Emotional Support Brick - DTNS 4913  ## Metadata - Author: [[Daily Tech News Show]] - Full Title: Emotional Support Brick - DTNS 4913 - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/e886c801-e61d-46c2-bd68-f04b1a14b897 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Automatic vs. WP Engine** - A California judge ordered Automatic (WordPress maker) to restore WP Engine's access to WordPress.org, themes, and plugins. - This temporary order maintains the status quo while WP Engine's lawsuit against Automatic proceeds. Transcript: Sarah Lane A district judge in California ruled Tuesday that Automatic, a maker of WordPress, must restore WP Engine's access to WordPress.org, its themes, its plugins, including the ACF, Known as Advanced Custom Fields plugin, and subdomains, and also remove a checkbox on signups that required people to acknowledge they had no relationship to WP Engine and remove A list of companies that have stopped using WP Engine. The order is meant only as a temporary measure to preserve the status quo as of September 20th, while WP Engine pursues a court case against Automatic. ([Time 0:04:53](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e4e0760f-a00e-4c6f-8898-7b84b2e2b5ba)) - Note: WordPress - Tags: wordpress - **AI Accessibility** - AI assistants, while designed for convenience, are becoming powerful accessibility tools. - They simplify tasks for everyone, but especially benefit those with disabilities by reducing the burden of complex interactions. Transcript: Scott Johnson Yeah, it starts to find some rubber and the road the rubber needs to get on, right? Like some of that's happening right now. I think the assistant stuff is very interesting. Tom and I talked a bit more about this on tms this morning on this segment but what it boiled down to was yeah a lot of these sort of mundane things that you would normally have to do ordering Groceries whatever it is might be able to be handled completely and 100 by one of these assistants what i thought about later though was they are inadvertently making one of the potentially Most powerful accessibility features maybe ever by doing that. There are people that if they can just say or type or some other way of inputting a thing that usually is arduous for them for whatever reason, that's massive if that works. Tom Merritt Yeah, that Project Mariner, is that what you're thinking of where it just does the browser stuff for you like it can't do everything for you but it could certainly do a lot so or at least Scott Johnson They say it will when it comes yeah but it's usually what usually happens with innovation it's like okay we do all these rad things and then they go oh accessibility we better add that In there it's not always their first priority but this stuff almost feels like it's built in in a weird way like half of these conveniences that we discuss all the time around ai are accessibility Improvements for everyone and then those less able even more so like i just see that as a bright as a bright point of this whole thing i mean so much of i don't know i i would say over the last Sarah Lane 10 years maybe more um has been, wait, we're wasting way ([Time 0:17:03](https://share.snipd.com/snip/74022f2e-0412-493d-92c0-026f7605061b)) - Note: accessibility - Tags: accessibility - **YouTube's Rise in TV Viewing** - YouTube is becoming a primary destination for TV viewing, reaching 1 billion daily hours. - Sports viewing and 4K content uploads are increasing, demonstrating a shift in content consumption. Transcript: Tom Merritt Another thing that you'll want to use that time for is sitting on the couch watching television. YouTube announced that the total daily viewing of its content on a TV set reached one billion hours. That's right. People are watching YouTube, not even just YouTube TV, but YouTube itself on TV sets more than ever. Sports content on YouTube rose 30%. Now granted, they got NFL Sunday ticket, but that has a halo effect of causing people to watch more highlights and things like that. YouTube creators are uploading more 4K content. 4K content uploads rose 35%. And the addition of a button that lets you add a channel subscription from your TV increased subscriptions 40%. So even if you're not a YouTube TV subscriber, you can add stars or NFL Sunday ticket and things like that with the push of a button without getting up off your couch. Viewers also consumed 400 million hours of podcasts. YouTube is still trying to promote itself as the place for podcasts. And YouTube announced a feature called Watch With that's coming soon, which can put a live event like a football game, baseball game, whatever they're streaming, and a live stream From a creator in the same frame. This could be used for award shows. I immediately thought about it being used by Justin Robert Young when he's talking about the debates. And it would give the live streaming creator the ability to give commentary on the thing without having to host the thing on their own stream and risk a copyright takedown, etc. ([Time 0:20:15](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ee2c0d04-ddcf-446b-a6e9-06a0561acb36)) - **YouTube Premium and Content Variety** - Consider YouTube Premium to remove ads and access YouTube Music. - YouTube's diverse content, including shorts, shows, and background music, makes it a versatile platform. Transcript: Scott Johnson Yeah, there's a whole – I have issues with that only in that it's hard to say what you can do archivally. It sounds like it's maybe a live-only