011 - Accidentally erased my aunt's iPad with Shimon Das

**Ads are not real and written by ChatGPT***

Today's podcast episode is going to be a fun one because we've got Shimon Das on the show. Shimon's going to be talking to us about how he fell in love with tech as a kid and how it ended up becoming his career.

We also hear a hilarious story about how Shimon accidentally wiped his aunt's iPad - oops! We all know how important it is to back up our stuff, but it's easy to forget sometimes, right? We talk about the importance of being careful with our personal devices and avoiding any more major tech disasters.

But it's not all fun and games, folks. Shimon's also a bit of an expert on the smartphone market in India, and he gives us an idea of what India is like with consumer tech like TVs and smartphones. Throughout the episode we hit up on old tech that we used to use.

Whether you're in the tech industry or just want listen to personal tech stories and experiences, you won't want to miss this one!

This episode is brought to you by the Smart Chip. Tune in to hear more about it! (Time stamp - 37:19)


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Transcript

Shimon: 0:00

My brain always needs something new to stimulate it . So I'm like, okay, I'm fed up with YouTube. I let, lemme try something new. So I dabbled into the world of podcasting and I had fun. It's amazing., and I guess you're having fun as

Enrique: 0:14

well, . I, yeah. I mean, I can't say I'm not, I just, I like, so I'll tell you what I like about it. Mm-hmm., what I like is I don't have to read a script. Mm-hmm., I don't have to perform, I don't have to read a teleprompter. I don't have to be stressed about, oh, did I get the 12 me, 12.2 megapixel, 1.8 aperture . Like, did I get it right? Like, and then if I get it wrong, I have to rerecord it like, no. So I like that I can just do me, I can be myself. Mm-hmm. and I can talk to my friends. And we can just have, uh, you know, a creative and, uh, critical conversations. So that's why we're here today. Yeah. Hello and welcome to the How Tech podcast. My name is Enrique, and on this podcast we talk about technology and how tech has become such a big part of our lives and our favorite things about tech and are maybe our not so favorite things about tech. Why is tech so important to us? We all. But maybe not all of us know about it. Um, today my guest is Shon da. Yeah, so Shon and I met in 2017 and we actually haven't seen each other in person since then. I don't believe.. Yeah. And, uh, Shimon is based in, uh, new Delhi, India. Yes, that's right. And so he has a vast perspective of tech from India, which I'm very excited to talk to, to you about. Mm-hmm.. And we met on a media trip in, uh, Taiwan for htc. We went to go see, um, they gave us a tour of the factory and we got to see the factory floor and HTCs headquarters, and it was very, very cool. What did you think about that?

Shimon: 1:44

That was fantastic. Like, you know, um, it's one thing to receive a phone as a press care, as a media device review unit, and it's another thing to know how exactly it came to life. Like, you see how, how much effort they put it into every single last bit of a phone and how things are tested. Like we went to see that, um, audio chamber. That was really cool. Um, then we also saw the camera lamps and the whole production line. It, it was a fun experience

Enrique: 2:10

and I, I really loved that they took us to, The factory. That was my favorite part. I think the factory and seeing people putting these things in the boxes and, and, and, and like seeing the, the produced units being placed and then being shipped all over the world. It's just like, it was very cool. You know, R A P H T C. Don't make phones anymore. Yeah. Um, but, you know, uh, they'll, they'll, they'll live on , they'll live on, is really one of my favorite experiences. Mm-hmm. ever, uh, in, in what I do in, in tech coverage. But anyway, I wanna shift, uh, over to you, Shimon. So, yes. Uh, I want to ask you how you got your start in tech and where your love for technology really stemmed from. So

Shimon: 2:53

basically I have been a tech nerd all my life, like, furthest memory in my mind as a child is playing games on a pc. And that's not just because Okay, kids like games. It's not like, not like that. I was always curious about technology and it also helped, uh, by the fact that my dad were, I mean, at that time was a computer engineer, so he was already on the bleeding edge of tech. Like, okay, Pentium three, Pentium four, I got it. running that three, yeah, 300 megabytes of Ram and everything. I'm. Cutting edge. So I was almost curious about technology since back then. And um, then the first smartphone we got in our family was the classic no care, thirty three ten, like a smartphone in your hands and you can make calls with it. This is amazing. And also fascinated with everything like cameras, you name it. So it has, it has always been in my blood and as time went on, you know, tech changed and new things started to merge. I was like, this is amazing. This is my.

Enrique: 3:51

As long as you can remember, you were always into tech because of Absolutely. Cuz of your dad.

Shimon: 3:56

Yeah. I mean, he sort of kickstarted it. I mean, I always had, uh, an inclination towards technology I would use to tinker with stuff. Um, . So there's that. Actually, I even have a small photo of me playing something on my computer., I'll send you a link afterwards. Yeah, I was, I've always dabbled into tech, like even, um, like some magazines back then used to have a phone section. I was always used to read that, oh, this is the latest smartphone, or some latest technology I gotta know about things and how they work. So it's a curious mind and inclination., I've

Enrique: 4:29

asked the same question to a few people. Mm-hmm. and what they have told me is that they had a parent mm-hmm., who was kind of a techie mm-hmm. at the time for their time, you know, because Correct. Yeah. Obviously tech has changed so much now, but back when we were kids, tech for them was, you know, was computers and having a PC in general, you know, that wasn't something everybody had. Or even just having a, having dial up internet. Mm-hmm., um, so. Usually there's a parent or, uh, or a close relative who was involved in the influence of, of somebody's love for technology. What, what things did you use to tinker with? You were telling me just now take

