Gillmor Gang: Zoom Edition

Do the whole thing [Music] And see Okay so this is uh Gilmore gang Zoom Edition And we're done That was good Steve real a bit then we Zoom out Okay so uh the various voices we've got Uh Frank ratus without his virtual uh Big Ben look uh so that however is a Clue as to where he is which is London Uh hello Hey sorry Frank is the one that used to Have Big Ben behind him we'll uh we'll See that can you put that on just for a Second Franks of the week Sure You guys keep going while I go and find It again Huh Was it in preferences yeah yeah yeah Hang on Virtual background Big Ben Great it's it's the headphones that that Yeah it is it's the Ma fricket look S is that better Ah I'll put them up behind my head There we go You look like the Bombardier on a World War II flying uh hi mighty Okay so that's Frank ratus uh Dennis Pombriant just spoke he's in uh Where are you Massachusetts rainy

Suburban Boston it's raining again And uh welcome Dennis Pleasure to be here I I tried to get Dennis to delay and he said well I'd Rather not So here we are it's raining Hey I get to get outside catch raindrops They keep falling on your head Sort of Also uh in the United States uh in the Upper Pacific Northwest is Michael Markman how do you do I'm in Kirkland Suburban Seattle we're oddly enough it's Sun shining today at the moment Ground Zero Ground Zero I bet rounding out the gang Is uh Keith's here in uh Palo Alto hi Everyone thank you You look like you're in a virtual Background actually your shot's so nice Exactly is my uh multi-million dollar Home office in the background with my Logo Very nice yeah he's flaunting his quad Uh whatever it's called actually I'm Doing this on a Mac Pro that has um Like a crazy number of CPU cores um I Don't know 16 or something how many Cores do you have to have for it to work Full So uh Frank you have uh What are you using a Mac Pro a MacBook Pro yeah

And it has four cores In seven years Right right thank you thank you All right so uh So uh I'm very grateful for uh for Zoom Uh it's been a Lifeline for uh a lot of People and uh so we're trying this out And we'll expand it and then we'll Integrate it uh eventually if we ever do Another show with uh tricaster so that's Our technical note for of the show uh Teenagers Gilmore our producer and Director is not visible but she is here Right Yep her name is on the screen hi Tina Hello Hello all so nice to see you She could momentarily turn the video on And we'd all see her Uh and now please don't do that Wow no I I I'm just trying to have a Stable Gallery shot that's being recorded Somewhere in this case not at all Uh all right so At the risk of uh violating my uh cease And desist order uh What do we want to talk about I have about the virus yeah I have a I Have a An interesting uh story that I just Blogged about Um about and it's tangential to the Virus and how it's affected the motion

Picture business and in turn Um affected the streaming business and In turn helped companies like Zoom Especially Zoom do as well as they're Doing It's uh it's really uh you know the Motion picture business has been Devastated and now many of those big Companies are starting to release their Movies early on the stream Disney's Doing it Warner Brothers putting out I Think two or three movies they're Completely changing the dynamic of the Way films have been released and Distributed uh that's a great thing for The stream I don't know what it's going To mean for the motion picture business On the other side of this but there's Absolutely no doubt that the stream is Picked up a huge amount of uh of viewers And in so doing uh some companies here In the UK and I even think in uh uh uh In America although I don't know for Sure have uh are sending out a signal That is somewhat degraded from what it Normally might be because of what Everyone thinks will be uh too much uh Uh too much need of bandwidth and if the Bandwidth can't handle the full stream They send out less of a full stream so It seems to me that that that's an Interesting Dynamic happening now as a Result of this Um who is doing the throttling as well

Disney has already said that they would Throttle their signal here in the UK on Disney plus and same with Netflix So I don't I don't know that the uh Um that the actual like orange or three Or any of those guys are doing it you Guys would probably know if if something Was happening there but actually I had Only heard that it was coming from the Head end YouTube did it they um globally they set The default to 640 by 480. Um and you can go in and change it back Uh but they they basically reduce their Footprint uh across everything I haven't noticed any substantial uh Difference uh in any of the streams that I watch and and you know I I admit to Having way too many of them uh but you Know it's funny this time Three or four months ago uh there was an Awful lot of talk about whether or not The the there was a an appetite for all The different streaming services that I Think that that's completely changed now I think there's a huge appetite for all Of them And a whole bunch of new ones have Jumped in Um NT live the service from the National Theater which used to distribute Theatrically is now starting to Distribute to home viewers plus streams And Metropolitan and Opera likewise they

Had a theatrical distribution in in the Works and they've opened it up at least For a couple of weeks to free home Streams Probably as a marketing ploy to get People to subscribe when the when the Freemium turns back to Premium yeah I Think a lot of uh inform what I'm Reading anyway because I haven't seen it Here although it's possible that the Albert Museum might do it but a lot of The museums are and art galleries and uh Uh you know those kinds of uh places are Offering up these virtual tours on the Stream and that's also uh creating more Of a demand uh you know I and I imagine There's somewhat of a marketing Ploy in That in that when this is all over People will then want to go see these Things live and in person and of course There's other major ones coming out so There's quibby quick bites which is Going to come out with a huge push uh That's the uh the Jeffrey katzenberg uh Thing uh and there's food we're already Seeing a marketing Blitz on that there's A lot of ads for them on TV and online They're starting towards their launch And fubo there's another one coming out So there's there's just so much uh Living out there that people are going To be able to consume their content and Then of course uh you know the the the Amount of of news consumption has

