Is the Vision Pro Worth it Now?
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of the Waveform Podcast, the hosts discuss various tech news and topics, including their experiences with April Fool's Day pranks, the growing concern over Apple's podcast subscription feature, and the exciting new updates to Vision Pro's shared experiences. They also delve into the future of RCS support for iPhones and the potential impact on the messaging ecosystem. The conversation touches on product placements in media and the anticipation surrounding the Xiaomi SU7 electric vehicle.
Takeaways
- 🎉 The hosts of the Waveform podcast are Marquez, Andrew, and David, and they discuss various tech-related topics in their episodes.
- 🚀 April Fool's Day is a time for companies to make announcements that may or may not be jokes, sometimes testing the waters for potential products or features.
- 🤖 The hosts mention an April Fool's prank by their team involving a short video with CGI Tesla Bots, which many viewers believed to be real.
- 🎥 Discord accidentally created a viral video by looping a promotional video for their new loot boxes in their app, leading to over 200 million views on YouTube within 24 hours.
- 🎧 Apple Podcasts has introduced a subscription feature that takes a percentage of creators' revenue, leading to concerns about platform dominance and content discoverability.
- 📈 The hosts discuss the challenges of podcast discoverability and the importance of RSS feeds in allowing for open distribution of podcast content.
- 🚗 The conversation shifts to discussing the Xiaomi SU7, an electric vehicle with impressive specifications and competitive pricing.
- 🔋 The Xiaomi SU7 offers different versions with varying ranges, horsepower, and price points, aiming to compete with established brands like Tesla.
- 📱 Xiaomi's ecosystem includes integration with their smartphones and other devices, offering potential for seamless connectivity between products.
- 🌏 The hosts contemplate the likelihood of the Xiaomi SU7 coming to the United States, considering factors such as brand recognition and market demand.
- 🔄 The Waveform podcast ends with a trivia game related to technology and past experiences of the hosts.
Q & A
What was the main topic of discussion in the Waveform podcast episode?
-The main topic of discussion was April Fool's Day pranks and specifically, the prank done by the podcast hosts and other companies.
What was the prank done by the podcast hosts on April Fool's Day?
-The hosts created a fake April Fool's Day short video, similar to the previous year, with CGI robots in the background, making it appear as an accidental upload.
How did people react to the accidental upload prank by the podcast hosts?
-People were initially confused and intrigued, thinking the hosts actually had Tesla Bots. Some even asked if the robots were real, showing the prank was quite convincing.
What was one of the other April Fool's pranks mentioned in the podcast?
-One of the other pranks mentioned was by the company Mode, which made a fake announcement about a keyboard with a MagSafe charging pad on the back.
What was the outcome of Discord's April Fool's prank with Loop loot boxes?
-Discord's prank led to a video getting 221 million views on YouTube within 24 hours due to a looping video feature on Discord, making it the fastest-growing YouTube video at the time.
What was the main concern expressed by the hosts about Apple's new podcast subscription feature?
-The main concern was that Apple's subscription feature could potentially lead to a consolidation of podcast distribution and limit the discoverability of podcasts outside of the Apple platform.
What was the issue with Apple highlighting podcasts that had signed up for the subscription feature?
-The issue was that it seemed like Apple was prioritizing these podcasts in their browse section, which could be seen as promoting the subscription feature while potentially alienating other podcast creators.
What was the hosts' view on the importance of RSS in podcasting?
-The hosts believe that RSS is a crucial aspect of podcasting as it allows for a more open and discoverable ecosystem, and they are concerned about any attempts to move away from this model.
What was the reaction of the hosts to the news of Google Podcasts being discontinued?
-The hosts expressed disappointment and a sense of frustration, as it was another instance of Google discontinuing a product that users had come to rely on.
What was the main point of discussion regarding the future of podcasting?
-The main point was the importance of discoverability and the potential impact of platform-specific features and subscription models on the open nature of podcast distribution.
Outlines
🎙️ Podcast Introduction and April Fool's Day Discussions
The hosts introduce themselves and discuss the episode's theme, which revolves around April Fool's Day pranks and events. They share their experiences and opinions on various April Fool's Day announcements from companies, including their own podcast's prank and the reactions they received. They also discuss the fine line between jokes and actual product announcements, and how companies use this day to test the waters for new ideas.
