[SPEAKER_03]: a factual data creation facility production.
[SPEAKER_02]: From the mountains of the great state of Tennessee, it's the O-F-N-T podcast.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, here's your host who admits he doesn't know what's going on, and also admits that he really doesn't want to know what's going on.
[SPEAKER_02]: Jim Schafer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the OF&T podcast episode 294, which I'm calling, Brain of Salt, as in, take every news report with one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess it's just a state of the modern news reporting if you can call it that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, I hope you've had a good week and have a good next week.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me shut up now and start this episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: tech news.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, as usual, I'll start off with the more bountiful Apple news.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I remember before the current doopily of mobile operating systems we now find ourselves living in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple news was often the least.
[SPEAKER_00]: What there was of it?
[SPEAKER_00]: I considered boring.
[SPEAKER_00]: Side-sandroid in iOS, we had Blackberry OS, POMOS, Symbian, and Let's Not Forget, Windows
[SPEAKER_00]: Those were exciting times.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I missed those days.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess as far as mobile operating systems go, all we have to look forward to is the time when AI becomes the operating system itself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe then other competitors will join in, bring back the excitement.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably not though.
[SPEAKER_00]: MacRumors.com reports that chipmaker TMC has begun informing major clients like the giant or fruit company that prices for the manufacturer of chips will be rising real soon now.
[SPEAKER_00]: These price hikes pertain to fabrication of chips below 5 nanometers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course this includes all modern Apple Silicon A and M chips.
[SPEAKER_00]: These price changes will make these chips the most costly component within iPhones and Macs, and dramatically could into Apple's precious profit margins, and we can't have that can we?
[SPEAKER_03]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this means that the price increase will be passed on to the loyal customers as usual.
[SPEAKER_00]: What the current economic conditions throughout the world, this price hike is like kicking somebody while he's down.
[SPEAKER_02]: Here's some unsolicited advice for you kids out there.
[SPEAKER_02]: Upgrade now and just hold on to that phone or computer until it stops working.
[SPEAKER_01]: Words of wisdom Lloyd.
[SPEAKER_01]: Words of wisdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple Insider.com is an article claiming that a new leak suggests that the next generation Apple iPhone Air will have two rear cameras.
[SPEAKER_00]: Besides a new series processor, that extra camera would be the only significant difference between the second generation iPhone Air and the current first generation model.
[SPEAKER_00]: This new camera will be a 48 megapixel wide-angle shooter.
[SPEAKER_00]: The camera bar will be sticking around, of course, which means that the new camera lens will be mounted horizontally.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, duh.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most of the components of the iPhone Air are mounted within the camera bar, which leaves room for the battery within the rest of the body of the phone.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this report turns out to be true,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's still when convinced me to purchase this model.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want a better battery life in a second stereo speaker.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you really need a second stereo speaker?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why yes, I really do.
[SPEAKER_00]: As I've stated before, since my retirement, the way I listen to music and podcast has changed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Before, listen to 99% of music and podcast utilizing earbuds, these days I mostly listen to content through the phone's speakers.
[SPEAKER_02]: You could always get yourself a small Bluetooth speaker, you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that, but then I'd have to pair to speak to the phone, and I'm inherently lazy, so that's Lucian is off the table for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Besides, I listen to content mostly while sitting upon the porcelain throne, shaving brush my teeth, and while taking a shower, huh?
[SPEAKER_02]: I see where that would be a problem for you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe the next generation of air pods will be
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure Apple is working on such AirPods as we speak, but when will they be available?
[SPEAKER_00]: Until that day, I don't see myself ever purchasing an iPhone Air.
[SPEAKER_00]: Speaking of which, despite that lone story last week that had some analyst firm named TD Cowen's predicting good things for the iPhone Air, more stories have surfaced, spelling doom and gloom for the Apple's thin phone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even the major Apple podcast again echo those early reports of low demand for the Air.
[SPEAKER_00]: While adding a wide angle lens to the camera setup would certainly help, battery life will be the only thing that can save this model.
[SPEAKER_00]: For now, I'm sticking to my prediction that the iPhone Air will stick around for another year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the less demand for that phone, except substantially, will go the way of the iPhone Mini.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I've begun seeing the calls for another iPhone Mini building up once again within
[SPEAKER_00]: You know Apple did listen once, but sales didn't reflect the demand the company was seeing in those comment sections back then.
[SPEAKER_00]: The iPhone Air unlike the Mini is something no one had asked for, but like the Mini, the problem with the air is with the battery life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Until battery technology improves, I will be stuck with these large somewhat thick phones for now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Rumors of that cheap MacBook which will run on an A-series chip instead of an M-series chip have started heating up.
