Latest / The Bill Handel Show / Tech Tuesday + Balcony Solar Coming to California

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Tech Tuesday + Balcony Solar Coming to California · The Bill Handel Show

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to KFI AM640, the Bill Handel Show on
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: demand on the iHeartRadio app.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: All the latest on gadgets and stuff with KFI's resident
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  Speaker 2: handsome nerd.
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  Speaker 3: It's Tech Tuesday with Rich DeMuro.
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  Speaker 4: KFI, good morning. It's Tuesday morning, October 27. A couple
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  Speaker 4: of big things happening. First of all, the election in
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  Speaker 4: Israel is happening as we speak. And certainly by tomorrow,
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  Speaker 4: I have some things to say about that. Two weeks
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  Speaker 4: from now, or excuse me, one week from now, next Tuesday,
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  Speaker 4: is our election. And I've been giving every day at 730.
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  Speaker 4: I go through some of the props that we in
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  Speaker 4: California are voting on. Now, it's a Tuesday, which means
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  Speaker 4: it's a tech segment, which means it's Rich DeMuro who
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  Speaker 4: joins us. He is live every Saturday, 11 a.m. to
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  Speaker 4: 2 p.m. here on KFI with his tech show. And
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  Speaker 4: on Instagram, it's at richontech.com. And good morning, Rich.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning to you, Bill.
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  Speaker 1: Okay.
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  Speaker 4: I want to get right into Elon Musk. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: he is huge news. He's always news, but he's particularly
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  Speaker 4: news with the $ 400 million he's thrown into the campaign,
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  Speaker 4: the election cycle, and what he has done, the debate
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  Speaker 4: with Starlink in the U.K., And while all of this happening,
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  Speaker 4: Tesla is still going on. And there is a new
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  Speaker 4: roadster that he has come up with. And this thing
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  Speaker 4: is a monster. And let's talk about this. How viable?
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  Speaker 4: When's it coming out? Is it coming out? Is this
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  Speaker 4: simply a prototype that is basically never going to come out?
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  Speaker 4: So tell us about that.
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  Speaker 5: Well, he's been talking about the idea of the Roadster
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  Speaker 5: for many, many years. But we did have an event.
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  Speaker 3: Earlier this month.
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  Speaker 5: I believe it was in Texas, perhaps. But they did
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  Speaker 5: show off this car, at least, you know, a working
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  Speaker 5: version of it. And it was pretty wild. I mean,
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  Speaker 5: you saw this thing. I mean, it literally looked like
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  Speaker 5: it was out of Back to the Future, the way
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  Speaker 5: it kind of They had to, at one point, drive
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  Speaker 5: up a big curve, kind of like a circus curve,
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  Speaker 5: like a half circle. And it's got these suction cups
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  Speaker 5: on the bottom, like these fans that suck. And so
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  Speaker 5: they keep the car on ground, even when it's going
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  Speaker 5: super fast around turns and things like that. So that
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  Speaker 5: enabled it to stay upside down. Then it has these
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  Speaker 5: little rocket thrusters on it. They work with SpaceX, of course,
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  Speaker 5: another Elon Musk company, to put these on it. And
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  Speaker 5: that's when it got really wild because not only did
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  Speaker 5: it fly through the air for just a couple of seconds,
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  Speaker 5: but it also did a flip, which was also pretty wild.
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  Speaker 5: And anyone who's ever been in traffic, you know, Bill,
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  Speaker 5: you've had that time where you're just like, I wish
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  Speaker 5: I could just fly over all these cars in the
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  Speaker 5: 405 ahead of me. So maybe in the future we
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  Speaker 5: will be able to do that.
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  Speaker 4: Is he just a fan of the Jetsons cartoon show
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  Speaker 4: and he want to do his version?
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  Speaker 5: I mean, look, love or hate Elon Musk, you've got
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  Speaker 5: to give this guy credit for bringing big ideas to life, right?
