The WAN Show - CARS don't kill people, PEOPLE kill people.. with cars!! - May 15, 2015

The WAN Show episode from May 15, 2015 opens with host banter and sponsor plugs as Linus explains the occasional awkwardness of sponsor transitions and the need to entertain while delivering tech news. The hosts introduce a rapid-fire set of topic callouts including Windows 10 editions, the Oculus Rift CV1, and the FTC ruling on direct-to-consumer car sales, framing a show that blends hardware builds with policy and industry shifts. They then pivot to a pair of user-submitted PC builds, Lauram and NVMK2, discussing hardware choices, cooling strategies, cable management, and aesthetic choices that make LAN rigs look compact yet powerful. The AMD discussion follows, with a deep dive into performance versus value, the philosophy behind APUs, and the broader strategy shift away from high-end CPUs toward integrated graphics performance. Across these segments, the hosts interleave light banter, personal anecdotes, and data-driven analysis to give viewers a sense of how hardware decisions ripple through enthusiasts’ and professionals’ workflows. The AOL acquisition by Verizon becomes a recurring economic thread, highlighting the fading relevance of legacy dial-up brands and the trajectory of online content ecosystems. The self-driving car topic from Google takes center stage, examining crash data, sensor arrays, and what truly constitutes 'crash avoidance' in the real world, followed by a skeptical look at human versus machine perception in traffic scenarios. The show then returns to hardware, with a new batch of sponsor reads, and a discussion about Intel and AMD’s strategic positioning, Zen ambitions, and the potential impact on the PC gaming and computing landscape. The drone segment showcases Lily, a personal videographer drone concept, with demonstrations of tracking, amphibious takeoffs, and practical considerations for field use, battery life, and form factor. Throughout the episode, Linus and the crew cross between consumer tech, enterprise storage, and the business dynamics that shape what hardware actually makes it into our rigs, offering both current analysis and speculative futurism. The panel also discusses the S3510 data center SSDs from Intel, their NVMe-oriented direction, endurance advantages, and the implications for large-scale deployments versus consumer-grade storage. The show closes with reflections on tech optimism for Zen, the potential 40 percent performance uplift, and a cautious realistic timeline that anticipates 2016 as the year when major changes may land in the market. Viewers receive a balanced dose of excitement for new gear and pragmatic caution about performance promises, platform changes, and real-world usability. The overall tone remains accessible, combining humor, practical build insights, and grounded commentary on where the tech industry is headed in mid-2015. The episode demonstrates WAN Show’s hallmark blend of build culture, industry context, and entertaining banter that keeps both hobbyists and professionals engaged. Finally, the show positions itself as a hub where bold ideas about AI-enabled perception, drone capabilities, and high-performance CPUs meet the realities of product cycles, supply chains, and consumer expectations. The result is a heterogeneous but cohesive look at a tech ecosystem in transition, anchored by tangible hardware examples, thoughtful critique, and optimism about future breakthroughs.

Topics · tech · computing · consumer-electronics · drones · ai-and-robotics · storage-and-data-center