also: We check in on Amazon's Thursday Night Football, the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, and the “real” reason these companies are tying themselves to the NFL. Shelly explains how he listens to music and finds new pizza places (both of which use the same process!). Seth unveils the new name for Space Force enlistees.
We may be a nation divided, but we come together for one thing: the NFL. This season has been great so far and is offering a brand new way to watch: exclusively on a streaming service. While we've watched Premier League on Peacock and Friday night MLB games on Apple TV+, this is another beast altogether: it's the NFL on a streaming service. We discuss the innovative ways Amazon streamed the game, the biggest viewer complaints, and why it's disingenuous to complain about football games being on Prime Video. We also talk about what to give Amazon (and the NFL) credit for doing, plus the new ways Amazon can cater to its customers with its brand new source of data.
We're back! We were busy in our time off, and so was Apple, which just unveiled a new line of iPhones, new Apple Watches, new AirPods, and more. For the first time in years (if not ever!), Shelly won't have the new iPhone the day it comes out. He explains why, talks about his pre-order experience (and frustrations), and the lessons learned from past upgrade cycles. If you want an iPhone, only an iPhone will do. That said, if you have an iPhone 13, do you need the iPhone 14? The answer: it depends. In this episode, we talk about the new features included in Apple's latest and greatest, when we may enter a post-handset world, and whether or not Tim Cook needs Shelly's extra $8.
Do you love Earth-murdering genre movies, like Armageddon? Shelly does, and this week he was overjoyed to receive this press release: “NASA Invites Media to Witness World's First Planetary Defense Test.” We talk about NASA's latest endeavor and try to talk about whether or not the public funding they're using includes X-wing or TIE starfighters. If we all survive the asteroid crash, we'll all need healthcare… but will it come from Amazon? Amazon recently announced it's shutting down Amazon Health - though it also spent $3.9 billion on a boutique primary healthcare provider, so it's not going anywhere. We talk about why Amazon leaving a business should worry you, Amazon's ability to learn from its mistakes, and what's next for its healthcare endeavors. Seth shares a startling revelation about Game of Thrones. P.S. No episode next week (Labor Day), but we'll be back the week after to talk about Apple!
If you have a podcast on Spotify, you might have received an email last week flagging some of your episodes for copyright infringement. This is the result of a new Spotify algorithm that aims to make sure podcast hosts are using only the content they own. Seven of Seth's 300+ episodes of Hall of Justice were flagged for potential infringement. Shelly and Seth spend time discussing “fair use” (and its misconceptions) and why the rules seem to be arbitrarily applied both within Spotify's ecosystem and from one service to the next. Then, in other auditory news… you can now buy hearing aids OTC! That's cool enough as it is, but imagine a world augmented with personal assistants who can clue you in on the things around you that you might not otherwise have heard. We talk about the possibilities of this new future - and the hopeful destigmatization of hearing tests.
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