🤖 The Impact of April Fool's Day on Social Media and CGI
The conversation shifts to the impact of April Fool's Day on social media, highlighting a specific prank involving a studio tour and CGI robots. The hosts discuss the role of CGI in creating realistic visuals, as exemplified by the work of Krispy, a team known for their YouTube CGI contributions. They also touch on the reactions from the audience and how some were convinced by the prank, including a neuroscientist who thought the robots were real.
💡 The Business of April Fool's Day Pranks and Podcast Subscriptions
The hosts delve into the business side of April Fool's Day pranks, discussing how companies use these events to promote their products or test audience reactions. They also talk about the controversy surrounding podcast subscription models, particularly Apple's 30% cut on podcast subscriptions. The conversation includes the impact of these subscription models on podcast discoverability and the potential for platform monopolization.
📈 Apple Podcasts' Subscription Feature and its Implications
The discussion focuses on Apple's podcast subscription feature and how it affects podcast creators and listeners. The hosts express concerns about the potential for Apple to dominate podcast distribution and the implications of locking content behind a paywall. They also discuss the challenges of creating additional content for subscriptions and the importance of maintaining a broad audience reach.
🎧 The Future of Podcasting and the Role of RSS
The hosts debate the future of podcasting, emphasizing the importance of RSS in maintaining a free and open platform for content distribution. They discuss the potential for new platforms to emerge, focusing on discoverability and creator support. The conversation also touches on the challenges of monetizing podcasts and the potential for innovative solutions that benefit both creators and listeners.
📱 The Impact of Product Placement in Media
The hosts discuss the prevalence of product placement in media, particularly in TV shows and movies. They share observations from a recent series that featured prominent Samsung product placements. The conversation explores the effectiveness of such placements and how they can subtly influence viewer perceptions and purchasing decisions.
🏎️ The Xiaomi SU7: An Electric Vehicle with a Difference
The hosts talk about the Xiaomi SU7, an electric vehicle that has garnered significant attention for its design and specifications. They discuss the vehicle's pricing, performance, and the potential market for it, especially in China. The conversation also includes speculation on the vehicle's possible international release and the challenges of shipping and selling it in different markets.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡April Fool's Day
💡Waveform Podcast
💡Krispy
💡Tesla Bot
💡Discord
💡Apple Podcast Subscriptions
💡RSS
💡Spotify
💡Patreon
💡YouTube Shorts
💡IGN April Fools
Highlights
The West Coast and East Coast rivalry is mentioned in a humorous way by the podcast hosts.
Marquez, Andrew, and David discuss their experiences with April Fool's Day pranks and reactions.
The hosts share their thoughts on the quality of April Fool's Day pranks they've seen this year.
A detailed account of the podcast hosts' own April Fool's Day prank involving a studio tour and CGI.
The hosts touch on the topic of companies using April Fool's Day to test the waters for potential products or features.
An interesting story about a keyboard company's April Fool's prank involving a MagSafe charging pad.
The hosts discuss the concept of 'viewbotting' on YouTube and how it played a role in their own prank.
The team shares their thoughts on Apple's new podcast subscription feature and its potential impact on creators.
A discussion on the importance of discoverability in podcasts and the challenges faced by creators.
The hosts express their concerns about the potential monopolization of podcast platforms.
An interesting insight into how RSS feeds work and their significance in the podcasting ecosystem.
The team talks about the end of Google Podcasts and the implications for users and the podcasting community.
A discussion on the future of podcasting, including the potential for integrated advertising and subscription models.
The hosts share their thoughts on the role of podcast platforms in discoverability and user experience.
An interesting debate on the merits of different podcast players and the importance of a diverse ecosystem.
The team talks about their experiences with Google products and the frustration with their discontinuation.
A discussion on product placement in TV shows and movies, and its effectiveness compared to other advertising methods.
