🚙Cars as a Service, Burn a CD, and the Foldable Laptop
Miss those Mixtapes?
Good morning friends! How are you doing?
We had around 4 inches of snow last week in Tennessee here. It was a lot of fun!
I built a one-story snowman (my daughter likes snow but wanted to go inside) and we had a lot of fun sledding!
Hopefully we’ll get another good snow here in TN before Spring. I would like to build a snow fort.
Have you seen the latest episode of The Book of Boba? Awesome stuff. I got so excited when I saw that they brought in that character from Doctor Aphra. (Not a spoiler per se if you haven’t seen it yet).
Have you read Doctor Aphra yet? It’s really good! She’s basically Star Wars Indiana Jones. She even has crazy versions of C3PO and R2D2. Check it out.
Oh! I wanted to show you this crazy Emu I got as a Free Mint from owning a Drop Bear. I call him Buzz Emu.
On a separate note, I deeply regret not buying Alien Frens or Doodles while they were cheap. If you know of any good NFT projects for cheap eth - let me know.
Ok! Let’s hop on in.
🚗Cars as a Service
I’ll be honest with you - My car is mostly pre “cool tech.” No touch screens - but I do have an Aux jack.
I have friends who have apps for their car - and am amazed at “touch to start” and all that awesome stuff.
However . . . there is a dark side.
Enter - the rise of CAAS (Cars as a Service).
Tesla is best known for spear heading this - What do you mean it costs like 10K to upgrade to self driving.
Toyota just tried it.
As reported by The Drive, many Toyota customers have only just realised that the key fob remote start feature in their vehicles is only enabled if they maintain a subscription to Toyota’s Connected Services. The issue has been masked thus far, as it only effects cars built from 2018 onwards, and Toyota provides most drivers with a free 3-year subscription, extended to 10 years for those that spring for the Premium Audio package. However, after that period is over, if no ongoing subscription is paid for, the car’s remote start feature will cease to work. (source)
Sounds awful, right? You already paid at least 25K for this nice new car - and now you have to pay a monthly fee.
Is my car a phone now?
Truth is, 2020-2030 is probably the decade that a lot more car manufacturers introduce ongoing features that you’ll have to pay for. Your car is gonna look a lot more like an Apple device that drives.
The new EQS luxury electric sedan from Mercedes-Benz comes with rear-wheel steering. However, it’ll only steer up to 4.5 degrees unless you pony up some extra cash . . . BMW and Audi are getting involved too with their own takes on functions-on-demand. BMW are trialling an annual fee system for remote start and a integrated dash camera, while also contemplating asking drivers to regularly fork out for simple things like heated seats and steering wheels that are already built into the car. Audi, meanwhile, will offer higher-speed data connections as well as improved vehicle lighting operation for those who sign up for a regular payment. (source)
Yikes.
The most terrifying part of that paragraph is asking people to pay for heated seats and a dash camera.
Doesn’t that sound crazy?
Now - don’t get me wrong. I understand paying a monthly fee for cellular service or something like that. That makes sense to me! If the features of my car require its own internet services - it makes sense that by buying that car - you gotta pay some monthly fees.
Kinda like those iPads you buy that come with cellular data.
It feels like a really grasping way by Auto Manufacturers to make extra cash off cars.
The idea of features-on-demand seems to be very much slanted in favor of the automakers. The industry seeks to gain a whole new income stream at the cost of much consumer frustration. On the other hand, if people can force Toyota to stand down on the keyfobs, maybe we can do it with the other automakers as well. (source)
I hope so!
Keep an eye on this space, and check out the article!
💿Burn a CD and go to 2008
Remember the old days when mix tapes were passed around in college and high school?
i’ve really been mulling over the idea of mixtapes ever since the end of December. Laurentdelray tweeted a picture of a Spotify Wrapped 2021 CD.
Why can’t we have some sort of physical record of all of our favorite music?
I imagine the hoops Spotify would have to jump through for this would be a logistical nightmare . . . but I think a lot of people would buy them.
You’d probably have to place some sort of order at least 6 months in advance.
Let’s say that Spotify offered your “Top Songs 2021” as a custom Vinyl.
Mine is 5 hours and 19 minutes long. 319 minutes total.
100 songs total.
At about 25 minutes a side - that’s about 7 total records. THAT would be quite a box. I’d buy it!
