So recently, Silicon Valley resident Anand Giridharadas wrote a book. It’s about the IT service in Silicon Valley. However, it’s hardly flattering. Let’s look at this tell all book about Silicon Valley.
So he titles the book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. The title alone sounds honest, but harsh. However, he’s just warming up. His biggest beef with Silicon is the inequality. He praises the innovation that comes out of this area. He argues that it’s great for the few that created it, but what about everybody else? This includes people that work for and under them.
Then Anand backs his arguments with scary statistics. It might seem that Americans, no matter what income level, are doing better than ever before. But that’s just not true. For 3 years straight, our life expectancy rate declined. That’s the first time in 100 years that happened. Literacy and education are stagnant. It was easier for you to start your own business in the 1980s than it is today. Also, Anand confronts the ‘win-win’ mentality. That’s the mentality that if you help the very top, like the Jeff Bezos’ and the Mark Zuckerberg’s, then the bottom will get help. In fact, Anand calls that a religion. And he remind us that rarely works.
I would highly recommend you get this book. It confirms what many of us in computer repair have known for years. Silicon Valley is a broken place. How can any worker survive at a place where coffee is $8 and breakfast is over $20? People who make $100,000 a year live in their car because rents are that out of control. Now, people and business are leaving Silicon Valley because of such reasons. Look at all the sobering statistics. In an era of so much innovation, you’d think these statistics would go up. In fact, here’s an article saying that over 450 retail stores closed down within two days! Is that progress? I applaud this tell all book about Silicon Valley. Again, is this progress?
So classic arcade games are making a comeback. These games range from Pac-Man to Mike Tyson’s Punch Out. But what about the original video game, Pong? Is Pong making a comeback? This is a CES update.
So Universal Space showed off their modern day Pong ant the CES tech conference. Maybe I shouldn’t call it modern day. Because from what I’m seeing, it’s still more 1975 than 2019. I say this because this Pong is a heavy, bulky table-style machine, just like they used in the 1970s and ’80s. But instead of joysticks, they use magnets as controls. Okay, there are a few buttons too.
So here’s how it works. There is a square ball in the center. Then there are paddles the size of rectangles on each side. One player is on one side, and the other is on the opposite side. You control the paddles by controlling the magnets. The game starts off slow but gets faster and faster. You score every time you strike the ball coming your way. Your orange button fires back at your opponent. This game can go on and on. Furthermore, you can use the one player option, playing against the game itself. But this one is more fun with two.
I know this game sounds a lot like the 1970s game, doesn’t it? However, the price sounds all too 2010s. You will pay about $3,000 for this table top game piece. Or, you can buy an arcade style version of Pong for $1,500. For those born after 1990, sorry, but I don’t have time to explain what ‘arcade style’ gaming is. But I do know CES is like the promise land for IT service heads and computer tech addicts alike. So of course we’ll see games like this. Yes, arcade games are coming back. However, nobody wants to let their modern day games go either. And who is going to pay $1,500-$3,000 for this? Is Pong making a comeback?
So we all either remember or saw Home Alone, right? Well, it’s back. But only this time, Kevin McCalister aka Macauley Culkin, is a grown man. And once again, he’s home alone. However this time, he’s not really alone. It’s not Uncle Frank or Buzz with him, but it’s Google Assistant. And Culkin and Google Assistant spoof on Home Alone scenes that many of us remember in this Google Assistant commercial.
Let me get my favorite scene out of the way first. Remember in the 1990 movie, when a Micheal Jordan cut board is riding around the train. In the 2018 commercial, it’s Kevin Durant. I thought that was a nice modern twist. Then when Culkin realizes everyone is gone, this time, Google Assistant tells him that he’s home alone. The rest of the commercial continues to spoof the movie. He jumps on the bed, then hurts his back. Then Google tells him the pizza is here while he watches the movie (the ‘Keep the Change Ya Filthy Animal’) scene. And of course, while he’s eating the macaroni and cheese, Google lets him know it’s 9:00 and the somebody is pulling up.
Yes, I get this is a cheesy commercial. But it’s all in the name of good Christmas fun. Also, from what I’m reading, Culkin could really use the money…know what I’m saying…ahem. I enjoyed looking at it and hope Culkin does really well with it. It still doesn’t make me want to get a Google Assistant though. That’s how Google Assistant and Christmas movie classic team up. Kevin was the only Home Alone character in this movie. Which other character would you have like to have seen?
