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John C. Morley: (00:09)
Hi everyone. I'm John C. Morley, the host of the JMOR Tech Talk Show and Inspirations for your Life.
John C. Morley: (01:01)
Hey guys, it is John C. Morley here, a serial Entrepreneur. Welcome to the JMOR Tech Talk Show. And by the way, happy New Year. This is our first show for January 2023. It's great to be with you. My co-host Marcus should be joining us. We're hoping for either later this month or early next, so we'll keep you tunedfor . Definitely, we do miss him and always his great commentary. We're always a great team, so we got a lot to share with you. First of all, I hope you guys had a wonderful New Year. I hope you've embraced the time with your family and had a chance to put technology down for a while because it's a great time to unplug Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and what have you. Let's get into our topics because we got a lot. How many of you guys are like Bed Bath and Beyond?
Unfortunately, this is a shocker to me. I was starting to crash, as you know, just the other day. And the company warned that it was running low on cash and was considering bankruptcy. So citing the worst than expected. In the third quarter, the retailer said it might not have enough money to cover key expenses in the coming months. The CEO, Sue Grove, said bed Bath's results were being hampered by reduced credit limits, which have prevented the heavily indebted company from adequately stocking its shelves. So is Bed Bath going out of business? I guess that's really the question you guys want to know. And well, bed Bath and Beyond has announced that they're going to be closing. It was actually in September. They were closing 150 stores, so, you know, we saw the writing on the wall, but I mean are they going out of business? I don't know if they're going out of business. I think they're trying to I'm gonna say consolidate a little bit, but they're having a lot of challenges. If you're in California, you're gonna see a lot fewer Bed, Bath and Beyond stores in 2023. And according to the list of closing stores, California will lose eight locations, including those in Lakewood, Larkspur Palmdale, San Leandro Redding, Burbank Santi, and Marina.
John C. Morley: (03:43)
So I think they're trying to scale down. And if you are in New Jersey, you probably already know that Bed Bath and Beyond had closed already in Flanders, the Mount Olive Township store, route nine in South Manalapan and East Ridgewood Ave in Paramus. So it's really a struggle for him. But is the bed, bath and beyond going to file for bankruptcy?
John C. Morley: (04:25)
You know, it's saying right now that they're preparing to file for bankruptcy within a few weeks, so they're preparing, they haven't done it yet, but it says that they're preparing, and this is according to the Wall Street Journal. The retailer is in the early stages of planning for a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, and discussions could extend into February, but Bed Bath Beyond warned earlier that they are running out of money to be able to pay their bills. I think what it's gonna come down to is, you know, trying to figure out what it is people want, maybe making a smaller store, you know, maybe not being so much, maybe not getting into all the clothing areas, maybe just kind of, you know, covering some essentials that people need. But we're gonna have to see because I know that a lot of people like this store. And like I said, you know, we knew they were having trouble back in December. They were having serious trouble trying to restructure their balance sheets. And less than half of the 150 million ATM deal to sell additional shares to raise cash had been completed as of December 5th. And they still were unchallenged. The restructuring obviously caused massive shareholder dilution. And many people have serious doubts that BBBY can stay out of bankruptcy court. I don't know, a store like this is great, but, you know, everyone is looking for the lowest price. And when you've got stores like Amazon and other stores, and then you've got dollar stores, it makes it hard for these stores to compete. But I think the biggest reason is Bed Bath Beyond. There are two things I have to say about them. One, customer service has really gone downhill. The other thing is that their prices they're not as good as they used to be. But I think it comes down to a big factor: they're trying to be too many things to too many people.
John C. Morley: (06:50)
Only time's gonna tell, but we will keep you in the loop about that. But it does look like, yes, Bed Beth Beyond is for bankruptcy as they're getting ready in the next couple of weeks to get that paperwork sent off the court. So we'll see what's gonna happen.
Well, if you fly on Delta, T-Mobile and Delta are rolling out free wifi to their mileage-plus users. So this is gonna be interesting. Delta Airlines is rolling out free wifi on most of its planes, and that'll be happening beginning February 1st, 2023. Yes, it's going to be free, fast and this should be interesting. Now, Delta CEO Ed Basian said Thursday, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And I quote, it's going to be free, it's going to be fast, and it's going to be available for everyone.