Vinyl, CD’s, or cassettes.
Who knows? Maybe Spotify will do it someday. Give us the physical music Spotify.
Now we spend years curating and occasionally sharing our playlists with friends.
I’ve been curating around 6 playlists since 2015 - and have a few friends I have “blended” playlists with on Spotify.
Yet - there was something magic about the mixtape of the 00’s. It was - for lack of a better turn of phrase - turning the digital physical - and then back to digital.
Maybe that’s why vinyl is making such a comback?
and cassettes?
I decided to go old school - and bought a pack of Memorex CD’s at Target.
I found som old MP3’s on a hard drive from years ago - and booted up Windows Media Player. The tech may be ancient - but I’m very thankful Windows still has it.
Assembled the songs I wanted on the CD - and clicked Burn.
Boom! So easy.
I even burned a mixtape for a friend the next day!
The nostalgia of using a CD player was deeply satisfying - as was not having control over the music per se other than the next button.
The next step is to slowly buy all the songs from my Spotify Wrapped. I guess I’ll have to go to Itunes.
I also own a TON of Bandcamp albums. I could probably burn some of those as CD’s . . .
Now - if you’re itching for a custom Vinyl with your favorite tracks on it. You could always try Free Style Vinyl. It ain’t cheap, but it’s cool.
💻Folding Laptop
Yeah, every laptop folds duh - but not like this one.
Asus has gone absolutely wild
Yeah - this is a REAL laptop that will be coming out THIS year.
Can you imagine pulling this out at the coffee shop?
The convenience is definitely tempting.
I currently have a HP 17 inch Envy and there are very few backpacks that can accommodate such a large laptop.
A folding 17 inch laptop would be a backpack game changer.
There are also a few more options for how you can use a foldable like this — you can unfold it and use it like a regular tablet, you can prop it up with a kickstand, or you can fold it sideways at a 90-degree angle and use it like a miniature clamshell. (source)
I think my favorite use case is the miniature clamshell. You could fold it and use it as a mini laptop.
The specs are promising too!
Inside, the Zenbook comes with 12th Gen Intel Core i7 U-Series processors and up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. It includes Asus’ “ScreenXpert 2” software (also on its recent dual-screen devices) to help you more easily split the screen and arrange its contents . . . the Zenbook 17 has a 75Wh battery inside (which is fairly large for a product that’s less than half an inch thick and bigger than what comes in many 13-inch thin and light laptops). Asus hasn’t provided a battery life estimate yet, of course, but that’s a promising spec. (source)
I’m curious about how long that 75Wh battery will last, but this laptop is definitely on my list of possible replacements.
Check out this hands on of the Laptop. Note: It is in German - but regardless of whether you speak German or not - the shots and demonstrations are very cool.
Check out the official page at Asus!
🐙The Land of Random
Random Randomness for my fellow Randominians
HeyDay Research Tool
*This link is sponsored by Heyday*
Tired of keeping dozens of tabs open to save various articles and how-to’s? HeyDay will save all that content for you, and when you read it too! It will even show you the context of why you were looking at those tabs. Check it out!
Idea Economy Newsletter
John Bardos curates a fantastic newsletter that tracks creator trends, ideas and other great resources. It’s full of useful info for growing your business - from writing to audience building, SEO advice, and more! Go check it out!
404 Page Found
This is a directory of active old websites. There’s dozens and dozens of them! Taco.com is on here - and it’s some old tech company.
Now Playing App
Have an old iPad that you don’t really use? Plug it in, add a kickstand, and install this really cool app. It’s a great way to find out what’s playing from your phone or radio without having to spend time using Siri or Shazam.
Wikiroulette
A Random article with every click. :)
NovelAI
This GPT-3 Novel generator looks pretty interesting. I need to sit down and write a decent prompt to test how well it works! The most interesting addition to the “let GPT-3 generate your stories” formula is the addition of AI modules in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allen Poe.
y u wake me up?
VR Gloves
REAL VR GLOVES that look COMFY! These look awesome. If I ever get a Oculus Rift or something - I’m definitely getting these.
🎶TikToks YOu Can’t Miss
I want a shed like this in my backyard
I would happily dress up for this siege
This 90’s style rap is EPIC
I want to see all the cars in here
This animation is absolutely incredible
I guess you can apply the Prey Gloogun in real life
That’s all for this week! See you next time :)