The WAN Show: Steam Living room, 7Million$ Cyanogen and Forum Leaks! - Sept 20, 2013

The WAN Show episode from September 20, 2013 opens with the host addressing the audience, noting an unusual early start and explaining that Linus is absent due to being in Hawaii. The show introduces a live dynamic where Slick operates with his brother Cesc stepping in as a co-host for the day. They outline how Twitter blitzes will be managed via @slickPC and announce an Afterparty that will follow the stream, creating a sense of a continuing event beyond the main show. The team dives into a set of tech topics, beginning with Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos’ claim that bandwidth caps in Canada amount to a human rights violation, using that as a springboard to discuss global internet access, caps, and the broader implications for streaming services. They compare Canada’s situation to other regions like Australia and the UK, highlighting how infrastructure, pricing, and policy affect perceived internet freedom and streaming quality, and they discuss consumer behavior such as VPN use to bypass local restrictions. The discussion expands to the evolving role of ISPs in a connected world, stressing that the internet is increasingly the medium for communication, entertainment, and practical tasks, not just television, and note the push toward higher bandwidth, including concepts like streaming games and cloud services as common practice. The hosts pivot to CyanogenMod, noting its $7 million funding round from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures, and they explore the large, active user base and the perceived complexity of Cyanogen’s installation process, which currently includes a lengthy, multi-step workflow that deters many potential users. Personal anecdotes from Slick and his brother illustrate the install challenges, including rooting and potential boot loops, which in turn illuminate the barriers to broader adoption despite strong user interest. They compare CyanogenMod’s user-centric philosophy and community-driven development to Firefox’s approach to nightly and beta builds, recognizing Cyanogen’s emphasis on user input and iterative improvements, such as a one-click installer and an easier upgrade path. The conversation shifts to hardware partnerships, with speculation about Cyanogen’s hardware collaboration and potential branding changes, while acknowledging the risk and reward of rebranding for a mobile-focused startup. The team discusses monetization strategies for a default OS on a device with a massive user base, weighing approaches like app stores, promoted items, and less intrusive revenue models, while also considering the challenges of monetizing large communities as seen with Reddit. They tease two upcoming Cyanogen-related releases and encourage viewers to watch an AMA on Reddit for unreleased information, emphasizing the value of user feedback and transparency. The narrative returns to the forum update, detailing a shift toward secure HTTPS access, an e-commerce component through Invision Power Services, and a new classifieds system designed to enable buy, sell, and trade within the community with a reputation mechanism for trust. The hosts describe how the new forum features could transform the user experience, enabling product showcases and a more polished, ad-light monetization path. They also reveal the plan to refresh the site’s theme with a day and night set of UI skins, including mobile parity, and discuss the potential for dynamic theme changes to reflect new products or brands. In parallel with ongoing site improvements, the WAN Show team acknowledges technical hiccups in the livestream chat and audio, affirming their commitment to delivering a smooth broadcast while continuing to expand the forum and community tools. The show closes by reaffirming the schedule for future episodes and the ongoing collaboration with moderators Dave, Glenn, and others, while reflecting on the camaraderie and energy of the WAN Show community, and the special involvement of Day[9] as a guest in prior and future streams. Throughout, the hosts balance humor with rigorous tech discussion, offering a blend of industry context, personal anecdotes, practical tutorials, and teaser leaks to keep an engaged tech audience informed and entertained.

Topics · technology · community · media · internet-infrastructure · mobile-ecosystems · software-development · live-streaming