Shimon: 5:10

anything. Like, you remember those old mice which had those little round balls in them? I'm like, hmm, this is great. How does this mouse work? Even like before laser mice? Yeah. Yeah. You just open it up. You take, take out that egg yolk, . I used to call it an egg yolk . So this is fantastic. Um, so thank me with everything so. I used to get a, a, a little bit of flack from my parents. Like, ah, you're great at disassembling things. How about you learn how to assemble them? Like, Hmm, great point, , I will learn it . But for now, um, yeah, I just like taking things apart., Enrique: did you build anything or, or, or, uh, radio kits. Um, I'm not sure if you are aware of it, but there used to be a child, um, electronics kit thing. I think it was called mechanics or something, I don't know. So it was like a, um, basically an electric science kit for kids. So I used to tinker, uh, tinker with it, and that was fun. And pc? Yes, added build. It's right over over here. I build it, uh, about one and a half years ago, just at the time of cor uh, COVID., I got lucky because the prices are off the charts right now. So, but as a child I never actually built a pc. Uh, I was like, that's too complicated. And if I just fuck one thing up, uh, yeah, I would be in lots of trouble. So that took care of that thing.. Enrique: was there, was there any talking like 10 to 15, 16 years old. Old, mm-hmm., where you realized, okay, I need to do this for a living. Like this is what my jam is gonna be like. So, um, , I'll tell you, uh, when I was scared, I always had this notion in my mind that I am going to be a game developer or a game tester. And it was a mix of passion for gaming and the fact that, oh, I can officially play games for a living. Because back then there was no Twitch, there was no concert of game streaming. And uh, and overall in India, there was no notion of having, you know, a job in technology. It was either like you'd be a company engineer or you'd be a doctor. And up to an extent, it's the same case over here. So, yeah. Uh, in my mind I was like, okay. The only thing that I was like, okay, I'm gonna learn computer engineering, computer science because I want to make games. And uh, as I moved forward in life, I got deviated from that path , but still in

Enrique: 7:42

the deck field. So when did you realize you didn't want to do. It was more

Shimon: 7:47

like, um, not a personal decision, but the fact that I didn't find any courses for game development. There was nothing like if you were a gamer, you were looked down upon as a person who games like, who does this? You felt like an outcast. So there was no official course or any motive or any teacher to, you know, actually teach how that works. So yeah, that was like off the charts like, Nope, that's not gonna.

Enrique: 8:15

Um, for me, I actually, when I was 15 mm-hmm., um, I went to a, I went to a computer shop, uh, near like the Miami Airport. My dad works around there and there there's a whole block of a bunch of Chinese owned computer shops. Mm-hmm.. And there was one that we went to and we were, we, we went there often and they knew us and., we arranged that. I would go there and like volunteer. I wouldn't get paid. I was 15. Mm-hmm.. But I was, I was working at this computer shop. I was building computers, I was helping customers. I was even running credit cards, like they had me working there, like a sweat shot worker, . But, but I wanted to be there. Like I wanted to be in this environment. I wanted to be around computers. I knew that I wanted to be like, like playing with these kinds of things. And it was this lady., uh, and her nephew who worked there, this lady, her brother and their nephew. Mm-hmm. and the nephew I was friends with, cause he was closer to my age. He was 23 at the time, and I was 15. Like, still older than me, but , but we're still friends. Yeah. We, we we're still friends. We still talk and he was just, he would just tell me like, don't go to school for computers, bro. Like, don't do it like . He went to school for computers and he was just like, no man. They, they, I, I hate it. Like they just, I don't know exactly what field of computers he went for. Mm-hmm.. But I figured it was like programming or something because I remember that he would be like, um, the teacher says to do this, and then I was like, I did it, but it works. And they were like, no, no, no, but you didn't do this other way. I'm like, but it works., Shimon: holy fuck. He would, I'm gonna tell you, this is the same exact thing that happened to me. And if given a chance to speak to younger self, I would say just, just fucking skip it., just skip the course. I, the way I envisioned it, like they would teach you something, you know, something useful or how, how to approach a problem with your own, um, solutions. But no, no, no, no, no. They would teach you. This is the only way. If you don't do it this way, it's wrong. I'm like supposed to give you a problem and you solve it your own way. But this thing works. But they're like, no, it's not, not by my method or not by the books. I'm like, Hmm, what you're doing is a long method. I got a shorter one, but no, you got some ego problem or something. So, yeah, it's a shit show. I, uh, I, I realized in college that I didn't want to do it. And, and I'll tell you, I, so I went to school for a business, international business, but then I tried to minor in the information systems management. Mm-hmm. and information systems management is like the business oriented tech.. Right. And it's basically like management, but you manage like it, I guess. Mm-hmm., you know, and, uh, I had to take a class called application development. I didn't pass the class. The class was only available one semester every year. Mm-hmm.. And so I would've had to delay my graduation delay moving to New York. Mm-hmm. to take this class and get the minor. Mm-hmm. and I. I don't want it . Like I said, I don't, I don't want it. Just leave it. Just leave it. Like, I don't want the minor. I just wanted the major. I ended up graduating on time and I moved to New York and if I didn't move to New York, then that's, the rest is history. I wouldn't have, I wouldn't be where I am now. Mm-hmm. and so, yeah, I realize I hate. Programming. I hate coding. I it's math with words. I don't wanna do math with words. I barely wanna do math with numbers.. Shimon: Yeah. That, that's what happens in college when they teach you math. Yeah. Like, I'm not even talking about programming, but like real math in college, I'm like, the numbers are gone. what am I, why am I looking at alphabets,? This doesn't make sense though. He, here's the irony. I, I did computer science, like I opted for computer science. Um, but I sucked that path. Only I know how, how difficult it was for me to pass the subjects. Otherwise it was a breeze. Math wasn't terrible for me. Math was actually my strongest subject, uh, at least in like grade school. But then when I got to college, it was much di much more difficult. And I was always so listen, I was always so bad at reading and reading comprehension. Mm-hmm. grammar. I was good at like the language and the structure and the words, but I was not good at, read this passage that you don't care about and tell me something. and I'm just like, I don't care about this literature shit. Like I don't, I like, I want to gimme something interesting and I'll read it. and like, I, I always did bad scores on those and so it was just mind blowing to me when I became a technology writer mm-hmm. that I would be writing for a living. Like that was just like, I, like, I like, I wish I could go back to school and write my papers again cuz I wouldn't know how to do it now. Mm-hmm.. But like, you just learn things after school really. Like school is just, . Yeah. In it's seminar, in a long seminar,, it's a, that you need to do and then later you can do everything else.