[SPEAKER_00]: This story has jumped from the Apple Centric Tech sites, up until what can be considered general tech mainstream sites.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an article on theverge.com, which quotes Bloomberg.com, who quotes former supply chain
[SPEAKER_00]: With Mr. Quill himself, probably further quoting some unknown source of his, or he's just making his stuff up with the state of today's new sources that could be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyhow, this small-ish under 13-inch screen, this plain MacBook will come equipped with, will be of a quote, lower-end LCD display.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this laptop will join the Base Model iPad in missing Apple's predicted OLED Revolution.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm predicting we'll see this machine debut sometime next spring.
[SPEAKER_00]: Usbly during the annual worldwide developer's conference, better known as the WWDC, or WWDC.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're in the know and consider yourself to be cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also from the verge, this time quoting Leaker DeGirr, Mark German, who happens to work for Bloomberg, who's probably quoting a source he's cultivated with an apple.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I assume that this is most likely one of those controlled leaks I've talked about.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what's in this controlled leak?
[SPEAKER_00]: Be patient, I'm getting to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple has been promising an updated series digital assistant for years now.
[SPEAKER_00]: A year or so ago, they tried to convince us that this new and improved Siri was ready for prime time.
[SPEAKER_00]: But embarrassingly, Apple had to step back from that proclamation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Several Siri project higherings in Firings later, it appears that Apple has pretty much thrown in a towel of an internally developed AI-powered digital assistant.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead,
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple intends to pay Google $1 billion in order to use that company's Gemini large language model.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the backbone of the new smotter series.
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: Supposedly, this will entail a customized version of Gemini in order to protect user's privacy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll remind you that this is the same Gemini that gave us black and Asian Nazi soldiers and race in gender swapped historical figures.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're supposed to trust results from this Google product?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully this is just a temporary situation until Apple gets around to developing its own large language model.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have to assume that Apple is still trying to develop their own LLM, but as face delays because unlike other companies, they're trying to do it the right way.
[SPEAKER_00]: By right, I mean compensating entities for the use of their content instead of just vacuuming it up from the internet for use in their particular LLM without compensation to the creators
[SPEAKER_00]: What's your take on this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not asking you a mask in the audience.
[SPEAKER_00]: In news that just broke this morning, multiple articles are claiming that the future of Apple Fitness Plus is under review.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's a story that came out of nowhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: These articles all quote again, Bloomberg's Mark German.
[SPEAKER_00]: The best article on this that I found on such short notice was on MacRumors.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to the article, Apple Fitness Plus is Apple's weakest digital offering.
[SPEAKER_00]: I must say I agree with this, more later, and the service suffers from high-churn and little revenue.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Apple Fitness Plus has a fiercely loyal fan base, albeit a small one, which makes it difficult for Apple to shut it down without a backlash.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's saving this service is that it's sufficiently inexpensive to operate.
[SPEAKER_00]: This makes Apple Fitness Plus cheaper to keep going than the financial effective negative headlines would have on the company.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, German says that Apple Fitness Plus is still on the chopping block.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unless the service's financial performance shows some improvement.
[SPEAKER_00]: Back in late 2020, when I first decided on making indoor cycling my main source of cardiovascular exercise, was a dedicated user of Apple Fitness Plus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Service was part of my subscription to the Apple One Service bundle, so why not use it?
[SPEAKER_00]: The main problem I had while using the service was that the instructor seldom gave cues as to how hard or easy I should be working.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's because you can't connect any fitness equipment to Apple Fitness Plus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, just your Apple Watch.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only data point you got were
[SPEAKER_00]: That isn't bothering me too much, but already being an old fart even back then.
[SPEAKER_00]: I found myself trying to keep up with the twenty-something year-old instructors, which put undue strain upon this old broken-down body of mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just not the type that can dial it back easily while being led during a cycling class.
[SPEAKER_00]: This resulted in me not being able to work out every day, though I tried to at the beginning.
[SPEAKER_00]: The result was that I had to take sometimes more than one recovery day between rides, and at one point I actually fell ill because I had exhausted myself too much.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, eventually I could have taught myself to not go as hard as the instructors while exercising, but my next problem was with the instructors themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like Peloton,
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple Fitness Plus has a small cadre of instructors, six to be exact, and that in itself isn't a bad thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the instructors seem to have been picked for their diversity sake, which Apple was praised for when Apple Fitness Plus first launched.
[SPEAKER_00]: I bet you can guess which ethnicity isn't represented amongst this group of cycle instructors if I were to guess that would be straight white males.
