Gadget Lab Podcast: CES 2020 Preview

TS: That’s true.

MC: Sorry.

TS: It doesn’t work for everything. But I think that now that ordering multiple things and returning them has got a lot easier—you know, the ecommerce platforms have made it so easy to order six pairs of shoes and then send them all back. And that pushes us to buy stuff online that maybe it doesn’t make sense to do that. That was the lesson I took from that.

MC: That’s a very good recommendation.

LG: Yeah, it’s a really good one. And also in some way you probably became a bit of a loyalist now to that shoe store or that brand if they have a chain because you had a positive experience there, which is what I think even online, you know, direct-to-consumer commerce companies are trying to establish now. They sometimes open up these popups or these brick-and-mortar stores, because they want the foot traffic and they want people coming in and having a good experience like the one you had. So then you’re like, I’m just going to go to the store. If you’re lucky enough to have one close to you, of course.

MC: Yes. And they should all hire Tim, the shoe salesman.

LG: Yeah. Good job, Tim.

MC: Lauren what is your recommendation?

LG: Our man Tom is going to be running a lot this year. My recommendation is The Morning Show on Apple TV plus, which is Apple’s $10 per month new streaming service for original content.

Now, Mike, you might remember, it might’ve been a couple months ago now, maybe a couple, maybe a few weeks ago. It was definitely last year. My gosh, because that was so long ago. I almost panned it—last decade—I always panned the show right on. I came on, you said, what’s your recommendation going to be today? And I said, you know, I started to watch The Morning Show on Apple TV+, and I’m a few episodes in and I don’t really like it. And then I thought to myself, well, it’s probably not fair to, I’m no TV critic, but it’s probably not fair to pan something without really fully experiencing it.

So I took the time over break to finish this first season. And the first few episodes are indeed still awkward, but it gets a lot better. It develops a nice story arc. And I think that the program does a good job of exploring all of the nuances of #MeToo and sexual harassment and abuse of power in the workplace. And it really ends in a bang. So I was, shockingly, I guess, pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking the program. So I recommend giving it a try if you have Apple TV+.

MC: And how do I get Apple TV+ for free?

LG: You have to buy a very, very expensive phone, and then you will get a year free, I believe. And then maybe if you, I don’t know, they’re all deals floating around the internet. Maybe if you like had at an Apple card you might get, don’t quote me on that, but you can find bundles, but it typically involves just buying a very expensive iPhone.

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