Shimon: 13:07

Yeah. But it's like a double it sword in my mind. Like, um, is it, was it a waste of time? Yes. But on the other hand, it was really useful to No, no, no. I'm, I'm coming to the point. On the other hand, it was nice su uh, actually have a feel of life. Like what exactly you get to. Myriad of people, like lots of different kinds of people. And then you get life experiences, you get to know people and uh, it just prepares you for life and you get to meet very bitchy people. some good ones, which you keep close to your heart and yeah, that's life for yourself. Uh, trial. Peter, you can say of life, Enrique: do you still talk school? Yeah. Yeah. Like the ones which are close to me, which were nice and we were like a good., um, good friends with the same kind of, you know, thought process and all. Yeah. You're still in

Enrique: 13:58

touch. I have maybe a handful, maybe two handfuls of people that I talked to from my high school. Mm-hmm., and most of them are not even in my grade. I didn't really relate too much to the people from my high school and then in college.? Mm. Not either. I only talked to maybe that one. Yeah. It's just a handful of people I talked to in, in college, uh, high school I went to a, I went to a private Catholic high school. Mm-hmm. and at least two or three of those years I was in Tech and Media Club. Mm-hmm. and, um, so I was., which now that I remember realize, like I was kind of friends with those people. I should try to reach out to them and see what they're up to. Now, , I'll have to do that because they were like, like-minded people. They liked technology. They were nerdy like me. And, and, uh, we'll have to, we'll have to reach out to them. But anyway, the last year of high school that I was there, I was approached by the librarian. Mm., I was a, I was actually hired the very next year to be the library assistant. Well, besides doing like library stuff, I would be doing, uh, technology stuff with like managing like the AV carts and like making, like going to the teacher's rooms, making sure that stuff works. So it's like, that was really like my, oh wow, this is, this is, I can do this for a living, kind of, kind of learning experience. And also later in that job I helped roll out the school's iPad program. Oh, nice. And it was the iPad too, and I've already told this story before, but when iOS five came out and people, kids were installing it, it would wipe out the profiles, like the enterprise profiles. So they would all have to come back to the library and then get them reinstalled. And it was just a, it was a mess., it was honestly a mess. But , I have a little,

Shimon: 15:42

a little share of, uh, iPad story as well. I'm not sure who told you this before. Yeah, course. So, um, I'm an absolute IO snoop, by the way. Uh, so this, this is way back, I think it was iPad two or something. It was very early years. So, um, it was my aunt. She said, oh, I need, she wanted some songs or some, uh, movies on her iPad. And I was like, okay, uh, how am I supposed to do this? I was like, uh, I just drag and drop stuff. I'm like, no, , you install iTunes, , okay, I install iTunes. And then I'm like, okay, how I do it?. I read the tutorial and I'm like, oh, you just pressed sync. I chose the files, pressed the sync button, and that software wiped the whole iPad and placed those movies and songs. I'm like, oh no. What? What did I do?? And back then there was no cloud storage. There was no like Google photos where your photos are in the cloud. No, it was gone and she was., I gave you one job, , I just told you to put songs and movies in it. What did you do? I'm like, not my fault. There's this iTunes, . I literally erased all of her, uh, you know, photos from our vacation and everything. Not my fault. I blame it on iTunes.

Enrique: 16:57

iTunes is a mess and I never got

Shimon: 16:59

to use the iPad again.

Enrique: 17:04

so, yeah. Yeah. What happened was she probably had her, her iPad already synced to another computer.. Mm-hmm.. And, and so, cuz you need, cuz back then you needed a computer with iTunes to set up your iPad. There was no setting it up on the, on the, on the, like the welcome thing like that. They added that I think in I seven. Like it wasn't a thing. You always had to plug it into your computer. Mm-hmm.. And then you had to set it up and then you logged it into your account. But then if you've tried to sync to another computer, . It would, it would, it would erase and sync. It's, oh, that explains it. Computer. Yeah,

Shimon: 17:37

because that was my laptop. Oh, . Cause that was my laptop I was using. So is this the first time you're

