GeekWire
386 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 110 ratingsGeekWire brings you the week's latest technology news, trends and insights, covering the world of technology from our home base in Seattle. Our regular news podcast features commentary and analysis from our editors and reporters, plus interviews with special guests.
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Episodes
Goodbye, iPhone; Hello, Note10+
August 17, 2019 14:50 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBMicrosoft's partnership with Samsung promises smooth integration between Windows and the Galaxy Note10, and that was enough to convince GeekWire's Todd Bishop to dump his iPhone X in favor of the consumer electronics giant's new flagship device. But which of the two Note10 variations should he get? And what can he expect as he switches from on major smartphone platform to another? Tech reviewer Andru Edwards of Gear Live and the Geared Up podcast joins us on this special episode to offer his ...
The Power and Pitfalls of Platforms
August 13, 2019 14:15 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBAmazon, Uber, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and many other big companies have something in common. They're all platforms, providing underlying technologies that others use to build or facilitate their own businesses. But there are different types of platforms, with different motivations, and understanding the differences is key for anyone looking to build, compete against, regulate or do business with a platform. We explore the power and pitfalls of platforms on this episode with Michael Cusu...
Microsoft's Samsung surprise
August 10, 2019 14:29 - 29 minutes - 27 MBWe're back! It's the return of our weekly news roundup, with Todd Bishop, John Cook and Monica Nickelsburg. First, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's surprise appearance at Samsung's latest Galaxy smartphone unveiling signals good things ahead for Windows users. We go inside the shutdown of ReachNow, BMW's car-sharing service that operated in Portland and Seattle, and discuss the unusual ways that some people in our society are using car-sharing services. And finally, on the Random Channel, we off...
Can Facebook be fixed?
July 28, 2019 15:30 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBDespite the restrictions it imposes on Facebook's business, the Federal Trade Commission's settlement with the social media giant is viewed as insufficient by some critics. So what can we do as Facebook users? What impact is Facebook having on us in the meantime? And what can the tech industry learn from the whole thing? That's our topic on this episode of the GeekWire podcast, featuring highlights from a discussion with Sheryl Cababa, a user experience designer with Artefact in Seattle and t...
The Case Against Amazon
July 19, 2019 14:30 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MBIt was tough week for Amazon on the regulatory front. It started Tuesday with an antitrust hearing before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Although Apple, Facebook, and Google also sent representatives, Amazon fielded the most pointed questions. A few hours later, the European Union launched a formal investigation into the company, focusing on how it treats third-party sellers in the Amazon marketplace. We explore why Amazon is in the hot seat, how the company is responded, what comes nex...
Apollo 11 and the Future of the Final Frontier
July 16, 2019 15:19 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBTo understand the future of space, it helps to start with the past. On this special edition of the GeekWire Podcast, marking the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, we’ll hear from Alan Boyle, GeekWire's aerospace and science editor, and listen in on his conversations with three unsung heroes of the Apollo era: NASA flight directors Gerry Griffin and Milton Windler, and flight controller Poppy Northcutt. They each reflect on the historic mission and share the sentiment that Ameri...
Secret Startup Ingredient: Microsoft
July 13, 2019 18:01 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBWould you have guessed that nearly 25 percent of the Seattle region's top tech startups are led by CEOs with backgrounds at Microsoft? That was the surprising result of our analysis of the GeekWire 200, our index of the top privately held tech companies in the Pacific Northwest. And fundings for the region's startups bucked the national trend, as reflected in data from our new startup deal tracker. Nintendo unveiled a new iteration of its Switch game console; former Microsoft CEO Steve Ball...
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott
July 05, 2019 16:42 - 30 minutes - 28 MB"You've got all of this opportunity for places where you can interface with the physical world. I think it's just where business opportunity is going to live." That was one of the takeaways from Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott's talk at the recent GeekWire Cloud Summit. On this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we're presenting highlights from his conversation with GeekWire's Todd Bishop. The Microsoft CTO was previously vice president of engineering and operations at LinkedIn, led enginee...
Apple Goes Big in Seattle
June 29, 2019 22:33 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBApple's new campus in Seattle, unveiled this week, will accommodate as many as 2,000 workers, doubling the company's previous commitment to expand its engineering operations in the city. But beyond the sheer numbers, the prime location positions the company to compete more aggressively for talent against rivals including Amazon, Google and Microsoft. It also promises to make Seattle a bigger epicenter for cloud engineering, artificial intelligence and voice technologies. We explore the imp...
