Spot The Robot For Sale
Beyond Social Media Show, Episode 271
BL and David discuss Boston Dynamic’s Spot the Robot Dog is for sale; Landshark on NYC subway; Amazon drone delivery; Barack and Michelle Obama sign podcast deal with Spotify; counterfeit hairy Trump socks on Amazon; Vox media sites go dark in union walkout; Apple promises podcast transcripts; new $99 Echo Show has new privacy features; Instafluencer ads; fear-based social media; Google aims for search diversity; …and much, much more.
SUBSCRIBE: iTunes or Google Play or Stitcher or iHeart Radio or Amazon Echo or search the Spotify app. Your browser does not support the audio element.
Best Digital Cases
Landshark!
A dead baby shark was found on a Manhattan subway on Tuesday night. The Metropolitan Transit Authority’s social media person had a sense of humor about it. Memes flowed.
Prime Air Drone Deliveries
Amazon’s new delivery option should scale “within months.”
VOX Media Union Gets Tentative Agreement After Employee Walkout
After a walkout by more than 300 employees, VOX Media Union announced tonight that they have reached a tentative deal with management. It’s the first ever collective bargaining agreement with Writers Guild of America.
Boston Dynamics’ Readies Commercial Dogbots
Boston Dynamics’ quadrupedal robot named Spot is nearly ready to go on sale.
Obamacasts Coming To Spotify
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama announced a multiyear deal between Spotify and Higher Ground Productions, the former first couple’s production company.
- Barack and Michelle Obama Sign Spotify Deal to Produce Exclusive Podcasts
- Higher Ground Announces Partnership with Spotify to Produce Podcasts
- Hillary and Chelsea Clinton To Form Film Production Company
Instafluencer Ads
Instagram is making it possible for brands to create ads using organic posts from the influencers they have relationships with.
Alexa, Forget What I Said Today
Amazon’s new $99 Echo Show has privacy features that earlier models didn’t have.
Apple Podcasts Transcriptions
Apple plans to roll out a transcription service for podcasts that will make their content more easily searchable.
Google Search Diversity
Google announced that it has updated its search results to show a more diverse set of search results.
Worst Digital Cases
Counterfeits Abound On Amazon
Gumball Poodle’s Donald Trump socks, complete with orange hair and a tiny comb, went viral. That’s when the trouble with counterfeits on Amazon began.
Fear-Based Social Media
Why people are socializing more about crime even as it becomes rarer?
YouTube’s New Hate Speech Policy
The new policy announced Wednesday follows years of criticism that YouTube had allowed the site to become a haven for hatemongers and media manipulators.
Shiny New Stuff
Voice Technology Podcast
Carl Robinson is a machine learning technologist working on voice tech who interviews other professionals working on various aspects of voice technology.
Projects
- 4 Keys To Prince’s Creative Genius – The Purple One would’ve been 61 years old today. Paisley Park released an album of demos he wrote and gave to other performers called Originals to honor the occassion.
The Daily Numbers