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  Speaker 5: I mean, this guy has always been a big thinker,
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  Speaker 5: you know, a big doer as well. And sometimes he
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  Speaker 5: says things that may take longer than he says to do. But,
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  Speaker 5: you know, a lot of the things that he said
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  Speaker 5: have come to fruition. A lot probably have not. But Tesla,
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  Speaker 5: we're still waiting for that inexpensive Tesla that he promised many,
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  Speaker 5: many years ago. The whole idea with Tesla was that
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  Speaker 5: it would make the electric car cheap, right? And you
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  Speaker 5: would have a sub $ 25, 000 electric car. Well, we have
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  Speaker 5: not seen anything close to that here in the US,
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  Speaker 5: whereas in China- We're talking the BYDs of the world are.
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  Speaker 3: Selling for $ 15, 000.
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  Speaker 5: So we're still waiting for some of his ideas. But
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  Speaker 5: this car, I think, in particular, is to really just
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  Speaker 5: kind of push the limits of what is possible.
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  Speaker 3: And it's going to be expensive.
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  Speaker 5: So you're talking the reservation alone is $ 50, 000. The price tag,
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  Speaker 5: I'm thinking, is, I don't know, is it close to $ 300, 000?
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  Speaker 3: It's expensive.
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  Speaker 5: So, by the way, if you want to see this,
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  Speaker 5: the prototype... They've got one of them at the Peterson
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  Speaker 5: Museum today only until 6 p.m., and it's free.
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  Speaker 3: You can go see it.
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  Speaker 5: It's in the lobby. And I sent my photo yesterday,
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  Speaker 5: checked it out. We got some video of it.
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  Speaker 3: It looks pretty cool. People are taking selfies with it.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, $ 50, 000 for something based on how you describe it
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  Speaker 4: is going to be some grandkids' car. and here's my
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  Speaker 4: inheritance that I'm giving you, and that part of it
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  Speaker 4: is $ 50, 000. That's pretty wild.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 4: Oh, by the way, the BYD cars in China, right now,
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  Speaker 4: even if the tariffs kick in, and it's 100% tariff,
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  Speaker 4: I think, for Chinese goods coming in, I'm guessing that
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  Speaker 4: Electric cars coming in from China are far more tariffed
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  Speaker 4: than anything else, because those electric cars coming from China
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  Speaker 4: would wipe out the electric car industry here in the
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  Speaker 4: United States. I mean, wipe it out instantly. Is that
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  Speaker 4: fair to say?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it would perhaps.
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  Speaker 5: But I think, you know, hey, I think competition is good.
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  Speaker 3: You know, why not? Why not put these brands on market?
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  Speaker 2: Notice.
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  Speaker 5: And it's like even Tesla, like, why are they not
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  Speaker 5: making the cheap car that they promised? And they should
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  Speaker 5: if they really want people to use these things. You know,
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  Speaker 5: I mean, yes, people want a Tesla. A lot of
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  Speaker 5: them can get it. But let's make this more attainable
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  Speaker 5: to the average person.
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  Speaker 4: Right. Okay. We've been talking about the iPhone Duo and
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  Speaker 4: how it really is a new iPhone. So there's a review,
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  Speaker 4: and then there are reports that there are some issues
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  Speaker 4: with it. So why don't you talk about that?
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  Speaker 5: So, yes, I did review the iPhone Duo. I had
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  Speaker 5: my review over the weekend on the radio show and
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  Speaker 5: on TV. And basically, this is.
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  Speaker 3: Your $ 2, 000 foldable phone from iPhone. Talk about expensive.
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  Speaker 4: Right.
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  Speaker 5: And so what do I like about it? I mean,
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  Speaker 5: it's a great foldable device and it's a great iPad.
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  Speaker 5: It's like having an iPad in your pocket, right? So
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  Speaker 5: if you travel a lot, you love the idea of
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  Speaker 5: reading on your device. I think you can read on
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  Speaker 5: this because it's got a matte screen, which is really nice.
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  Speaker 3: It's fine.
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  Speaker 5: The problem is, Bill, there's no Face ID. And if
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  Speaker 5: you're not familiar with what Face ID is, you look
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  Speaker 5: at your phone and it unlocks. And this is something
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  Speaker 5: Apple introduced, I don't know, 10 years ago. And it
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  Speaker 5: is like magic because we barely think about unlocking our
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  Speaker 5: phones anymore, but it serves a very.