Slack vs. Microsoft
June 22, 2019 16:26 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBIf you tuned into the news this week, you heard one company’s name over and over again. Slack, the workplace communication and collaboration technology company went public and instantly saw its share price spike by 50 percent. But with competition from Microsoft, Facebook, Google and others, where does Slack go from here? Today on GeekWire, the future of Slack, and the competition among tech giants to change how we communicate, collaborate and get work done. With Paul Condra, lead analyst for...
Slack CTO Cal Henderson
June 19, 2019 21:59 - 30 minutes - 28 MBWorkplace chat and collaboration technology company Slack is going public on Thursday, with implications for a wide variety of companies in the Seattle region and beyond. Microsoft is Slack’s primary competitor with its Teams service, and Slack is a big Amazon Web Services customer. And many companies that sell technologies to businesses will be watching Slack’s stock market debut closely to assess their own potential in the public markets. So how does Slack work behind the scenes? On this e...
'Salesforce HQ2' and Tableau's giant deal
June 15, 2019 14:33 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBSalesforce surprised the tech world this week with its agreement to acquire Tableau Software for $15.7 billion -- but maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise after the Seattle-based data visualization company was listed among the cloud giant's acquisition targets in a leaked internal slide deck a while back. With Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff declaring Seattle the new HQ2 for the San Francisco company, GeekWire's John Cook and Todd Bishop tell the story behind this record-setting deal and co...
UW computer science leader Hank Levy
June 14, 2019 20:45 - 38 minutes - 35 MBThe past decade has been a period of incredible growth for the technology industry in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. One of the primary engines of that growth is the University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering in Seattle. Computer scientist Hank Levy has been a quiet force behind the program as its leader for the past 13 years. During his tenure, the program positioned itself as one of the top 5 computer science programs in the country, after MIT, St...
Maria Klawe on the promise of computer science
June 13, 2019 19:52 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBIn the 13 years since Maria Klawe took over as president of Harvey Mudd College, she has surprised skeptics and achieved a milestone that has confounded most institutions of higher education. Today, 50 percent of Harvey Mudd graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are women, and students of color are on the rise at the elite technical college. The shift is no accident; Klawe made diversity her top priority when she took the helm at Harvey Mudd, in Claremon...
Amazon drones ready to deliver
June 08, 2019 16:14 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBAmazon gave a detailed look at its new warehouse robots and delivery drones, discussed its plans for a satellite constellation, and talked about the future of artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation during a multi-day conference in Las Vegas this week. GeekWire's aerospace and science editor Alan Boyle was in Las Vegas to cover it all, and he joins us with a recap and analysis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Inside the IPO: Adaptive Biotech
June 02, 2019 16:23 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBChad Robins is a Cornell grad and Wharton School MBA who was working in real estate finance a decade ago when he was approached with a business idea by his brother, Harlan Robins, head of the Computational Biology Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. As Chad Robins recalled, "When he called me up in 2009 and said, 'Hey I want to start a business, I've figured out how to sequence T-cells at a high throughput,' I was like, 'Yes, I'm in!' and then I went to Wikipedia and I'm l...
Sci-fi master Neal Stephenson
May 31, 2019 12:55 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBAre we living in a simulation? Is there an afterlife? And if not, what would it take to create one? Drawing inspiration from Seattle's tech industry and the emerging field of virtual reality, best-selling science-fiction author Neal Stephenson knits together ideas as old as the Bible and as up-to-date as Elon Musk's musings in an epic 880-page novel titled "Fall; or, Dodge in Hell," due out June 4. GeekWire's Alan Boyle read the book and interviewed Stephenson, and joins us to share highlight...
How tech is transforming home-buying, again
May 25, 2019 16:57 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBThe peak home-buying season is upon us, but buyers and sellers taking a fresh look at the market will see a much different landscape for real estate technology than they did just a year or two ago -- and it's only the beginning of the changes to come. It's an exciting time in the real estate tech business, and anything can happen. On this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we assess the changes so far and debate what could happen next: Could Zillow end up buying Redfin or another broker...
