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Topic 1: Google disrupting Higher Ed.
Should be jump on this boat? Education is overdue for disruption, but is this the right approach?
And what’s up with CompTIA?
Where we move away from 4-year degree and toward certifications, it rubs up against our industry very much.
Another factor, of course, is the cost of higher ed. And, just to add one more factor: There’s more knowledge to be had than is humanly possible to have.
Topic 2: Should we make broadband a national effort?
First off: It seems embarrassing that we are discussing this in the United States!
Read this and come back: https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/9/10/21426810/internet-access-covid-19-chattanooga-municipal-broadband-fcc
Karl harkens back to his experience in Australia over the last few years.
The potential here is amazing, for IT Service Providers (not just Amazon and Microsoft). There are many, many ramifications for this.
If nothing else, increased connectivity means more potential buyers for all services (for all – not must Apple and Facebook).
Your feedback welcome!
Topic 3: Section 230, revisited.
Censorship. Regulation. Publishing. Responsibility. This one covers it all! When both parties agree on something, you know there’s a problem.
https://www.getrevue.co/profile/caseynewton/issues/trump-attacks-section-230-275602
All of this stuff can help you start ongoing conversations with your clients. You just have to figure out where to start.
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Sponsor note:
Acronis invites you to the Acronis Global Cyber Summit, this is the premier event dedicated to connecting the IT channel and IT pros with actionable insights, solutions, and strategies for effective cyber protection. Bringing together service providers, value-added-resellers, CIOs, and ISVs, the Summit is the world’s largest gathering of thought leaders and industry experts sharing insights and advances in the field of cyber protection. Featuring a long list of speakers, sign up for free at acronis.events/summit2020/. – you’ll even be able to catch Dave doing “why do we care” online. See you there.
🙂
Topic 1: Are all your smart devices going to be used in evidence against you?
Follow up on the topic of having an AI app get you out of a ticket. Between your cloud-stored camera footage and device recordings, police might be able to be used to defend you . . . or convict you.
We discuss several sides of this emerging technology, including the integrity of the data as well as our right against self-incrimination.
Alexa, Play My Alibi: The Smart Home Gets Taken to Court Link: https://www.wired.com/story/gadget-lab-podcast-470/
Topic 2: Tech companies want to get you back to your office
35% of companies have no timeline for getting back to work. But, some very big tech companies are helping you start to move in that direction. But, at the same time, those big companies aren’t headed back to their offices!
Link: https://www.wired.com/story/big-tech-help-get-you-back-office/
Topic 3: Making money from electricity instead of Bitcoin. Huh?
Recently, power prices in Taxes popped over $200 per megawatt-hour. One company, Layer1, stopped mining Bitcoin for 30 minutes and reaped returns of 700%.
This highlights an ongoing issue of the true costs of bitcoin.
🙂
We have a sponsor today:
PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust philosophy, allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. Light weight, simple to deploy, easy to manage, find out about PC Matic’s unique lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime-time national TV campaign. Together, we bring advanced security solutions combined with more than sales enablement … we bring actual leads. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting PCMatic.com/msp/
Topic 1: Discussion of Service Leadership Mid-Year numbers
Paul Dippell reports on how MSPs are thriving (or surviving) during the recession. We discuss the report.
Links:
https://www.channele2e.com/events-2/webcasts/paul-dippell-service-leadership-august-webcast/
Topic 2: Apple’s new “privacy policy” is challenged by Facebook and others.
Is it really just a ploy to to manipulate ads without allowing other platforms to do the same? We discuss.
https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/93186-facebook-criticizes-apples-new-ios-privacy-policies
Topic 3: Life after the pandemic – Automation and Anti-Immigrant Fears.
This is a continuing theme throughout history. Workers always fear that technology will displace them. And, to the extent that companies turn to immigrants, there is historical fear that jobs will be lost to immigrants as well.
We discuss: Is it time to rethink how we talk about it?
https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/automation-anti-immigration-fears.html
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Episode 75 !!!
It may not be a big event for you, but we feel great about producing seventy-five episodes of The Killing IT Podcast. Thank you for all your support, and for spreading the word.
Topic 1: Retrospective on Changing/Emerging Technology
We started the podcast with a lot of excitement around new (emerging) technologies. So, we thought this episode is a great opportunity to give our updated opinions on some of these technologies.
We mention some of the highlights of CompTIA’s revised “Top 10 Emerging Technologies” report. We have a few that we think are not quite ready for the list, and even one sleeper.