Transcripts
the West Coast has like a couple hey
what did you just say what did you East
Coast baby oh my God they have good
weather though and other stuff no
just they got St with you look name one
good thing that's come from the West
Coast me
me what the
hell
incorrect
all right what is up people of the
internet welcome back to another episode
of the waveform podcast we're your hosts
I'm Marquez I'm Andrew and I'm David
this past week was April 1st did you
guys see anything good on April Fool's
Day this year I feel like I didn't very
little very little I mean ours was
fantastic ours was dope yeah but I I
feel like I didn't see much as far as
other company announcements we did one
we did one we did okay just you know
what's funny about that we we so we made
one April Fool's Day short which is
similar to last year but it was the uh
pseudo Studio Tour accent upload with
the uh the robots in the background yeah
and you nailed it with the accidental
upload title I think that really was the
icing on the key that was I I loved it
but then it like keeps it's a short so
it's going to keep showing it to people
after but it in YouTube shorts it
doesn't really show the date of upload
like kind of anywhere unless you click
in and like look for it yeah so people
are seeing it on April 2 and then April
3rd and they're like what wow you guys
have you guys have Tesla Bots that's
kind of cool it was an incredibly well
done CGI job by the team at so Krispy
which they do a lot of CGI stuff all
over YouTube you kind of don't really
notice until you like peel back the
curtain realize how much they do but
they helped us out with it and it looks
very very realistic so yeah it's kind of
out there we're still getting texts from
people saying you guys have you guys
have Tesla vots actually um I know that
Samar doesn't listen to this podcast but
he's a neuroscientist and he uh texted
me and said dude were you there are the
robots there and I was like bro I'm
sorry my mom does watch this podcast and
she thought they were real so that was
April fools just so you know but uh I I
literally didn't see anything good I saw
one small one and I'm apologizing for
talking about keyboards again but this
company mode they make awesome keyboards
but their like logo on the back of it is
a circle and they just like made a fake
one about how that logo on the back is
now mag safe charging pad and so it's
just a whole ass keyboard upside
down put mag safe Chargers everywhere
it's fine is this in the realm of like
company announces product that might be
a good idea on April 1st to see if it's
actually I don't know if it's a good
idea to have like a $300 keyboard upside
down so you can charge your phone on the
bottom so definitely a joke yes but also
I feel like I've seen a lot more of
those lately where Like It's upsetting
that it's not thing companies will
announ I wish I had a good example of
this but they'll announce something that
seems kind of pseudo realistic but maybe
kind of a bad idea but it's April 1st so
if if it bombs or if everyone goes haha
funny joke they can go yeah it's yep
it's a joke but if people go wow I would
have really liked this and they go oh
yeah no yeah of course good thing this
is actually real because they were
testing the waters right I don't know
did you guys see the IGN April fools
video the Virtual Boy Pro
really it was it's essentially a switch
strapped to someone's eyeballs it's it's
pretty funny is it only red uh no it has
the joycons on the side God nice um yeah
blue sky made shorts but like actual
shorts you can wear and I just sort of
feel like that's really overdone yeah um
extremely overdone Tesa did that already
yeah they did yeah they did and then
Ellis and I went to this like thing in
the city that was a it was like a short
like story festival and every time a new
person came out to read a new short
story they would be wearing a different
pair of shorts and it's just like okay
guys it's a little overdone at this
point yeah yeah um funny but but one
that is actually our first story that
was an April Fool's thing to start with
and turned out being really hilarious uh
so Discord made Loop loot boxes which
for those that are not deep in the
gaming community uh loot boxes are
extremely controversial depending on how
you give them to players there have been
times when you have to buy loot boxes
and you can get items out of them and
it's like a good way to monetize your
game but also people hate them there are
times when you in OverWatch you get loot
boxes for free just depending on how
many times you play the game and people
like him in that sense in OverWatch one
of the reasons just cuz I know someone's
going to say not everyone loved them in
OverWatch but like it used to be the
only way you could get the Skins so like
yes you got some for free but if there
was one skin you really wanted it was
basically incent iing you to like buy
more skins then they added coins and
some other stuff and I think it's okay
now and then Star Wars
Battlefront blew up their entire game
because of loot boxes it was it was a
