The Tech Night Owl LIVE — Tech Radio with a Pop Culture Twist‪!‬ Gene Steinberg

AI guru Ed Watal joins Gene to talk about the focus and very real shortcomings of Apple's new Apple Intelligence initiative, introduced at the June 2024 Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC). He discusses some of the key elements of Apple's software release and versioning strategy, and the limited launch of its AI technology, which arrived in beta, only available in U.S. English for a select few platforms that are also in early developer condition, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. He points out that the tech expert community wasn't impressed, particularly with the limited launch and lack of Siri integration. Worse, over 90% of current iPhone users are excluded, raising questions about inclusivity in Apple's AI strategy. What about Apple's reliance on OpenAI's ChatGPT for much of the technology, and how does that help Apple pave its own way in developing a secure and user friendly implementation of AI? Watal is the founder and principal of Intellibus, an IT strategy consultancy.

Digital marketing and media expert Tom Lavecchia talks to Gene about the history of search, including Yahoo and the rise and dominance of Google. He provides insights on a rapidly evolving trend that's poised to disrupt the search engine landscape: TikTok Search. With over a billion active users, TikTok's search functionality is gaining traction, and La Vecchia believes it has the potential to challenge Google's dominance, resulting in an erosion of its overwhelming market share. He focuses on TikTok's visual search short-form video format that, he says, revolutionizes how we search and consume information. In emphasizing TikTok's potential, he explains that its user base is skewing younger, with 70% of online teens aged 13-17 using the platform. As this generation grows, according to Lavecchia, their search habits will shape the future of online discovery. He also talks about the growing impact of AI and how it'll impact a number of industries. Is it a good thing or not? This is a fascinating look at our online search future, an episode you won't want to miss. Here's a link to his views on the subject: https://thedigestonline.com/nj/how-new-jersey-businesses-can-leverage-tiktok/

Gene presents a special appearance by his son, Grayson Steinberg, the original cohost for The Tech Night Owl LIVE. Grayson and Gene will bring you up to date on how they created their sci-fi book series, “Attack of the Rockoids and the various approaches of providing technology in school systems. Grayson first began to write while still in grade school, beginning with short plays performed by his classmates, and also wrote a number of short science fiction and fantasy stories, both for his schoolwork and on his own time. He also wrote two guest articles for his dad’s “Mac Reality Check” column from the 1990s. One of those articles, “Why Every Kid Needs a Mac,” was quoted worldwide, and was featured as a “Hot News” story by Apple Computer. In his working life, Grayson is a freelance digital learning designer, editor, and former ESL teacher, and is  pursuing a diploma in instructional design through the Digital Learning Institute. He is passionate about board games, science fiction and fantasy novels, and theater. Fluent in Spanish, Grayson is studying German and Portuguese to achieve his lifelong goal of becoming a polyglot. He has called Madrid, Spain his home for the past decade and a half.

USDA-Certified Geek™ Bryan Chaffin, a frequent guest on the original version of The Tech Night Owl LIVE over the years, is the author of SciFi thriller "Accidental Intelligence." On the menu for this episode is a review of the goings on at Apple Inc. over the past five years, and how the products have changed. And what about Bryan's Apple Vision Pro? What does he use it for? Does he use it? Does Bryan think that Apple has deserted the professional market in favor of consumers and prosumers? What about Apple's approach to AI? In a past life, he was the cofounder and co-publisher of The Mac Observer (TMO), and he's the host of The Context Machine podcast. Bryan wrote about Apple and technology for more than 22 years, and continues to take an active interest. He has contributed to many "For Dummies" books, and co-authored "iPad for Dummies - 11th Edition" with Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus. When Gene and Bryan get together on the show, there's always plenty to catch up on and lots of thought-provoking comments to consider.

In the first episode of the second generation of The Tech Night Owl LIVE, Gene brings you up to date about the tech industry with author, commentator and podcaster Kirk McElhearn. How have things changed over five years? What about the arrival of advanced AI, faster Internet, the streaming TV conundrum, the success of Apple Silicon on Mac computers? Kirk is a lapsed New Yorker living in Shakespeare’s home town, Stratford-upon-Avon, in the United Kingdom. He writes about things, records podcasts, makes photos, practices zen, and cohabits with cats. He’s an amateur photographer, and shoots with Leica cameras and iPhones. His writings include regular contributions to The Mac Security Blog, The Literature & Latte Blog, and TidBITS, and he has written for Popular Photography, MusicWeb International, as well as several other web sites and magazines. Kirk has also written more than two dozen books, including Take Control books about macOS Media Apps (post iTunes), Scrivener, LaunchBar, and Audio Hijack. He has written documentation for dozens of popular Mac apps, as well as press releases, web content, reports, white papers, and more. Kirk also speaks fluent French, and has translated a dozen books from French to English.

After 17 years as a pioneer in online radio and podcasting, this episode was, at the time, the final original episode of The Tech Night Owl LIVE. For this show, we gathered some of our favorite guests to reminisce and talk about the present and the near-future of or favorite fruit company, Apple Inc. It all began with the early days of the Internet, its complexities, and Apple's path from Macintosh to iPod, to its most lucrative product, the iPhone, followed by the iPad, Apple Watch and beyond. There is also an extensive discussion about the prospects for the success of Apple's fledgling services, which include News+, a premium version of the app offering access to hundreds of magazines and newspapers, and Apple TV+, in which the company is spending billions of dollars to hire top-flight talent to create original TV shows. Where did Apple+ fit in market currently owned by Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other streaming services? And this question essentially predicts our complicated streaming situation in the present day: Are there already too many for a newcomer to succeed? Guests for this very special episode included tech commentator and publisher Adam Engst, Editor and Publisher of TidBITS, outspoken veteran tech commentator Peter Cohen, cutting-edge commentator and podcaster Kirk McElhearn.