Enrique: 17:42

understanding what happened? Yeah,

Shimon: 17:44

all the time. I was like, what the fuck this happened? I just pressed sync. Nothing else because it was no rag and drop thingy, you know, like Windows. It opened source and destination, and you just dragged, that was not the option. I, I, I, I opened up a tutorial and it said, oh, you just pressed sync and it just flows like magic. Uh, the, the only thing which flew were the photos,. Enrique: Oh my gosh. But you had never owned an iPod before this? No, no, no, no. And, and this is probably why, cuz like the iPod was, was kind of the same, like the iPod could only sync to one computer and you would drag your, your MP3 files wherever you got them from. Mm-hmm. onto iTunes, and then it would download them all to the, to the iPod. Um, But yeah, I realized that iPods were probably not very popular in India. Uh, I think the shuffle was because it was competitively cheap and, uh, our products always have been, you know, the premium thing to own. So, yeah, I mean, there was definitely a market for that. But Was it a mass selling product? I, I don't think so. I think you were more akin to by Chinese MP3 players. the

Enrique: 18:54

knockoffs, . . I was gonna say, at the, at the computer store I worked at, they would, they had iPods. Mm-hmm., they had like two iPods, like iPod Nano and an iPod shuffle. And then they had all the knockoffs,, and they said they stopped ordering iPods because the knockoffs sell more. They, they was sold more at the store. Yeah. And, and I'll tell you why. It's because this., I must be famous like overseas because a lot of, um, a lot of, uh, visitors, tourists would come and order computer and get, like, buy computer stuff cuz it was cheaper. Mm-hmm., uh, same as like going to Best Buy or going to the Apple store. Uh, Latin America especially has a ridiculous markup on electronics, especially Apple products. So they love to come here and buy and even like retail clothes and, and, and like, like brand name stuff, everything. Relatively cheaper here than it is overseas in, in Latin America. And so, um, they would just buy the, the cheapy ones. They would just buy the, not gonna

Shimon: 19:56

lie, the cheap NPP players. I, I owed one as well. And it was nice, it had a metallic build. Um, the software was fine ish and it

Enrique: 20:06

sounded like you had, I'm sorry, you had one what? Uh,

Shimon: 20:08

one of the Chinese knockoffs. I was curious. I mean Oh, like

Enrique: 20:11

a real knockoff. Yeah.. Shimon: I, I bought it. I'm like, knockoff . This works fine. This is amazing. I don't how to deal with iTunes,. Enrique: And you didn't have Did it have

Shimon: 20:22

a click wheel also? Uh, no, it was a deep pad Basically, it, it looked the same. Okay. But it didn't have a, uh, wheel. It was fine. It worked well., , it's stupid music, and it played then nicely. What else do you want?

Enrique: 20:42

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Shimon: 22:28

you the hierarchy is, there's BK electronics. Yeah, go ahead. On top B, BK electronics on top. Then you have, um, B

Enrique: 22:35

explain bbb. K What, what is b? B?. Um,

Shimon: 22:39

so just on top of my head, so it's basically a consortium, just call it the Big Daddy . That's the, yeah, that's the big company on top. Then, um, they have oppo. Then Oppo has a subsidiary called Real Me. Then Oppo has another sister brand of sorts called One Plus. They won't admit it, but it is . Then, um, BVK also has Vivo, and Vivo has a subsidiary called, , all of these phones, they are pretty much competing on the same level. They have like smartphones on the same price brackets. The only differentiating, uh, factor being some of the models are online only and some of them are offline only, and they are priced accordingly.

Enrique: 23:23

I was just gonna say really quick for the listeners, just so you know, all the brands he mentioned are smartphone brands. Oh, yeah. Good. And, and we, because we don't see those here at all. Like, vivo, oppo, real me? Uh, I, what'd you say? Iq. I iq. Yeah. I, yeah. None of those exist here. And so this is foreign. This might be foreign to some people listening. Yeah. So I just wanted to make that clear before you continued. I'm sorry. Please continue.

Shimon: 23:49

It's very fascinating to see. They're basically the same company but still fighting with each other. what just happened? life went on. Did your power go out? Yeah, but we're still working. I have up s Nevermind., it'll come back. uh, your

Enrique: 24:08

face.

Shimon: 24:09

Yeah, your face. Funny face. I, I have a light on my face. That's, that's my ring light that, but yeah. Anyways, and then that was BC Electronics. Then we have Shami as. Hey, it's back on. Yeah, so we have Shami there. It's as well and uh, yeah, they are a behemoth on their own. They're a big company and, uh, they have offerings in every single segment. Whether you go just increment the price by a thousand rupees and you get another phone, another one you feel like DJ Carl it, another one, and you. Enrique: But yeah, so a What is that in, in US dollars really quick. Mm. A thousand rupees is.$13.29. Oh,

Enrique: 24:52

wow. Oh, that, that's not the

Shimon: 24:53

cost of the smartphone. I'm just saying the increment of $13.

Enrique: 24:56

Right, right, right. Yeah. Right. I understand. But it's like the fact that they have incremental for that amount of.. Hmm. Like, how do I explain? They, they just have a lot of phones. Yeah. A lot of different price ranges. Okay. Yeah,

Shimon: 25:10

exactly. Yeah. So I think it's like a psychological effect where you are inclined to spend a little bit more to get the next year and like, okay, what if I spend just a little more, I get like maybe 64 GB more, or like, oh wait, like 1 28. Then you get 2 56 and maybe you get two GB more Ram or something like that.. So, yeah, it's, it's a very competitive market.

