Gadgetory

good morning on Monday November 27 thanks for sticking around it's been a very hectic day at CNET Studios here in New York on vvg and your host today for the 3:59 podcast episode 322 it's been bugs Rubin and Roger Chang I knew who knew happy Cyber Monday we're always like so low energy compared to his awesome intros I know it's it's it's hard to follow up with the DVDs people way to go way to go that's because I'm just strung out at this point because we did the buyer's guide this morning and then had another live show and this is my third live show and then I have a lot of equipment to install this evening so I'm just burnt right now don't apologize no I Lexie I'm busy I'm just saying you're you're loopy from being sick I'm loopy from yeah this company you'll have to forgive me I'm a little yeah still recovering from a wild weekend of food poisoning just epic coughing for me so we're gonna be talking about cyber monday we won't big surprise and we won't be talking about the best deals obviously you if you were interesting that you caught an earlier live show but we will talk a little bit about how people are actually shopping on Cyber Monday right some of the changes that are happening we're also gonna be talking about the Kindle unfortunately Ben is our Amazon and e-commerce expert he could be answering all my questions I have plenty of questions on all these so we're talking about the Kindle because this is the 10th anniversary that just happened last week last Sunday yep so yeah always give any questions leave in the comments section Brian pick out the best and Ben will likely answer them and three minutes of 59 seconds from 3:00 to welcome to the 359 I'm Roger Jiang I'm Ben Fox ribbon so cyber monday is here upon us we've already talked about the best deals an earlier live show but Ben and I wanted to discuss or the way we're shopping the differences in how we're shopping on Cyber Monday then give me to sort of outline how is Black Friday and Cyber Monday stacking up against you know the previous years it's the online continues to do really really well a we're seeing double-digit as far as revenue increases the thing that I find most interesting is and we've been talking a lot about this or I've been writing a lot about this is mobile so mobile has been this thing that everybody's been excited about and waiting to happen that like there's a lot of mobile traffic everybody's like looking around and like grazing on their smart phones well it actually looks like there's some positive numbers to show that people are actually also buying stuff on their phones as well yeah I mean I just bought a TV last night on your phone on my phone like didn't you want to do that on desktop I was in the car I made the TV now I was driving I was not driving but I did end up buying TV in the car yeah so like I've been I've been writing about this from like the retailer perspective from the payments perspective that a lot of payment providers like PayPal and Visa a lot of retailers like Walmart and eBay have been trying to make it a lot easier for you to just get through the pipeline yeah from start to finish and it seems to actually be working like how was it buying your television it was pretty painless I mean I just softened certain like I had to enter in my well did you use no I bought from Target okay actually they actually cancelled an order that I made on my phone on Amazon and I previously purchased on my phone I cancelled that over and then I immediately ordered one on target because the same product was available to me earlier and at the same price and you were like a new target customer so you had to like put in all your new information yeah it was actually really annoying to do it like I tried to enter information and it didn't remember my account right you remember my password so I just I just went in as a new customer and was like yeah and there's that's a lot of reason why a lot of people didn't want to shop on their phones for a long time yeah I guess you really wanted that TV I was on my way to it was it was like a pickup so like on my way to the store I was just gonna order it I knew there's only like one left so on just make sure I had it stuff so as a comparison also online shopping has been doing really well mobile has been increasing so that's been interesting in store so far at least the foot traffic has been flat so we've been talking a lot about or we've been seeing a lot of like stores closing a lot of stores going into bankruptcy I don't know are people still shopping in stores yes thing are people going to see the stuff or are they pretty content with looking on their screens it's that's what I'm curious about so as the e-commerce reporter I actually went to Best Buy and bought all the stuff that I wanted to buy on Black Friday oh I guess I'm a terrible ecommerce was it was it busy was it a good experience though it was busy yeah it was definitely busy and they had a ton of inventory all over the place that made the best buy it like rather maze-like but you know when I go into a store these days I just you know know exactly when I want to buy I already did all my research ahead of time so you go bing-bang-boom and buy what you that's how you do it man well you're when you're preparing for the stuff you gotta make a list ahead of time you gotta know what you want next up one top of the kindle which marked its 10th anniversary last sunday but before then you talked to a couple of amazon executives about the influence that the Kindles had on just how we read we waited what did you sort of get from these guys I would probably say so we're close to out of time so I I wanted to mention this one really funny tidbit that I heard from one of the executives so they did right before the original Kindle launch more than 10 years ago a bunch of the Kindle executives or a bunch of the Kindle workers went to Jeff Bezos his parents house for a two-day off-site with Jeff because I guess Jeff now is the world's richest person but back then he was merely a billionaire oh yeah and what if to save some money Mike had an off-site at mom and dad's place while mom and dad were in Italy so that was so what do you you have a Kindle