Increased hugely from from what I'm Reading over there certainly you you It's not quite the same over here uh Because you know we had free view and And and BBC and ITN and all those They're on all the time uh anyway it's Like you just you can't avoid it but if You want to see American Uh content you can see it online and I And from what I understand everyone's Numbers Msnbcs.com CNN.com fox.com everybody's Numbers are going up You know the the interesting there Frank Is the broader question is What is it that we're doing now that's Going to end up having a permanent Impact Um fast and how quickly will we go back To what we're doing before if at all Because Um Not not to uh be uh incorrect about this But there's a lot about what I'm doing That I'm enjoying Being at home and being able to connect To people who anticipate a digital Connection Is kind of amazing in a way Um I I I my three kids are at home like Probably Um a lot of people's Because Colleges and Schools have closed Down so I'm cooking a lot I I literally

Flower I'm even making bread Um not because I need to but it's it's Fun and you know so my work life come my Home life are both very transformed Streaming I guess I was already deep in That anyway But I'm finding that I don't want to Watch the news because it's repetitive So I'm watching the news maybe an hour a Day And then turning it off Um and you know basically not doing TV Till the evenings and then binge Watching things like Ozark season three Excellent you know I I asked a question On my Facebook page the other day about What people were consuming on the stream What kind of uh where they were getting Their news and uh and uh what what they Thought the the future would be and and Some of the uh the thinking a lot of People talked about group watching films Uh using something like zoom and having A gallery of people and watching a movie Together and then talking about it at The same time so be a different way to Use the stream Uh and and entertain and be entertained And the other thing is a lot of it's Going to depend on the quality of the Entertainment content that's coming Through that entertain through that Stream pipeline uh but boy I'll tell you That the the the comments that people

Are putting out there about things like The Mandalorian and Ozark and I mean There's just some excellent content out There uh I mean everyone seems to be Talking about the Tiger King I haven't Seen that yet but it seems to be Something that a lot of people are Talking about and so so I think that you Know I think there is a big Transformative thing that's going to Come out of this a lot of people are Going to have changed everything about Their lifestyle and the question is how Much of that lives beyond uh coronavirus You know I guarantee you people are Going to probably wash their hands more After this is over but what other things Are they going to do are they going to Stream more are they gonna are they Gonna be more isolated I I don't know I've got a whole bunch of portfolio Companies and it's amazing how different The reaction of a company is Um some companies their DNA Is very team-centric And they've thrived in in this scenario I've got one in particular naming no Names where the CEO is very much Hands-On and almost a control freak uh He's not thriving Um So so It's interesting our Team Dynamics and Distributed work even with great tools

Um it's all the courses I wonder if Things like Zoom will end up proving That the team Dynamic is more important And more stuff gets done and in fact People then find that this is such a Good way to work that they continue to Do this After this uh this this virus whether it Goes away or flattens out or whatever it Does Dennis uh can you comment on that Well um I've written a few articles About some of this I I uh made a Comparison with what happened in the.com Boom bust cycle and uh it seemed like Right around uh the boom or the bust uh Things like well streaming video Conference calls became a real uh a real Positive factor and if you look at the Economics I think at the time I Researched it there was about 15 billion Dollars a year In uh business travel that uh uh got Decimated uh part of it because of the Recession part of it also because Um in my work uh when people wanted to Brief me they used to get on an airplane In San Francisco and fly to Boston and Uh and have a one-hour meeting with me It was tremendously expensive and you Multiply that by all of the startups all Over the country especially in Silicon Valley and you were burning a lot of Venture capital now what's that have to Do with today well I think uh when you

Think about today uh one of the Questions you have to ask is where Frank Makes a good point about productivity Improving in team building uh but I Think there's there's on the distaff Side there's going to be a place where Um all of this work through the stream Is going to save a ton more money maybe Be it's in in office space I don't know Um that's that's what I've been thinking About Think about that interesting point you Make about the airplane travel uh I Think I think it's been reported almost It's all over the world that the amount Of pollution in the air has decreased Considerably uh I wonder certainly not With those in our the American Administration but I wonder if around The world you add up all of these Positives And it becomes a bigger thing so Everything from saving money for your Company to less pollution in the air to Uh uh you know time better spent to team Building all of those things uh they say Portend some different kind of future I think you do but I think that you know There are a couple of things on the Other side because there are There are businesses which are now Shuttered that depend on attendance uh The sports industry the Theatrical Theater industry like clubs all of those

Things are going to be trying to come Back bars and restaurants Um they're going to exert some pressure To on travel and on on people meeting Together so there's bound to be some Pent-up demand for for socializing uh I Just don't think it's going to rise to The level that it was before the virus Well that's absolutely right but that's Mostly local I mean that there's a Difference between the travel to go to See a local sports team or to go out to Dinner then then it is getting on an Airplane to go to have an uh a meeting On the other side of the continent but Look at look at the whole trade show and Conferencing industry and the major Music festivals major art festivals I Mean people people go to Coachella People going to uh Comic-Con people Going to uh CES People traveling internationally to Conferences all that has been upended And I don't know how much of it will Come back Well that's an excellent point uh you Maybe you recalled this but uh 20 or 25 Years ago conferences weren't put on so Much by sponsoring uh vendors but by Independent organizations so so I Remember you know I went for example Database world back in the 80s was was a Big trade show and all dozen or so Database companies had boots there but

