Tech Used to Be Bleeding Edge, Now it’s Just Bleeding
02/02/24 • 67 min
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Ten years ago, Big Tech reached a peak. Facebook had wormed its way into the lives of billions of people. The mainstream news covered iPhones releases like they were Taylor Swift concerts. Elon Musk was promising to colonize Mars and fill the streets with self-driving cars. In 2024, the wheels have come off all these dreams. Musk has filled the sky with satellites, but no colonists, and constantly fights people on X. Self-driving cars are killing people. Apple has released a $3,500 VR headset that’s been met with middling reviews. And Facebook’s only recent innovation is eating its own tail to churn out massive profits.
How did it come to this? This week on Cyber, PR provocateur and tech critic Ed Zitron stops by to tell us about everything he saw at the Consumer Electronics Show, the problem with most tech journalism, and why we all turned against Big Tech. He’ll explore these topics more in depth on his new podcast, Better Offline, which launches later this month.
Stories discussed in this episode:
How Tech Outstayed Its Welcome
Cyber Live is coming to YouTube. Subscribe here to be notified.
Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ten years ago, Big Tech reached a peak. Facebook had wormed its way into the lives of billions of people. The mainstream news covered iPhones releases like they were Taylor Swift concerts. Elon Musk was promising to colonize Mars and fill the streets with self-driving cars. In 2024, the wheels have come off all these dreams. Musk has filled the sky with satellites, but no colonists, and constantly fights people on X. Self-driving cars are killing people. Apple has released a $3,500 VR headset that’s been met with middling reviews. And Facebook’s only recent innovation is eating its own tail to churn out massive profits.
How did it come to this? This week on Cyber, PR provocateur and tech critic Ed Zitron stops by to tell us about everything he saw at the Consumer Electronics Show, the problem with most tech journalism, and why we all turned against Big Tech. He’ll explore these topics more in depth on his new podcast, Better Offline, which launches later this month.
Stories discussed in this episode:
How Tech Outstayed Its Welcome
Cyber Live is coming to YouTube. Subscribe here to be notified.
Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
How to Read Leaked Datasets Like a Journalist
We live in a golden age of data. Every day, hacktivists release terabytes of data on sites like DDoSecrets, but sorting through it all requires some technical knowledge. What if you don’t know XML from SQL let alone how to write a simple Python script?
Micah Lee is the director of information security for The Intercept and he’s on Cyber today to talk about his new book: Hacks, Leaks, and Revelations. The book is a manual for people who want to learn how to parse and organize hacked datasets. It also contains stories of how Lee and others handled famous cases such as Blueleaks, neo-Nazi Discord chat rooms, and the Parler leak. If you’re not interested in diving into corporate or government secrets, you might learn something about how to protect your own data.
Hacks, Leaks, and Revelations: The Art of Analyzing Hacked and Leaked Data
Stories discussed in this episode:
How to Authenticate Large Datasets
Tech Companies and Governments Are Censoring the Journalist Collective DDoSecrets
Cyber Live is coming to YouTube. Subscribe here to be notified.
Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
AI Deepfakes Are Everywhere and Congress is Completely Out of Their Depth
An AI-generated Biden called voters in New Hampshire ahead of the primary and told them to stay home. X locked down the search term “Taylor Swift” after AI-generated nudes of the pop giant flooded the platform. In the wake of both scandals, Congress has struggled with how to fight back against the flood of fake bullshit. Keeping the world from drowning in fakes affects all of us, but some of the cures sound worse than the sickness.
This week on Cyber, Motherboard Senior Editor Janus Rose and Fight for the Future’s Lia Holland come on to talk about the limits of legislation around AI-generated scams and abuse.
Stories discussed in this episode.
Congress Is Trying to Stop AI Nudes and Deepfake Scams Because Celebrities Are Mad
Taylor Swift Is Living Every Woman’s AI Porn Nightmare
‘Palworld’ Is Tearing the Internet Apart
An AI-Generated Content Empire Is Spreading Fake Celebrity Images on Google
Cyber Live is coming to YouTube. Subscribe here to be notified.
Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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