Enrique: 25:36

There's a lot of competition in, in India, in the smartphone market. What about, what about TVs? Who's, who's, uh, who's at the top in TVs in India?

Shimon: 25:44

Um, Shami has been making big moves. They're in the big league. No, really? Yeah. Yeah. They have a myriad of, uh, offerings. Um, back then when they weren't in India, we all always used to pester Shami. Like, Hey, uh, it's amazing they have amazing TVs in China. How about you bring it to India? And they're like, yeah, we are working on it because you need like, hell, hell, lot of regulations and certificates. But now they've figured it out and they bring in new and amazing TVs. Even OnePlus has TVs in India and they're, apparently they're not that.

Enrique: 26:17

Oh yeah, I did hear that. I did hear about the, the one of the first models. Anyway, I don't know about, I don't know if they're still making models now.

Shimon: 26:26

I don't think so. They haven't refreshed it in a while.

Enrique: 26:29

I liked the one that had the speaker that like, like ejected out of the bottom. That was,

Shimon: 26:34

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. that. I think that was the only model which had it, and that's about.. Enrique: So, so show me and TVs. What about T Is TCL out there? Um, not that I, I'm aware

Enrique: 26:48

of. So no. Here in the US TCL is very popular in the budget brand. Oh, wait,

Shimon: 26:55

TCL does exist here. Yeah, I just recall. Tcl. Okay. Vu, Sony, lg. Yeah. Every other big player, they're available here. What else do we have in us? Um, I'm forgetting there was a certain brand which was in, available in India. I saw it in like, you mean uh, tv? Yeah, TV brand. I'm forgetting.

Enrique: 27:13

So, uh, Hiene, there's in Insignia, but that's Best Buy's brand. Mm-hmm.. There's, um, Westinghouse, but that's like a, I think that's like a brand of some other brand. Uh, Phillips, I don't think it looks like TVs anymore. Even Phillips, I don't

Shimon: 27:31

know. Yeah. I remember, I remember having a, owning a Phillips tv, the CT ones, the thick boys.

Enrique: 27:36

Mm. Yeah. Thick boys. Yes.. Thick Boy

Shimon: 27:41

Squad. Yeah. Thick Boy Squad represent But yeah, TVs are fun. They're evolving at a rapid rate as well, so. I might make the jump to one 20 Hertz, uh, TV soon-ish because I have a 1 44 Hertz panel already for my pc,

Enrique: 27:59

so the tv. Okay, so let me ask you something. Mm-hmm.. Um, so for anybody who might not know the Hertz mm-hmm. the Hertz on a tv, like 120 hertz, 144 hertz, if you ever heard that. That's basically the how fast the image looks on the screen, so, mm-hmm. a normal TV show. might be like a 30 hertz, but then when you play a video game, it might go up to 120 hertz. It's just makes everything look smoother and more real. Hyper realistic, right? Mm-hmm.. And so my question for you, Shimon, is what would you use on 120 Hertz tv? Is that for playing games or, or consuming content or, or what? Um, it

Shimon: 28:35

would be only for games because, uh, , have you ever seen, uh, motion smoothening in movies that it's terrible. I hate that, Enrique: so I I don't like it either. And you know that the h like there, there was a, at one point there was a campaign from Hollywood actors who talked about, I think Tom Smoothing. Yeah, it might have been Tom Cruise. What's it called? Disable your motion. Smoothing feature. Mm-hmm., because it's not the way directors intended to see the movie and experience content. And it's like, it's kind of the real, the real reason that they use it in the first place is because, first of all, it looks amazing in the showroom at Best Buy. And the reason that they're making these things look super. unrealistic. It's really just a marketing, marketing, uh, gimmick. Mm-hmm.. And so, because one company does it, the other ones have to do it, and it just makes like marketing comes first and then that just becomes the trend. And so the, the consumer who's not educated mm-hmm. doesn't know. Yeah. You know, but it, it's kind of a double-edged sword because such ma marketing gimmicks come and go. But if it sticks, that means it's useful because, see, remember the era of 3D tv. That went away quickly, , but this motion smoothing is still here because it's actually helping in gaming. So that's, that's why it's still here. Otherwise, uh, yeah. Three dvs so glad it doesn't exist anymore. It's amazing.

Enrique: 30:01

I knew someone who bought a huge 3D TV in New York when I was there. Uh, I, I guess, I guess he could afford it. I don't know.

Shimon: 30:12

Those were extravagantly expensive. Yeah, I remember those.

Enrique: 30:14

They were. And you had to buy a pair of glasses for each person watching. Yeah.

Shimon: 30:22

That's ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. And that's the reason why I don't even like 3D movies. Uh, I hate when certain movies are IMAX 3D only. I'm like, give me IMAX 3d. I don't wanna watch it in 3d cuz I'm already wearing a specs and then I have to wear another one on top of. and it just doesn't sit well. I'm like, Hmm. Well

Enrique: 30:43

the only thing I would wear 3D for is like a, is a amusement park ride. Yeah. So recently, like, uh, a few months ago I went to Islands of Adventure in Orlando. Mm-hmm. and I went on the Sp the Spider-Man Ride, which is pretty old by now. It's a good like decade at least. I don't know how old it is, but it's fairly old. Mm-hmm. and it's a 3D ride., but it's a motion simulation ride. Oh. And so the 3D part was so so cool. It was very, very cool. They had pyrotechnic effects, so there was like fire when you felt the heat and it was like mm-hmm. water sprinkling on you. And it was just, this is the situation where 3D glasses are like, okay, this is very cool. Mm-hmm.. Um, but just for sitting in a theater and like watching a movie, It kind of just distracts from the movie, I think. Yeah, it does and that's why, that's exactly why 3d, like 3D movies didn't really catch on 3D movies. I guess they tried to make it a thing because 3D tickets were more expensive and they could sell you, they could like make more money off of the movies even if it didn't even need to be in 3d.