John C. Morley: (07:45)
But yet, I've heard some speculation saying it's only for mileage members. Is that a mistake? I don't know. Passengers will need to be a member of its free Sky Miles loyalty program to access the onboarding. Okay? So they get it. They just have to sign up for the free Sky Miles loyalty program. Customers who aren't members will still have to pay a flat fee of $10. Okay? So more than 500 of the Delta domestic narrow-body planes serving the airlines and most of the routes will be ready for free wifi at launch. And the company said, and I quote, wide Body International and smaller regional jets will be coming online by the end of 2024. Customers will know if their flight has free wifi by a decal, noting it near the boarding door, and they can also connect mobile devices at one time. The announcement just made this past week at the Consumer Electronics Show is that several years in the making is what Basian said in 2018. I quote that offering free wifi access to its fleet was a priority, but it needed time to improve the technology so passengers wouldn't have to struggle with sluggish speeds. Delta currently charges nearly $50 per month for wifi on its flights within North America and $70 on international flights, and it's been testing free wifi over the past several years and made messaging free in 2017. Now, we all know that United is one of its competitors. So my question is, this is a big question. Will United offer free wifi?
John C. Morley: (09:29)
Well, not yet.
John C. Morley: (09:34)
I think they're trying to figure out what's going on, and I think as it comes closer to other planes having it, United's gonna have to jump on board. I mean, it's not like they can say, well, we're not giving it. And the thing is, they make a lot of money on the wifi. Yes, there are a lot of things. But if you think about the plane, like, so how many passengers are on an Airbus? I think it's like an Airbus 360, and they also have a 380 now. So let's presume we're talking about the 380. Let's assume that we're jumping up the line. And let's assume that they don't have the mileage plan, so they can actually save, and it'd be $8. So we got $12, ladies and gentlemen, times 525 passengers, okay, that's six $6300. But let's assume that at 525 people, maybe only half of the people you think is pretty low get it. And so that would mean that 3150. Now, the question you're probably asking is, how much does the wifi install cost on a plane?
John C. Morley: (11:05)
Well, some people have the $7, but how much does it cost to install? I'm gonna say the wifi equipment, not the service, right? And you know, I know we're not talking a couple of hundred dollars, I would say, just to give you a ballpark, we're talking about $200,000 to $300,000. So with that in mind, let's presume what I just gave you. And let's take the low number to $200,000, and let's divide that. Let's just say it was a 525-passenger plane. Divide that by two, and you're gonna get 260, 250, you're gonna multiply that times. Let's say that half of those people, let's just say devil's advocate, that they all have miles plus. So that's $2,000. So $2,100, okay? Divided into 200,000.
John C. Morley: (12:23)
That's gonna take some time. And I think, you know, knowing that it's gonna take them 95 trips, okay? So the question you might be saying, John, how many trips does an airline make per day? How many? So average airlines do what? A typical day for a pilot of six to 13 hours, but how many flights is what I want to ask. How many flights does an airline run on one plane per day? Because that's really what we're talking about. One plane. So if it's a long-haul flight, we're talking about two. Maybe they're gonna get three. So with those kindskinds of numbers, let's just say the plane flies every day for 30 days, okay? It's gonna take that plane over a month to get its revenue back, okay?
John C. Morley: (13:48)
A month and, let's say, a week. So, this is figuring out that everybody has, you know, mileage plus. So that means that the rest of the year, let's assume that that's gonna be, let's say it's only ten months. Let's say it was two months ballpark; that means the airline is pulling in $21,000 a year. Do you think they're gonna want to give that away? I think what's gonna happen is we're gonna see that price is built into the airline ticket should have already happened now, and if they do that, then they can easily absorb the cost of the equipment, which is what I think should happen. And when the equipment's cost gets covered, they can lower it, but they're probably always going to keep upgrading. So let's just say they tacked on a tariff, like, so it's $8, but maybe $8 is a lot in the ticket.