kind of situation. Tom Merritt Yeah, we'll see what the rules are about it. It's a coming soon feature, right? Scott Johnson Yeah, but it's pretty neat. I have to say in our household, without to, we just do more YouTube than ever on our TVs and not just desktops and phones. And I don't know why. We just do. Last night we watched three or four shorts on there. I went and checked some podcast stuff just because I was curious. I do have the subscription that gets rid of ads. And to me, that's my most valuable subscription, not just for the ads, but I like YouTube music more than the other music services. Sarah was saying it's the first thing her guests complain of when they come over to their house. Tom Merritt It's true. Sarah Lane I mean, not that I'm hosting a dinner party every night, but without fail, somebody will be at my house and they'll be like, oh, you remember that video? Oh, let's, we'll just put it up on the TV real quick. Oh, wait, you don't, you just have ads on YouTube? And I'm like, yeah, I just don't do this that often. I watch plenty of things on YouTube, but not to the point where I've ever paid to strip ads out, which probably said something about me. And friends were like, we don't know if we can be your friends. Tom Merritt Well, what's funny about us is I was a Google music subscriber and then Google music became YouTube premium. And so I got the ad free stuff because I was a Google music subscriber. Then Google music rolled into YouTube music and I switched to use Apple Music again. But I kept the subscription because I'm like, well, I kind of got used to having the ad-free. Here's a tip. YouTube does not mind if you have family members who are outside of your household. They are one of the few streaming services that doesn't care if you do that, at for now. And so, Sarah, I would recommend next time somebody complains, just be like, add me to your family and my hands will go away. Sarah Lane Well, that has actually happened. Okay, okay, good. Tom Merritt Yeah, yeah. Sarah Lane So yes, we're fine. But I felt that the story might resonate with some people. I just, for a long time, I was like, YouTube is, I don't know, I just, somebody will send me a link and I'll watch something or, you know, maybe I'll look up like a tutorial for something And I'll watch that. And you know, you go like, skip three, two, one, skip, skip ad, skip ad. I'm so used to it that it doesn't really affect me. But then once you don't have it anymore, you're like, Oh, I can't go back. Tom Merritt Oh yeah. When, when we were visiting Eileen sister, we were watching more and more YouTube on their TV, not just us, but the kids, too. So we added them to our family, which is, you know, legitimately, she's Eileen's sister, right? But they don't live in the same city as us. But it makes a big difference for us when we visit, but it's made a big difference for them, too. And it just goes to show that, yeah, I think for us, when we sit down to watch TV, our first stop is YouTube. We look at like, what are the new short things? Not even just shorts, but like short videos that are out from people we like. Then we'll watch an episode of a show or two. And then we'll go back to YouTube afterwards, like dessert, to be like, well, let's watch a couple of things. We also throw it up for just background music, you know, like lo-fi beats that are on for hours and hours at a time and you get great visualization with that like i i have this dead mouse Scott Johnson Mix i like a lot that's super chill it's not like hard driving stuff and what they show is great filler for just a room that you need some ambience in and and there's such deep uh deep stuff Like three four hour ten hour things yeah they don't get this on Spotify or Apple you just leave it on and you never have to worry about an ad popping up I mean it's kind of changed the way Sarah Lane I watch things let's not forget uh because tis the season the Yule Log oh yeah videos oh and quite a few of them Christmas cafe scenes oh yes like when i say yule log i mean it's just like yeah You have something and you're like oh it's like you know it's all cozy in here now yeah it's like i it's like i'm i'm sitting there with that woman i'm telling you man if youtube tv had the Tom Merritt Dodgers which they do not uh i think that would be the only thing Eileen would not like if we switch to YouTube TV and then all of our TV would be in one place. Not Netflix, Peacock, etc. It is my favorite. Sarah Lane Which is different than YouTube, of course. Tom Merritt But they're available in the same interface so they can blend together. Exactly. ([Time 0:22:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/aafaebe7-528d-4cd9-b815-f1a3e077a7a7)) - **Guest Complaints about YouTube Ads** - Sarah Lane's guests often complain about ads on her YouTube. - This highlights the prevalence of ad-free experiences among paying users. Transcript: Sarah Lane True. I mean, not that I'm hosting a dinner party every night, but without fail, somebody will be at my house and they'll be like, oh, you remember that video? Oh, let's, we'll just put it up on the TV real quick. Oh, wait, you don't, you just have ads on YouTube? And I'm like, yeah, I just don't do this that often. I watch plenty of things on YouTube, but not to the point where I've ever paid to strip ads out, which probably said something about me. And friends were like, we don't know if we can be your friends. ([Time 0:23:02](https://share.snipd.com/snip/6959ed35-4b09-4fff-8182-c10072645c29)) - **Sharing