None of them uh ran the show Uh over the last period of time say 20 25 years companies like Salesforce and Oracle and sap have uh put out trade Shows that are So dominant that only they and their Their ecosystem Partners uh Show anything there Um the next logical step in in that Progression might be doing away with the Physical presence of the show Because there's nothing that one vendor Can't do Across the screen that they that they're Doing in uh in in a major Conference Center a center like the Moscone Center Other than getting a bunch of present Analysts drunk Yeah but well there's a question of Serendipitous communication people People stumbling upon things Um that guy that goes away uh Serendipitous meetings uh you know Anytime anytime you attend a major Conference you run into people and you Have exchanges that neither one of you Anticipated many of which lead to Something subsequently and that gets Filtered out when even with Broadband uh The bandwidth of what you can get Through Cameron's screen A camera and a microphone is much less Than what you get wandering around and Bumping into folks yeah but yeah is that

A permanent danger or a temporary change It seems like Serendipity by by its Nature finds a way to to reinvent itself You've got I've got a friend that uh That just took over Um Uh the uh National Lampoon Uh which has been It which has been as you know up until Recently not sort of not on the tip of Everyone's tongue and kind of Floundering and he has started doing National Lampoon stuff on a National Lampoon stream uh and only marketing it I it feels like he's marketing it all Only on social media uh and he's Starting to get some real traction on That and you know you're also starting To see trade shows uh do things online In the Stream uh and look even here on On Zoom you can bring in what 40 people At any given time uh I saw someone do a Uh uh uh do something that it looked Like there was more than a hundred People at one time on it yeah go ahead I Was just gonna say my wife is a teacher And her school system or her yeah I Guess her school system had a zoom Conference with 800 people on it last Week So I I mean I I'm actually talking to a University about how they might be able To do a uh a commencement uh using Zoom So they're they're people are thinking

Differently uh if if for no other reason And if for nothing else uh it's it's It's this time that we're spending alone And in our homes and by ourselves seems To be a very creative time Keith Zoom Mall says a feature for those Very large meetings it's a feature Called breakout rooms so any Participants can opt at any given moment To go to a breakout room just for Themselves So you kind of get Corridor networking Replication uh through a digital feature There's also A company in um it has become quite well Known it's called hop in hrpin I think I Think that's the right name they're Based out of Manchester England they are Doing digital events at massive scale Um including Exhibitors the ability to stream videos I mean everything would get at a normal Event that they've replicated the Digital version of it So there's you know there's a lot of Things happening that I can end up being Permanent because it's massive aside From the economic stuff that um Was mentioned it's just better Mostly Yeah So what does that mean uh it's better It saves money it's cleaner for the Environment

Uh look at what we're doing just next Time I'll get a light so my image will Look as good as Keith's and Well I might not look as good as Keith But I'll have a nice shot and I it you Know it just it feels to me like uh this Is like this great intersection of Of technology and real life Yeah it's serendipity It's funny watching Meet the Press this Morning Chuck uh did an interview with The the woman who's the medical person Who's always on Trump's conference calls And Chuck was at home in his home office He had a background like mine so they'd Obviously lit him up and he apologized That the answer to the interview for the Satellite delay What satellite would that be Realize how behind the time I mean That's NBC we have better attack here That NBC had on Meet the Press this Morning and you know Funny they're using um a lot of those Networks I noticed they're using WebEx Cisco So uh what I'm not sure what what is Because I haven't used that in a long Time well I wonder why would that be a Chosen uh a chosen technology uh over This uh unless maybe they have some Financial arrangement with them uh it's Just that they I mean various companies Use various of these uh Technologies

WebEx is sort of an older guard Uh uh conferencing software which has Been uh updated into the uh video space Uh and it you know basically the Features are are somewhat comparable uh To zoom but uh you know they obviously The company in this case uh is Standardized on something yeah a lot of Companies are standardized on Uh Google what used to be called Hangouts is now called meet and uh and Then Microsoft is uh slowly starting to Uh enter with uh their team's software Which is a messaging service that They're adding video to so you know We'll see a convergence around the So-called big players and then Apple of Course has got the lead uh overall but Not in meeting technology with FaceTime Which of course only works on their System so that's that's cool I think in Some of these networks I don't know this But my speculation is that a lot of it Is ad hoc and they uh they are Improvising it came on suddenly And they really haven't done due Diligence to pick the best system they Just said we got to get something on the Air Tonight Some of them are turning to whatever Their engineering team happens to know About I think I think it's going to settle out Over time

And the key the key there is um Legacy You know that NBC in New York obviously has got Legacy And Tech hence the satellites then you Know how to do that and they can do it Right away uh they drive a big truck Outside Chuck's house right on top and They know how to do it probably the Unions have a say in New York which is You know this is what we've trained on This is how we do it right so that's all The conditions are there for a leapfrog Technology Um I mean what Steve's been pioneering With the tricaster for more than a Decade now well I wouldn't say that I've Been pioneering it I think uh Leo Laporte started uh by pioneering it and Uh Jason kalikanis also does uh a lot of That I don't know what he's using now But he started with uh tricaster as well So I mean there were a group of us that Did this I think moving forward forward Uh we're gonna I know what Tina and I Are talking about is integrating this Experience as part of the tricaster Experience so uh you know I think we'll See uh You know the emergence of I mean there's There's a sort of a uber topic here that You guys have been touching on that uh I Think is Uh I'd frame it just slightly Differently which is you know the