[SPEAKER_00]: You got it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, this in itself is in a problem, at least not for me, but a glaring omission, nonetheless.
[SPEAKER_00]: The two males amongst the cycling instructors are both of African descent and in my opinion of dubious sexual orientation.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I know I'm not supposed to care about that, but what can I say?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a product of my time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another problem I had was with the music play during the cycling classes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Almost all of it was hip hop and rap.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I had to get into some classic hip hop and rap music, but not the modern stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: Putting all these factors together made me feel as if Apple Fitness
[SPEAKER_00]: Rather, it was made for young, mostly coastal city residing females, so much for the mantra of inclusiveness that was the buzzphrase at the time this service debuted.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just made me look for alternative exercise services.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, Peloton was offering a free trial of their app, so I took them up on it and have never looked back.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know the current CEO of Peloton is the former head of Apple Fitness Plus.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope he doesn't turn Peloton into Apple's version of Fitness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple had a chance to buy Peloton a couple years ago when it stuck head hit Brock Bottom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps Apple will reconsider and buy Peloton in the future.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, time will tell.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last episode, I shared a report that CarlPay's nothing phone company had a deal with what has been described as being a sketchy internet clickbait form company named Vulky, wherever you pronounce it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It spelled V-I-L-Y-K-K-E, so you can decide for yourself how it should be pronounced.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, on Nothing's Phone 3A Lights Lock Screen, a feature called Lock Climps, delivers a rotating selection of wallpapers with clickable links.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you happen to click on one of those links, you are taken to a web page that gave a description of the wallpaper along with advertisements.
[SPEAKER_00]: I use this as an example that adds for appearing everywhere you look these days.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Apple is adding ads to the company's map application.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't have to tell you about Google inserting as everywhere they possibly can.
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had expressed my surprise at the nothing company would do such a thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to a recent article on 95 Google, nothing after apparently receiving some backlash.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's decided on doing the right thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, sort of.
[SPEAKER_00]: Though locked glimpse cannot be uninstalled, you can now disable it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yay!
[SPEAKER_00]: However, other bloatware loaded onto nothing-foam, including the 3A-light will be able to be removed going forward.
[UNKNOWN]: Yay!
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what we call Baby Step.
[SPEAKER_00]: Earlier this year, while I introduced the world's first tri-fold foldable phone, according to recent intertube rumors, none other than Samsung will be doing the same shortly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why anyone would want a tri-fold foldable phone is beyond my old-fought comprehension?
[SPEAKER_02]: I hear you, brother, I hear you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Besides looking stupid while doing things such as making phone calls, there's just so much that can go wrong with this form factor.
[SPEAKER_00]: Huawei's example has been prone to display problems and malfunctions, along with hinge failures.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unlike Huawei, Samsung's version of the tri-fold phone will be available in worldwide markets.
[SPEAKER_00]: At first it was reported that this Galaxy Tri-fold phone would only be available in China and South Korea.
[SPEAKER_00]: But as the new Galaxy Tri-fold makes its way through the approval stage, it appears this phone will be available in the UK, Europe and the U.S. markets.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is, if a article which appeared on 9-5 Google is to be believed, the article ends with the question, would you buy a Galaxy Z-tryfold?
[SPEAKER_00]: For me, that answer is a solid, no!
[SPEAKER_00]: I think for most people, at least here in the US market, the answer is the same as mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I wonder how much this monstrosity will cost one to purchase.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can answer that for you, it'll cost a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: Check I'm using, if you're a steady listener of this dreadful podcast, then you know that I use a Peloton indoor cycle for my cardio exercise needs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh yes!
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've talked about that usage, add nozium.
[SPEAKER_00]: When deciding to purchase a Peloton cycle, I was torn between which model to acquire.
[SPEAKER_00]: While the basic model of the cycle fit all my needs, the bike plus model had some convenience features that would come in handy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like a larger and overall better rotating monitor for off-bike exercises, an auto-resistant adjustments for example.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those weren't the reasons why I was considering to bike plus over the basic bike though.
[SPEAKER_00]: The basic bike model has been around since Peloton began back in 2014.
[SPEAKER_00]: The bike plus model debuted in 2020.
[SPEAKER_00]: I figured that opting for the plus model would provide some cushion from obsolescence.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the main reason I decided to go with the base model cycle was the X for $1,000 a more I'd wind up spending new buy-it skin-flint.
[SPEAKER_00]: Since then, the Bite Plus has been superseded by the Bite I.O.
[SPEAKER_00]: Only difference between it and the Bite Plus appears to be a new monitor with a camera mounted on it, but just use for tracking your movements on off-cycle exercises.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is in order to check your form.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, the verge is reporting that Peloton is issue day recall of 833,000 of its original bike plus models.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is because of a defect which can cause a seatpost to break and detach during use.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you can imagine the damage this can cause to one's lower body in other parts.
