Welcome to our first show of the new segment “What the Tech Just Happened” on the TechSperience Channel. The Thursday edition focuses on What’s New in the World of Tech as we attempt to break it into byte size chunks for the tech savvy to consume.
Penny Conway and Rob McIntosh have fun in this episode chatting about some of the hot tech for the holiday season. Join us for this light edition as we Tech the Halls with holiday gear!
Host: Penny Conway
Co-Host: Rob McIntosh
Listen to more TechSperience podcasts.
This is a transcript of the Techsperience Podcast – Episode 28
Rob McIntosh:
According to Salesforce, shoppers who purchase products from AI powered recommendations buy 12% more units per transaction from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, compared to those who do not. AI powered 9% of this Cyber Monday’s record, 30 billion in sales globally. That’s up 13% from last year. The U.S. alone hit 8 billion, up 11% over last year. Some of our early winners this holiday season, the GoPro. GoPro’s total camera sales have jumped 120% from this time last year between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The HERO8 launched in October, accounted for 90% of that growth.
The other winners so far this year, the Roku Ultra, the Google Nest, Google Home Mini, and the Nintendo Switch. So, if you’re wondering what the tech just happened, listen in on the new segment here at the Techsperience Podcast Station with myself, Rob McIntosh and our host Penny Conway, as we have some fun talking tech, and the holidays.
Penny Conway:
Welcome to a brand new segment of Connections Techsperience. I am your host Penny Conway and I have our producer Rob McIntosh here with me today for our new segment called, “What the Tech Just Happened?” So each week, we are going to be bringing what has been going on in the tech world so you can get a recap of some of the highlights from the week and as well as knowing how to tackle your next week in tech. So Rob! I’m so happy that you are going to be on a microphone.
Rob McIntosh:
Wicked excited to be here. Usually I’m the guy behind the mic and now I get to be in front of it and actually talking with you Penny, which is going to be a heck of a lot of fun. So, looking forward to it.
Penny Conway:
Awesome, and we, Rob has been talking about doing a segment like this for months so we are so excited and can’t wait to hear how much you all love it. Looking at what the tech just happened — Cyber Monday and Black Friday just took place. Rob are you a Black Friday shopper?
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah, I’m not a Black Friday shopper. Little bit of a Cyber Monday shopper. I’m the guy now that likes to just kind of do things on the computer, but before you even get into that, I just want to say we are here on a very snowy day.
Penny Conway:
Oh very snowy.
Rob McIntosh:
And I started thinking about getting to work this morning as I’m getting into my four-wheel drive vehicle and I’ve got my GPS system going. And I’ve got my heated seats and my heated steering wheel, and you look around you and you’re like, “Wow. Look at the technology that I have here in the comfort.”
Penny Conway:
In the car.
Rob McIntosh:
In the car! And the comfort that I have coming to work, and it took me back to… We just did a podcast on generations, which by the way is coming up so, it’s a little sneak peek that you guys will hear that. And we did it on generations from the boomers all the way to the gen Z’s. And we started talking about the different technologies that were part of people’s lives growing up. And, of course, for me, the automobile obviously the changes in it. And I remember being at college and there was a huge snowstorm and I was coming from U Mass, coming back to my house in Chelmsford, so normally it’s probably about an hour and a half drive. It took me four hours. We had two feet of snow.
Penny Conway:
Oh my god.
Rob McIntosh:
I had a 73 Nova with rear wheel drive and a heater that didn’t work. (laughs). And I made it. So here I am today, in the world of technology and just like, “Wow. This is truly amazing.” So, it just fits into what’s going on now, you know? What the tech just happened? And, and that’s, look at automobiles and what the tech just happened?
Penny Conway:
Oh my god. That’s so true, but I’m not as technologically blessed in the automotive department because I bought a 16-year-old SUV from my boomer in-laws.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs).
Penny Conway:
And they’re now driving the latest and greatest car with all of the tricks, and I think the most advanced feature that I have is I do have a heated seat, but-
Rob McIntosh:
Cool isn’t it?