Question of what's going to happen next This is next We're in it we're already doing it and Uh so I don't see this going away if Anything I think it becomes as uh Technology Innovation occurs in this Space it's just going to become more Omnipresent I think that uh the point uh That you made there Keith the about the Unions I think that we're going to see Very quickly the unions uh trying to Find their place in the use of this Technology so that it doesn't interfere With the contracts that they already Have and in fact uh augments those Contracts and they will have ownership At least on the major networks for Because it's funny I actually see that The you know sales on the major networks Except for these like giant events like The Olympics and and things that are Going away that are costing them Billions of dollars but sales and Advertising on the major networks as the As the viewership starts to increase Again because you're really starting to See real numbers on them on the ABC NBC CBS and fox like you haven't seen it Years Um that that's going to open up a lot of Doors for negotiations with the unions For some kind of involvement and or Ownership of these techno allergies well On the news shows uh I haven't seen any

Information about uh what the unions are Doing because now they're bringing in All of the experts that used to come Into the studio are now coming in by Some kind of video conferencing software From their own basement yeah so yeah I I think I don't see how the unions Compete uh or the networks compete with What's going on uh with zoom for example Zoom is in my mind it's the next Netflix It's it's going to you know create an Economic model that comes out of this Which is going to be uh as Netflix has Allow more production at a lower cost Than how the networks are going to be Able to compete with this so I think Yeah the networks are going to have to Give in to this and be reframed by it Now I think that they what the unions Won't try to take ownership of the Technology as much as they'll try and Use the technology as a reason for Saving other jobs that might not be There so you'd send a crew to a location Uh and a truck so now you've got you Know even if they're not in Chuck Todd's House somebody had to go in there and Set up that those lights in that that Lockdown camera because I've seen some Of those shots uh where those where the Talent on those kinds of shows actually Have what almost looks like a lit studio With a with a big Studio camera or an

Ikigami not not not a uh uh not an SLR Um or a DSLR but a real television Camera in in their living room uh so That that took people to do it and then A truck outside that has people Operating it and so on so once they go To some kind of a system like this they Will they will want to protect the jobs I'm just speculating here they will want To protect those jobs uh that are being Affected by the technology that happens All the time uh when a new technology Comes in over years the things change But it's almost like immediately the Networks will make every effort to say We don't need you anymore because of This the unions will say yeah but we own That uh because that's you know wires And stuff and that'll happen and it'll Take a while for that to change I think So the the key to me is the studio Centricity goes away so so today I'll Meet the Press clearly there was still a Studio and at least one of the guests Was in the studio and there was probably A team with a switching desk sat behind A window you know managing the whole Thing because they had very slick Changes between pre-planned shots and so On but it feels to me that that that Studio centricity gives a massive amount Of freedom to a Creator so that the fact That Tina who isn't in view here is sat Switching and recording this call

She could be anywhere in the world doing That and it would still work so I think The first thing that goes away is studio Centricity and and obviously that may or May not lead to Less jobs over a long or Short period of time based on power but The longer that takes the more likely The next version of cheddar and The Young Turks will advise will rise up to To dominate new brands if you like and I'm not sure about that uh Dennis what Do you think I think what you're talking about is Commoditization of television or of Video or whatever you want to call it if You look at at the Historical Trend when When commoditization occurs uh two Things happen one unions dig in and get Entrenched and they make change Relatively difficult for the industries That they work in if you look at the Auto industry for example or the steel Industry uh powerful unions uh they're Still around but uh they've they've uh The industries that they work in have Been hollowed out by uh more Nimble uh Less union oriented uh foreign Competition whether you're talking about I mean take it take a look at the car Industry 30 years ago General Motors had About uh 44 of the market in the United States plus Ford and Chrysler uh today Uh the big three in in Detroit have about 42 percent of the

Market in total and the rest of the Market is owned by Um uh foreign competition that's Building a product on on these Shores uh Doing it non-unit I think I think what We're looking at is the beginnings of The commodity further commoditization of Of video TV Communications whatever you Want to whatever you want to call it and I think that's going to result in fewer Union jobs not more but at the same time I expect that we'll see uh more union Jobs cropping up in some of the things That are being exposed right now uh that Have to do more with sustainability less Air travel for example Um cropping up different uh different Needs for for talented people to be able To do things locally but probably not Directly uh involved in what we're doing Frank I think that's right I think that That I don't think the unions are going To go away I think that they do often in Impede uh the progress Um but they find other ways and to to Make sure that they're still a part of Uh of the industry uh you know the Writers Guild for example uh in in I Remember I was negotiating a writer's Guild contract when I was on the The Non-writers Guild side uh and uh the Whole idea of writing for the dot-coms Became a thing uh because for a while The writer's Guild did not write for the