John C. Morley: (14:49)
So maybe I don't know, maybe they're gonna tack on $5 a ticket. They probably can do that. Let's say it's a round trip, right? But let's say $5 a ticket, $5 a ticket times 585 passengers, that means they're gonna get $3,000 whether they use wifi or not, and they're gonna have that paid off, ladies and gentlemen quickly. Because I already told you that if they do roughly three flights a day, okay? And then you do that times four weeks. You know that it's gonna add up. And I think the biggest thing, so let's just say they took the $5. They take the $5, and you multiply the times, let's just say the whole plane's not full. Let's say 525 people, okay? And we're gonna take that, and we are gonna times that times three, assuming they can get three flights a day, times that plane's gonna fly seven days a week, okay?
John C. Morley: (15:58)
And we're gonna fly for four weeks in the month. That means that out of that, ladies and gentlemen, that plane is going to net $20,500 profit. They'd still be making money if they decided to add two or $3. See what I'm saying? So I don't think they should charge anybody for Wi-Fi because they should just push it into the ticket prices. And if they're a little bit more, how could I say forgiving, and they say, Hey, you know what? We don't want to rip the people off. We don't wanna go crazy. We just want to charge $3, which is like a convenience fee, right? So if you charge $3 times everybody's ticket and you do 525, now I'm saying to do it per ticket. So if you've got 500 choices, I'm talking about per trip, not per each way, not for the whole round trip.
John C. Morley: (16:59)
So that's 1575. So you take that times three trips a day, roughly, we're gonna say seven days a week, and you're gonna multiply that times four. Okay? You're 1$32,000. So if you do that over again, let's say you do it times two, they're easily gonna make their money back. So don't be foolish, United, and don't be foolish, Delta. I think what you guys are doing is great that you're giving it away for free. And I think that United, you do the same. I think anybody who doesn't give away free Wi-Fi will have a problem. Just build it into the ticket price, and make it a convenience fee. We all know that they added a convenience fee after 911 and a security processing fee, right? We'll have to see what happens there, but I am happy to hear that Delta's rolling that out.
John C. Morley: (17:58)
So make sure you enrol in the Delta air mileage program to get the free wifi, which will start in February. All right?
Well, Twitter's been having challenges with Elon, people leaving the company, and all kinds of stuff. Twitter may have challenges from bad actors. Now, ladies and gentlemen, what the heck is this all about? So hackers have been posting email addresses linked to close to 200 million Twitter accounts. Security researchers have said this. And the email addresses are now being circulated underground in hacker forums. And this data lake could expose the real-life identities of anonymous Twitter users and make it easier for criminals to hijack Twitter accounts, even victims' accounts, on other websites. So the leak records also include Twitter usernames, account handles, follower numbers, and the dates the accounts were created. And this is all according to the security researchers courtesy of CNN, quote-unquote, bad actors have won the jackpot, said Rafi Mendelson, a spokesperson for cyber, a social media analysis firm focused on identifying disinformation and inauthentic online behaviour.
John C. Morley: (19:18)
But, you know, I have to say, with all these people making these accusations, a lot of them are doing this to scare you. So I'm not a hundred per cent convinced because I don't trust all these people. I'm sorry, I just don't. And I feel that they're trying to instil fear in you. I really do. Because they're trying to charge you for their services, there was another researcher, Troy Hunt, who was a security researcher, said this past Thursday that his analysis of the dad and I quote, found 200,524,284 unique email addresses that had been leaked according to the Washington Post, early reported the forum listing promoting the data of 235 million accounts.
John C. Morley: (20:01)
I question everyone because I know even getting followers on Twitter is a lot harder. I just feel like it's not like Instagram. It's not like TikTok. You just don't have a lot of loyal people there. So I think something really has to happen with Twitter. I don't know, and I'm concerned about it. We'll have to see.
And Samsung recall has a fix for the many of their washers being recalled due to a software update that needs to be installed. So some of the Samsung appliances had been found to have a probable risk for a fire. So they're having consumers update them via either wifi or a special device that they can plug into the machine itself. And that's a big, big issue. This allows people to control their washing machine through their smart devices and Wi-Fi.