that's how they prepared it for for the market all right we couldn't get to the actual story but please check it out seeing that I'm Roger Chang I'm Ben Fox ribbon thanks for listening regular guy that was that was the story to share the that was so funny to me that he went to like mom and dad's house what a world we live in regular guy's a billionaire and Rogers buying TVs from cars he was like he's literally the world's I didn't buy a car on my TV that wasn't interesting I looked at up to it's not like he was a millionaire back well he was a billionaire on paper though right I mean he's not like yeah somebody can cash out let's talk right away or anything no no he would absolutely liquid he would cave well that was it the story line I think from Friday I don't remember apparently Jeff Bezos is now worth a hundred billion dollars yes I think it was Black Friday I think it pushes yeah because his Black Friday and it pushes a market cap up to the point where he was worth a hundred bill it is pretty pretty amazing and he did mention I will say earlier this year that he was looking into philanthropy we know he has some money that he could potentially spend hasn't he he hasn't committed to giving away his money like Warren Buffett not that I know I mean correct me somebody if I'm wrong but I don't believe that he's done that give us some extra insights into like the Kindle and like the the last ten years like we didn't really get a chance to talk about this on the podcast but like what you know beyond spawning a clone of other readers like what has the Kindle really done to kind of change our reading experience I think the biggest thing that I got out from the hardware perspective the thing that was difficult for them to do that nobody had done before was the free wireless connection that they added them to the original whisper sync was it called what's called whisper so they bought wireless wholesale from Sprint yep and apparently Sprint continues to provide that connection to original Kindles oh yes so if you still have one from 10 years ago I think they switched to 18t because of the international applications it depends which Kindle you're using and which country but it was something that Bezos encouraged the team this was still like a very early team like a very small group of people from lab 126 this was lab 126 which is a Mazon skunkworks know what a skunkworks were that's like their hardware development lab alright but this was only like eight people that started it off now there are thousands of people that work at kind of I mean like that's where the echo came out of that yeah I know like stuck works like makes it seem like it's his unofficial thing in lab 126 is like a very official thing now yeah like either way Bezos was very involved in the creation of the Kindle yeah and encourage them that you know look this is this is what readers want this is what people won they don't want to connect it to a computer to download new content they want to be able to do it and they want to be able to do it anywhere and it proved to be quite successful yeah sure all right what what do we got watch ins what do you want questions that's why I'm here talking about no no no no no we do have some good questions of commentary all right you said you bought the TV from the car anything else anybody got good deals on this weekend for one I did a lot of shopping done I got a lot done this weekend just because it was convenient I was already on holiday break yeah sit on my couch personally I don't like doing the shopping on mobile I like having a bigger picture in front of my eyes totally and that's that simply all really comes down to it I understand there's a lot of security in mobile now and they've really got the system down but I got a like I got to really get into the grid event just to be clear most of revenue still comes from desktop sure sure like usually you would want to buy a TV on desktop but you know Roger is a special I mean I also like I kind of knew what I already knew I knew what I wanted it was really just about I mean the only barrier would have been like the annoyance of having to deal with the mobile purchase and it wasn't that bad it was just sort of like a really easy but that's it you knew exactly what you're going in to get you know I was looking around for ideas for other folks so I needed to you know spelunk I think it's the correct terminology in this case and I was not in the market for TV so honestly I didn't hit a lot of very special deals I found some cool stuff but nothing on those like mega doorbuster deals and I would say so thank you for - Pamela from the chat for the question what else did you get I mean there was a big no the point I want to make was like I think there was a I think retailers have made it easier if you like don't want to log in to like go and just come in as a guest and purchase I feel like that processes a lot of harder back in the day like they always want to get up you know it's just the process was like yet - created your own idea or whatever like if you want to just check out as a guest just as your information fine and like I've made it a lot more hassle-free this time yeah all right so I'll tell Pamela what I got so at the Best Buy this is why I went into the store it was I wanted to like see this first was proud of I actually switch to Android yeah guys yeah well I'm not a nice cheap he's not a cheap anymore yeah I mean like I just didn't have like $1000 plus to spend on an iPhone 10 so I suppose I hide my phone and so I switched from an iPhone 6 to Samsung Galaxy s8 I got it at Best Buy I also got a Google home Mini which was twenty nine dollars plus a $10 gift certificate and I also got in Amazon echo the new one for $80 for my brother and his wife nice so did you spoil that they asked for it I asked for it also their problem what I do I actually I got a second echo dot okay a thirty bucks I feel like that's as low as it's probably gonna get yeah usually yeah like maybe I don't think it's gone in any lower that's gone 25 a fella gets hit 20 laughing Sally no I don't understand that no it's supposed to be the lowest ever today which is $29.99 they were able to say that because it was $30 on Black Friday oh my god dropped it by a penny oh it's never been 25 it has been 35 actually got from Best Buy okay so that's pie's been having some pretty good deals and no I don't work for Best Buy no Best Buy does continue to put most of their Forte I mean they lean right into that Black Friday that yeah their day yeah for now look they're a traditional retailer their brick-and-mortar and you know you got to bring your A game these days if you're gonna be a traditional retailer and I think that they did a pretty good job at least for me in bringing people out Walmart also had a really really good deal on the Google home anywhere they all had the same deal right there's always a little bend dollar if cardizem Walmart was even nicer where it was 20 it was it was $29 they were all $29 and for your if you connected it to Google Express if you connected your Google how many to Google Express with your Walmart account so it was a couple of Hoops to jump through the next purchase you made with Walmart through Google Express you got $25 off Oh which in effect - made the google how many if you wanted to think about it this way $4 so I was actually gonna buy it through Walmart but they were already sold out online by the time I woke up on that Friday job people probably did the math before you did Josh Boyd is pointing that out in the chat right now how you could get mega credit at Walmart for Google home minis yes yeah and I said no you can't get them I think they were available still in store like if you want to go into score but now I kind of feel like it's a little bit of a bait and switch where they're just trying to get you inside the store and buy more stuff yeah that's what that's the whole idea of door Busters right yeah yeah but like come on just let them buy it online Kim Kim Kim Ann so as Cyber Monday ticks along Angel Rodriguez is curious what's better the Amazon fire stick or the Roku stick now Gregg I wish we had David Cassidy's always a guy to ask about this but if I remember correctly he leans pretty heavy on those Roku's yep he says that's the best value for your money oh the one that's I guess the cleanest cuz Amazon definitely pushes its content a little bit more to the forefront it's easier to access Amazon Prime video it's a little bit clunky er when you want to get other stuff I believe there are a couple of services that are not on Amazon there are on Roku yeah Roku is generally known for being more platform agnostic it doesn't care if you're watching Amazon or Netflix or HBO whatever and for that reason I think CNET in general and David cats buyer especially this TV that I bought was a like a small TV that there's a that broke who built in as a platform there's a TCL TV that's smart that's just a smart TV [Laughter] I like that Pele must have been watching the a palette the perhaps was a lot watching the buyer's guide early because they say that they're getting the the Knicks play iris cloud photo photo frame digital which is a pricey number but it's a perfect gift for grandmother as they point out there and so props to that I still remember when those were like a thing like remember well those digital photo frames yeah it's kind of funny to think ocular killing it right now but when it's cloud synced like that they do add some new features it's different it's for sure like that that was like the original ones were very limit right you could've like loaded it like a USB thing maybe put some Drive in there whenever like the cloud stick adds a little altitude but it's just it's is a pricey uh it's a little pricey gift does that mean that you could you know send grandma fresh pics yeah it's the whole deal yes yes that's what I it's kind of cute been doing like for my extended families I've been taking their old photo albums and digitizing them and putting them in google albums so that they have you know access to them and definitely forever and ever because they watching the terior rate as we speak yeah so I'm just trying to save them do you I don't want to put you on the spot but do you remember what the prices for that digital frame thing it's around 200 it's in the neighborhood of 200 yeah I don't remember seeing anything about a subscription definitely check out CNET coms last it cheapskates cuz I think Rick raita had a good deal on it and punchin codes so check that out for more shopping needs self-serving self-serving are you uh buy stuff you know I feel like you're gonna give us a gift no it's too expensive no way pretty pricy tonight I gotta splurge II with like eighty dollars for my brother you know come on Wow religiously easy right up buy this thing for five cents that's how you're getting out of me yeah right your brother's lucky dude the C&C nuts answer coupons [Laughter] let's check in with our buddy Michael Brown he says yeah this just popped into my head cuz he says I think people spend more time on Black Friday than they do on Cyber Monday in store on Black Friday than they do online for Cyber Monday and it's funny when I was out Friday night cuz I had to go shoot a concert I I mean I've already foot traffic that day I don't like the crowds so I did my online shopping and then I had to go out to work and then on my way through I'm I'm you know jumping through the obstacle course that was my street as people are throwing bodies out of stores and I'm exaggerating it was like whatever hood you live Lois's you look at into the storefronts and I I swear to you that they had you could see signs inside the brick-and-mortar store advertising cyber monday continuation cycle going what just there spending your money like don't forget on Monday you could spend even more money yeah I'm like not basically the same deals to yeah I mean like that's a lot of whoa that's what I've kind of noticed with a lot of the deals it kind of recycled so also it's useful to tell people that usually this is this is around now is when most categories bottom out so toys are expected this is from Adobe Analytics by the way toy toys are expected to bottom out today oh really furniture is expected to bottom out tomorrow I gotta get gift shopping right but it's it's all gonna like slowly go higher as we get deeper answers 2x4 yeah