Dot-coms and eventually they got to be The writers for the dot-coms Um so I think they'll find other things Inside the industry to make sure that They can continue to be relevant uh and That their members can continue to uh Reap the benefits of having uh some sort Of uh of understanding of what their Life is this great thing about a union You have an understanding of what your Life is going to be you know what your What your schedule is or you you know How much you're going to make because You did some overtime or you went into Golden time or whatever it is you uh it So I I I think on the one hand Um that it it will I think primarily They will find a way to continue to con Be relevant in in the industry by the Way I noticed uh one of the uh Sunday Morning shows this morning one of the Anchors said and it I thought he was on His set said that he was in his house And it looked like he was on his set so I don't know if it was they're all doing This virtual background stuff uh yeah MSNBC they're all uh at home the the Studio in quotes is a shot with a green Screen probably yeah I mean yeah on NBC Nightly News for the last 10 years uh You see in the background of one of the Angles you see The Newsroom that's the Same shot But no but the point is is it's actually

A loop number one It's long enough that you don't pay Attention to the fact that it's Repeating but it's uh it's virtually uh You know rendered in and yeah the the Only thing that's I think you know has Large numbers of people relative is the Control room yeah you know uh Keith's or Somebody's reference to Tina this is the Model we're in the new uh world and this Will not uh be replaced Yeah by any kind Of uh Brute Force economic uh uh Leverage I mean the the networks don't Have they have to deal with another Issue which I've has been driving me Crazy uh which is they have to deal with Their business model and their Credibility as a news organization which I think is completely under attack uh by Their bad acting uh you know I I switch Let's see what's on in the background Right now it's it's not MSNBC which I Used to watch religiously it's CNN which I used to not watch religiously why is That Because uh the NBC Uh model of Anchors With a specific uh political band Anti-fox Well more just you know When they remember when there was a Presidential campaign and that was how Long ago was that I've seen about 18

Years in dog years I think yeah it feels Like it uh you know that was their Business model was you know providing a Rapper Of course well they you know they fired Uh one of the most expert uh of the of That group Chris Matthews or he fired Himself whatever it is that that Happened uh You you're left with a a bunch of Anchors who are constantly returning to Whatever the anti-trump uh attitude is In their questions and then their guests And I I find the most compelling Information that I can get from Mainstream media is you know carrying The press conferences by Cuomo and and You know our current president Well that's a good question Um Let's take a vote should the president's Press conferences Be broadcast live Yes Yes I prefer they weren't but I am not They're not very informative but they're They're entertaining Um and you get you get to take the Temperature of his mood which honestly Is a major variable in what happens So Um but I I don't really care about his Mood uh I think one of the benefits if

You want to call it that of this crisis Is that what Trump thinks about this uh Becomes largely irrelevant I I Understand that there are you know he's Appealing to uh a third of the country And all of the political Dynamics but The reality is is that the politics are Going to resolve themselves on November Whatever it is and in the meantime Trying to uh navigate uh what's going on In terms of he's up where he's down or Any of that is irrelevant what really is Relevant is uh how much uh distancing Are we going to be able to provide to be Able to bend the curve so that we can Return to whatever The New Normal is Which we don't know what that is yet But Dennis you were gonna I'm not sure That's the point though I mean uh by Definition when the president speaks He's made he's making news this guy has A propensity to make a fool of himself And to look look like a really uh Petty small actor whatever you want to Call him but that in itself is news it's News it's news to discover that this guy This guy is really walking around in his Bbds and that news is news implies it's New and this is not a new insight I don't get on a daily basis I don't get Much I don't get much value out of uh You know that he's the idiot in charge I Mean okay what else is new Well I'm sorry but his pronouncements

Have the ability to kill us That's my point I agree with I see I Would say Look there was a time when all of this Stuff was shot on film And then the film came back to the end Of the house and the producers and the Editors screened it and picked out the Things that were Salient and important And that's what people saw uh I'm not Hearkening I'm not saying we should Hearken back to that I actually don't Think they should be live for but that And that's a way to to make it so that Not being live works but I also think There's another another interesting Dynamic going on here and that is By recording them and playing them back That actually might help the president Uh in a in a way That Allows that all of his stupid Death-defying ridiculous comments are Edited out because they won't be edited In or edited well that's I mean that's That's what makes this stuff But you know even even in those days When you when you just had Half hour Nightly News and that wasn't a Half hour of time because you had Commercials uh you still covered press Conferences live uh even in Kennedy's Day if he if he gave it live press Conference it was covered live

Um Eisenhower's press conferences were Covered live uh what we're not used to Is a press conference every day twice a Day Yeah I I just think this is a an interesting Topic of discussion and I actually Brought it up uh as in so every morning I I add a like I said I mentioned every Day I add a question to my Facebook page And just sort of read the tone of all The people that follow me uh and that Wouldn't want that one came up actually 50 50. half of the people that voted to Keep it live I know I'm no longer Friends with but that's another story Well the problem is that the audience is So completely divided and also opinions Are pretty much baked and unmovable so Uh as Steve said so what's new there is No new I mean what you see is what you Saw last week and what you saw last year And Um it's just the repetition of the Pattern it's like you know going back to See Starry Night in uh in the Museum of Modern Art it's the same every time you Go there you don't expect it to be Different But you know the the interesting thing Is um what you rely on so I I'm like Steve I can't watch MSNBC for More than half an hour anymore even That's too much

