This Week in Tech 1050: Live Demo, Good Luck

Date: September 22, 2025
Host: Leo Laporte
Panelists: Devindra Hardawar (Engadget), Nicholas De Leon (Consumer Reports), Father Robert Ballecer (Digital Jesuit)

Episode Overview

This episode gathers a high-caliber panel to break down a busy week in technology news. Topics covered include Meta's turbulent launch of new smart glasses (and its infamous demo fails), the evolving landscape and controversy surrounding augmented reality wearables, heated U.S. tech policy, the iPhone "Air," the TikTok takeover saga, issues with Microsoft’s Windows lifecycle, hacking stories, AI in religion, and the shifting sands of independent media in a politicized age.

The discussion, as always, is lively, humorous, and insightful, with memorable moments and candid takes from each panelist.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Meta’s Smart Glasses: Live Demo Fails and Social Consequences

• Meta’s Product Launch (03:02–18:03)
  • Meta announced new smart glasses (Ray-Ban display, updated Oakleys).
  • Live on-stage demo failed, with Mark Zuckerberg visibly frustrated. Main issues: calls wouldn’t go through, and a cooking demo failed to execute instructions properly.
  • Technical explanation: Possibly a DDoS incident, as audience members with glasses all triggered devices simultaneously, overloading a dev server (09:02).
• Panelist Reactions:
  • Devindra: “It sounds like hell, honestly. This is the stuff we’re trying to get away from with being more mindful about smartphone use. So this sounds like hell, honestly.” (07:12)
  • Robert: “For me it’s all about—I’m not giving my info to Meta. Just no, 100% no… They’re not a trustworthy company.” (18:03)
  • Social pushback: Significant privacy concerns over “pervert glasses” (15:10), normalization of being recorded everywhere, and "rightful pushback."
  • Notable anecdote: TikToker discovered aesthetician wearing Meta glasses during a Brazilian wax, highlighting privacy fears (11:51).
• Market/Ecosystem Observations:
  • Lack of a robust ecosystem compared to Apple.
  • Struggles to build public trust for always-on recording tech.
  • Use cases proposed for future: wristband for neural-like control, but overall, panel skeptical on social adoption.

2. Windows 10 End-of-Life: Consumer Rights and Corporate Obsolescence

• Microsoft’s Support Cutoff (26:09–31:45)
  • Consumer Reports (with Nicholas’ colleagues) advocated for extended support for Windows 10 PCs, especially those sold in recent years but made ineligible for Windows 11 upgrades.
  • Nicholas De Leon: “That to me is the biggest… If I bought a PC from Best Buy three years ago and all of a sudden it’s not going to get security updates, that's where it gets a little strange.” (27:11)
  • Microsoft offering minor upgrades/extensions (e.g., $30, Bing points, or OneDrive backup for extra year), indicating pressure from consumer advocacy.

3. Distrust in Big Tech, Big Government, and the Evolving Role of Media

• Techlash and Overreach Discussions (35:32–45:17)
  • General climate of distrust towards tech conglomerates, media conglomerates, and government influence — especially with issues like H1-B visa shakeups, government pressure on media (Jimmy Kimmel/Seth Meyers/Disney controversy), and censorship concerns.
  • Devindra: “Facebook is not a Meta, is not a trustworthy company. They've proven that time and time again.” (15:40)
  • Nicholas skeptically compares government-mandated content removal to typical business decisions (44:50).
  • Robert distinguishes between business decisions and First Amendment rights: “It is clearly a violation of the First Amendment rights… when the President says, ‘I don't think you should be able to make fun of me.’” (48:54)
  • Media interlocks and business incentives make genuine resistance to government or corporate pressure rare.

4. iPhone "Air" and the Plateau of Smartphone Excitement

• Reviewing the iPhone Air (58:34–66:12)
  • Consensus: surprisingly impressive and repairable design, but thinness comes with some battery compromise.
  • Tear-downs show it’s sturdy and mostly battery inside (“almost the entire phone is in the camera bump…” 59:49).
  • Market is saturated: “For most people, probably the 17, not the pro and not the Air, will be the choice.” (62:41)
  • Nostalgic look back at peak iPhone-era excitement: “I think the 10 was quite remarkable." (63:49)

5. Vibe Coding and the Power of AI for Everyday Developers

• Nicholas De Leon’s Vibe Coding Journey (81:01–91:30)
  • Nicholas describes using LLMs (Claude, ChatGPT) to create hardware drivers and firmware, revamp personal websites, and develop small utility apps with minimal coding experience.
  • “For someone like me who hasn't really messed with programming since, like, Python maybe 10 years ago… If you can describe what you want, these things can get you there.” (84:25)
  • Expressed as democratization of software creation for clear communicators, if not professional devs.