Shimon: 31:52

Yeah, exactly. I remember watching a movie, which was absolutely 2d. The only 3D aspect was the subtitles,. They were floating in front of my eyes. See how magical their experience was.

Enrique: 32:06

Interesting. I'm sorry, go ahead.

Shimon: 32:08

No, no. Also, the fact being that usually 3D movies are more dim, they're dark for some reason. I don't know why, but it's, it's not as vibrant as Tud movies. But

Enrique: 32:18

yeah. I wonder. Uh, because of the technology Of how, yeah, because of the two layers. They probably can't make it like high contrast

Shimon: 32:28

possibly because in theaters they're using projectors. Right? It's not the screen technology, that's just the projectors projecting two different images. Oh.

Enrique: 32:37

That's why I think. Okay.. Yeah. 3D TVs. What an interesting era in entertainment. Mm-hmm., . It's all in AR

Shimon: 32:44

and VR are now. Enrique: Do you know what Mm-hmm. or as much maybe Curve TVs. Is that still a thing? I don't think so

Enrique: 32:53

enough. Nope. It's gone. Not even, not as much curve monitors. Yes. That's sticked around. Yeah, but that's for a different reason, not. TVs. Yeah. I

Shimon: 33:03

remember reading like it was a huge marketing point. Like, oh, it's a 180 radiant curve. If you sit on your couch in the middle, you have a surrounding view. I'm like, yeah, okay. That's a marketing giving. But yeah. It didn't catch

Enrique: 33:17

on. S Samsung went from round TVs to flat, like picture frame TVs. That's so

Shimon: 33:24

amazing. That Frame TV is so nice. One of my friends bought it recently.

Enrique: 33:28

That's a nice tv. I like that a lot. I , I like the easel that they have with it. It looks like, it looks like a painting. Yeah.

Shimon: 33:37

Yeah, he bought a PS five, like, okay, I need a one 20 Hertz display. And then he got a really nice, uh, discount on the frame TV and he just bought it. Okay. Good for you.. It looks amazing in his house.

Enrique: 33:50

So talking about PS five. Um, mm-hmm., do you have one? Uh,

Shimon: 33:55

nope., I'm a walking meme. I don't have a PS five. Enrique: Can you please tell me like, uh, Shimon not having a ps4? Yeah, it started, like, started that way. So I'll give you a brief history. So I, I've owned a PS one, I've owned a PS two, um, I skipped the PS three. I got the Xbox 360. And then, uh, I didn't buy Xbox One or ps4. That's the cutoff point of my console gaming. I shifted to PC and, uh, basically, yeah, windows Gaming. Uh, this was at the launch of ps4. Um, it was launched in India, and uh, somehow it just started like, oh. I was like, yeah, I'll buy it. One fine day, I'll just buy it. And then it was like, I don't have it. Then, um, one of my friends started joking about it and like, oh yeah, shaman doesn't have a ps4, and it snowballed into what it is today. It just carry over from PS4 to PS five, and now it's a joke., Enrique: the joke is, oh, Yeah, but it's the, the joke is that you don't want. Uh, actually that's a valid point because right now I'm holding off my purchase willingly because I don't see the point of owning one right now because there are no, uh, there's not a huge catalog of, uh, exclusive games because if I wanna play a game, I have a PC with me. And, uh, when it comes to say Xbox exclusive games, it's only there on Game Pass and I can play it on my. I'm, I'm not really missing out on very exclusive, uh, games on my PS five. So I'll, I think, wait till 2022 or maybe 2023. Once there are like lots and lots of Ps exclusives, then I'll buy it. Plus I need to milk the minion even more. So, , Enrique: there's that. I have a question about, uh, the gaming industry in India. So I mm-hmm., I believe that Nintendo doesn't officially have a presence in India. Nope. Not at all. Never. Do you know, do you know why that is? I have no idea. I, I guess they don't care, but I, I owned Game Boy Advance. Then the Game, game Boy Advance Sp and there's like a whole gray market when you can buy everything. It's possible to buy it in India, but officially, no.

Enrique: 36:13

so it's all imported. So it's like you got a markup.

Shimon: 36:15

Yep. Then you get like fake games, like hacked consoles and everything. Have I purchased them? I may or may not have . It's ambiguous, Enrique: but, but yeah, it's fun. When I, I had a wee, I had a first generation wee, like, like launch day we mm-hmm. and then I, I hacked it. I found a Google site that someone made with all the instructions on how to hack a wee and I was able to make it play copied games. Mm-hmm. copied wee games and copied game cube games. Mm-hmm. and, uh, I remember loading up Mario cart. We, and the intro, like, trailer video would be choppy. Mm-hmm., but then the game would play just fine. Like . Everything was perfect. Yeah. I re, I remember getting my PS two mod as well and uh, it used to work flawlessly, cheap games, games. I could just download from the internet, burn it on a cd.

