Better Offline

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the murky lawsuit between OpenAI’s soon-to-be-acquired hardware wing and Iyo, a company they met with multiple times that makes a similar-sounding product with a near-identical name.  Sam Altman tweets: https://x.com/sama/status/1937606794362388674 Jason Rugolo tweets: https://x.com/jasonRugolo/status/1936933761964511721 YOU CA...

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about NVIDIA’s approach to the media, AI pushing out real tech at Computex, and the weird world of consumer graphics. Follow GamersNexus:   https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus https://gamersnexus.net/ https://bsky.app/profile/gamersnexus.bsky.social  https://x.com/GamersNexus YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE M...

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through OpenAI’s desperate attempts to lean on Microsoft to change the terms of their agreement, and how the entire AI bubble may rest on this negotiation.  WSJ: OpenAI and Microsoft Tensions Are Reaching a Boiling Point https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-and-microsoft-tensions-are-reaching-a-boiling-point-4981c44f  The Informatio...

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York city. Ed Zitron is joined in studio by Pablo Torre of Pablo Torre Finds Out and David Roth of Defector to talk about independent media, what makes a compelling show, and what it’s like raising a turtle. Pablo Torre Finds Out: https://www.youtube.com/@PabloTorreFindsOut Investigating Belic...

In part three of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how the era of the Business Idiot has led to a dramatic deceleration in innovation - and how the tech media must fight back against their ridiculous narratives to save Silicon Valley. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shippi...

In part two of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how Business Idiots demanded we all return to the office to hide their own lack of utility - and how this directly led to their desperation to adopt generative AI. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or...

In part one of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how Business Idiots have captured our society, with middle management losers breeding out true meritocracy and value-creation in favor of symbolic growth and superficial intelligence. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping...

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through how the media is misleading you about AI job loss as a form of propaganda for OpenAI and Anthropic - and the Business Idiots behind it. CNN - The ‘white-collar bloodbath’ is all part of the AI hype machine - https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/30/business/anthropic-amodei-ai-jobs-nightcap Oxford Economics - Educated but unemployed...

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Carl Brown, a veteran software developer and host of The Internet of Bugs, to talk about the realities of software development, what coding LLMs can actually do, and how the media gets it wrong about software engineering at large. https://www.youtube.com/@InternetOfBugs New GitHub Copilot Research Finds 'Downward Pressure on Code Quality' - https://visualstu...

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the awesome world of handheld gaming PCs - and why you should pick one up over a Nintendo Switch 2. Rog Ally X: https://rog.asus.com/us/gaming-handhelds/rog-ally/rog-ally-x-2024/ Lenovo Legion Go S: https://amzn.to/4kgZCKD MSI Claw: https://amzn.to/43PPNNG YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to  https://cottonbureau.com/people/b...

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by producer Sophie Lichterman to answer questions about life, technology, and Better Offline itself. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to  https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/...

In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through the ridiculousness of OpenAI acquiring Jony Ive’s pre-product hardware startup for $6.5bn in stock - and why it only proves how washed the company might be. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. WSJ: What Sam Altman Told OpenA...

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Dan Ryckert, Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb, the new owners of gaming website Giant Bomb, to talk about the hopeful, independent future for games journalism - and media at large. http://www.giantbomb.com/join Dan Ryckert: https://bsky.app/profile/danryckert.com Jeff Grubb: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bdacp2cmuuyawx553cv2spdy Jeff Bakalar: https://bsky.app/...

In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the story of how writing The Man That Destroyed Google Search saved his life. The Man That Destroyed Google Search: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-man-that-destroyed-google-search/id1730587238?i=1000653621646 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free...

Ed Zitron is joined by Karen Hao, author of the book Empire of AI, to talk about the confusing world of OpenAI and the associated mind-poison of artificial general intelligence. Book link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743569/empire-of-ai-by-karen-hao/ (all the buy links are available there) Karen’s website: https://karendhao.com/ Twitter: https://x.com/_karenhao Li...

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through World, Sam Altman’s meaningless new “World” startup that trades you cryptocurrency for a scan of your eyeballs, and how it proves something is deeply wrong with our society. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of...

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about how tariffs are throwing the PC gaming industry into disarray, and how the era of affordable computing is coming to an end. GamersNexus: The End Of Affordable Computing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W_mSOS1Qts&t=2s&ab_channel=GamersNexus https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus https://gamersnexus.net/ https://...

In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through all the signs that the bubble is bursting, and how hysterical boosters continue to desperately keep it from doing so. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. You can also order a limited-edition Better Offline hat until 5/22/25! https...

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through why better tech criticism will lead to a better tech industry - and a better society at large. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. You can also order a limited-edition Better Offline hat until 5/22/25! https://cotto...

In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through why it’s so harmful that the media keeps taking OpenAI at its word - and responds to the most common critiques from AI boosters. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. You can also order a limited-edition Better Offline hat unt...

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the tech he actually likes, and how digital connections give him hope in the darkest times. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code  FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. You can also order a limited-edition Better Offline hat until 5/22/25! https://cottonbu...

Ed Zitron is joined by Jason Kint, CEO of DCN, to talk about Google's recent antitrust trial losses, Meta's FTC case, and why it should give you hope for the future. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. You can also order a limited-edition Better Offline hat until 5/22/25! htt...

In the second part of this week’s two-part episode, Ed Zitron walks you through how OpenAI has become a systemic risk, one that may destroy CoreWeave, cost NVIDIA and Oracle billions, and break the back of an ailing tech industry. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/   Discord: chat...

In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through how the media's lackluster approach to critiquing the powerful led to the needless, unsustainable AI bubble - and how things could change for the better. Vote for Better Offline's "Man Who Killed Google Search" as the best business podcast episode in this year's Webby's! Open until April 17! Vote today! https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...

In the first part of this week's two-part episode, Ed Zitron walks you through how impossible it will be for OpenAI to stay alive - and how SoftBank’s attempts to help are materially harming the company. Vote for Better Offline's "Man Who Killed Google Search" as the best business podcast episode in this year's Webby's! Open until April 17! Vote today! https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoti...