Nexus Special

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

• 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

• 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

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

Listen to more at The Nexus and follow us on Twitter and Google+ for our latest episodes and news.