John C. Morley: (21:10)
So it's gonna be interesting. And I wanna quote, according to Samsung, your wash machine should automatically download the update via its smart things app if you already have it set up and connect it to wifi. However, it advises consumers to check what software version their machines are running and to immediately download the software update before using it again. If it isn't already installed, people who haven't connected their wifi enabled devices can do so by following the company's instructions, close quote. But you know what, they really don't tell us. They don't give us all the details. Now, Samsung says, the issue is that the control panel of around 14 models sold in the US was between June 2021 and December 2022. And it could potentially overheat, causing ladies and gentlemen to smoke, melt, or even catch on fire. There are close to 663,500 units affected, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the regulator that deals with the recalls. So the TCPSC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, notes 51 reports of smoking, melting, overheating or fire involving the washers. Now 10 of which resulted in property damage. Three people were also apparently injured due to smoke inhalation.
John C. Morley: (22:33)
But you know, wash machine recalls we heard are not that unusual. Whirlpool and GE have recalled units due to fire concerns. Samsung famously settled a class action lawsuit over some machines that would vibrate excessively and potentially come apart while doing so; the CPSC described impact injuries. So they don't tell us why the Samsung washer catches on fire? Well, they're claiming that they could short-circuit. And my question is, why didn't these go through a proper q and a? I'll tell you why because they were too zealous to get these to the market to make money and did not care about the American people or the consumers. I mean, that's it. They should have been testing. Why were the Teslas released when people were nearly trying to smash the window to get out to save their life? Because they can't get out of the vehicle because their attainment system is suddenly smoking because the fan doesn't kick on.
John C. Morley: (23:55)
I think there needs to be more scrutiny before a product can be released to the market. I really do. I'm seeing this with electronic devices, and you wouldn't think it, but you have to realize that electronics can overheat if they don't have the proper airflow and ventilation. So why is it then that a washing machine or a home appliance is like getting off the lift so easy? And they're just attributing to, Well, you know, it's an issue, a minor issue, a minor update. So that tells me that it's an issue with the design. That's what it's telling me. And the manufacturers, you know, apologize profusely, but at the end of the day, these products should have never been placed on the market. I mean, it doesn't take a genius to tell you that. So I think we need to be careful when a new product comes out. If it hasn't been tested, do not get that product.
John C. Morley: (25:21)
This just has me so dizzy because they know the product has challenges, right? And when it has a challenge, they really don't put the time and energy to figure it out like this got pushed to the drawing board and to the sales floor much faster than it should have been. So Samsung, I'm happy doing the recall, but I've lost my respect for you as a manufacturer. Now Whirlpool has, you know, had some issues too. I mean, they're all not great, but I just feel that the manufacturers don't care. They want to stay out of a lawsuit and out of liability. But when push comes to shove, they just wanna make money. That's all they wanna do. And something that's so vital as a washing machine or a dryer, do you think you could spend a little more time to make sure it actually works?
John C. Morley: (26:29)
I mean, we don't hear issues like this with Thermador. We don't have issues like this with Bosch and Bosch dishwashers. Why? Because they're more money because they're German-engineered? No, because the company has a work ethic, it will not hit the floor until they've done thorough testing. Same thing with Dyson. Dyson will not release a product if they feel that there's even a slight chance something could go wrong. So I gotta say, shame on you, shame on you, shame on you, shame on you, Samsung, for releasing that because I believe that what you have done is absolute. When I say absolutely, it's terrible. It is terrible.
So in other news, there is an apple class action lawsuit; as you know, they were giving us or users two months to claim three $95 due to the butterfly issue.
John C. Morley: (27:37)
What the heck is the butterfly issue? So Apple has agreed to a 50 million settlement for MacBook owners that had to replace their keyboards or individual issues. Suppose you bought the Apple MacBook with the wonderful butterfly keyboard and had to replace it either because of the individual keycaps or the whole keyboard. In that case, you could be eligible to claim part of the $50 million settlement reached after the class action lawsuit. And the law firm handles the settlement and has been emailing class members since mid-December. Interesting. If you're wondering how to submit a claim, it's really easy. You can just go to www.keyboardsettlement.com website, which will say that the settlement class includes all persons and entities in the United States who purchased a butterfly-equipped MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro between 2015 and 2019.