Penny Conway:
That’s about, and I have a defroster, so I, I guess that’s all I need in the snow (chuckles).
Rob McIntosh:
And every now and again, you kind of forget that you had that heated seat on and you’re like, “Ooh, hey. Ah-ha. All right.”
Penny Conway:
Oh no. They get hot. They get really hot. (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
I think I’m done flipping you over.
Penny Conway:
I saw a meme the other day that said, the reason they call them heated seats is because rear defroster was already taken.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs). I like it.
Penny Conway:
(laughs). So, while we’re driving our cars, the thing about Cyber Monday or Black Friday and Cyber Monday is that it really doesn’t end. It doesn’t really start there anymore either. You see retailers and even car dealers I think are one of my favorites that are advertising their Black Friday sales sometime in October.
Rob McIntosh:
Yup.
Penny Conway:
Um, but people go crazy over Black Friday. And from what I have read, um, results wise from Black Friday, sales are up 14%-
Rob McIntosh:
Wow.
Penny Conway:
– from 2018.
Rob McIntosh:
Double digits. Wow.
Penny Conway:
Double digits. And you know, a couple of things that I was actually really surprised about when I was looking up, you know, kind of what the results were, I think I, actually, I shouldn’t be surprised. But Amazon is still number one. For a retailer, but Best Buy is still on the list which I thought was really interesting because Best Buy is holding on as a tech retailer. Like none before them ever, ever have.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah, there’s a lot that have come and gone. And I know that Walmart is giving everybody a run for their money now.
Penny Conway:
Oh my god! Yeah.
Rob McIntosh:
Everybody’s trying to emulate the whole Amazon experience and besides just what they offer, they’re trying to make sure that the whole user experience and the same day shipping or next day shipping is in line or on par with Amazon. There’s a lot of competition out there. And you’re right, Best Buy has been, I think, one of those companies that have held their own and probably because their product offerings and the way they bring it to market is just, you know, top notch so.
Penny Conway:
Right. Because we saw all their like, remember Radio Shack and Circuit City?
Rob McIntosh:
Do you remember Tech Hifi?
Penny Conway:
No (chuckles).
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah, they were huge. Tech Hifi is where you got all your audio. And if you were in college at the time, I mean you waited for… They didn’t call it Black Friday back then. I forget what it was, but you waited for that day where it all went on sale. And there were lines out, and then all of a sudden, Boom! Tech Hifi went away.
Penny Conway:
No. That’s one I haven’t even heard of.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah.
Penny Conway:
So, (chuckles).
Rob McIntosh:
Just don’t say, “Okay, Boomer.”
Penny Conway:
I know (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs). Go ahead. I know you want to.
Penny Conway:
So, I, Rob, in all fairness. I’m a Millennial, so “okay boomer” isn’t in my, vocab at this stage in my life, but it’s funny when you talk about the generations thing because you said that you mostly do all of your shopping online. I’ve been an online shopper, I never used to do it until Amazon Prime, and then, I can’t get enough of it. But, the Gen Z’ers were actually the ones that were out in stores shopping, like in droves. They were the people out there. Not the more Millennial or-
Rob McIntosh:
So why is that? Is there a trend going back to the brick and mortar?
Penny Conway:
I think so. And I think it’s one, immediate gratification. If I had to guess. I don’t have research in front of me, but the immediate gratification of shopping, but also I think that, you know, being a Millennial and maybe seeing the generation before me with Gen X, we got a little I think, almost cranky or grinchy about the holidays for a long time. And I don’t know why necessarily, but especially Gen X’ers, like my husband. He’ll probably kill me if, luckily he doesn’t listen to the podcast, don’t worry.
Rob McIntosh:
Luckily?