YouTube Premium** - Add family members to your YouTube Premium account, even outside your household, to share ad-free benefits. - This can be a cost-effective way to enjoy YouTube Premium with others. Transcript: Tom Merritt And so, Sarah, I would recommend next time somebody complains, just be like, add me to your family and my hands will go away. Sarah Lane Well, that has actually happened. Okay, okay, good. Tom Merritt Yeah, yeah. Sarah Lane So yes, we're fine. But I felt that the story might resonate with some people. I just, for a long time, I was like, YouTube is, I don't know, I just, somebody will send me a link and I'll watch something or, you know, maybe I'll look up like a tutorial for something And I'll watch that. And you know, you go like, skip three, two, one, skip, skip ad, skip ad. I'm so used to it that it doesn't really affect me. But then once you don't have it anymore, you're like, Oh, I can't go back. ([Time 0:24:11](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9276323b-4b02-4389-8ca5-6f7af89a347a)) - **Moxie's Shutdown and Cloud Dependence Concerns** - Embodied, creator of the AI companion Moxie, is shutting down, rendering the robot useless due to its cloud dependency. - Refunds are uncertain, raising concerns about the longevity of cloud-connected products, especially for children. Transcript: Sarah Lane Embodied, which is a startup behind the $800 AI-powered emotional support companion for children from ages 5 to 10 called Moxie, is shutting down. Because the robot requires cloud servers to power its functions using AI, Moxie will essentially be useless after those servers do get shut down. The company says because of its financial situation and impending dissolution, it won't be able to issue broad refunds. Just sounds like a big financial cluster F at this point. Embodied does say it will try to prioritize refunds for purchases made within the past 30 days. So, you know, if you're super disappointed, you just got the toy, you know, try to prioritize you, but also says it's not guaranteeing anything. Doesn't look good for Embodied. Embodied blames a failed round of funding after a lead investor pulled out at the last minute. But Scott, I know that you've been following the story. And what do you what do you make of this? This this whole, you know, cloud infrastructure being pulled for a very specific kind of person? ([Time 0:28:59](https://share.snipd.com/snip/aaa95ffb-970e-45d7-8fa8-6b3451efa6c4)) - **Caution with Startup Products** - Be cautious when purchasing cloud-dependent products from small startups due to potential service disruptions if the company fails. - Consider products from established companies for better long-term support. Transcript: Scott Johnson Like maybe unless you've got an idea, it's going to last. And for consumers, I would say, maybe don't go with little weird startups with this stuff right away. Maybe wait until something like this gets picked up by a big company. Like if Google, well, Google shuts down stuff all the time. But like, you know, if Apple or Google or, you know, Meta or somebody else is like, hey, we're getting into this emotional support animal thing with robots, then maybe you're safer putting Your money there but it's just a cautionary tale that if the servers go away so does your your option as somebody who's played a lot of video games that are server dependent and have those Games go away it never feels good when those things get closed down but if you i don't know i just feel bad you got a kid with like special needs or something and suddenly his robot friend Barry just stops working no ([Time 0:31:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/74b01f8c-d536-4888-b324-b68f73183cc6)) - **Balancing Offline Functionality and Startup Survival** - Building offline functionality into cloud-dependent products increases development costs and might hasten a startup's failure. - Embodied is attempting to mitigate the impact of the shutdown by exploring options for continued server operation or asset sales. Transcript: Tom Merritt The danger of doing that is that you undermine sales because people like, oh, I guess they don't have much faith in their company. They're already telling me it's going to shut down. So you have to be careful on the message. It also is a cost. To be able to create it so that it can work offline is extra development cost, which could cause you to go out of business faster. I'm not against what you're saying, Scott, but I'm just like, those are the realities of someone entering a marketplace. And I don't think what's getting enough attention is Embodied is saying, if they can, they will try to keep these servers up as long as possible. They haven't pulled the plug yet. If they are able to sell their assets, which do include customer data, so that's making some people wonky. If they're able to sell the assets, they might be able to get the buyer of the assets to keep the cloud services going as a positive thing. They haven't talked about open sourcing it, which would be a great last minute move to be like, here, somebody out there, crack it and make a server that can keep this thing going online Or make it so that it'll work offline, even on a limited function. I do think Embodied is doing almost everything it can to treat its customers well, short of not failing. And that's just the way it goes when you do startups. ([Time 0:33:58](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e48d0a36-4b57-4472-9c63-3091b1551c6d))