John C. Morley: (28:51)
But ladies and gentlemen, do hurry because you only have two months remaining to get that. And this is airing in January. So you want to make sure that you are getting in on that very soon. I'd hate to see you guys miss out on that. As they had said, Apple will eventually ditch the keyboard in 2020. Plaintiff customers had to get individual keys, which was their original premonition. The Mac book keyboard was replaced in the effective models, mobile lawsuits were filed over the issues, and the class action lawsuit was certified in 2021. So I think again, these companies are rushing to the market too quickly, and when they rush too quickly, they're offering an inferior product.
John C. Morley: (29:48)
I think that's a very, very big problem for a lot of these companies. They don't understand what technology is. And I wanna share something with you guys because I think it's really important. I actually just wrote an article about it, and it was actually something really pretty cool. How many of you out there are familiar with the Apple Air tag? Well, apple air tags have been being used illegally. To guess what, ladies and gentlemen? What do you think they've been used for? Used for something pretty bad?
John C. Morley: (30:37)
I'll tell you what that is, to stalk people. If you want to read more about the article, go to www.believemeachieve.com and check out all my great stuff. But you'll see John's weekly articles, the article that you're gonna want to click on the headline in case you're just wondering what it is so you can find it. You're going to want to click on the one called technology Being used to Stalk. And there's a picture of the apple air tag. And it starts just like this technology, as I've said before, is not good or bad, but how people use it makes it so, so that means, ladies and gentlemen, that these air tag devices by Apple could be used in a stalking situation. Let me be sure how this happens.
John C. Morley: (31:35)
So you have your phone. First thing, you wanna make sure you have at least a 16-point x latest update. That's number one. So let's say that a bad actor is near you and he has an air tag and he places that air tag on your person in your bag, what have you. If you have the latest updates, once that tag has been separated from its owner for a short period, it will start to omit a beep. Okay? Your iPhone will also get an alert letting you know that a basic unidentified air tag has been separated from its owner and that it's currently travelling with you. So there are a couple of things you can do. First of all, if it's a book you borrowed from somebody, like a MacBook or somebody's keys, that makes sense, and now you know what it is.
John C. Morley: (32:33)
But if that's not the case and something was just stuck in your bag or somewhere, then you need to take some steps, and that would be to locate the air tag and disable it. So you might say to me, John, how do you disable an Apple air tag? It's really, really simple. So you can actually find the air tag, and you'll push down and twist counterclockwise, not clockwise, counterclockwise on the back of the air tag, take the cover off or move the battery. And once you remove the battery, the location of the device can no longer be traced or accessed. So also important that you take a picture of the air tag. Basically, you can just take a snapshot of that, and you can if you're not taking the extra air tag, you can. Apple will basically have a record of what that air tag's been doing because it'll be uploaded. So the way an air tag works, just so you know, is it uses all the millions of devices and other people's iPhones to communicate its whereabouts. It doesn't use satellites. It uses all the other iPhones, iPads, and other devices to report its whereabouts. And it's not real-time tracking, but it does update, you know, pretty frequently. So you might be asking me because everyone does ask me this question, how often does an air tag update? So it depends on the whereabouts of the device. The location may be refreshed in a crowded area with many smartphones every 1,620 seconds. If not, it could be a few minutes. So the air tag is interesting because the last scene message means the air tag. You know, don't actively broadcast the location directly to your phone. There are specific whereabouts which are only updated when another device using the Find my network pass is within proximity of them.
John C. Morley: (34:48)
That's how it works. So, unfortunately, there's no intuitive way to update the air tag. Apple says, and I quote, that the item trackers automatically update when it's in range of the iPhone. So you have to log into that application, as I was sharing with you. You'll just tap the items at the bottom of the screen, then tap the item you wanna locate. If the item can be located, it appears on the map. So you can see where it is. Now the location times step stamp will appear below the item's name, and the item's location is updated when it connects to the Find My Network. So Apple does say that using these devices to track things that you don't own is completely illegal, completely illegal. And so that means not just a device you don't own. It also means people.
