This Week in Tech (TWiT) – Episode 1021: Benito On High

Date: March 3, 2025
Panel: Leo Laporte (Host), Doc Rock, Emily Forlini (PC Magazine), Janko Roettgers (Lowpass Newsletter)
Main Themes: Amazon Alexa’s AI reboot, the end of Skype, privacy & AI assistants, the rise of podcasting on YouTube, tech nostalgia

Episode Overview

This episode explores the changing landscape of home assistants, the tangled issues of privacy and AI, tech industry nostalgia, and the continuing evolution of how we consume and produce digital content. The panel dives deep into Amazon's big Alexa event and its attempt to make “the A-word” relevant again, critiques Apple's slow AI roll-out, eulogizes Skype, and marvels at YouTube’s dominance in podcasting. Asides touch on remote work, generational divides, and memorable moments with gadgets old and new.

Key Segments & Insights

1. [06:00] Amazon's Alexa AI Event: "Can They Make Alexa Cool Again?"

• Emily Forlini reports from the Amazon special event:
  • New leadership: Panos Panay (ex-Microsoft) is “not cut from the Amazon cloth,” but brings passion.
  • Alexa’s LLM-powered reboot aims for real-world actions: texting, scheduling, booking a mechanic, uploading documents, and more. Vision: “They just want to know everything about you… and take actions for you.”
  • Prime members get new Alexa features free; for others, $20/month. [09:56] Janko Roettgers: “Nobody will pay $19.99 a month for it.”
  • Doc Rock notes: Most people use Alexa only for basic stuff like timers and weather—the “muggles” (non-techies) don’t exploit its capabilities.

“The big question is, can they make Alexa cool again? I didn’t come away from that event feeling like an affirmative yes.”
— Emily Forlini [07:58]

• Privacy Concerns:
  Amazon didn’t address privacy at all (“Quite the opposite”). The vision is “We know everything about you; isn’t that great?”
• Competitive Outlook:
  Google’s Gemini may have a leg up, since it already has your emails and data. Alexa requires manual uploads for some functionality.
• Rollout:
  New features arrive on Echo Show devices first in “coming weeks”—no clear hands-on demos yet.

2. [21:19] Apple’s Slow AI Response: Is It a Crisis?

• Mark Gurman (via Bloomberg):
  Apple’s full AI assistant features are delayed until at least iOS 20 (2027).
  Janko Roettgers: Apple's recent “wait, then perfect" approach doesn't always work—see Vision Pro’s lukewarm debut.
• Panel’s Take:
  • Apple is “half a decade late to the AI game.”
  • Doc Rock: “Apple is super famous for rolling into the party late, looking fly as hell… They always walk into the door looking like Idris Elba.”
  • Janko Roettgers: Apple won’t have a truly smart Siri for years and is lagging Google/Amazon.

“They always walk into the door looking like Idris Elba.”
— Doc Rock [21:30]

3. [37:32] AI Assistants: Real-Life Use Cases & Skepticism

• What do people want from AI assistants?
  • Everyday tasks, “sitting on hold with Spectrum,” summarizing emails, wrangling kids’ schedules.
  • Emily Forlini: Prefers typing to talking with AI; rarely uses voice features except when forced.
  • Doc Rock: Wonders why smart speakers don’t work as seamlessly as desktop LLMs (e.g., Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT) for business or creative work.
  • Janko Roettgers: The difficulty is integrating LLMs with all home services, devices, media, etc.

“Just talking to Gemini on your phone—it’s incredibly impressive, but… until not too long ago it would tell me, no, I can’t turn on the light for you.”
— Janko Roettgers [31:42]

• Trust and Fact-Checking:
  AI is helpful, but “I can’t fact-check what you’re saying.” Journalists need sources; services like Perplexity and Gemini are useful but must be used critically.