Um but this morning I was watching my Twitter stream as me the Press was on And there was um Um a virologist Who did this long Thread about what a Virus is and why it manifests the Behavior it does and it was fantastic And he was just an individual so it Feels to me that going back to the Previous conversation Zoom newsletters Um Twitter Twitter Streams that have you know one two three Four five six seven from people who Clearly know what they're talking about There's some fantastic sources of of Knowledge that are way more powerful Than the fake news fear that I I agree With you but I think it's a format issue Not a mainstream versus uh social uh Issue for example uh on CNN Town Hall Several nights ago uh both fouchy and Much more uh significantly I thought uh Bill Gates uh spoke gates at length it's About half an hour uh Yeah We're going to be putting out a Newsletter uh you know occasionally and Uh the link to the CNN thing is uh will Be in it but uh Gates Uh was remarkable in his Comprehensive understanding of what Actually has to be done it's kind of Like having Dr burst who was the woman That you referred to earlier

Um uh Anthony fauci uh and You know some of the analysts on CNN for Example uh Gupta I think it is yeah Who's really smart yeah and you know People like that you you start to see How the networks are reshaping their Credibility around this issue and I Think CNN uh I mean MSNBC racial Mato is Actually uh Gone from being a a really uh uh sort of Floundering actor to being somebody who Is uh trying to bend uh her business Model or the company's business model to Uh the reality of who who is consuming This information So you know I I think I I think it's uh It's more nuanced than big actor versus Little actor so when you watch a uh a News conference on the stream and you Chosen for example to watch it on Fox Which I have done just because I'm Interested in seeing the fox comments Which which Roll Along the bottom of the Screen uh as the news conference goes on And then to switch over to ABC news for Example and see the comments which are Diametrically opposed Adds this great new dimension to the Streaming uh environment uh because You're getting individuals opinions Um unfiltered which by the way I find Really interesting here on Zoom to click The chat button and have the chat Streaming directly on the right hand

Side of our gallery of imagery right now So as I just responded to uh a Dennis Comment uh on there so I saw it come up At the bottom and it just said chat I Clicked on it now all of a sudden it's Like having the chat room on the same Screen without having to have two Screens open uh I I think What Dennis said by the way uh that You're referring to uh and then you say Exactly to I I disagree with which is he Says most of the viewing happens during Repetition not the actual conference Anyhow so televising the press Conference is becoming less important I I don't think it's the matter of the Viewing Is the most important uh information That we are uh getting uh from Washington uh uh secondarily I think uh What Cuomo is doing although it doesn't Have the same uh Global importance well I think it does Unfortunately because uh New York is the Hot spot of hot spots but the um Just to your reference about uh uh going To Fox I've actually gone to Fox for a More practical reason which is I think That the press conference is the most Important broadcast because of the Combination of uh you know be fine by me If Trump was just Auto muted uh during Those conferences the problem is is that He takes up too much of the time and

Then he passes the buck to uh to Pence And then they run out the clock and get Off Before we get to get any real Information but but you're talking about I've actually switched uh twice now to Fox because they continue to carry the Press conference but that's on TV right You're talking about watching it on TV Where the other networks have made a Decision not to show it and fox is the Only one that is showing it no I'm Talking about how the MSNBC and then CNN Or MSNBC watches what CNN's when they go to Uh analysts or to a break then they go Too they're trying to get back to their Business model they're not trying to Serve what is Paramount about this which Is to Dennis's Point uh how are these Guys going to try and I'll use the word Try to kill us But you know that if you if you Steve I'm going to share my screen a second Just to illustrate a poem If you go Um to the sources and go to California This tells us the number of ICU beds That are short based on Of every state based on real data if I And it shows us that it's going to be The end of June before we're through This and it gives us a lot of stats now If I go to New York You know and this isn't relying on TV at

All or on the president if you go to New York you get to send numbers and you Find out that they're 35 000 beds sure That their Peak is happening much faster They're going to be through it by Sometime in May Um uh why because they didn't isolate as Quickly as California but there's 7 000 Beds short and they you know need a Massive number of ventilators this this Information which I'll stop sharing now Is not dependent on a central Source Anymore And that to me is is massively powerful If you can play between good stuff and Bad stuff Have you seen the one that uh there's a Young kid who uh who updates like all Day long all of the numbers all the time For the entire world have you seen that One that's yeah it's pretty good he's my Neighbor he's a he was a 17 year old uh Seattle kid Um it's it's mainly or uh it's mainly Automated he doesn't yeah Oh I think that for the for a while he Was working on the automation of it but I guess yeah he's I mean he's constantly Working on improving the code and uh and Building features uh but his job is not To input numbers it's yeah I Know I do imply that but it's very good So man that and the one that Keith just Showed us I think are very valuable

Tools uh and you know here we are Sitting talking about this and Keith Just showed us I mean I've seen that Slider thing to show how to flatten the Curve on a couple of things but I've Never seen one with the list of all the Different states that you could go and Click on it and uh so I mean that's a Valuable tool that we learned about here On this Zoom call on the Gilmore gang Bada boom I wonder what would happen if You went on that and I'm not asking you To do it because I prefer you didn't do It Keith Um I'm wondering if you click on Mississippi what you see Well he can do it off uh off screen and Tell us Your lips move not apparently uh look at Your spacebar Vicki went to it and then all of a Sudden it the voice went away yeah Proving my point there you go Mississippi Um is 24 days away from Peak resource Use the curve is fairly flat Um it has plenty of beds and plenty of ICU and it only needs 176 ventilators so Mississippi is currently speaking in a Very good shape so how that was covered How Mississippi has been covered on at Least MSNBC and maybe CNN as well is Basically uh attacking the governor Uh for uh you know basically refusing to