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  Speaker 5: A very important purpose for security and for the use
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  Speaker 5: of our phone. And that's just not present on this device,
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  Speaker 5: which means you have to use a fingerprint sensor, which
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  Speaker 5: I know, okay, big deal, but it is a big
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  Speaker 5: deal because you are unlocking your phone many, many times
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  Speaker 5: a day. And then not only unlocking your phone, but
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  Speaker 5: you're unlocking specific apps in the middle of that. So
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  Speaker 5: if you need to authorize something like you open up
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  Speaker 5: your bank account app, or you need to get a password,
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  Speaker 5: whatever it is, you don't realize how many times you
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  Speaker 5: do that. So for me, that was the feature that
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  Speaker 5: really broke me on this device is that it's just
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  Speaker 5: everything else I could live with. The small outside screen,
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  Speaker 5: the big screen inside is amazing. It's that face ID
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  Speaker 5: that's absent that I know is going to be on
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  Speaker 5: the second model that really just It's tough for me
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  Speaker 5: to say like, OK, this would be an amazing device
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  Speaker 5: for you.
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  Speaker 4: How about broken screens? That news is coming out, too.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: So, I mean, no, I have not had any problems.
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  Speaker 5: I've been holding this phone, using it daily for over
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  Speaker 5: a week. and zero issues whatsoever. But of course, once
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  Speaker 5: this thing went on sale on Friday, some buyers already
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  Speaker 5: reported broken inner screens or some bright horizontal lines on
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  Speaker 5: the inside screen. Apple did acknowledge the issue, say, of course,
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  Speaker 5: it only affects a small.
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  Speaker 3: Number of devices. But here's the thing.
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  Speaker 5: It seems to me from reading all the reports of
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  Speaker 5: these screen issues, it either happens immediately when you take
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  Speaker 5: this thing out of the box and fire it up
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  Speaker 5: for the first time, or it's not going to happen. Now,
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  Speaker 5: breaking the screen is a whole other issue, right? If
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  Speaker 5: you're just careless with this thing, you drop it, whatever.
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  Speaker 5: But this is more of like a factory issue that,
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  Speaker 5: of course, Apple is going to investigate and go back
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  Speaker 5: to and see what's going on. But it happens very quickly,
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  Speaker 5: it seems.
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  Speaker 3: So we'll see.
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  Speaker 5: We'll see if there's much to this other than just
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  Speaker 5: the initial kind of reports we've seen.
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  Speaker 4: All right, let's take a break and come back. We
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  Speaker 4: have some Apple CarPlay news and some Instagram news and
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  Speaker 4: what's happening with podcasts and how they are changing.
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  Speaker 2: You're listening to Bill Handel on demand from KFI AM 640.
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  Speaker 4: The vote in Israel is happening. I'll talk about that tomorrow.
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  Speaker 4: And next Tuesday is our election, the midterms. And all
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  Speaker 4: this week, I'm doing the voter guide. My Voter Guide,
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  Speaker 4: in which you cannot follow my voter guide to vote.
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  Speaker 4: And if you do, you are fired as a KFI listener.
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  Speaker 4: I won't let you listen to the show anymore. Back
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: we go to Rich DeMuro in our tech segment. Rich,
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  Speaker 4: Apple CarPlay, which I use constantly, it is really strange. Well,
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  Speaker 4: not strange. I guess it's kind of good news what's
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  Speaker 4: going on. You want to share that?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: So, you know, a question I often get on the
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  Speaker 5: radio show and I got this past weekend is, hey, I've.
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  Speaker 3: Got a car. I've got wired CarPlay.
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  Speaker 5: Like I can plug my phone in and CarPlay shows
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  Speaker 5: up on the screen, but I would like to make
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  Speaker 5: it more convenient.
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  Speaker 3: Is there a way to make this wireless? And the
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  Speaker 3: answer is no. Yes.