Penny Conway:
(laughs). But he absolutely is not a huge Christmas person and I know so many people our age that they’re like, “Oh, there’s just a lot of stress and a lot of obligation.” And there’s all that. And I think like the Gen Z’ers are now like, they’ve got sort of this freshness for life and are kind of wanting to get into the store and like see all the decorations and kind of like be happy. Like we all used to be happy.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs.) Until all this eavesdropping came along.
Penny Conway:
Until all the eavesdropping came along and like avoid people and all of this. But, I, it’s very promising to see I think on the retail end of things that retailers are going to maybe have a comeback of the brick and mortar and that immediate gratification, and the holiday spirit.
Rob McIntosh:
Right. Right. And you go back to the Macy’s Day Parade and you start to think about Macy’s and Gimbles and those days when it was all that window shopping going on. And like you said, walking into the store and feeling and touching things. So, it’s nice to see that the Gen Z’ers want that experience.
Penny Conway:
Yeah. We need a generation that loves people.
Rob McIntosh:
Yes, we do.
Penny Conway:
(laughs). So speaking of Black Friday and the holidays. Even if you’re not a Black Friday shopper, everyone usually always wants to know what the top tech trends. Like tech is, everything has tech right? Like my two-year-old’s toy has tech in it. So Rob, what do you think are maybe the top five tech toys, or things that people are going to be after for Christmas?
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah. I, without going into some of the papers here that we were rummaging through, I did this off the top of my head. You know you start thinking about all the AI stuff that’s going on out there and the music industry as well. I still think that those are going to be the hot toys. You know the Alexa enabled devices and those IOTs that we’ve talked about. Stay away because the security.
Penny Conway:
Yeah, refer back to October’s podcast (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
That’s right. But you know what? People are going to ignore that anyway and they’re going to do what makes life easier for them and they think it’s kind of fun. I still think that there’s going to be a lot of those Alexa types of things that are going to be purchased where people can make their house smarter.
Penny Conway:
Yeah.
Rob McIntosh:
So like a Roomba vacuum, you know, I think is going to be a pretty hot item because those when they first came out were $1,000 and now I think there was a Black Friday sale uh, on that, or I should say a Cyber Monday sale where it was down to $200.
Penny Conway:
Oh wow.
Rob McIntosh:
So you can sit, you know, and like, “Oh my gosh! We have company coming over.”
Penny Conway:
You can sit on your couch, talk to your Alexa.
Rob McIntosh:
Say, “Vacuum the house.”
Penny Conway:
And then talk your Roomba, or does your Alexa control your Roomba now?
Rob McIntosh:
You can set it so that, you know, it can see, “Oh my gosh. I think my house is the dirtiest on Tuesdays at 4:00. Alexa start vacuuming at 3:00.” (laughs).
Penny Conway:
God.
Rob McIntosh:
Like that’s crazy.
Penny Conway:
It’s like Judy from the Jetsons… Who is the maid in the Jetsons?
Rob McIntosh:
Judy was the robot from the Jetsons.
Penny Conway:
Judy was the robot?
Rob McIntosh:
Good and you’re a Millennial.
Penny Conway:
I know.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs).
Penny Conway:
Well, you know, I was also poor so we watched the old TV (laughs). We didn’t have the new cartoon stations.
Rob McIntosh:
We could go back on to that with the three stations and now we got 150 stations wherever that went.
Penny Conway:
There’s still nothing to watch.
Rob McIntosh:
There’s still nothing to watch. But, yeah. I still think that, those AI enabled things, a lot of the audio that’s out there now and some of the wireless speakers are going to be pretty hot. And I think the TVs now, all the new smart TVs, the 4k and they’re talking about 8k –
Penny Conway:
Oh my god.
Rob McIntosh:
– especially with 5G coming out and they’re saying that 5G is going to be huge in 2020. All of these things are going to be working much better together. Then the AI behind it is just going to explode. I think people are going to be migrating toward that because the price levels have gotten down where, you know, us poor people can actually afford it.