whole thing it was a whole thing anyway
um so Discord made loot boxes for
Discord which was sort of like a joke
thing but also actually exists where
basically you can like open these loot
boxes and get virtual icons that are
emotes you can use in Discord so people
use emotes all the time if you're
subscribed or on Twitch if you're
subscribed to certain channels there's
special emotes for it so Discord is sort
of they're trying to become twitch it's
really big in Discord having custom
emotes for servers and not only that but
then if you have Nitro you can use them
on other people's servers so like our
server has a bunch of custom emotes of
all sorts of different things so they
launched a thing recently which was like
Discord quests where if you're streaming
it on Discord and you can get other
people to watch your stream it gives you
special quests and then if you complete
those Quest then you like get special
emotes and stuff and also Nitro
subscriptions but uh the thing that
ended up being funny is they launched
these loot boxes they made a video for
the launch that they released on April
1st mhm they also put that video in
Discord as like a what's new update
thing that automatically pops up when
you launch Discord and they also made it
Loop and they didn't understand that
doing that would count as a view on
YouTube because it embedded the YouTube
video they embedded a looping YouTube
video as a Discord popup for every
Discord user yes so sick hack within
within 24 hours the video got 221
million views on YouTube guys I have an
idea it is now the fastest growing
YouTube video ever oh wow they
accidentally viewbotted their own they
accidentally made a working viewbot for
yeah not quite viewbotting but yeah it
is pretty hacky sort of like a viewbot
is not real people this is real people
upload opening this app and watching at
least once this video they watch it a
ton of times cuz it's automatically
looped yeah there are people viewbot by
um like embedding it into a popular
website so it's just Auto playing on
like this side so it's like you're not
really watching it but a twitch stream
might get a bunch of views that way or a
YouTube video might get a bunch of views
that way so like kind of not exactly but
um yeah it got a stupid what did it pass
what was the uh the GTA 6 uh there was
GTA I don't don't ask me how I know this
the top videos were a Mr Beast video
Will Smith slapping Chris Rock another
Mr Beast video and then the GTA 6 video
and now this yeah the GTA 6 video was 93
million views in 24 hours this was like
221 million views in smoked it hours
because again it looped on like everyone
who opened discords we're not going to
get a record holder for a while yeah but
this is like obviously not real has the
Asis big Asis but I think it's still
count like when you see the YouTube
record lists half of them are always
music videos and you're like H does that
really count it's like yeah that counts
people watched it like a new K-pop video
will drop and it'll be like the fastest
video to a billion views and you're like
should this count I guess so I guess
this is a little different but it's
still I think this counts yeah yeah it
is funny it luckily it doesn't seem like
they monetize the video
um oh God imagine unskippable wow that
would have been if they dropped some
unskippable mid rolls in there that
would have been a I think that's why
they didn't monetize the video because
it was going to autoplay in people's uh
Discord and they didn't want to force
people to watch ads before they watch
the update good idea yeah which is a
good idea but they could have made a lot
of money on that 221 million views um
apparently like even one of the software
developers in their internal Discord was
like how is this video getting so many
views like they didn't understand what
was going on it was just part of their
joke that seems so obvious I mean in
hindsight it seems so obvious but yeah I
think that they didn't understand that
like embedding a video into the client
would actually make it see as a view and
then making it Loop like there's always
it's always kind of ambiguous like if
you watch the same video multiple times
does that count as two views or does
that because it's from the same IP not
count as two views generally do you know
the answer it's generally two views yeah
it is if I watch an entire video twice
through it's two views okay now if you
sit there and refresh over and over and
watch one second of the video 10 times
YouTube I think by that point is smart
enough to realize that that's not 10
views but yeah if I watch the whole
thing and it loops and I watch the whole
thing again that's two yeah okay and the
video that they made is very short it's
like 30 seconds long so this is the
perfect storm it's funny I didn't
actually see it despite logging in to
Discord twice that day cuz it like pops
up on the corner as a loop box and it
like moves I didn't even realize it was
going to be an fulls thing but I thought
it was hilarious because the way to
click out of it was wasn't just an x
