Tech News Roundup for February 24, 2022
Here are a few of the tech stories that I’ve found interesting over the last couple of days. Among them is Etsy, Elon Musk, and Linkedin getting into podcasting. The lineup is… quite varied today.
Etsy Raising Fees by 30%
I don’t devote a ton of brain cells to Etsy, but it is a huge platform for small businesses selling custom and/or bespoke goods online. That is about to get a little more expensive as the company raises the fees it takes on sales by 30%. If you frequent stores selling through Etsy, be prepared to pay more going forward.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/24/22949707/etsy-sellers-transaction-fee-increase
Elon Musk Under Investigation for Insider Trading
SpaceX and Tesla have caused dramatic shifts in their respective industries, but their founder, Elon Musk, is not the best example of a human being. Musk and his brother are now under investigation for insider trading after the two of them sold a combined $108 Million USD in Tesla shares the day before Elon Musk tweeted that he may sell 10% of his Telsa shares, which caused a significant drop in share price.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/24/22949453/tesla-elon-musk-kimbal-sec-investigation-insider-trading
Windows 11 Continues Slow March Towards Completion, Adds Tablet Friendly Interface
One of the funny things about Windows is that Windows 8 was designed first for tablets, and for every other computer in the world second. And since then Windows has gotten progressively worse on tablet style devices, with Windows 11 having virtually no tablet specific optimizations.
A new test build of Windows 11 this week aims to rectify that, with new features in the taskbar designed for tablets. They feature larger, touch optimized buttons, and a collapsed mode which hides most of the taskbar to allow for more space for content.
Linkedin is Starting a Podcast Network for Some Reason
You get a podcast network! And YOU get a podcast network. Podcasts are the new radio, and every company wants a piece of that pie, and the adversiting that comes with it. Linkedin is now getting in on that, with the company starting what it calls a small podcast network. It will initially feature podcasts created by Linkedin’s news team, which today I learned was something that exists, and may expand to other creators from there.
Sure, why not.
https://www.thurrott.com/cloud/social/263290/linkedin-is-getting-into-the-podcasting-business
Netflix’s Marvel Shows are No Longer Netflix’s Marvel Shows
This is a fascinating one purely because of media rights. Netflix created several showed based on Marvel characters from 2015 to 2019, the most popular among them being Daredevil. These shows were produced entirely by Netflix, were Netflix originals, and it was generally understood that Netflix owned the rights to these shows despite them having characters from the Marvel universe. 2021 saw an interesting shift when two characters from those Marvel shows made appearances in Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe Properties, and a couple weeks ago it was announced that the shows would all be leaving Netflix at the end of February. Disney announced that in Canada those shows would move to Disney+ in mid March. While there are no other territories mentioned, it is likely that the shows will make their way to Disney+ in other countries soon as well.
I’m interested in this purely for the speculation on how the rights to the shows work. Did Disney always own the rights, with the license period expiring? Or did the company just write a cheque to Netflix to buy the shows outright? I’m guessing the latter, and just wonder how big the cheque was.
https://mobilesyrup.com/2022/02/23/marvel-netflix-shows-daredevil-disney-plus-canada-march-2022/
The Intel Chips That will be in Most Laptops in 2022 Have Officially Launched
After showing them off at CES in January, Intel has launched the 12th generation Core processors for mainstream laptops. These processors are of the Alder Lake architecture, featuring performance cores and efficiency cores. The processors are likely to offer a substantial boost in both power and efficiency over last year’s 11th generation, and should be a nice upgrade for the 2022 crop of laptops we’ll likely start seeing in March.