John C. Morley: (35:53)
So when we think about that, you might be saying, gee, I don't quite get it. Well, you're not allowed to track someone using an air tag without their permission, and they're not designed for that. You could put them on boats and cars so long as they belong to you. That's probably the most important thing. Apple will cooperate with any device that is used illegally. And all you need to do basically is report that to your local police. They'll get a subpoena to them, and they will cooperate quickly. Because the problem is many people were using air tags in a manner that was not only unethical and illegal but in a way that could give someone fear for their life. That's never a good thing.
So as we evolve into 2023, there are lots of changes that we're gonna see. We'll talk about Windows 11. For those who have been watching the show, about a month or two ago, I was blessed to start using Windows 11. It's a lot more stable. But you know, there are some nuances to where things can be found. Every day you use technology is different because it keeps morphing and changing. And as that happens, the purposes, the reasons and also the applications for what tech technology couldn't do can now be done. We're seeing technology that can even allow restaurants to have robots that are just mechanical arms now.
John C. Morley: (38:02)
So technology is not just used as a full-fledged robot. It's not just used in your eye Roomba, your robot that cleans your floor. It's used in so many more things, and I think as consumers, business owners, developers and a variety of different types of professionals, we have to be cognizant of the information we use and know when there's a potential for our information being leaked. Even though it doesn't seem like it's a breach, we all know that we can't trust those big companies or start with a G, start with an F. Okay, start with an I, right? Do you know who I'm gonna talk with? The L because we don't know what they're doing. We know that many of these companies exist because they want to sell your data. And although that's not what they say, their big game, ladies and gentlemen, is your money.
John C. Morley: (39:05)
And if they can figure out a way to use your data to make more money, and even though it's gonna potentially harm or give information about you that shouldn't be disclosed, they're gonna do it.
In 2023 we have a lot of guests that are in the waiting stage right now. We have a brand new online application system that allows you to apply to be on the show www.jmor.com. Clicking on the little button at the top right, you'll see a little icon there, and the button basically says Reach out today. And then you'll see a thing that says Talk Show Guest. You click on that, and you fill out the profile information, and it will ask you to fill everything out. If you decide you're not going to fill it out, we won't even consider your application.
John C. Morley: (39:54)
Remember that when you apply to be a guest in the JMOR Tech Talk show, you are coming on our show, and we are under the premise that you want to provide value to other people. It's not here to sell your product or your services. It's here to educate people, get them knowledgeable about something, and maybe help them make a decision, but in no way, shape or form is it to say, Hey, I do this or I do that, and you should buy this from me. No, that's not what it's about. It's about understanding; it's about making connections to things that exist and things that are in development. So as we traverse through 2023 together, I want you to know what information you're choosing to share. Make sure you're using two-factor authentication with any site that has it, especially when it has secure information like personal health information or just PI personal information.
John C. Morley: (40:58)
And you might say, G John, why do I need two factors even on social media? Well, if you have two factors, you've now just mitigated the chances that someone else is gonna get in. Compromise your account, maybe take over your page, exploit it, and post content that might not be considered too good in other people's eyes and could give you a very bad reputation. Ladies and gentlemen, I am John C. Morley, a serial entrepreneur. It's been an amazing privilege, a pleasure and an honour to be with you this fantastic first Friday of January. I can't tell you how amazing it is. Happy, healthy and abundant New Year to you, your friends, your loved ones, and your associates. And I hope it's the best year for you, where all your dreams and more will come true. Also, check out my brand-new show that's been on the air for just a few weeks.
John C. Morley: (41:52)
You can go to www.believemeachieve.com to learn more. But every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'm on from 06:30 to 7:00, that's Eastern time. And Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm on from 4:30 to 5:30, and it's called IFYL, inspirations for Your Life Drive Time, a live Radio Talk Show. Really great being with you. And remember, feel free to watch these shows as much as you'd like because there's so much in them. Check out all my other great content at www.believemeachieve.com. And you know what, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna see you guys next week, which is January 13th. Have yourself a wonderful weekend. And remember, everyone, technology is neither good nor bad. It's a tool, and how we choose to apply it is what makes it so. Have yourself a great rest of your evening and a wonderful weekend.