Iterate Weekly - Issue 62
This week we're looking at Dyson's new robots, podcast apps, driverless taxis in California, Looney Tunes NFTs, and Stranger Things 4!
Welcome to issue 62 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
Dyson Will Make Robots To Do Your Chores
The robots are certainly coming into our homes, whether we like it or not.
They’re cleaning our floors, mowing our lawns, and maybe even starting a basketball team! and now they want to help us with other household chores where hands may be useful.
Robo-experts at Dyson are apparently working on a secret project to create robots to tackle more chores around your home.
Check out their teaser video of the bots in action!
Dyson claims to have about 700 engineers working on their advanced robotics. There seems to be a clear emphasis on the secrecy here. I even caught a subtle dig about designing robot vacuums that actually vacuum (take that Roomba!). They clearly do not want anyone copying this super secret high-tech stuff!
The biggest thing I took away from the video is the ability to create functioning robot hands that actually pickup items of all shapes with consistency. Anyone who has played a confounding round of Skill Crane knows that this can be a challenge.
His example of all the time he spends picking up after his children really resonated with me. If there was.a reliable robot to pick up my daughters toys (or even my own books and odds and ends) that may get in the way of the vacuum, that would be hugely valuable. We have become accustomed to having a robot vacuum clean our floors, but there is still plenty of manual effort involved when preparing the space prior to running the bot.
What are the most annoying chores that you’d prefer to delegate to this highly-advanced Skill Crane?
🎓 Education/Productivity
How do you listen to podcasts?
This section could really link out to Jeremy Caplan’s fantastic Wonder Tools newsletter each week. Recently, he shared some apps and programs for improving the podcast listening experience.
Jeremy has plenty of good recommendations (as he always does). But it got me thinking about my own podcast listening habits. I typically use the Stitcher App, but I’m not really sure why. Stitcher has been in the podcast game for a while and there have been a few design refreshes to keep it looking modern. But I have a feeling that it’s lacking something.
I’ve written about giving in to the allure of Spotify, but it really hasn’t stuck for me as a podcast player. Yes, there are some podcasts that are exclusive to Spotify, and I’ll use it to listen to those ones. But it’s not my go-to app when I’m in search of some spoken word entertainment. Despite their best efforts, I still consider Spotify to be a music app.
Sometimes I get pulled into Google’s own podcasts app, (naturally called Podcasts) when I’m not paying attention. If I use Google Assistant to request a podcast on my phone or smart speaker, it seems to default to the native podcast app even when I’ve let it know that I prefer Stitcher. A minor frustration, but still annoying.
Is Stitcher the best podcast app out there? There is only one way for me to find out. I’m going to test out some other options to see what I’m missing.
Which apps are you using for podcasts? Anything you suggest I try for myself?
♻️ Health & Environment
Driverless Taxis Come to California
The photo above shows a driverless taxi dropping someone off in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. And it gets me very excited about the (hopefully) not too distant future of autonomous driving in California.
Driverless taxis are coming to the Bay Area and Cruise will be the company to make this a reality.
The rollout will be gradual, but the literal wheels are in motion. This seems to be a change that is happening whether we like it or not. Over $100 Million has been invested in autonomous vehicles in the past twelve years.
Right now it’s worth celebrating the fact that Cruise has earned the requisite permits to begin allowing people to hail these self-driving cabs. But they are still pretty quiet about the available vehicles and scale of the operation.
Personally, I have signed up to test out the service and look forward to getting a chance over the coming months. There certainly will be a follow-up story once this happens.
Are you ready to jump into a cab with no driver or does it still seem scary?
🛍 Grab Bag
Are you ready for Looney Tunes NFTs?
This is a silly one. Sometimes we need silly ones.
How much would you be willing to pay for some officially licensed Looney Tunes NFTs?!?!
Tweetie is looking pretty cool in the example above, but I’m not sure I’m opening my digital wallet quite yet. But I really do appreciate the punny name of the project that pairs Warner Brothers with NFT platform Nifty’s. It’s called “What’s up Block?” Like blockchain right? And like the strange catch phrase that Bugs Bunny has been using for decades? Ok, maybe it’s not that good.
Anyway, Tweety is the first character to get the treatment. Don’t worry, if Tweety isn’t your thing, the rest of the Looney Tunes gang will get their turn soon. So start saving up that virtual currency if you want to take your Looney Tunes fandom into the world of NFTs.
Any big enough Looney Tunes fans out there willing to buy one of these?
💬 Quote of the Week
“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.”
- Zig Ziggler
📺Content Recommendation
Stranger Things 4
Stranger Things has always pushed the right buttons for me. I love the 80s nostalgia vibe. The young adult relationships are well-written and fascinating. And I’m not a fan of horror movies, but there is just enough mystery and suspense to keep you interested without being over-the-top.
Having said all of that, I had pretty low expectations for Stranger Things 4 (I love how they treat it like an 80s teen mystery book with chapter numbers instead of just calling it “Season 4”).
I was nervous about the awkward aging of the star teenagers. I thought they had run out of ideas about how a small town in Indiana could have so many weird (strange?) things going on. While the last season was fun, it felt like they were really grasping at straws to keep things fresh.
But Stranger Things 4 has been nothing but entertaining. The kids are a bit older, and the content reflects that. There is a bit more gore, some more foul language, and the bad dudes are just creepier. But it just works and I’m really impressed by it.
Whether you were a fan of past seasons or not, it’s totally worth checking out.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!