6. TikTok Takeover: US Control, Deal Uncertainties, and the Power of Algorithms

• TikTok “Framework” Deal (96:59–115:17)
  • Ongoing negotiations for US companies (including Oracle, Skydance, Murdoch) to take an 80% share/control. Key sticking points: algorithm licensing, ongoing user data management.
  • Concerns about US partisan influence (e.g., becoming a Republican-owned platform) and comparisons to X/Twitter’s changes under Musk.
  • Father Robert: “TikTok had something in that algorithm and this is what continues to make it popular and useful. That can actually tease out your real preferences from the types of videos that you like.” (111:42)
  • Leo: “If you want to control how people think… that's the effective way to do it. You control the media.” (114:40)
  • Noted: No strong, fact-based justification behind the TikTok ban; political motivations suspected.

7. Hacking: Social Engineering, Flat Networks, and Supply Chain Risk

• Scattered Spider & Lapsus Attacks (124:25–131:12)
  • Covered recent arrests and ingenious social engineering tactics used by these hacker groups.
  • Companies’ weakest link remains human error; training is no longer enough — must assume zero trust (127:45).
• Jaguar Land Rover & NPM Hacks
  • Major operational shutdown and data leaks due to flat network architecture (130:28).
  • NPM supply chain compromised (132:21); development environments increasingly vulnerable due to package dependencies.

8. AI in the Vatican: Why the Pope Won’t Be Automated

• AI Pope Controversy (142:57–149:36)
  • Proposal for an AI-based “avatar” Pope called out as flying in the face of Catholic doctrine and Pope Leo XIV’s own warnings against dehumanizing effects of technology.
  • Robert: “You cannot take something that is as important as building an actual personal connection and hand it over to a probability machine, which is what LLMs are.” (147:07)
  • Discussed Vatican’s actual AI work—practical/ethical, not automating spiritual leadership.

9. Closing Thoughts

• The Importance of Independent Media (116:09, 118:33)
  • Self-reflection on tech news media landscape, the role of independent platforms like TWiT and Consumer Reports, and the urgency of supporting media not tied to corporate and political interests.
  • Leo: “If you want to support independent, high integrity, responsible, without fear or favor, reporting on technology, this is the place.”

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Meta Glasses:
  “Turns out nobody wants to be a pervert all day. You know, like, these are pervert glasses. You’re just recording everything all day. Nobody can trust you.”
  — Devindra Hardawar [15:10]

• On the iPhone Air’s Repairability:
  “I would have thought it was just a solid block of epoxy or something.”
  — Father Robert Ballecer [59:45]

• On Media-Government Collusion:
  “It is a business decision not to get on the wrong side of the President. That's why every single tech executive showed up at that White House dinner.”
  — Leo Laporte [50:00]

• On AI Coding:
  “For someone like me who hasn't really messed with programming since, like, you know, Python maybe 10 years ago, really so very little... If you can describe what you want, these things can get you there.”
  — Nicholas De Leon [84:25]

• On Techlash:
  “Maybe we’re a little more jaded or disillusioned now. But we've also seen these companies straight up lie to us…”
  — Devindra Hardawar [23:51]

• On AI in Religion:
  “We cannot take something that is as important as building an actual personal connection and hand it over to a probability machine… LLMs are just probability generators… It doesn’t fit.”
  — Father Robert Ballecer [147:07]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:02] Meta Glasses Live Demo Fails and Privacy Backlash
• [26:09] Consumer Reports and Microsoft’s Windows 10 Saga
• [35:32] Techlash: Big Tech, Media, and Government Overreach
• [58:34] iPhone Air: Design, Repairability & Nostalgia
• [81:01] Vibe Coding & AI Empowerment for Non-Programmers
• [96:59] TikTok U.S. Control: The Politics and the Algorithm
• [124:25] Hacking: Scattered Spider & Social Engineering Tactics
• [142:57] The "AI Pope": Limits of LLMs in Spiritual Contexts
• [116:09, 118:33] The Need for Independent Media

Conclusion

This episode is a wide-ranging, spirited look at the intersection of tech innovation, privacy, policy, and culture. The panel unpacks the week’s news with clarity and wit, providing both industry insiders and everyday listeners with context, analysis, and food for thought. Key themes circling throughout are the risks of new surveillance tech, the persistent need for skepticism, and the crucial role of independent media and advocacy in safeguarding the public interest as technology—and its abuses—advance.

Episode tagline:
“Turns out nobody wants to be a pervert all day... you’re just recording everything all day. Nobody can trust you.” — Devindra Hardawar [15:10]