[SPEAKER_00]: This development has made me glad that I chose the basic model over the bike plus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now hold on a minute.
[SPEAKER_02]: Didn't the basic model bike also have a similar problem and recall back in 2023?
[SPEAKER_02]: This caused the recall of some 2 million bikes and many injuries.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I was aware of this when I purchased my bike in late 2024, but I also knew because of this defect, the Peloton would give that particular model the once over, and that the problem was already rectified.
[SPEAKER_00]: That recall and this new recall doesn't mean you have to send the whole bike back to Peloton.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, Peloton will send the user a new redesign seat and
[SPEAKER_00]: Until you receive the replacement parts, well you can take the chance and continue using your bike.
[SPEAKER_00]: My sole branded indoors cycles pedal crankshaft broke shortly after receiving it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It took a couple of months before I received the parts, and then I had to wait on a technician to come by my house and install it for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Though the sole brand's quality is highly regarded, Pellotons equipment is well above the quality of that particular sole indoor cycle model.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd say the Pellotons quality is slightly below that of a commercial gym indoor cycle.
[SPEAKER_02]: And you paid for that quality.
[SPEAKER_00]: I sure did, but it was only a few hundred dollars more than what I paid for that sole bike.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what you're saying?
[SPEAKER_00]: You get what you pay for.
[SPEAKER_00]: As far as other tech I'm using stuff, I'm happy to report that all of my tech seems to be functioning well, which is a good thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only future tech purchases I have my ION are years away.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those items are an Apple Watch Ultra, a tricked-out Mac Mini and a better possibly Apple branded display to go along with the Mini.
[SPEAKER_00]: That perhaps a MacBook Air with an OLED display when it becomes available.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can say that I've reached a high-level contentment with the tech I already have.
[SPEAKER_00]: The piece of tech that I used the most is my M413-inch iPad Pro with an Apple Magic keyboard attachment.
[SPEAKER_00]: I use it for writing, web browsing, and content viewing hours per day.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am planning on purchasing some new tech as gifts for my family members, but I won't be talking about that until I actually do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Entertainment News, one of the things that came along with the, just released Apple TV OS 26.1, was the revision of the Apple TV logo.
[SPEAKER_00]: Previously, the logo was a solid-wide Apple followed by TV plus, which was also in white.
[SPEAKER_00]: When putting up Apple TV or at the start of Apple original programming, the logo would be accompanied by a deep Netflix-like Today sound.
[SPEAKER_00]: With this recent TV OS update, the logo has dropped the plus sign and is shaded with various pastel colors.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead of the deep Tadun sound, now it's a short musical snippet.
[SPEAKER_00]: This new snippet was composed and I'm sure at great expense for Apple by someone named Finius, who just happens to be the name used by singer Billy Eilish's older brother.
[SPEAKER_00]: In my opinion, a new intro music is as boring as Billy Eilish's music.
[SPEAKER_02]: now you're being mean.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't help it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's in my nature.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, this upgrade has made TVOS all worth it for me.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now you're being facetious.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't help it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's in my nature.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now you're being repetitive.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't help it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's in my nature.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shall we continue?
[SPEAKER_00]: No thanks.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we've all had enough of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess we can chalk this change up to Apple's attention to detail.
[SPEAKER_00]: The company must have realized that there are a lot of streaming services with a plus in their names.
[SPEAKER_00]: Off the top of my head, we have Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, and ESPN Plus.
[SPEAKER_00]: The strapping the plus from Apple TV would let Apple TV kind of stand out from the others.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sound snippet that accompanied the original Apple TV logo with so Netflix like, I'm sure
[SPEAKER_00]: The pastel colors reflect those of Apple hardware products such as the colors available for the base model iPhone and the iPad and iPad Air models.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most consumers either won't notice or even care about this change.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's for myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: My notice, but don't really care about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: While checking out that new Apple TV logo and sound snippet, I decided to also check out the new Apple TV sci-fi series Pluribus.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first two episodes of the series were available, so I figured, why not?
[SPEAKER_00]: My lovely wife was busy watching her home country dramas on her iPad, so I actually had control of our television set.
[SPEAKER_00]: That and I had exalted myself of content to watch on YouTube.
[SPEAKER_00]: There'll be no spoilers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's common that the first episode is set up for the rest of the season, and that was the case here.
[SPEAKER_00]: I found it kind of boring.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, there were just enough tidbits to keep me interested.
[SPEAKER_00]: The second episode was better, but I came away with a feeling that like similar shows, the old series Lost comes to mind.