Inside Amazon's annual meeting
May 24, 2019 17:30 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBAmazon's annual meeting has become a spectacle over the years, despite the company's best efforts to stick to business. Todd Bishop and Monica Nickelsburg explain what happened at this year's event, earlier this week in Seattle. Plus, the latest on T-Mobile and Sprint, why a former Facebook exec is floating Microsoft's Brad Smith as a replacement for Mark Zuckerberg, and how Rover capitalized on the Game of Thrones finale. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How to think like Amazon
May 22, 2019 13:39 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBJohn Rossman helped to launch and build the Amazon Marketplace business before leading the company's Enterprise Services business during his tenure at the company. In his new book, "Think Like Amazon: 50 1/2 Ideas to Become a Digital Leader," he helps other business leaders and managers understand, learn from and adopt elements of Amazon's approach. He sat down with us this week to talk about some of the ideas that define the company, and what they say about its future. See omnystudio.com/li...
Minecraft meets the real world
May 18, 2019 14:24 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBFour years after acquiring Minecraft, Microsoft this week unveiled its most ambitious effort yet to take the popular franchise to the next level, and specifically into the real world. GeekWire went hands on with the game in a sneak preview, but with the release not expected until later this summer, why the heck is Microsoft touting this game before the rest of us can actually play it? Plus, Amazon is offering its employees an incentive to quit their jobs, if they start their own package del...
Melinda Gates, the GeekWire Interview
May 14, 2019 14:06 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBListen in on our conversation with Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, about her book, "The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World." The book has garnered national attention and further elevated Melinda's status as an influential public figure in her own right. GeekWire's Monica Nickelsburg and Todd Bishop spoke with Melinda at her office in Seattle, at the conclusion of her national book tour. Go to GeekWire.com for full coverage. See omnystudio...
How Jeff Bezos plans to take civilization to space
May 12, 2019 14:55 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBHow does Jeff Bezos plan to get to the moon, and what will he do after that? On this special bonus edition of the GeekWire Podcast, aerospace and science editor Alan Boyle calls in from Washington, D.C., where he covered the Amazon founder's unveiling of the new Blue Moon lunar lander from his Blue Origin space venture, aiming to put humans back on the moon by 2024 as part of a broader plan to colonize space. Plus, audio highlights from Bezos's talk. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...
Which tech giant do you trust?
May 11, 2019 15:54 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBThere's a common theme running through the spring season of developer conferences and tech events: trust and privacy. With the tech industry faceing a backlash from consumers and regulators, tech giants including Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft are looking to assure everyone that they're listening. But each company is approaching the issue in a very different way, and with a very different track record on the topic. On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we listen to the CEOs of the...
GeekWire Awards Winners Revealed
May 04, 2019 16:08 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBThe strength and success of the people and companies across the Pacific Northwest tech ecosystem was on full display Thursday night at the GeekWire Awards. GeekWire's Jonathan Sposato, John Cook and Todd Bishop share highlights and clips from the night on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast. More highlights here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amazon's new Prime number
May 02, 2019 14:38 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBAmazon's shift to one-day shipping as the core benefit of its Prime membership program promises to significantly alter Amazon’s financial picture and accelerate the pace of global online commerce. On this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast, reporter Nat Levy joins us to look at the implications of this move for Amazon, its customers, competitors, investors and the shipping + logistics industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
IPOs without profits
April 30, 2019 01:30 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBWhat do Pinterest, Lyft, Uber and Slack have in common? Yes, they're all newly public or about to make their initial public offerings. But they also share a common characteristic on the bottom line -- proceeding with their IPOs with lots of revenue and growth but, so far at least, without the consistent profits to show for it. And they're part of a trend. Eighty-three percent of IPOs in the first three quarters of 2018 were made by companies that hadn't posted profits in the prior 12 months....
Why Arivale failed
April 26, 2019 17:44 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBFounded in 2015, Seattle startup Arivale aspired to pioneer a new sector called scientific wellness, combining genetic testing with personal coaching to improve the health of its members. Its founder, genomics legend Lee Hood, said the company "really stands a chance of being the Google or Microsoft of this whole arena." But four years later, Arivale abruptly closed its doors this week. We explain what happened with special guest, GeekWire chief business officer Daniel Rossi, an Arivale membe...
Unicorns, IPOs and the next tech giants
April 20, 2019 15:07 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBSeattle has a new unicorn, Outreach, the sales and marketing automation company that raised a $114 million funding round this week, pushing its valuation to $1.1 billion. The news sends John and Todd on a startup odyssey, exploring the hidden connections among the new wave of public companies and tech behemoths in Silicon Valley and Seattle, including Uber, Lyft, Convoy and others. Plus, Amazon and Microsoft are preparing to challenge Apple's AirPods,. And on the Random Channel, Melinda Gates...