cuz because you're gonna move from this is a gun taking from Adobe you're gonna move from like price choppers where like people want to get the best possible price to convenience shoppers yeah as you get deeper into the holiday season it's not like the prices are gonna spike they're not gonna like skyrocket though start to gradually go up yeah exactly so but this would like a lot of people who are asking when's the right time to shop when is the best time to shop it usually is in this window around Black Friday Cyber Monday and it's generally a two-week window it's like the Monday before Black Friday all the way through to the Friday after Cyber Monday like that's that's like usually when they save like their best deals so just non-affiliated plug you're talking about covering nieces and nephews check Groupon and Costco because I got bulk deals on they're not listening to the show because they're toddlers build-a-bear deals oh really certificates that cover a broad breadth okay just putting that out there coupon non-affiliated plug that was some of the better ventures that I found in my Black Friday shopping I don't know if they're still going on through Cyber Monday Costco build-a-bear probably what kid wouldn't like a build-a-bear okay yeah my kids ah yeah so we're almost out of time let's recap you what were the best tablets through Black Friday Cyber Monday tablets yeah who were the winners who either had the best deal or maybe landed the most sales free no Ablett's tablets I mean like usually it's Amazon you know like the big phones if you know not tablets tablets the I would say usually it's Amazon usually you're gonna because of their fire it's because it's because they have like the cheapest stuff you know expect for spec you're gonna get the best bang for your buck getting in there I don't think so because the problem is is that most of the time Apple stuff just doesn't go on Apple I think a couple of them say like there was at least the kind of the base the regular just the iPad I think that one got a pretty steep discount not through Apple Best Buy or Target it was through Best Buy I think you're right yeah but it was I don't know he would buy those things anymore tablets yeah somebody asked about them so sure look if you're gonna buy them for a kid you'd recommend oh yes on one yeah yeah definitely get like the $50 one and and I think they might be cheaper now I'm sorry I don't know off the top of my head just checks Unicom okay but but yeah like infrequently you are gonna find some Apple deals I'm a little frustrated too because like everybody's buying the air pods anyway but there are a hundred and sixty dollars yeah and they're they're like a huge seller this holiday season for whatever reason air pods at $160 argh I still get gift maybe you're gifting it for yourself because like I'm not buying anybody anything for Honor's maybe for your wife no of course I would buy my wife $160 air buds course I would yeah I mean I still can't feel like I'd freak out over losing those things everybody in Manhattan now wears though I know I see them everywhere I feel like I'm gonna get like you know caught in an alleyway and the Apple people are gonna punch me be like you're not wearing your air pods that I feel bad for Scott Stein I think he might be a little depressed because for a while there he was only the lonely running around with those on and he was like iconic for it and now you see like he will walk down the street and six people pass by and somewhere in the background you just hear mad world playing softly expect the calm of January expect to see way more air pods because they're selling a lot of them this holiday you don't say great mm-hmm was that not surprising no just saying I go that's something does not look forward to it yes okay sissy of air pods wherever you wherever you walk maybe one or two pixel buds sprinkled in there I don't know thank know because you need a pixel for them it's a little too limited although man that voice translation killer mm should read our review I don't want to I don't want to ruin it for you but uh it's I mean like it's not great yeah the only the last impression I got was from Sean's like hands on yes then yeah yeah yeah where you spoke review it's basically like it works like a shortcut anyway I think Brian's trying to give us the hook well not exactly I wanted to give a quick shout out to one of our longest loyalists Michael Brown congratulations on buying your house hey wow that's huge man super cool and thank you you're like a grown-up sure sir can we come over yeah can we have a party there - uh - take us out Josh boy to be honest has anyone ever bought something online while you're standing in the store oh of course oh yeah - he looks at you funny but you're like you that's like I feel really great about it like yeah it's right I just beat the system I give you guys money huh I can't name any specific instance but I'm pretty sure everybody's guilty of that one oh yeah yeah and before we do go tomorrow we are gonna be a little late again yeah a hectic schedule here so I think we're gonna go on around 12:30 12:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow yeah so instead of our usual eleven o'clock we just wanted to give the heads up because you guys are awesome and always catches here online and we don't wanna leave you hanging we are aware of the notification issue yeah we are totally aware of the notification issue it is beyond us it's a YouTube algorithm thing we're doing our part to stay on top of it but it's kind of out of our control but thanks for everybody and we apologize thank you thanks for sick yeah actually showing those notifications is really impressive because without you it's just me and these guys and that would suck anyway thanks everybody all right if you like to anything you saw or heard here chicken sounds see net a podcast sussel available on itunes tune in stitcher SoundCloud feed bird Google Play Music and my son it goes right just call call up the CNET skills hell just say hey yeah well there we are kind of awesome I don't know so blown away but I'm always a graceful dismount I know all right see y'all tomorrow bye everybody thanks again you