So yesterday, Uber CEO Dara?Khosrowshahi had quite an interview. He talked about many things, such as overcoming recent scandals that plagued his predecessor. But one topic has the IT service world world talking. Is the ride sharing era over? Uber CEO says yes.
Also, Khosrowshahi’s latest purchases are backing his words. First, they got Jump Bikes, an electric bike sharing app and firm. Then they have Uber Rent. And now, they’re launching an electric scooter service. So why is Uber making these moves? Because Krosrowshahi says within a few years, ride sharing apps will be a thing of the past.
He says e-scooters are a couple of years away. He also says we’re 5-10 years away from flying Ubers and flying taxi. They’re already working on space technology, air technology, and getting investments to make this happen. Don’t think this will be a service for the rich either. They want everyone to enjoy these flying ride shares. But this dream of his goes even further. The Uber CEO believes this will get rid of road traffic and have environmental benefits. However, this dream goes even further. Because they want to be the Amazon of daily travel. He told the audience that in 10 years, he wants nobody in that audience to even own a car.
Do you think it’s impossible? Let me take you back to 10 years ago. Did you think ride sharing apps were possible? In fact, they were just coming out with apps period. As recent as 2010, there was no Uber. Here in Boston, near our computer service shop, everybody used taxis. But in less than a decade, most people switched from taxis to Uber. In the next 10 years, there is no telling where we’ll be heading. Maybe flying to work every day isn’t as Jetson as we think. The ride sharing era is only five or six years old. Is the ride sharing era over?
So, how many remember the good ol’ days? A college degree got you a job, and you stayed on the same job, often times with the same company, for your entire career? Those days are so over now. Americans and IT service jobs: Are we ready?
Studies show today’s 22-year-olds could work as many as 30 different jobs and 3 careers over their lives. Also, thanks to technology, more people will work at home or freelance then ever before. But that means they won’t have the same benefits their parents and others had. These include things like health care, on the job training and retirement. That is, those who are fortunate enough to land the job of their choice at all.
I say that because of the technological challenges. We have AI and robotics taking away manufacturing. Then we have E-commerce replacing retail stores. I often wonder what drones and self-driving cars will do to the job market in the decades ahead. They estimate that by 2030, 60% of jobs humans do today will be done by robots. That’s only 12 years from now! Agencies in the government and private sector rush to address this new order. It doesn’t just affect jobs. For example, what about unemployment? Now that many won’t be working traditional jobs like they did in the 20th century, how will they handle unemployment insurance?
So what do we do? I think education is a good place to start. I think it’s wonderful that they’re introducing code technology to elementary schoolkids. It’s also good they’re introducing them to the latest technology. But they need to do more. I think starting in pre-school, kindergarten at the latest, we need to equip kids for this changing work force. Don’t wait until they’re in high school. During the 20th century, the employer-employee relationship, despite the flaws, made the US the strongest economy in the world. But technology changes, as well as recent social movements, changes that game too. Even in our Boston computer service shop, we don’t operate the same way we did five years ago due to tech changes. Americans and IT service jobs: Are we ready?
So do you work for Amazon and Walmart? If yes, then you better read up. Because Amazon and Walmart could have plans to watch you.
The two biggest retail giants in America plan to use IT support and computer technology to keep their people in line. In early 2018, Amazon started making smart wristbands. So at a warehouse, they can make sure there are no idol hands. It has ultrasound devices and enough room to hold the data they collect on you. It even buzzes them about break times. Thankfully, they never put this patent to use…yet.
Then there is Walmart, who has one even better (notice the sarcasm). They have a patent that includes audio surveillance. That means they can listen to employees and customer conversations without the knowledge and approval of either. These sensors can even pick up bag rustling. So don’t try to whisper. They’ll pick that up, too. With customers’ voices, they can even tell how long a line is. It also tells how long a cashier is taking to process a customers’ items. They can study the tone of voice to see how friendly the conversation was. Insiders asked Walmart about this; they didn’t confirm or deny it. But this audio surveillance is not out and it’s not being used…yet.
Yes, I now businesses used different methods to keep employees in line for decades, if not centuries. I read that Henry Ford even used spies and hired goons to keep assembly line workers productive. But this is different. Because in Walmart’s case, they’re not just spying on the employee. They’re spying on the customer, too! And not just to catch shoplifters either. Like I said, this scary piece of IT service (if you even want to call it that) isn’t in use…yet. I hope it never will be because it will effect a lot of people. Do you know Walmart is the biggest employer in 2010s America? So how many conversations would they have to listen to?
