Nexus Special #57: New Year’s Eve 2017

A lot happened in the world of technology in 2017! Ian R Buck, Brian Mitchell, and Ryan Rampersad analyze the major stories to glean lessons about what is coming in the future.

A lot happened in the world of technology in 2017! Ian R Buck, Brian Mitchell, and Ryan Rampersad analyze the major stories to glean lessons about what is coming in the future.


Episode Summary
00:00:00 | Intro
00:00:30 | News

Net Neutrality defeated again

The Extra Dimension #22: Net Neutrality › The Nexus

Apple relents to Pros, tells us that they will make a new Mac Pro, eventually
Android apps on Chromebooks
Blockchain being used in many unconventional areas

Turkeys

Bitcoin!
Amazon-Google feud coming to a head
Amazon buys Whole Foods
CyanogenMod became LineageOS
Project Treble in Android 8 has the potential to radically improve the update cycle of third-party devices, and make it much easier to create custom ROMs

Second Opinion #30: Android 8.0 Oreo Review › The Nexus

Android Go
That Eclipse

Nexus Special #54: Solar Eclipse 2017 › The Nexus

ARKit, ARCore
Apple admits that it lowers the clock speed on phones that have older batteries to avoid having them shut down under heavy load

A Message to Our Customers – Apple

KRACK Attack

PodKit #33: Prototypical Fun Stuff › The Nexus

00:58:52 | Products

Ryzen

First major release from AMD since the let down of Bulldozer years ago, and the price + performance specs really shine through the lineup, and it drove reactions from Intel
Hold The Light Still | Control Structure #127 – YouTube

Nintendo Switch

It’s cool and fun
It’s amazing how well Nintendo treats its fans and customers…
Second Opinion #27: Nintendo Switch Review › The Nexus

Xbox One X & PS4 Pro

They are bumps in performance, I guess.

Samsung Galaxy S8

Likely the best all around phone of the year
Second Opinion #24: Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Review › The Nexus

Google Pixel 2/2 XL

Best Android photos from these phones…
The worst screen available in a premium flagship product of the year in the larger model
Second Opinion #31: Pixel 2 Review › The Nexus

iPhone X

The best looking iPhone
Big week, Notch?
Second Opinion #33: iPhone X Review › The Nexus

Apple Watch Series 3

Second Opinion #28: Apple Watch Series 3 Review › The Nexus

Apple TV 4K
iMac Pro

Highest end model is $14,000, entry level $5000, probably a good deal for that performance + screen

iPad Pro 10.5”

144 Hz display
It’s nice, but another iPad, nothing really to write home about

New Google Homes

A cheaper and almost just as capable product
A mess of early hardware difficulties, but definitely swept under the rug by now
Google Assistant on third-party smart speakers

More Amazon Echo things

Look: a thing for fashion, I guess
Show: a boxy echo with a huge screen, fairly large price for not much additional functionality
Spot: a smaller screen echo, could be useful, but limited to the Amazon
Various refreshes

Tesla Model 3
AirPods (late December 2016)

Praise the AirPods
Second Opinion #15: AirPods Review › The Nexus

01:45:58 | State of the Nexus

First full year of episodes being on YouTube

The Nexus – YouTube
Some shows (Second Opinion) do well because their metadata is searchable and have broader appeal
The rate of converting first-time listeners who stumbled across a review into subscribers has been incredibly low
Shows like PodKit and Control Structure that pull titles from something funny said in the episode are much less searchable
Should You Be Publishing Your Podcast on YouTube? – Ian R Buck – Medium

The Extra Dimension and Second Opinion have consistent schedules now, which has done wonders for download numbers
The Extra Dimension is broadcast on Frogtown Community Radio, which is exciting!

frogtownradio

Putting in timestamps for each segment of the episodes

Difficult to know how many listeners get utility out of it
Useful for putting YouTube ad breaks and radio reads in reasonable places

Future

CMSv3
Enthusiastic About Everything
Robots Will Steal Your Job audiobook
Short promotionals to put at the ends of episodes
More crossovers/teamups with other podcasters

02:13:42 | Outro
02:15:08 | Post-Show

This episode of Nexus Special has a Fringe episode. You should really listen to The Fringe #459: NS #57 — We’re All Ryan Rampersad!

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