Related Link: https://www.comptia.org/content/infographic/2020-emerging-technology-top-10-list
Topic 2: Update – Epic vs. Apple – week two
As Ryan describes it, the judge played Solomon and split the baby on this one. An interesting development on the legal front re: Epic v Apple. The best line: the current predicament (for Epic) is largely self-inflicted.
Channel strategy is voluntary, and when a vendor chooses to introduce competition or conflict, channel partners are free to opt out. As always, it’s vital to remember that vendors do not own their channels, they must influence channel partners to choose to be in visit with them.
Related Link: https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/25/21400240/epic-apple-ruling-unreal-engine-fortnite-temporary-restraining-order
Topic 3: Life after Pandemic – SaaS management
Yay! A new thing we all have to pay attention to. 🙂
A new “class” of service is now available. In fact, in one week, two companies announced that they are releasing a service: SaaS management. We explain what that is, and give a few introductory thoughts.
The companies are:
Augmentt https://augmentt.com
and
SaaS Alert https://saasalerts.com
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Feedback welcome!
🙂
NOT episode 75. Stay tuned next week.
Topic 1: – AI legal assistance.
Not ready to defend you in a criminal trial, but might get you out of a traffic ticket!
Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/would-you-trust-a-lawyer-bot-with-your-legal-needs-11597068042
Topic 2: – Apple v Epic/Fortnite
If you haven’t seen the video, please do yourself a favor and watch.
Video: Fortnite takes on Apple https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4
. . . and the original Apple 1984 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfqw8nhUwA
https://stratechery.com/2020/apple-epic-and-the-app-store/
Topic 3: – Life after the pandemic – The New Gartner Hype Cycle
Do we think this is what the world will look like?
Link: https://www.ciodive.com/news/gartner-hype-cicle-AI-2020/583646/
🙂
This week’s sponsor: PC Matic
Endpoint Security built on a zero trust philosophy, allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. Light weight, simple to deploy, easy to manage, find out about PC Matic’s unique lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime time national TV campaign. Together, we bring advanced security solutions combined with more than sales enablement … we bring actual leads. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting PCMatic.com/msp/
Topic 1: – What’s the B2B plan for sales after the pandemic?
Here are a few different perspectives. We discuss these as well as recovery timing. After all, increased sales will start at some point: You need a plan!
Post-COVID-19 strategy planning has begun at 43% of companies, while 38% of CIOs said their organizations continue to grapple with the effects of the pandemic, and plan to turn to recovery soon.
How CIO’s view things: https://www.ciodive.com/news/cio-leadership-coronavirus-gartner/583282/
Topic 2: – What do the moves of government regulators mean?
AG’s at the top: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/technology/facebook-online-hate.html
Or what it will mean for smaller companies? (Registration fees!)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MSPRegulationAndLegislation
Facebook’s July 2020 Civil Rights Audit: https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Civil-Rights-Audit-Final-Report.pdf
Topic 3: – Life after the pandemic – Changes in workers?
This is a really good practical exercise in the debate around working from home vs. in the office. Hybrid work leads to hybrid legal definitions – and no one is prepared to address those different status types in their current model.
Obviously the question in California is far from finished, but this is a really good step forward. The gig economy is a great idea, but companies have twisted the concept to abuse workers rather than create flexibility and it’s good to see some sanity introduced to the model.
https://thenextweb.com/shift/2020/08/11/judge-rules-uber-lyft-drivers-employees-far-from-the-end/
Note: While we were recording, the judge ruled against the extension we discuss.
🙂
Topic 1: Micro-Management 2020
How are managers doing in the world all-remote work? In particular, how are remote managers doing? We continue the discussion of whether we’ll really go back to the office when all this is over.
One element to watch: Not all managers trust employees and believe they can be effective without true hands-on management. We cover a few stats and give our impressions of the world ahead.
Links:
https://hbr.org/2020/07/remote-managers-are-having-trust-issues
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/04/remote-work-longer-days/
Topic 2: Sanctions against Chinese companies will have echoes inside the world of technology.
As Chinese companies are sanctioned for human rights violations, our supply chain is affected. On top of that, these sactions lead to other forces in the world of online collaboration and the global inter-connected Internet. Sub-topics include human rights, cyber crime, overall regulation, and having the virtual world become the “real” world.
Links:
https://apnews.com/978f1494313a545e6e7e568e5f9782bf
Topic 3: TikTok and Bifurcation of the Internet; and maybe Trifurcation, etc.