Penny Conway:
(laughs). The AI devices are, I’ve seen, I’m seeing commercials everywhere for them and one of the ones that actually makes me want to get one is, I think it might be Facebook’s console. Where the girl like burns dinner. Like takes a turkey or something out of the oven and she burns it, and calls her dad, and her dad’s walking her through cooking. And I don’t even know if I want this AI machine sitting on my counter, but like the experience that she’s having with her dad like over the thing. I’m like, “Oh my god! I want one of those!” (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah. I want to say that was like for the portal maybe.
Penny Conway:
Everyone has one. I don’t know
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah. And it’s funny that. I do know that commercial and the way they set it up was you didn’t realize that dad wasn’t somewhere else if I remember correctly. They kind of zoomed in and then-
Penny Conway:
Yeah. When they first came out. Yeah you always get the good commercial when it first comes out and then they chop it up as it goes.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah. So the first time I saw it I was like, “Oh, dad’s right there.” And then all of a sudden it zooms back and you realize that she’s talking on the Portal. And I was like, “Wow, that’s really cool.
Penny Conway:
But all those, it’s all of the, not only the things that make our life easier, but I think they’re really pushing tech that is connecting people. And back to that Gen Z thing, like people feel very disconnected from each other and like almost tech tools are out there to bring people back together. I’m getting all sentimental.
Rob McIntosh:
Ha-ha, you are.
Penny Conway:
It must be the lack of caffeine. (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
Back to the monster drinks. (laughs).
Penny Conway:
All right, what else? What else?
Rob McIntosh:
So, I was going through some of the sites and, I think that also exercise is still going to be huge obviously.
Penny Conway:
Oh totally.
Rob McIntosh:
You know, you’re looking at the Fitbits and there was one that came across that I thought was kind of cool and it’s a new scale. And they called it, and this is through, let me see if, I need to get-
Penny Conway:
Food scale or body scale?
Rob McIntosh:
It’s a body scale. Yup. It’s a body scale.
Penny Conway:
I’ll hang on. I’ll hang on. (chuckles).
Rob McIntosh:
It’s called the fit track. It’s a revolutionary new scale that lets you look inside your body. And the way it works is it’s the world’s smartest medical scale. So you simply step on it with your bare feet and it activates, activates the FitTrack’s patented dual BIA technology which monitors 17 key health insights. So it allows you to measure, track and trend your health data in real time. So there’s the commercial for it, but it’s kind of cool and I guess what it does is it says that it includes your body fat percentage, muscle and bone mass, hydration levels and more importantly, it can help you make smarter decisions about your health.
Penny Conway:
Well because you stepped on the scale and saw the numbers weren’t so great.
Rob McIntosh:
Yikes!
Penny Conway:
Um, so I’m questioning a scale being on the top gift list.
Rob McIntosh:
Why is that? (chuckles).
Penny Conway:
Rob would you- (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
Are you saying I shouldn’t have bought it?
Penny Conway:
Did you already buy it for someone special?
Rob McIntosh:
I may have so I probably maybe not give that to that person?
Penny Conway:
Well I guess, so what I guess it depends, because there was one year, um, I don’t know, it- every year I kind of ask for this really annoying gift. When I say ask, I go, “Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have like a $2,000 Peloton.” Or a $2,500, I think I saw like uh, a NordicTrack, this NordicTrack treadmill. I was like, “Ooh, I want one of those.” And my husband looks at me and he goes, “This is a trap. This is a trap.”
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs).
Penny Conway:
And he’s like, “I would get hit two ways. One that I bought you a piece of exercise equipment. And two, that I spent that much money on a gift.”
Rob McIntosh:
You have Facebook and have a Twitter.
Penny Conway:
Play your odds, like I don’t know how much the scale is. What, like $150?
Rob McIntosh:
Uh. No, it does not.
Penny Conway:
So, I mean, a hundred, my guess is like a $150. That would be a fun game to play. Can you guess the price of the top tech gifts? The Price is Right.
Rob McIntosh:
Next on what the tech just happened…
Penny Conway:
But yeah. Now I guess it all depends if you are super into fitness, I could see it, but I don’t know.