Recognize the problem that's the tone of The attack And I don't hear any relationship Between that Messaging and so-called information And uh and what you just reported But But no doubt that's one of the places That uh Trump is talking about easing The restrictions because of that kind of Reporting The reason it's in good shape by the way Is they closed schools on March the 18th And non-essential services on March the 19th they have not implemented oh which Is probably what everyone's going on About Michigan Michigan closed their Schools very early and they're having a Big problem Yeah Michigan Michigan is quite like new york-shaped They've got 10 000 shortage of beds two And a half thousand shortage If icu's and 2 000 shortage of Ventilators and their Peak resource use Is going to be 10 days from now Pretty big international airports let me Throw out another uh uh Theory Which is that this we've seen social Media under attack for months if not Years uh you know Russia Etc uh and I I Think right now social media although it Can be uh you know if you zoom in it Gets very hysterical very quickly uh

It's still I think uh rebounding in Terms of its importance Well I think yeah I agree I I personally Find Twitter invaluable we were talking Earlier about serendipitous hallway Conversations I think Twitter is the Place where that happens uh yeah I uh Because Something from someone that I don't Follow uh will be promoted to me based On how other people react to it So people I do follow like it uh I'll See it uh so it has a a a pretty Sophisticated algorithm for uh promoting And exposing information that I might Not otherwise see based on the fact that People whose opinions I value value that Information Dennis what do you think uh you do you Agree with the thesis that social media Is on the rebound or do you consider it To be uh the word an interim phase which Will the Bad actors will step in and and Ruin it again Um a little of both but probably neither I think what we're seeing is that social Media is proving itself to be a tool Um it is neither uh always the tool the The hammer that you use to drive a nail And it's not the murder weapon that you Hit somebody over the head with Um I think One possible outcome from this is is That we might we might get to a point

Where we say gee we like the social Media that does this as opposed to the Social media that does that and that Might be the first step towards some Form of Regulation I've noticed uh and I'm sure everyone Has that that ever since there's been This uh the the stay-at-home rules that The amount of people that uh I would Normally and not not that the numbers of My contacts have risen but the number of Contacts that I have every day have uh Which I I guess says that more people Are being uh uh not driven to it but More likely to use it because they have More hours in the day to do things at Home or because they want to find out What's going on a different way uh but I I agree with you also Dennis I I don't Think that it's gonna ultimately be a Horrible thing I think that somehow will People people or the algorithm or the or The company will find a way to say this Is the good stuff let's isolate that and And let's let these people who want that Stuff interact with it that way Yeah because the the the the products Are certainly showing their value And you know everybody in the market Wants value in some way so the the Question the question is how do we how Do we make sure that we get value Without getting all the sludge that Could go with it

Keith Yes Well I I I I suspect that you're not Paying attention that's why I asked you No I was paying attention but it I Didn't it didn't trigger a thought Oh How about now You know but I I have many thoughts About the tangential to the conversation So I don't want to yeah but I'd like to Hear one one of them Well so I I think what we're witnessing Can be summed up in a single Trend and That single trend is going to be Profound which is decentralization And an increasing ability of end points Which We Are One Um uh being able to convey thought and Opinion and facts to other end points And and so we're we're basically Experiencing what the internet was Designed for which is the empowering of Every node endpoint Edge Uh to be a source of knowledge of or Opinion for that matter and uh as that As that happens it's amazing to me how Good Trump is Undermining it by trying to maintain a Centralized narrative that's under his Control using all the tools that we Built like Twitter And and so it seems to me like the big Moment is whether the scent of the holes

Against the edge uh that wasn't much of A tangent Keith that actually I suspected as much but uh Frank since You jumped in there uh Do you agree uh with this decentralized Versus Uh uh centralized Sort of struggle or is there something Else that's at play here I'm not sure that I that I agree with it With as much as I hope that it that That's what it ends up becoming Uh That's it Also what's going on is invisible to us Because of the nature Of the filtering algorithms so if you go Back to the old days of three Network Television Networks everything that they did was Visible and it was only one screen Stream the only place it diverged was When you cut to the local station so you Had one big centralized Network and you Had some localities in each place Um nothing was invisible Today most of everything that's going on On social media is completely invisible And the tweaking of the algorithms is Completely invisible so we don't really Know what we're talking about we only Know what we see and uh from what I see It's getting a little better but I have No idea what's really happening

Well I mean you know there's something Deeper going on Say again I think there's something deeper going On I think uh social media is really Really important and it helps us uh Maintain contact with the Zeitgeist but Um what I'm what I'm seeing Not just with uh Corona but with Probably the last 15 20 years is a Leadership vacuum that's that's not Getting any better that uh is causing Small problems to become exacerbated and Become big problems we had a we had a Leadership vacuum with the coronavirus With Trump calling it The Wuhan virus It's a Chinese hoax it's not to be taken Seriously we lost two months of Preparation time uh for that but you can You could go further back and look at What we've not done uh with climate Change uh because people People are in some cases using social Media as as a way to to propagate false Information and and there are no no Leaders standing up and saying no this Is something we have to do Um From the research I've done uh climate Change isn't a hard thing to fix it will Be expensive but it's something we can Afford this Uh coronavirus problem isn't a hard Problem uh to fix I think we're not even