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  Speaker 5: There's been a bunch of gadgets over the past couple
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  Speaker 5: of years that can do this, but up until now,
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  Speaker 5: they've all been from these random companies you've never heard
• 9:54
  Speaker 5: of with random support and random software, but now a
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  Speaker 5: company that I actually like that's been making Apple accessories
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  Speaker 5: forever since the beginning of time, they just came.
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  Speaker 3: Out with one.
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  Speaker 5: It is $ 40. It is an adapter the size of
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  Speaker 5: a quarter. It's called the 12 South Airfly Drive. And basically,
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: this company has actually made a name for themselves for
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  Speaker 5: with what's called the AirFly adapter. And that's basically a
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  Speaker 5: way to listen to your phone, or sorry, a way
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: to listen to the programming from the in-seat entertainment on
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: your plane, on your headphones, your Bluetooth headphones, if the
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: plane didn't support Bluetooth. Anyway, so they've now taken that
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  Speaker 5: magic and blended it with CarPlay. So you plug this
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  Speaker 5: thing in, you pair it with your phone, and then
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  Speaker 5: when you get into your car, your wireless CarPlay shows
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  Speaker 5: up on your in-dash screen.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, I have CarPlay in my car, and I don't
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  Speaker 4: have to plug my phone into it at all. I
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  Speaker 4: can put the phone anywhere in the car that I want.
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  Speaker 4: Isn't that what normal people have? I'm missing something?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it depends on the car.
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  Speaker 5: So a lot of the older model cars had plug-in CarPlay.
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  Speaker 5: And by the way, this works with Android Auto as well.
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  Speaker 5: So a lot of them in the past, you had
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  Speaker 5: to plug in your phone to get the CarPlay to
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  Speaker 5: show up on the screen. So these are for people
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  Speaker 5: that already have that feature, but you just want this
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  Speaker 5: to be more convenient so that when you get into
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  Speaker 5: your car, you don't have to connect anything like you're
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: talking about. It will basically upgrade your existing equipment to
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: accommodate the wireless CarPlay or wireless Android Auto. And again,
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  Speaker 5: for $ 40, some of the other ones I've seen online
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  Speaker 5: over the years have been maybe like $ 100.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and there's certain things that I try to play
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  Speaker 4: Apple CarPlay without the wire that I need the wire.
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  Speaker 4: that my wife always says, just plug it in and
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  Speaker 4: connect it to it.
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  Speaker 3: That makes it easy.
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  Speaker 5: Yes, there are advantages to the plugging in, which is,
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  Speaker 5: you know, your phone is charging automatically. and it is
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  Speaker 5: a more direct connection, so it's pretty reliable. But this
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  Speaker 5: is a nice way for people to kind of give
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  Speaker 5: their older car a nice upgrade, and for $ 40, I
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  Speaker 5: have a feeling they're going to sell a lot of these.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, Instagram and full-length podcasts. You know, the movies are
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  Speaker 4: heading into TikTok and YouTube. I mean, full movies. Boy,
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  Speaker 4: I never thought that would happen. So let's talk about
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  Speaker 4: Instagram on this one.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, and this is something that Instagram has been doing
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  Speaker 5: so against for so long. They have never wanted, the
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  Speaker 5: guy who runs Instagram, Adam Mosseri, he's never wanted long
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: form on Instagram. He just doesn't like it. In fact,
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: if you upload a longer video, the longer it is,
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: the more they penalize you and you get less views
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: on it half the time. So I guess he has said,
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: you know what, we're seeing the trend and the trend
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: is all these video podcasts are uploading to YouTube now.
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: And so what is YouTube getting? They're getting all that
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: ad revenue. They're getting all those eyeballs. it's become kind
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  Speaker 5: of a place to go for people just at work.
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: They're sitting there listening to these podcasts all day on
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  Speaker 5: video YouTube. So long story short, Instagram is now testing
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  Speaker 5: a feature where creators can upload up.
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  Speaker 3: To 90 minutes of videos.
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  Speaker 5: And of course, they're thinking short films, they're thinking podcasts,
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  Speaker 5: they're thinking comedians, whatever, anything up.