Rob McIntosh:
And, those things though, you can tie it into everything. So if you’re really into health and fitness. You have your Fitbit and people have their apps that they download so they can connect everything together. And they would connect the app for this particular scale as well. So if they have goals and they want to lose 10 pounds and they want to make sure that they’re drinking their 8 glasses of water a day. You know all of that stuff; I’d say that’s cool because you go to the doctor and they check out all these vitals anyways.
Penny Conway:
That’s true.
Rob McIntosh:
So now you can do it all at home.
Penny Conway:
I would be interested to see my hydration levels.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah. Not me.
Penny Conway:
Not necessarily-
Rob McIntosh:
I don’t drink enough water.
Penny Conway:
Not necessarily compared to my weight, but I’m not interested in seeing my weight next to my hydration levels. Maybe, have you seen the Peloton commercials with the girl who gets the Peloton from her husband?
Rob McIntosh:
See I really like those commercials.
Penny Conway:
Well maybe this year, he’ll buy her a scale.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs).
Penny Conway:
(laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
That poor woman.
Penny Conway:
The internet was all abuzz about that ad and how she was waking up every day to record a video to prove to her husband that she was using it, and always look terrified before she got on the Peloton. But then, the next Christmas, she made a video and bravo to her. He buys her a piece of exercise equipment and all she has to do is turn around and make him a video for the next year for Christmas.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs) Done.
Penny Conway:
Done. “Look honey, I used your gift.”
Rob McIntosh:
But you’re right though. You wonder, what is it that, that Peloton does that makes us so afraid to get on it. She’s like, “Here we go. Day 1.”
Penny Conway:
“I’m scared. I’m so scared.” And then, yeah she got super excited when the instructor like called her out on the live like app, but I think that’s like human nature now anytime someone is like mentioned or someone even has a picture that gets liked. They get this like buzz of energy so Peloton is clearly doing something right, but the internet was worried about her mental health.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs).
Penny Conway:
Forget her physical health.
Rob McIntosh:
I would love to see the sales on that because you’re right. I think that’s one of those trending commercials and everyone is talking about it and it went semi-viral. So, I’d be curious to see what happens with Peloton’s sales through the holiday season.
Penny Conway:
Well, we’ll see what the tech happened after Christmas with Peloton.
Rob McIntosh:
Then will do a follow up.
Penny Conway:
What’s in, what’s number three? I think we’re at three?
Rob McIntosh:
So, again, this kind of ties into the other stuff that we’re talking about in the AI, but it looks like all of these Wi-Fi super boosting tools are getting a lot of traction and I know that Xfinity just came out with their line that it’s supposed to be compatible with the whole Xfinity system where you have certain parts of your house that just don’t have a strong signal. Now they have those Wi-Fi boosters and before they were a little technically flawed.
Penny Conway:
Yeah. You can probably see my face better than people listening, but I always remember seeing the boosters and people would put them in their house and go, “Uh, didn’t really do anything.”
Rob McIntosh:
I don’t know what they did. I’m not a tech savvy person that can get under the hood and tell you what’s going on behind there, but supposedly, they had fixed some of those problems and I know Xfinity put something out there. I guess it’s getting pretty good reviews. And now you’re able to go at pretty much any part of your house and it’s all connected. So maybe we’ll do a follow up. Somebody that understands that technology and kind of explain why it’s gotten better for us.
Penny Conway:
Yeah. Well, we look at the way that technology goes. Like you think of being in our office for example. We can be anywhere, and we’re connected to the Wi-Fi because they’ve got the things in the ceiling and I know there’s a name for it.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah.
Penny Conway:
Do you know what they are?
Rob McIntosh:
Well it’s the end point, yeah, I don’t know.
Penny Conway:
Yeah something. (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
We’re just host and producer on a technology podcast.