Very Random
April 13, 2019 15:42 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBAlmost every week at the end of the GeekWire Podcast, we feature our "Random Channel" segment, discussing all the random items of questionable relevance that we were buzzing about behind the scenes during the course of the week. This week, with several of us out of the office, we decided to forgo our regular news conversation and go "full random," you might say. We hope you enjoy getting to know some of the offbeat interests of our team, including Kurt Schlosser, Monica Nickelsburg and Taylor...
Why Amazon is pulling a giant team out of Seattle
April 05, 2019 17:54 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBThe news that Amazon is shifting its Seattle-based worldwide operations team to Bellevue, Wash., raises a ton of questions about its future in the region. GeekWire's Monica Nickelsburg, who broke the story, joins Todd Bishop and John Cook to discuss the implications. Plus, Howard Schultz gets sued for text messages sent to voters by his team, and the GeekWire Awards finalists have been revealed. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
To the Moon: Neil Armstrong's son on the Apollo 11 anniversary
April 03, 2019 01:00 - 10 minutes - 9.59 MBWith the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon Landing on the horizon, Mark Armstrong, son of the late astronaut Neil Armstrong, first person to walk on the moon, talks with GeekWire's Alan Boyle at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Microsoft boxes Amazon into a corner
March 30, 2019 16:58 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBMicrosoft is putting Amazon into a difficult position by advocating a tax increase on both companies in their home state. Meanwhile, Apple is placing an even bigger bet on privacy as a feature. We explain a surprising startup investment by two Seattle tech veterans. Plus, the return of the Random Channel.
Bezos and the bots
March 23, 2019 15:54 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBEvery year, Amazon and Jeff Bezos hold an elite, invitation-only conference called MARS, for Machine learning, Automation, Robotics and Space, which doubles as an excuse for the Amazon founder to test out the latest in autonomous vehicles, robots and personal aircraft. GeekWire aerospace and science editor Alan Boyle joins us with a rundown. Plus, 15 years after Google started a wave of engineering outposts in the Seattle area, the region's startups are figuring out how to co-exist with Silic...
Are you getting a fair trade for your data?
March 20, 2019 00:33 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBAfter a year of privacy scandals, consumers are beginning to realize that the volume of data tech companies collect on them exceeds what they could have imagined. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood has been helping listeners untangle the complex web of the data economy on her show. She visited Seattle last week to discuss those issues with Giri Sreenivas, CEO of private email server startup Helm, Ryan Calo, co-director of the University of Washington Tech Policy Lab, and Monica Nickelsburg, Gee...
GeekWire Awards preview; brave Amazon employee quizzes Bezos
March 16, 2019 16:23 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBWe're preparing for the GeekWire Awards, our annual event recognizing the best in Pacific Northwest tech and innovation, and on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast we provide an update on past Startup of the Year winners and preview this year's contest. Find out more, submit nominations, and buy tickets at geekwire.com/awards. Plus, a brave Amazon employee asks Jeff Bezos if his tumultuous personal life is distracting from his work, and Peter Sagal of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me offers his inpu...
GeekWire Photographer's Dispatch from Mongolia
March 13, 2019 13:44 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBGeekWire photographer Kevin Lisota has taken pictures of everything from rocket launches to tech luminaries, but he recently spent a couple weeks far from Seattle, on a photo expedition in far-western Mongolia. On this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast, he shares photography tips and tricks from expedition leader Andy Williams of Muench Workshops and the reCOMPOSE photo podcast.
Break up Big Tech? A reality check
March 09, 2019 16:49 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBU.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's ambitious plan to regulate Facebook, Google and Amazon as utilities and roll back some of their biggest acquisitions, is a giant stake in the ground for the 2020 presidential campaign -- but is it realistic? And would it really have the desired impact on competition and consumers? We dive into those questions on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast,
Zillow's extreme makeover
March 01, 2019 23:09 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MBWhat the heck is going on at Zillow? The online real estate giant announced the return of co-founder Rich Barton as CEO, along with a major change in its business model. John Cook and Todd Bishop sort out the news, speculate on the cause, and speculate wildly on what could be next. Plus, Amazon is backing out of a high-profile Seattle skyscraper in the latest sign of its troubled relationship with its hometown. And we say farewell to those cute little Amazon Dash buttons!
Under Construction Podcast: John Cook
February 21, 2019 14:57 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBThis is a guest episode of the new podcast Under Construction, from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, featuring a conversation with my GeekWire co-founder John Cook, talking with the podcast's host, Seattle Metro Chamber CEO Marilyn Strickland. For more episodes, check out seattlechamber.com/underconstruction, or subscribe at soundcloud.com/seattlechamber.