Enrique: 37:20

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Shimon: 38:30

kind of recently, earlier this year, I was tasked by my parents to convert the um, VCR footage. Into digital format, analog cas into digital. It was a painstaking, um, effort because I, okay. I,

Enrique: 38:46

so before you continue, my mom, my mom asked me to do this, Uhhuh , and I wanna know what you did, so please continue. Okay., you're

Shimon: 38:53

in for a ride. Because I was like, okay, first of all, So then, yeah, first I need to get a converter so that I, I can at least root it into my pc. Turns out you just have to buy a converter. It's like a u SB to uh, aux dairy inputs. So you connect it and then basically it configures your PC as an input device. Then it shows the video and there's no conversion. It basically plays the video and then screen records it. It's so, so tedious. I'm like, oh, this is painful. And then you, you have no way to tell where exactly it stopped recording or., you just have to play refile again. And if you see, oh, why is this blues all of a sudden because it stopped, then you have to rewind the tapes again. Do it again. Oh my God, that was such a terrible process. But it worked in the end. Now I have digital , copies of my cassettes. Yeah, I spent a whole weekend on it., uh, in the end it was kind of worth it. Now it's in the cloud. It's not my, um, issue. So, yeah, there you go. Yeah. But it was fun, uh, seeing all those old footage and to see how cameras have actually progressed that that camcorder is a behemoth. It's like this huge for the camera over there, it's hitch, this huge. Um, so yeah, now we have our phones. It's just

Enrique: 40:17

simple. Yeah, it's much easier until, until your mom is, until my mom is like, can you empty my phone out? Like, can we load it on the computer? It's full of photos and stuff. Oh,

Shimon: 40:27

I, I just set up, um, cloud storage on my mom's phone and

Enrique: 40:31

it's abuse. I had done that with, I had done that Google Photos for her, but then Google Photos now charges, so now I'm gonna have to move her to, I think maybe one drive, cuz she has one drive for, uh, she has office at work, so maybe I'll just have her put it on. One drive.

Shimon: 40:45

He's my mom's. Uh, I'm gonna spill some, uh, secrets on, on the internet. So my mom has a very peculiar taste in, uh, gallery where she's like, okay. I set up the whole Google Photos thing, bought her a subscription and everything, but she still uses that subscription to save photos on her Google Drive manually. And I was like, why? You can make albums on the Google Photos app itself. Why do you need to, you know, she makes folders in Google Drive and then stores the photos in. So I asked her and she, her explanation was, when I open Google Photos, it shows me all the photos in chronological order. I don't need that. I'm like, that's your only reason. She prefers it to save it in Google Drive as folders, but okay, , the urge to say, okay, boomer was real high, but I have to take care of my existence. So I didn't say that.

Enrique: 41:41

Do you know what , do you know what they're calling Gen

Shimon: 41:44

Zers? No. I guess Gen Z is the last time

Enrique: 41:47

I heard they're calling them Zoomers. Oh, oh yeah. Zoomer. Hmm?. Because they're going to school on Zoom. No. Oh,

Shimon: 41:56

that's a double meeting. That, I love it.. Isn't that amazing that that just fits in so well? Yeah. Zoomers, . , they're gonna store their photos in the metaverse. Now,

Enrique: 42:11

tell me what you think of the metaverse and, and, and explain your, in your words, what the metaverse is. Hmm.

Shimon: 42:16

That's the question in everybody's mind right now. So in my, in my interpretation, metaverse is basically what Facebook was back in 2009, where everybody played Farmwell and Mafia Vos. Everybody, everybody was there and inviting friends and you weren't cool if you were, if you were not playing Mafia Wars on Facebook, I would be on MySpace. That's the, uh, 2021 edition of, uh, that thing in Metaverse. So it's basically an online hub of, I'm doing a very bad job at this, but it's basically a VR world of sorts where you can hang out with your friends and not basically that, but explore. That you want it to be. Maybe it's like a hiking trip in VR with your friends. You can go and visit it and some people ridicule it. I get their concerns and everything, but on the other hand, I also see this as an op great opportunity for people who are differently abled. They're not able to, you know, go to that uh, space physically. They can go and experience that through the metaverse. Yeah, it's in a very., uh, early stage right now, and they are multiple, multiple different interpretations and only time will tell how exactly it falls out.

Enrique: 43:29

Yeah. The, the people, some people might not realize the internet is changing right now. Yeah. Like there, like it is transitioning to something new.

Shimon: 43:39

Yeah. They have a now, so currently we're in web two. Now we are going to web three. the change is

Enrique: 43:47

happening., that's, it's so interesting to just witness what's going on with these large tech companies and, and the kinds of experiences that they want you to have just online. Mm-hmm., just, that's really what it is. Metaverse is being able to experience things online. Got it. I think that kind of narrows it down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that would be interesting. And, and it was all fueled by Covid. The transformation that the internet was kind of heading towards had to kind of speed itself up during Covid. Yeah. With the surgeons of Zoom and the surgeons of meeting calls and now everybody wants to have online meetings and yeah,

Shimon: 44:28

that's the one thing I'm glad about, this whole pandemic situation, that at least more and more people adopted, you know, this virtual meetings and everything like remote working basically. And, uh, it's a bittersweet experience how we got into this place. not the best thing, but at least we are here.

Enrique: 44:47

Um, so Shon, uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, uh, get ready to close off the show, but um, yeah, I just wanted to know if you had any questions for me.

