Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 5 to 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.
This week we discussed:
Terry and Heather are away on vacation. I’m sitting in with Pierre Landry.
Pokemon Go continues to capture everyone’s imagination. This past week, Brooklyn-based Nick Johnson became the first player to publicly confirm that he had caught all 142 Pokémon that are available in the US. It took a lot of work, according to a Business Insider article, including hiring an Uber to drive him in circles to catch one of the last Pokémon he needed. Desperate times call for desperate measure.
Pokemon Go isn’t all fun and games. It’s big business too. Apple could take in close to $3 billion in revenue from Pokemon Go in the next one to two years, as gamers buy stuff like PokeCoins in-app, according to analysts and a report in The Guardian. Apparently, Apple keeps about 30% of revenue from apps like this on iOS. Pokémon Go’s ratio of paid users to total users was 10 times that of Candy Crush, the hit game from King Digital that generated more than $1billion of revenue in both 2013 and 2014. Users in the United States are spending far more time playing the game than they are using Facebook or WhatsApp, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower. So, it’s looking like another cash windfall for Apple.
Our real-like Tony Stark/Iron Man has published his master plan for the next ten years. Last week, Tesla‘s Elon Musk unveiled his Master Plan, Part Deux. He also looked back on his first Master Plan (and the progress was astounding to read). What’s next for Elon, Tesla… And our collective future? 1. Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage. 2. Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments. 3. Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning. 3. Enable your car to make money for you when you aren’t using it. And, that’s just for Tesla. Let’s see what’s next for SpaceX!