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  Speaker 3: To 90 minutes.
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  Speaker 5: And the way it works is You still scroll through Instagram,
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  Speaker 5: those reels the same way. But if you find something
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  Speaker 5: that you like and you want to keep watching, you
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: tap it one more time and it will bring you
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  Speaker 5: to that widescreen full length video. So probably going to
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: take some getting used to.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: I test.
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  Speaker 5: Excuse me. I tested this yesterday on Instagram and it works.
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  Speaker 5: It just takes some getting used to because you're not
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  Speaker 5: used to it. You're like, wait, what?
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  Speaker 3: 90 minutes? Usually I'm scrolling for three, four minutes at
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  Speaker 3: a time, whatever.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's all changing so dramatically because I never thought that.
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  Speaker 4: I believe that we'd be using our devices, obviously. The
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  Speaker 4: phone becomes a device, but... movies, full movies on there?
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  Speaker 4: I mean, you could download them, but it was never
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  Speaker 4: the same on your phone. Things are changing as you speak.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: I mean, do you find that kind of crazy how
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: quickly things are changing and you deal in this?
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  Speaker 5: Bill, I actually predict that we are going to go
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  Speaker 5: voice first for a lot of this mobile computing. So yeah,
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: watching movies, you need some kind of screen. But when
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: it comes to almost everything else that you do on
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: your phone today, whether it's ordering food, sending a text message,
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: sending an email, setting a calendar reminder, all those things
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: can be done with voice. And I'm pretty much doing
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: almost 99% of those things with an AI agent at
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: this point. So I predict that we are going to
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: have new form factors that do not require a screen.
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: And we will be able to talk to those things
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: and get things done in a more efficient way and
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: a better way than we ever have by hunting and
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: pecking and finding all these apps and downloads and things
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: like that.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, Rich, this Saturday, I mean, there's so much on
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: his show. It's 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. right here
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: on KFI and Instagram at Rich on Tech. And he
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: will do an entire movie for you, 90 minutes of
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: him dancing and singing on Instagram at Rich on Tech.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: Do I have that right?
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: 100% tap dancing. too. It's very visual.
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  Speaker 4: Okay. At Rich on Tech on Instagram and live Saturday mornings, well,
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  Speaker 4: 11 to 2 p.m.
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  Speaker 3: Right here.
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  Speaker 4: All right, Rich, you have a good day. Take care.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks, Bill.
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: You got it. All right, coming up, balcony solar. Balcony solar.
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: What the hell is that? Can you imagine a solar
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: system hanging off your balcony right next to the underwear
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: that's drying that you've stuck outside on that balcony? Oh, yeah.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: Life is changing. We'll be right back with that.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: You're listening to Bill Handel on demand from KFI AM 640.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: Today, the Israeli election, big, big time news, and it
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: does affect us. I'll be talking more about that tomorrow.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: And of course, our election, our midterms come up next Tuesday,
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: exactly a week from today. And all this week, I'm
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: doing the voter guide through the propositions that we're looking
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: at here in the state of California. And that's through
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: the entire week, two or three a day until we
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: sort of finish it up. And I'll finish it up
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: on Monday, the day before the election. And then the
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: voting I'm going to do. And it's my voter guide,
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: which you cannot pay attention to. That is rule number one, two,
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: and three. My voter guide, why I am voting, and
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: you should not. Okay, something else has come up, which
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: is kind of fun. And something called Balcony Solar. And
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: what the hell is Balcony Solar? Well, it's akin to
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: those satellite dishes that are about the size of a
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: dinner plate that you see off on, well, in certain
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: apartment buildings and not wealthy ones. But they're on the
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: balconies because they're on the balconies. And that's how you
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: get satellite because the buildings don't have cable or you
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: don't want cable. Well, there is something called the Plug
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: and Play Solar Act that the governor signed last month.
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: And what it did is open the door for Californians
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: to plug in small solar panels. solar panels on balconies
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: directly into wall outlets without utility permission. And so we're
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: not talking about big solar panels that are set up
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: on the roofs, for example, that companies have to come
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: in and do, and you need all kinds of permits
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: and licensing.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Nope.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: Here's a little device you sort of just plug in.