button it was a button that said I
didn't ask and like you just clicked
that and it went away like it was like
oh here's your loot box it's like
shaking get ready to open it and then
there's just a thing that's like didn't
ask I don't remember ask you clicked out
of it I thought that was 22 Yeah so
maybe if they had forced it upon more
people it would be it be 500 it could be
bigger it could be way bigger yeah um so
I just thought that was a little funny
like YouTube thing it was just meant to
be like a dumb April fools thing it just
became the fastest growing video on
YouTube of all time that was crazy so
that was fun that was very funny yeah
yeah um okay next up we have apple is
now highlighting podcasts that yeah we
need Segway I need a better segue sorry
you got to think of something okay
speaking wait I got it okay I don't
actually have anything I'm going to do
it on the
Fly speaking of loot
boxes
apple is
looting it's the
podcasters that make podcast on Apple
podcast for
30% with this new subscription feature
of their money oh yeah
[Music]
oh bars okay okay the flow there was
impeccable I I haven't thought of
anything prior okay out Discord loot
boxes
boxes apple boxes
Apple So speaking of Apple yeah uhhuh oh
okay yeah okay okay so we got there yeah
I think in
2021 Apple launched this new podcast
subscriptions feature which is
effectively supposed to be patreon for
Apple podcasts um you can do multiple
different things like give exclusive
episodes you can give Early Access it's
it's basically exactly patreon however
Apple you know got to take their cut
because it's Apple so if you sign up to
be a podcast that uses the Apple podcast
subscription feature they take 30% of
your Revenue yeah for the first year and
15% for every subsequent year jesz yeah
so it's it's a lot and you can probably
see why people probably don't want to
sign up for this because like I don't
know locking yourself into there's a
whole discussion around this and like a
big part of it is podcasts are one of
the only things so far that have not
necessarily been like locked down by a
platform because they're rsis well
because they're RSS based they're like
one of the last remaining rss-based
things that is just a feed it's a fire
hose that can be captured by any any
client okay hear me out this is probably
a terrible idea Apple don't do this but
but you know how get ready to bleep this
you know how we had SMS which is just
like the thing that carriers supported
and then Apple went H we want to build
something that does more media and Rich
and bigger files blah blah and they just
made iMessage and it just straight up
didn't need SMS you could use it over
the Internet Apple podcast is so big and
so dominant that if they just went RSS
is like whatever but we want to do this
Rich ecosystem thing here where we have
subscriptions and tiers and all this
stuff we're just going to build it
separately and people will upload to our
thing
they could do that right well they're
not actually dominant Spotify is the
most popular podcast player in the world
I didn't know that okay yeah Spotify has
most of the the same thing applies to
them Spotify could do that yeah I guess
it would be you would need some sort of
dominance already to pull that off and
they had the dominance with iTunes but
when Spotify started doing podcast
somehow they it was so successful they
were able to transition so many of their
music listeners over to podcast
listeners okay that's good then which is
pretty crazy all right um anyway so they
made this feature you know and some
people signed up some people didn't but
just recently there was this report out
of uh semaphore that now in the browse
section of Apple podcasts they noticed
that five of the seven of the
recommended podcasts were channels that
had signed up for the subscription
feature and they found that to be a
little bit like sketch so that doesn't
shock me at all well how YouTube might
highlight channels that use their new
features that wouldn't shock me at all
yeah but I feel like this is so the
thing about podcasts like I said is like
RSS is this big fire hose anyone can tap
into and apple is sort of trying to get
people to now focus on using Apple
podcast because if you have apple
podcast subscriptions and you're like
pulling people towards Apple podcast as
the only place to get the bonus episodes
and the early episodes and that kind
kind of stuff that you're inherently not
going to use any of your other options
and then it's like oh if I want to
subscribe to this Channel and get early
access to episodes I can no longer I
have to use an iPhone this is the same
thing as the Department of Justice it's
the same thing yeah like you have to use
an iPhone to be able to get your early
podcast stuff which is like not
something Apple should be able to own
that's why yeah like we've looked into
this cuz we look at any podcast type of
things for waveform obviously and like
when we originally saw this one we just
release episodes when they're out like
we've been pitched a million times on a