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Welcome to the first edition of this week’s test in Tech!
At Windows Central, we cover all things Microsoft, Windows, Surface, and Xbox, but there’s a big, bold world of tech out there with all kinds of cool gadgets and amazing science discoveries that we don’t often explore.
While we don’t want to flood the page with topics beyond our usual news coverage, I thought I’d try to take a look at the big stories of the week each week to let you know what’s going on outside of Microsoft-o-. Be it the globe, amazing new tools, space discoveries, modern technology and more. In the future, we may include this as part of a newsletter for those of you who prefer to receive your news as well.
Either way, let’s get the ball rolling. We’ve got some interesting stories this week, from robot killer dogs to Amazon Medicare.
Tesla drops tons of bitcoin, but hangs on to the doge
Elon Musk’s historic Tesla Bitcoin investment in 2018 It’s largely canceled by early 2021, with Tesla clawing back $936 million of its initial $1.5 billion in sales.
Elon Musk’s carmaker, Tesla, reported its quarterly earnings to investors and said the collapse of cryptocurrency prices had hurt the company’s profitability. At its peak, Bitcoin was trading around $70,000, but overall market volatility multiplied by energy prices and increased regulatory interest contributed to a large selloff in the crypto market, Bitcoin is now trading below $24,000 as of writing. As part of his statements to shareholders, Musk stated that he does not intend to sell any of the company’s Dogecoin.
Musk said the sell-off is not an indictment of bitcoin or crypto in general, but rather the need to increase liquidity amid tough market conditions, particularly in China, where coronavirus lockdowns are in effect. still, Musk also stopped accepting Bitcoin payments For Tesla products last year, about the sustainability of cryptocurrency in terms of energy consumption.
What if robot dogs had guns too?
Remember the cute Boston Dynamics dancing robot spot? The quadruped robot with AI movement has spurred something of a robotics renaissance, though it’s still a few years away from becoming a common sight on every street. The New York Police Department has been using them in law enforcement, but has drawn comparisons to RoboCop’s killer ED-209 robot.
Indeed, those terrifying sightings of killer terminal robots took a step closer to reality this week, after this video surfaced on social media. Said to be the brainchild of Alexander Atamanov, who is building a hoverbike company in Russia, this UniTreuyu robot “fun” Hackjob will soon be armed on the battlefield. Arms manufacturers are undoubtedly salivating over the potential. Perhaps we are much closer to living in The Matrix than any of us previously thought.
Amazon bought a medical health clinic network
But hey, if you do Shot by a robot dog, maybe Amazon can help you fix it!
That’s right, as part of Amazon’s foray into health care, the company announced that it has bought One Medical (via Ars Technica) for a tidy $3.9 billion. One Medical is an 8,000-employee-strong health clinic provider operating in 180 sites across the United States.
Amazon has been working on healthcare delivery for a number of years, most notably as part of the Haven initiative, which collapsed three years later. Haven was an attempt by Amazon and its partners to “cut costs” and improve patient outcomes, but the entrenched US health care system appears to be more complicated than Amazon previously anticipated.
In an interview with Business Insider, Amazon CEO Andy Jacey previously expressed his desire to bring greater competition to the US health care system to reduce costs and wait times. This business deal with a medic could be part of a broader play to get more involved in the space, though whether or not Amazon can make a serious dent remains to be seen. Mark Cuban of Shark Tank fame has been making headlines in recent years for his affordable drug operation “Cost Plus,” so maybe there’s room for some real disruption in the scene. Whether the general public has an appetite for Jeff Bezos-branded healthcare remains to be seen, though.
Netflix lost 1 million subscribers, but shared a rally.
It’s been a tough few months for streaming giant Netflix as competition from Disney+, HBO Max and Amazon Prime increases.
In a statement to shareholders, Netflix said it lost 1 million subscribers in the Q2 period between April and July. And while that may sound like bad news, it wasn’t as bad as the company expected, causing shares to rally from a monthly low of $172 as of writing to $216. Still, Netflix paled in comparison to its more than 600 points at the start of the year. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has hailed “stranger things” as the main driver that keeps users from quitting.
In the year 2022 marked the first year in the company’s history that subscribers began to stop for another service. Subscription fatigue may be partly to blame, but increased competition and the loss of several high-profile shows may also be part of the problem for the streaming giant. Netflix has had some success diversifying its revenue streams, but this week it struck a deal with Microsoft to explore a new, cheaper level of advertising outside of Microsoft, making Microsoft its exclusive business and technology partner. The partnership has led to speculation that if Netflix’s stock price slips further, it could be bought out by Microsoft.
Another amazing week in tech
Since we are planning to grow our newsletter offerings in the coming weeks and months, I thought I would give a try with a new newsletter type. Beyond Microsoft, Xbox, Surface and Windows, there’s a big, wide world of technology that connects to the ecosystem we love. Whether it’s artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, cyber security, amazing gadgets, or the vastness of outer space, I plan to pay more attention to all things cool and weird in this weekly column.
If you want to get involved and share stories with us that you think would be a good fit, feel free to hit me up on Twitter. @JezCordonOr jump over to the Windows Central Discord and join the conversation.
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