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: And you hang this thing out on the balcony or
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: wherever you can get sun. And, man, can you imagine
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: what that looks like? But that's, hey, that's the law
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: at this point. And a lot of people are not
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: very happy with it. Boy, do I want to live
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: in a high-end condo with all those balconies having solar
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: panels hanging out. And, of course, let's not forget the
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: clothes drying out there, too. I remember just a quick sideline,
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: and I'm going to go into the basis of this.
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: I remember a few years ago, and I got really
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: involved in this campaign, there was a run for, I think,
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: the Assembly. And we have a rule, the top two
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: vote-getters in the state, even if they're both Democratic or
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: they're both Republican— go on the ballot. So quite often
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: you have one Democrat versus the other Democrat. And that's
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: what happened a few years ago. And the person that
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: won was a Hispanic lady who put herself on as educator.
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: She was an assistant to an assistant in an elementary school,
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: but educator. And her name came first as a Democrat.
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: She won by 20 votes. She did not speak one
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: word of English, not a word. As a matter of fact,
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: when she was introduced on the floor of the assembly,
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: one of the other assembly members had to translate for her,
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: had to stand. And she spent two years in the assembly,
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: or four years, whatever the term is, And the one
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: bill that she introduced was you have the right to
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: hang your clothes on the balcony to dry. And there
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: were a few people who had paid a million dollars
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: or two million dollars for their condos and were not
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: particularly interested in people next door hanging their underwear out
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: to dry. That was the one bill she introduced, which
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: had died. uh but uh this philosophy here is we're
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: talking about and it's not going to be high-end homes
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: uh high-end apartment buildings but a solar a solar panel
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: that you put out a small one that then plugs
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: in directly into a wall outlet now what's that going
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: to look like well it's the plug and play and
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: that's what it is. Sounds like a toy from Hasbro.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: It doesn't it? It's a plug and play. And so
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: they're known as balcony solars and they're being billed as
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: solar for renters. Although the reality is it's apartment owners,
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: condo owners that are putting them in. And by the way,
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: they're in Germany. They're very popular. in apartment complexes where
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: people do set them up on their patios or hang
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: them from balconies. And I'm going to come back and
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: explain what it does, how it works, and, you know,
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: what's just weird stuff. I mean, it's just one of
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: those laws that you go, give me a break, seriously.
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: But maybe it's the wave of the future. Who knows
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: at that point? I'll be right back with that, and
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: we'll finish the show with that.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: You're listening to Bill Handel, On Demand from KFI AM640.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: A big day today, Israel voting. Talk more about that
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: tomorrow and two weeks from one week from today. And
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: I say two weeks, one week from today is our midterm.
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: And every morning at 730, I'm going through some of
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: the propositions. Oh, also, this is just fun. I just
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: went to Africa, as you know, and I'll bet you
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: didn't know that they do have some pretty sophisticated bathrooms
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: out on the in the Savannah area. right out in
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: the bush and so there's a video of the use
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: of them thereof you can go to instagram at excessive
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: baggage podcast tiktok at excessive baggage and the website is
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: excessive baggage.com this is a new podcast that lindsey and
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: i are creating excessive baggage it's a travel because we
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: enjoy traveling and it's a lot of fun. And Amy,
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: I think Amy also was able to use one of
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: these restrooms out in the bush. I don't know if
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: you've seen it, but the video is some very modern stuff.
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: I was kind of surprised. Okay, we're going to finish
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: up this segment talking about the new Plug and Play
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: Solar Act that Governor Newsom signed into law called Balcony
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: Solar Act. And what the new California law goes into
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: effect January, residents can buy certified panels under 1,200 watts
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: and set them up without getting utility approval, which can
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: be very onerous. Renters may have to navigate another layer
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: of permission that's called the landlord, because landlords can say,
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: not interested in you having panels on the balcony. And
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: right now, it's unclear. Do the tenants have the right?
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: Do the landlords have the right to say no? Now,
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: what California does do, how unusual, very strong laws that
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: protect homeowner associations from blocking solar panels or imposing unreasonable restrictions.