[SPEAKER_00]: The things will be dragged on before much of anything will be revealed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully the show's writers will, as they say, stick the landing at the end of this inaugural season.
[SPEAKER_00]: What I've watched so far, I'm liking Pluribus better than severance Apple's TV's highly acclaimed hit series of the last couple of years.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you are interested in watching Pluribus.
[SPEAKER_00]: expect they slow burn type of show, which is a good way to while away the incoming cold days of winter.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will impart one small spoiler though.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can think of Purabus as a satire of the whole COVID lockdown thing we experience and not so long ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another story that just broke this morning was that the head of the One's Great British Broadcasting Corporation has just stepped down.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was the result of a broadcast on the BBC's flagship news program Panorama, which featured a splice together clip, which made it appear that President Donald Trump instructed his supporters to storm the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Dr.
[SPEAKER_00]: Clip was manufactured from two different speeches given by the President on the same day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Was I surprised that the BBC had done something like this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, no, I wasn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just sort of thing has been going on for a while now by the BBC and I'd say most if not all modern mainstream media outlets.
[SPEAKER_00]: This all part of the trend which I realized started happening way back in 1986 or thereabouts.
[SPEAKER_02]: My dear old Grand Pappy told me to never trust a man with two first names.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I've heard that one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, resigned not too long ago, scandals such as this would have been blamed on some underlying who would be the one who would have been let go, only to be quietly re-hired at a later date after things died down.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know how this game is played?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Modern technology has made these misrepresentations easier to construct than ever.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that same technology also makes it easier to catch things like this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I gave up on mainstream news media for good, right after the George Floyd Summer of Love.
[SPEAKER_00]: Before that, I hadn't trusted the news media since the early 2000s.
[SPEAKER_00]: Be careful of how you get your news these days.
[SPEAKER_00]: Podcast News Below to what I call podcasting incorporated or is it
[SPEAKER_00]: So at the last 12 months of podcast production, drop 36% year over year, this that is from podcast analytics outfit, listen notes, I think there's three ways of looking at this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Either this lower output is big money back shows shutting down, more independent shows giving up, or combination of both.
[SPEAKER_00]: While I'm leaning towards the latter as the cause of this, the last couple years have seen the amount of money advertisers are willing to pay plummet along with the defunding of national public radio here in the good old USA.
[SPEAKER_00]: In PR was, and somewhat still is, a major release of podcasts.
[SPEAKER_00]: With that reduction of taxpayer funded aid, NPR has reduced the number of podcasts that
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't worry, most of not all of these podcasts were underperforming and won't be missed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many of these podcasts had production staffs which numbered in the dozens but had audience numbers which approached the miniscule numbers of this particular podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow, is that even possible?
[SPEAKER_00]: Shut up!
[SPEAKER_00]: These shows could have been done with 1-3 people on staff, utilizing something like a focus-right vocaster 2, which currently sells for $79, and a road NT-1 signature microphone, which goes for a Paltry $159.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, these shows were produced in professional studios, utilizing $6,000 Neumann mics, fed into the best audio equipment money can buy.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of celebrity podcasts have also folded.
[SPEAKER_00]: The most recent being the WTF podcast it hosted by Mark Maran.
[SPEAKER_00]: I covered this in a previous episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: With the younger generations attending towards making a living being a creator, many jumped on the podcast bandwagon, but found that not many can make a living from it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I started podcasting some seven years ago with no expectations of being able to make a living from doing it.
[SPEAKER_00]: If that had happened, well, so be it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I held a full-time job through their first five years of my podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: This shakeout was inevitable, and we haven't seen the last of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Standby for further contraction is former audio-only podcasters attempt to jump into the video realm.
[SPEAKER_00]: All said do will be disappointed also, and that's just the way it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was going to report on who the top podcasting hosting services are.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to tell you a number one is Spotify.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the continued downfall of one of the first podcast hosting services in existence, which was Lipson.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm burning a little long this week and my jaw is tired of yapping.
[SPEAKER_00]: The music is playing, and episode 294 of the OF&T podcast is coming to its end.
[SPEAKER_00]: As we hear in the area, brace for a cold snap.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you enjoyed this episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: I enjoyed making it for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you like what you heard, well you can make a donation using the link in the show notes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in all donations will be appreciated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Get always reach me at ofnpontcast at gmail.com if you're so inclined.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd enjoy hearing from you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I really would.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, don't listen to what they say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Watch what they do.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've said all I have to say now, so get off my lawn, stay skeptical, I'm out, see ya, I'll see you next week.
[SPEAKER_03]: That folks is the end of the show.