Penny Conway:
But this is why we have other people come on and tell us about these things. But, it only makes sense after all these years that we’ve had it in businesses and wherever you go, that you’ve got signal and Wi-Fi, that they’d figure out a way to cram all that technology into something affordable that people can buy. So I guess it was just a matter of time.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah. So that was another. I have another one here and then I want to turn over to you. Do you have any that are top of the mind for you?
Penny Conway:
I’ll put my thinking cap, I have a two year old, so there’s only so many things top of mind right now.
Rob McIntosh:
(laughs). They do start early, though don’t they?
Penny Conway:
Yeah, they do.
Rob McIntosh:
So, this one here, this kind of goes back to our whole October podcasting when we were talking about cybersecurity and all the different ways that people can actually steal your information. We came up with that new term, shoulder surfing.
Penny Conway:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Rob McIntosh:
Which I thought was, “Wow. Never really thought about.” Now every time I’m on my computer I’m looking over my shoulder, making sure nobodies watching me.
Penny Conway:
Right?
Rob McIntosh:
But they have here, another way that thieves take your information and go through ID theft is through your credit cards that are in your pocket. They have these apps and stuff that they can actually scan your wallet as you’re walking by. It’s really scary. And people don’t realize that, that they are susceptible to identity theft just by having credit cards and stuff in their back pocket. That magnetic strip makes –
Penny Conway:
Get out.
Rob McIntosh:
– you susceptible to thieves coming and grabbing your information. So they have a guard card. It’s to prevent digital thieves from scanning your wallet. And what it is, is it’s a blocker in essence. And I don’t know exactly what it’s made of, maybe it tells me here.
Penny Conway:
There-
Rob McIntosh:
We’ll find out.
Penny Conway:
Yeah. I think there’s a certain material. I think I’ve heard about this before. Like, it’s the RFID blocker sort of technology, right?
Rob McIntosh:
That’s exactly what it is.
Penny Conway:
Oh, look at that.
Rob McIntosh:
Nice. It’s lightweight and thin.
Penny Conway:
Well I hope so. Unless you’re George Costanza and you won’t really feel the difference in your wallet. (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
It’s the size of a credit card and you put it into your wallet, and it has a powerful carbon fiber strip in the card that stops RFID scanning signals up to 13 and a half megahertz, 13.56 megahertz. No batteries, no charging devices required. So you put it in there, in front of your credit cards and it blocks the thieves from getting it. So I thought that was kind of cool.
Penny Conway:
That is kind of cool. And that might also be a… Because I don’t carry a wallet. Do you carry your wallet still?
Rob McIntosh:
I do.
Penny Conway:
You do?
Rob McIntosh:
Yup, sitting on it right now.
Penny Conway:
(laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
And no guard in it.
Penny Conway:
I actually, my family’s financial planner has talked to us about that before, like having something in your wallet to block your cards. I carry my cards in my phone, which I just did a quick check to make sure that I had my card. But I carry it in my phone, but and that’s I think as far as I can go, but people actually are now using their phones as a payment method which scares the bejesus out of me. However, I forgot my card at a bar over the weekend. I didn’t forget it at the bar. I went to the bar without my card and I paid with my phone, like with Venmo. And then I went to, like I went shopping afterwards and I paid with Venmo.
Rob McIntosh:
Crazy.
Penny Conway:
It’s crazy.
Rob McIntosh:
And then, and Apple Pay’s being recognized by more stores now. That’s what I use. So I put my credit card information into Apple Pay. I do all my grocery shopping and put that on there. So that’s another really cool, what the tech just happened-
Penny Conway:
Right.
Rob McIntosh:
– is everything going in that direction. It’s actually more secure than having the credit card in your wallet. Number one, because people can’t take it the way they can here, that we just talked about. And a lot of those devices now, they’ve gone into gas stations and they’ve kind of replaced where the card reader goes, and these people have put in whatever that reader is.
Penny Conway:
Yeah! Restaurant’s too are famous for that.
Rob McIntosh:
Yep. So it’s more secure by having it. It’s all digitally coded and you put it on there, and you can do your thumbprint protection, and, yeah. So that’s the way I do all my payments now is through Apple Pay if it, if it accepts it.