Shimon: 44:55

How you doing, man? Everything these days., how, how's your mental health? How's,

Enrique: 44:59

how's everything? Thank you for asking about that. Wow. Yeah. Um, mental health is good. Um, I'm looking forward to a lot. Two weeks ago I was on a trip in Oh yeah. California, the media tech thing, right? With the media tech summit. Yeah. And so I saw a lot of my friends and I felt so much warmth from seeing everybody, and I felt so much love towards me. Mm-hmm. and like, wow, these people genuinely are happy to see., that made me feel good. And then also like I started kind of talking about, Hey, you know, I'm now. in the transition where I'm trying to put myself out there and building my own brand and hopefully start making brand deals and start making more content. They just kind of helped me hype me up. Mm-hmm. to y Yeah, you can do it. And, um, and, you know, if you need help, you know, we did it. We've done that. Like we've been through that before. Mm-hmm., you know, working for an outlet and then branching off independently and we're like, we, we are ready to help you. We, we want to like be there for you and support you and. That really helped me a lot. I mean, that's the kind of people you

Shimon: 46:06

want to hold close to your heart because that's like my people. And you do care about you. Yes.

Enrique: 46:13

Yeah. And so, like, this was a huge event for me. And back to what you were saying. Yeah. Uh, I'm, I'm doing good. Uh, we're, we're looking forward to a lot in 2022, including, uh, our personal business here at, uh, here with, uh, with Marvin. And, um, And then obviously like the branching off of my, my personal brand. Mm-hmm. and the podcast as well. I'm looking forward to the podcast growing and uh, and something that happened to me on the trip really quick is, um, Michael Fisher, who I'm sure you know, He, he made a comment about my podcast, like at one of the tables we were having dinner at. Mm-hmm.. And that was like a full circle moment for me because I listened to his pod. I listened to him when he hosted the Pocket Now podcast. Mm-hmm.. Like in 2014, 2013. Mm-hmm.. And so like to hear him, like, he inspired me a lot to like, first of all start tech and to like start a podcast. And I actually even like had a conversation with him before I started my podcast that kind of helped me get into the groove of things. And so just, um, just that full circle moment, just like, I was just like, oh my gosh, this is not happening right now. But it was happening. And so that was another like, positive thing that happened here.

Shimon: 47:30

I mean that, that's funny. But you mentioned, uh, Michael, uh, during the Pocket now weekly, uh, podcast times. It's funny how he followed me on Twitter randomly. I'm not sure why. I was already following him . And then, uh, I know being the kid I was, I'm like so excited. Oh my God. Michael Fisher, I, I just DMed . Um, he was mature enough to reply and. We have a word and I told him about some, uh, Indian launch thinky, like, oh, this, this specific brand launched a phone and he covered it in one of his episodes. Pocket now weekly. And then a full circle moment for me was, um, I came on as a guest on Pocket Now Weekly when, uh, Jules was there. Jules, and yes, Juan was there. So that was like great from Camu to a guest appearance. Uh, yeah, full, full circle for me.

Enrique: 48:27

I did have that moment too with, uh, with, uh, I was on the show as well with Jules and, and, and, Um, but never with Michael. I was like, no, Michael, we weren't on the, I was on the show with you when you were there. Mm-hmm.. But when I had started gsm, he was just leaving pocket now. So, but anyway, but yeah, man, that's, that's how everything's going with me. Everything's going well. Looking forward to traveling next year. Mm-hmm., uh, have a trip to obviously Vegas in January. Mm-hmm.. And then I have a trip to New York planned, um, just to see friends and to., the New York vibe again in January. It's gonna be cold. Mm-hmm., and I knew this, we knew this going in, it's gonna be the middle of winter, but, uh, we're just excited to feel the city vibe again and to just, um, come back with inspiration, you know? Mm-hmm. sounds amazing.

Shimon: 49:11

Yeah, sounds amazing to me.. Enrique: So, yeah, Shon. So, uh, tell, why don't you tell the listeners where we can find you. See, here's the part where my unique name comes in the picture. You just Google my name, Shonta. It is s h i m O n. That's Shon Rhymes with Pokemon and you will just find me . No cap.

Enrique: 49:32

Just

Shimon: 49:32

Shon. Uh, yeah. Not, not probably done that.. There's . You'll find me that, that way. But, Shaman, d a s and you'll just find me, you can find me on, uh, Twitter, MySpace, not really Instagram, everywhere. Just, just type my name and you'll find me. That's a weird flex, but okay, that, that's the thing I face in my life. Uh, misspells and mispronunciations, that's the pros and cons of having a unique name. So

Enrique: 50:02

that happens really, you know. I used to not like my name. That's why I ended up being Ricky on like gsm. I don't know. I don't know why I stuck with that , but I realized I should have just kept my name, which is Enrique, which sounds cool as hell. And not a lot of people have my name. Yeah.. And so I'm, that's what I'm gonna, now with this new branding I'm doing, I'm, I'm Enrique. I'm Enrique. And, and you could still call me Ricky, but I'm. I'm Enrique. But anyway, um, thank you Shaman for, for being on. I'd love to have you on again, thank you for having me and it was

Shimon: 50:35

Sure man. Wonderful, wonderful experience.

Enrique: 50:38

Yeah. Yay.

Shimon: 50:39

I'm glad. Whenever you want. I'm here, , I'll be back in for another episode. You just, I'm one call away,. Enrique: Well, thanks again, Shimon. And, and just one last thing I wanna say is just this job has had me meeting people and friends from all over the world, including you. Same all the way into India. And so I just am so grateful for. So many contacts everywhere, just all over. And likewise, it's, it's amazing. Thank you again for being on, uh, Shon and we'll chat with you again. Sure. Thanks for having me. It was, uh, really fun.