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: But these are on roofs, the solar panels. They're not
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: hanging off of balconies. And there is a difference there.
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: By the way, the Solar Rights Act, which the HOAs
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: really can't stop solar, came in the 1970s. And it
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: really was, it was the start of the HOA not
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: having the power that it did. So right now, even
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: though the law is the law, way up in the
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: air of what an HOA can do because they can't
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: stop solar, but they can make reasonable restrictions. Is one
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: reasonable restriction you can't hang laundry out? Uh, yeah, that's one. Uh,
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: how about, uh, you can't paint your house ridiculous colors.
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: I mean, do you have the right?
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: You own the house.
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: HOA can change that. So, uh, property owners also say low, low, uh,
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: solar panels on balconies and fences could affect insurance. And
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: so now you have, uh, renters saying the landlords could
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: set the insurance liability requirements so high that it makes
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: it impossible to actually put a panel up there. Um,
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: Balcony solar manufacturers say the solar for renters really isn't
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: solar for renters. The vast majority of people who have
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: purchased these small lightweight systems in the U.S. are still homeowners.
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: We don't know at this point how it's going to fall.
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: We really don't. I think the landlords are going to
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: have a little bit more say in that. Rooftop solar,
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: as I said, is one thing. solar hanging off your batteries,
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: off your balcony is something else. And just to give
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: you an idea of the power of these panels, a
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: 400-watt panel basically powers a refrigerator.
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: That's it.
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: Or most of the other appliances running in the apartment,
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: but not the refrigerator. Laptops, lamps, one television. For air conditioning,
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: it's not going to make a dent because an air
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: conditioner needs 3,000 to 4,000 watts. And this is 400 watts,
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: and that is it. So there's a nonprofit, energy nonprofit
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: called Bright Saver, sells two 180-watt panels for $ 414, $ 29 membership.
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: And if you go to their website, they have a calculator.
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: And depending on the zip code, a 360-watt system, one refrigerator,
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: is going to save someone in the LAWP, LA Department
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: of Waters, East Hollywood Territory. Between $ 113 and $ 142 the
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: first year.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: Huh.
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: So the payback is three to four years, and the
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: savings is $ 1, 700 over 10 years. So does it really
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: do a lot?
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: No. No.
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: But, you know, it's just another way of getting power,
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: alternative energy. is always the way of the future because, hey,
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: it's alternative energy. Do you know that California is 30%
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: now alternative energy, which is, I guess it's a good thing.
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: I mean, I'm into solar panels, but then I happen to,
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: you know, my house in Orange County, I have the
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: good luck to live in the most expensive apartment utility
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: in the country, in the country, San Diego Gas and Electric.
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: Isn't that special? All right, guys, we are done. We
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: are finished. Gary and Shannon up next. Come back tomorrow.
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: Don't forget the props at 730. It starts with Will
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: and Amy. Yes, Amy.
• 26:15
  Speaker 6: I did go look at Excessive Baggage, the website that
• 26:18
  Speaker 6: you guys have populated or Instagram account since your trip
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: to Africa. I did not experience the luxury restroom that
• 26:27
  Speaker 6: you did.
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: Ah, okay.
• 26:28
  Speaker 6: We were told to stay in the car because animals
• 26:31
  Speaker 6: would attack us if we got out of the vehicle.
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: Well, there you are. I guess our guide really didn't care.
• 26:38
  Speaker 4: Didn't care. Bill, why don't you go? Yeah.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: I was pretty sure no animal was getting near you.
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: That's true. So anyway, that's just one of the Instagrams
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: we're putting up.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: That's cute.
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: Will and Amy, tomorrow morning at 5 o'clock with wake-up call.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: Neil and I jump aboard from 6 to 9. Anne
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: is always here. Mario also makes the show run. And
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: that's why we are so damn good at what we do.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: Every morning I wake up and look in the mirror
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: and go, God, you are good. You are great. Everybody
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: likes me. KFI AM 640.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: You've been listening to The Bill Handel Show. Catch my
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: show Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.