Looking at all of the potential uh Disruptive solutions that are out there And they don't they don't include Hydroxychloroquine Um but they include other things that Are that are far more reasonable to do And it keeps coming back to paucity of Leadership and until we get that fixed All the technology that we have is going To be a Band-Aid it's not gonna it's not Gonna help Propel us into a new age Keith I agree with uh I agree with uh the you Know when you get to a certain age You've seen many New Waves be slowed Down by Legacy Um Not just Legacy systems but the Inability to break from Legacy and Usually a lot of self-interest by Organizations that are part of our Legacy to slow it down you know and I Did I did the first ISP in Europe easing A British Telecom Interesting enough was both a friend and An enemy it was a friend in that it sold Us bandwidth And it was an enemy in that Um it didn't want the internet to Replace the telephone system and and so I think in every wave of transformation Vested interest clings on to the Past Both for reasons we've discussed Previously

Um that are perfectly reasonable reasons Um and what usually happens then is new Organizations emerge that LeapFrog and I Think that's what we'll see I think Zoomy is probably one of those Um but there'll be others and Um and leapfrogging it's in it's in it's In the nature of human society and Especially capitalist Society where Profits and costs and Um uh Legacy uh is difficult to escape From Um that the source of innovation tends To be new External to the Legacy and and and I Think that's what we'll see and it it's Just normal Well Keith to your point I agree with All of that Um but there are some pretty strong Actors in in the theater today that are Exerting huge uh uh Backdraft and making Making disruptive change uh very Difficult to do there was an article in Today's Times where Washington Post I Don't remember which one uh about a Government program to build a three Thousand dollar ventilator that was Funded by the US government in I think 2010 did you see that article did and They they basically acquired a small Startup to stop it building a cheaper One that's right those the startup got The contract covidian bought them and

And shut it down and clinical billion Was bought by medtronics and uh we're Starting all over again well there's Been a great film called uh the man in The white suit Uh anybody's seen it raise your hand oh Yeah try and the suit that never got Dirty that's right it was indestructible Essentially yeah and uh you know Basically the whole film is about Everybody trying to stop uh this from Happening the water engine same story Yes but the nice thing is there's always A guy you know it's greed and fear The greedy guys Um uh and the fearful guys are on both Sides so you've got Legacy and the the Way that fear manifests itself is you Try to kill anything that's better than You or cheaper than you or faster than You Um and the great side is you quit your Job you join the other guys And and it's kind of it goes on and on And on so it feels to me as if greed Drives Innovation and greed also drives Trying to kill innovation So again I think it's interesting that uh that Trump has used uh Twitter uh a Relatively new technology to push Forward his agenda of trying to bring Back the steel industry and bring back The coal industry and uh and and and you

Know be a an anti-climate uh change uh Guy but he's using this new technology To get that message out there this Interesting irony in that yeah But the goal is uh re-election that's All he really cares about Producing the tool to to work I mean I I I admit that I I find myself probably at Least three times a day going to real Donald Trump just to read the comments I I just do it and uh and it's the his his People are passionate Whether and but I'll also find myself Going and looking at who it is that is Saying that to make sure that they Actually have more than three followers And that they aren't a Russian bot or Whatever uh but the ones that I find are The most passionate seem to be uh the Most uh legitimate Well legitimate the human maybe but to Legitimate I'm not sure no I meant Legitimate human beings as opposed to You know what I get it No yeah I mean they are not all paid Russian trolls and they're not all Bots yeah there really is there really Is a cult On The new technology yes So uh I I think I would normally at this Time uh ask for closing thoughts but I Think we've been seeing this in real Time

Yeah agreed All right well listen uh uh what is this Uh by the way this sounds great and and That and it looks really good and uh and I haven't experienced any of the Little Z digital I don't know if it's because this takes Less bandwidth than the use of Skype or Whatever but this this technology feels And sounds and and just seems uh better So our producer director uh uh informs Me that I need to remind people to keep Washing your hands uh but more Importantly stop touching your face Which I find almost impossible Uh and that's that's one of the best Reasons to wear a mask uh yeah yeah well Not to stop transmission but just to Keep your hand off your face uh good Point Um fear of death is another good one I Know but that's true you know Intermittent it's transient Come on The passage to the afterlife is So uh I want to say uh wish my brother Dan Gilmore happy birthday oh happy Birthday Dan I'd like to wish my dad Uh who's been gone for a long time happy Birthday when was that which one was That yesterday today oh happy birthday Brothers tomorrow and uh Tina's mother Is in the in the middle right yeah oh I Always get this right

Uh I want to thank uh everybody who uh Shows up to to this because uh It's uh helped me uh at least pass the Time for a couple of hours Whatever the hell is going on behind me A blank white screen is not a comforting CNN seems to be what off the air no it's It's got Um text that comes up but you can't see It somehow oh it's their new commercial It's very good by the way it's green but Somehow And I'd like to thank in uh in random Order uh Keith cheer thank you sir Welcome Uh Steve Gilmore nice job Let's see uh Dennis Umbreon thank you Sir Thank you And Frank ratus Thank you And uh last but certainly not least I'm Michael Markman and thank you Uh I think this is a success hopefully It was recorded and uh I'll release it Until next time thanks to everybody who Showed up and especially here we will See you again Thank you [Music] Thank you