Life after the Pandemic . . . What does TikTok mean? And does it matter whether it’s owned by a U.S. company, in an inter-connected global Internet? Is TikTok any worse than Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other “western” countries just because the data goes to China vs. San Jose?
🙂
Topic 1: The “Big Four” IT buisinesses grilled by Congress.
Will there be any real aftermath to these hearings, or is this all just political showmanship?
CEOs from Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google were grilled by Congress. We discuss what this might mean (or not).
Sample Link:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/07/29/technology/tech-ceos-hearing-testimony
Topic 2: SolarWinds abdicates RMM.
SolarWinds has announced that they’re just going to use the Microsoft tools to manage patch management. Is this simply “opting out” of the RMM game, or a smart move acknowledging that Microsoft does it better.
What does this mean to you as a SolarWinds user? And does it affect you if you use something else? And is there any long-term effect on the industry generally? We discuss.
Link:
https://www.channele2e.com/technology/management/solarwinds-msp-microsoft-365-intune-partnership/
Topic 3: Life after Covid: College Life Expectancy
How will colleges survive in the long term, and how is this affected by the Covid? Scott Galloway had a great blog post – with a great graphic. He looks at how colleges will emerge from this strange time.
Check out the comments as well.
https://www.profgalloway.com/uss-university/
Love the graphic https://api.profgalloway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/US_Higher_Ed4.png
🙂
Topic 1: Tech VC funding down and moving sideways (not up) due to the pandemic.
Funding for new ventures is being affected by the recession and the circumstances surrounding the pandemic. The change in money makes sense, but the response to social distancing is a new factor the venture capitalists haven’t dealt with before.
Related Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-startup-funding-declines-as-pandemic-drags-on-11595494800
Topic 2: Embracing Crypto Currency
Bitcoin might not be taking over the world, but some very big financial outfits are building their own crypto currencies. We talk about what’s really going on here (embracing blockchain), and more. Plus, of course, our commentary.
Favorite quote: “Money is nothing but alphanumeric data and it would become alphanumeric data not in paper form, but in a form of arranged electrons and photons,”
Topic 3: Life after Covid: The four Internets. Maybe five.
We’ve talked before about the Splinternet – dividing the Internet between the U.S.-centric and China-centric models. This article proposes two more model: Euro-centric and India-Centric. Each has unique challenges, limitations, and opportunities.
. . . On top of that, consider the emerging Quantum Internet, base on U.S.-centric Quantum computing initiatives.
Related Links: https://stratechery.com/2020/india-jio-and-the-four-internets/
Your feedback is welcome!
🙂
Another fun show! Please give us your feedback. And share it if you love it!
We start with a couple of major stories and finish with an eye on the future.
Topic 1: EU says their privacy laws are not being enforced appropriately in the U.S.
To make that point, a random group of hackers broke into a series of Twitter accounts. Question one: Are we doing enough to protect data privacy? Question two: Is it possible to get this right?
Can you, as a solution provider, actually do a decent job to protect your clients?
Links:
Topic 2: “Ethical Explorer Pack” for developers.
This is a cool offspring from the “Ethical OS” project. Basically, programmers wanna program. They want to create cool programs, games, and so forth. And sometimes they accidentally produce unintended consequences related to ethics and human interaction. In the best of worlds, this might have to do with blind spots. But sometimes the bias is built into the data and the processes themselves.
Basically, this is an attempt to open developer’s view of the world. At a minimum, keeping an eye on ethics is good for everyone.
Link: https://www.wired.com/story/ethics-guide-tech-rewritten-workers/
Topic 3: Thinking about the quote from William Gibson: “The future is already here; It’s just not widely distributed.”
As we look at all the “Covid” related changes, there’s lots of speculation about how much of the change will stay. We start with the question, how much of the change we’re seeing is not new at all? A great example is Zoom. Many of us have been using Zoom and similar tools for more than a decade. What’s “new” to one group is not new to everyone.
Some of this is just cutting edge technology that’s just in the right place at the right time. Some is established technology that has just been waiting for an opportunity to shine. But perhaps most of it is very well established technology that has been proven in niches and is suddenly visible to a wider audience.
We touch a bit on all of our favorite topics: RMM, remote tech support, food delivery apps, AI, etc.
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That’s it for this week. Please give us a like, thumbs up, or whatever other goodness you can.
Comments and questions welcome.
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