Surprise! Amazon nixes NYC HQ2
February 14, 2019 20:46 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBCome on, Amazon, really? The tech giant spent more than a year looking for its "HQ2," planning to establish a second headquarters equal to its Seattle home, before surprising everybody by instead splitting the giant project between New York City and Arlington, Va. Now, after facing initial opposition from some New York city and state leaders, the company this morning said, well, nevermind.
Catching up with Bill Gates
February 12, 2019 18:12 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBBill Gates sits down with GeekWire to talk about what's on his mind in 2019, including what he would say to President Trump about nationalism vs. globalism, why he's pushing the U.S. to double down on nuclear energy, thoughts on the future of techbooks, and memories of his late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Plus, his take on the viral photo of him standing in line at a popular Seattle burger stand. See GeekWire.com for more coverage of the interview, and read Bill and Melinda Gates' 2019 ...
'Day 1' Distraction: Bezos and the Enquirer
February 08, 2019 15:36 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBPublicly challenging the National Enquirer's parent company AMI for attempted blackmail and extortion, as Jeff Bezos did in his remarkable post Thursday afternoon, is bold, risky and even admirable, especially for someone in his position. But for Amazon and its founder, there's more than some embarrassing pictures at stake.
What Fuels You: Life and leadership with Jane Park
February 05, 2019 22:29 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBWe're starting a new tradition on GeekWire, periodically sharing selected episodes of some of our favorite podcasts about startups, leadership, technology, science and more from the Seattle region and beyond. First up: What Fuels You, a new podcast from Shauna Swerland of Fuel Talent, featuring conversations and insights from successful business leaders. Her guest on this episode is Jane Park, the CEO and founder of Seattle-based beauty products company Julep. Park, who founded Julep in 2006...
Week in Geek: Howard Schultz?!
February 01, 2019 19:53 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBCan Howard Schultz make a serious run for U.S. president? Can Zillow's Zestimate be improved? And can a new Bluetooth feature help Todd find his freakin' AirPods Those are just a few of the burning questions on this episode of GeekWire's Week in Geek podcast, as GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop John Cook discuss the news of the week.
Week in Geek: Amazon's delivery bots
January 25, 2019 17:42 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAmazon rolled out its latest effort to conquer the last mile of delivery, and it's named "Scout." Plus, an app that helped new U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get elected is spreading to other campaigns, with a catch. And the latest twist in New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichik's on-again off-again relationship with Microsoft Surface tablets on the NFL sidelines. And a mildly profane installment of the Random Channel. With GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, civic editor Monica Nickelsbu...
Week in Geek: Microsoft's $500M housing bet
January 19, 2019 18:09 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBAs two of the world's most valuable companies, Amazon and Microsoft have created mind-boggling wealth and economic vitality in the Seattle region. But around them, housing prices have skyrocketed and the number of people experiencing homelessness has spiked as the rising tide of the tech industry fails to lift all boats Now the two tech giants are taking on the housing crisis, but their approaches are as different as the companies themselves. Which will be more effective? That's one of the t...
A better life without a smartphone?
January 16, 2019 21:01 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBWith his AT&T Cingular Flip 2 in hand, Michael Valeri genuinely believes he’s living a better life for himself without a smartphone, and he’s interested in teaching people how they can do it, too. And the distinction is important — he doesn’t want to tell people why they should give up their iPhones, but rather how to survive if they do. He spoke with GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, who wrote about Valeri here: https://www.geekwire.com/2019/can-live-without-smartphone-flip-phone-fan-done-13...
Groceries, Divorce and Facebook
January 12, 2019 14:58 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBWe're back! John Cook, Monica Nickelsburg and Todd Bishop get the GeekWire Podcast rolling for 2019 with our weekly news discussion, exploring the potential implications of Jeff Bezos' divorce for Amazon and the Seattle region, explaining why Facebook needs its Uber moment, and debating the finer points of modern grocery shopping. Go to geekwire.com/podcast for links and more info.
Libraries in the Digital Age
December 26, 2018 13:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBNew York Public Library’s Tony Ageh was recently in Seattle to talk about libraries’ digital transformation. Ageh made the point that tech now permeates pretty much all of a library’s operations. But in many ways, it's a good thing that libraries have been behind other organizations in adopting technology. Highlights from Ageh's conversation with GeekWire contributor Frank Catalano at Seattle Public Library.