Mike's List 246
Mike's List 246
What's wrong with Clubhouse, LEGO noise, clear wood, bad masks and more!
The 6 bad things about Clubhouse
Clubhouse is supposed to be the "next big thing."
Wait, what's Clubhouse? Clubhouse is a voice-only social network. In the mobile app, people can start "Rooms" where they and the other speakers they choose can essentially do a live group podcast, then optionally invite listeners who click a "raise your hand" button to join the conversation as well. The app is available on iPhone only for now, and you need to be invited by an existing user to get in.
They had been available in China, and some Chinese users were having conversations critical of the Chinese government. I said on TWiT yesterday that I'd be surprised if they're not banned within a week. They were banned in China today.
Yes, Clubhouse is the hot new thing. I predict its hotness and goodness won't last forever.
Here are the 6 bad things about Clubhouse.
Mike’s List of Brilliantly Bad Ideas
1. LEGO-themed white noise
LEGO just released a set of white noise "soundscapes" on 15 streaming platforms, including Spotify and iTunes, to relax your mind. Their LEGO gives you the recorded sounds of plastic bricks being moved around and put together. Track titles include "The Night Builder," "It all Clicks" and "Searching for the One (Brick)." What's next, shoes that simulate the experience of stepping on a LEGO?
2. Transparent wood
University of Maryland eggheads have invented a new way to make wood transparent. Unlike existing methods (there are existing methods?), the new technique makes the clear wood 50 times stronger. Instead of removing lignin from wood, the new process changes lignin molecules without removing them. The process makes clear wood an economically viable alternative to glass.
3. A face masks that looks like you're wearing it wrong
You know those people who wear a mask over their chin? It's called a chin bra. Well now there's a face mask you can buy that, when you're wearing it right, looks like you're wearing it wrong.
Mike’s List of Shameless Self Promotions
Remote work 2.0 — when WFH really means 'work from anywhere'
Why the future of robots is far better than science fiction imagined
Catch me on Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech podcast!
Learn how to shut down business units safely in my article at SecurityIntelligence
Read my new article entitled What You Need to Know About Scam Text Messages in 2021 on the SecurityIntelligence website.
And check out my session at the Future of Work Summit at 12:05 Pacific, 3:05pm Eastern on Thursday, February 18, where I’ll talk about the totally surprising future of remote work.