Penny Conway:
Yeah. That really is like a what the tech just happened because I remember two or three years ago, setting up my new phone and it is asking me, it was Samsung Pay, asking me if I wanted to put in my card information. And I’m going, “No! Never! Not in a million years would I ever put my credit card information on my phone!” And it’s there now.
Rob McIntosh:
Yup. Yup.
Penny Conway:
It’s crazy. So, for me, top tech gifts or trends for 2019. I’ll be honest with you, I am not an iPhone person, but I used someone’s new iPhone 11 Pro to film a video. I cannot even believe the quality of that phone. And I know that is always, I think Apple’s one of the top retailers along with Amazon. It was Amazon, Wal Mart, Apple, Best Buy, and then one more. I don’t remember who it is off the top of my head but, the iPhone 11 Pro I think is going to be a huge gift.
And again, I was the naysayer going, “How much better can a camera on a phone actually be?” The thing is phenomenal.
Rob McIntosh:
My nephew had it. He’s always been one of the early adopters and he had it when it first came out. And he showed me, you know, what the three cameras do and the quality of it, and I was like, unbelievable.
Penny Conway:
I know. I’m having like envious of the, but I’m not envious of the price.
Rob McIntosh:
It’s like $1,400 bucks, right?
Penny Conway:
Yeah. That’s a lot of money.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah. It is. (laughs).
Penny Conway:
I mean even if you’re poor or rich, that is a lot of money for a phone.
Rob McIntosh:
Wow. I always tell people I can’t wait for the iPhone 12 to come out. Say, “Oh you’re going to get that when it comes out?” I say, “No, because then I can afford the 11.”
Penny Conway:
(laughs). You’re walking around with the iPhone 6 right now?
Rob McIntosh:
Uh, no. No. I actually have an iPhone 8.
Penny Conway:
Oh, well there you go.
Rob McIntosh:
And I found that out because I thought I had an iPhone 7. I went to, because it died on me, and I was trying to reboot it and I’m getting tech help. And I’m like, “Nope. I have the iPhone 7.” And they’re going through the whole litany of how I need to reboot it. I’m like, “Nope, not working.” “Well, you’ll have to come in.”
I go in there and they say, “Oh, you have the iPhone 8.” I’m like, “Oh, I do?” Which is a completely different reboot process.
Penny Conway:
(laughs). Okay boomer. (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
I probably deserve that.
Penny Conway:
I wasn’t going to say it at all but here we are.
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah, I earned that one.
Penny Conway:
So, tech, so I have a kid. Tech trends for kids, I have to say, I am not up to speed on, but I know the Nintendo DS I believe, is the hot console of the season. Have you heard of this?
Rob McIntosh:
Well I have-
Penny Conway:
Or the Switch. Is it the Switch or the DS?
Rob McIntosh:
I don’t know because I bought a Nintendo DS system for my kids, my 13-year-olds, but they’re now 21. (laughs).
Penny Conway:
No, like they make, okay. So the DS might be the old school one that they like brought back. That was a hot gift. It might be the Switch. Hold on. Look at how knowledgeable I am. This is why I say, it’s the Switch. I’m sorry.
Rob McIntosh:
Oh, okay.
Penny Conway:
(laughs). You know, back in 1985 the Nintendo won the toy of the year. So it’s the Nintendo Switch and it’s $300, I think as a base. And then I’m seeing that you can get like one with extra accessories, and a game, and all that stuff, and it’s almost like $450. But what it is and why it’s the top toy is because you remember the handheld toys, not the Game Boy. I’m a little further ahead, but the handheld toys for kids were really big for a few years. The Switch actually is multiplayer. So they can play by themselves, they can break it apart, they can have two remotes, they play it on the TV.
Rob McIntosh:
Getting ’em ready for E-Sports.
