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Streamers, Gaming, Twitch, Ninja, Mixer And More On CHOM 97.7 FM

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what’s going on in the digital world. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

The streams strike back. Twitch (owned by Amazon) is the place where many people go to watch other people live stream. It’s mostly video games, but there are other components to it (like Jim Lee and his amazing comic book art). One of the top Streamers is Tyler “Ninja” Blevins. Ninja left Twitch in August and started streaming on Mixer (owned by Microsoft). To give you an idea of the scale here, Ninja got 500,000 subscribers in his first day on Mixer. Ninja streams himself playing Fortnite (where he is one of the top gamers). The deal to get Ninja over to Mixer is said to be worth upwards of $30 million. Brave new world.
Here’s your weekly eye-roll. Welcome to the #GeneBragging era. A “fondness for posting lovely photos of one’s glamorous parents, children or grandparents while on holiday in exotic locations with them,” according to The Guardian article. Also known as a “deflective form of showing off.” Oy.
Smart speakers and smart audio takes off. Do you have an Amazon Echo or Google Home? Voice assistants are (still) all the rage. New data shows that close to 70% of smart speaker owners use their devices every day. Comparitvely, only a small number (around 12%) use it weekly. Turns out this technology is becoming a staple of our technology diet… and quickly.
App of the Week: Dinr.