4. [80:18] Tech Nostalgia: Farewell Skype (2003–2025)

• Skype’s Shutdown:
  Microsoft is retiring Skype (May 2025), migrating users to Teams.
• History & Impact:
  • Skype was indispensable for international families and for Twit itself (“the technology that made Twit possible”).
  • Peer-to-peer origins were innovative, then quality suffered post-Microsoft.
  • Janko Roettgers: Many fond memories, but it faded as Zoom took over.

“Microsoft didn’t know how to nurture Skype, and its bureaucracy killed one of the most iconic brands of the new century.”
— Quoting Om Malik [94:15]

• Why Zoom Won:
  • “They listened and fixed things quickly,” says Doc Rock; others stagnated.
  • Zoom’s user-friendliness, rapid pandemic adaptation, and onboarding of brilliant devs (e.g., Andy Carluccio) gave it a huge advantage.

5. [141:09] The Rise of YouTube as a Podcast/Home Media Platform

• YouTube boasts 1 Billion monthly podcast viewers; watching on TV is now common.
• Podcasts with video are “more than just a trend.”
• Discussion about the meaninglessness of the term “podcast”: "Should we call it ‘tv’, ‘netcast’, or ‘vodcast’?"
• Doc Rock: “Long form content is the way.”
• Leo Laporte: “We’ve been doing video podcasts since 2008.”

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• [16:46] On Amazon's focus on privacy:
  “All your data. Quite the opposite.” – Emily Forlini

• [39:23] On what people want from AI:
  “I want my AI to sit on hold with Spectrum.” – Doc Rock

• [54:00] On America’s work ethic:
  “If they were the greatest generation, what would you call your generation? — The soft internet generation.” – Emily Forlini

• [75:59] On privacy:
  “You’re like an organ donor for AI.” – Emily Forlini (to Leo)

• [94:15] On Skype’s demise:
  “Microsoft didn’t know how to nurture Skype and its bureaucracy killed one of the most iconic brands of the new century.” – Om Malik (quoted by Leo)

• [140:44] On Instagram’s graphic content error:
  “I watched 10 people die today… What? You kept scrolling?” — Leo Laporte, incredulously quoting a user

Other Notable Topics & Timestamps

• [29:21] The bar is very low for voice assistants, so even moderate LLM upgrades can make a big difference.
• [50:28] Sergey Brin (Google): “Stop building nanny products.”
  Worry AI safety is holding Google back vs. OpenAI.
• [61:38] Pandemic & remote work: How COVID changed work/life, and the joys/misses of physical offices.
• [98:35] Skype’s European origins—Estonia’s embrace of digital transformation.
• [123:30] US government shutdown of tech modernization initiatives (Direct File, 18F), possibly due to political shifts.
• [165:59] Right to repair gains traction: All 50 states with introduced legislation.
• [156:23 & 150:07] Hollywood’s fear of AI (Oscars and The Brutalist) & Netflix’s expansion into themed experiences in real life.

Flow & Tone

• Playful, bantering, sometimes irreverent—panelists build on each other’s jokes about “muggles,” Gen Z, and old tech.
• Balanced skepticism about corporate tech promises, especially around AI and privacy.
• Flashes of nostalgia (cassette mixtapes, CD collections, and “long-distance” calls) mix with present consternation about privacy and tech bloat.
• Strong critical perspective on Big Tech consolidation, government tech initiatives, and generational/structural shifts.

Recommended Listening Segments

• [06:00–25:14] Amazon Alexa’s new AI, privacy vs. convenience, and the future of home assistants.
• [80:18–89:46] Skype’s history, the rise of Zoom, and how the pandemic permanently disrupted online communication.
• [141:09–147:57] The podcasting medium’s identity crisis and YouTube’s takeover of spoken-word content.

TL;DR

TWiT 1021 is a lively, wide-ranging discussion of Amazon’s AI ambitions with Alexa, Apple lagging in the AI race, and why voice tech still frustrates regular (and techie) users. There’s a thoughtful eulogy for Skype, a look at why Zoom dominates, and reflection on podcasting’s video-first future as YouTube hits new milestones. The show combines insightful tech criticism with personal anecdotes and a sardonic take on how big tech and society will interact in the years to come.