Penny Conway:
That’s right. On our next episode of what the tech just happened. So, it’s like the family. It’s being considered the family gift and if you go online and you watch videos, all over my Facebook, I don’t know why I’m being targeted, probably because I’m saying it out loud right now. But there’s these videos that just show a million clips of kids getting the Switch. Which is really phenomenal because it’s a $300 toy. So that would be one of those things, when I was growing up, it would be your Christmas present, your birthday present and your next Christmas present. And then maybe you got some like off brand crayons to go along with it.
Rob McIntosh:
So we went from the hot trends back in the day being, you know, Tickle Me Elmo-
Penny Conway:
Right. Oh my god. People killed each other over Tickle Me Elmo.
Rob McIntosh:
And now it’s the Switch.
Penny Conway:
Right.
Rob McIntosh:
Okay.
Penny Conway:
And the, so the beauty of living now versus living then was there’s enough of everything. We don’t run out of toys like we used to for Christmas.
Rob McIntosh:
Is that true? Is there not a run on a particular item where people are like, “Oh my gosh. I have to get that.”
Penny Conway:
I’m sure there is, but I think on Black Friday, it’s more of, “Can I get to the store and get it at that price.” Versus, “If I don’t get to the store, I’m not going to get it at all.”
Rob McIntosh:
And by the way, it’s all a scam, it’s all a trap. They have one item that’s, you know, the $50 large screen TV.
Penny Conway:
So true.
Rob McIntosh:
To get you in there.
Penny Conway:
It’s so true.
Rob McIntosh:
Don’t fall for it.
Penny Conway:
My husband used to say, he worked at BestBuy eons ago. And he used to say on Black Friday like they would put out this display and say that it’s all that they had, and they had like crates, crates of it in the back. But they just would like blow through that, like the sale, and it would be out. And then the next day, they would put it out at regular price so people would go back and buy it at regular price.
Rob McIntosh:
(chuckles).
Penny Conway:
But yeah. So, I think that’s what I’ve seen on the tech side for kids. I think the Alexa and all that stuff are equally as appealing for kids. For parents and their kids. Put it in their room and they can play music, but as far as you know, as far as having a two-year-old, she’s not getting any tech enabled devices. As of today, she’s getting like knock off Frozen like castle, and things like that.
Rob McIntosh:
She can ride on the Roomba but that’s about it.
Penny Conway:
Yeah (laughs). Oh. So, we have caught up on all of the tech trends for, or a few of the tech trends for the 2019 season. Whether you are getting an AI device like Alexa, or the Echo Dot, or the… Rob you said the name of another one and I don’t remember what it was. You can tell how many I have.
Rob McIntosh:
The Portal?
Penny Conway:
The Portal!
Rob McIntosh:
Yeah.
Penny Conway:
Or if you feel so bold to buy your loved one a scale or a Peloton. Good luck Rob. (laughs). Or any of these other amazing tech gifts that are sure to wow your family and your loved ones over the season. Predictions for the 2019 season, we’ve already seen the retail locations blow out in terms of record sales from last year. I have a prediction that Apple will absolutely stay pretty close to the top with the iPhone 11. Rob, pretty confident, Amazon?
Rob McIntosh:
Agreed. Yeah. Amazon-
Penny Conway:
Yeah and Amazon.
Rob McIntosh:
– definitely come out number one.
Penny Conway:
Yeah. Amazon and Apple are top predictors for performance for the season. Whatever, whoever you’re buying for, just remember, there are always is a reason for the season and gadgets are cool but be nice to everybody. You’re out in the stores. You’re shopping. You’re busy. One of my favorite memes I’m seeing right now and it sounds so corny is it costs zero dollars to be kind to somebody. So whether you are out shopping or you are actually one of the people in the retail stores, if we all just remember that, everyone will have a wonderful holiday season. And join us next week, to find out what the tech happened last week, this week, next week (laughs).
Rob McIntosh:
All right. Thanks so much Penny. Appreciate it. Happy holidays everybody!
Penny Conway:
Thanks Rob. Bye-bye.
