05-23-26 When Convenience Becomes A Subscription Trap

Streaming was supposed to make TV cheaper and simpler, but the math is starting to look painfully familiar. As Netflix, Disney+, Max, Prime Video, Spotify, and others keep raising prices, a lot of us are right back to paying a cable sized bill, just split across a bunch of apps. We dig into what’s driving the increases, why ad-supported tiers are changing everything, and how weekly episode releases quietly keep you subscribed for months.

Then we get practical. We talk through a no-nonsense subscription audit, why small charges are the easiest to miss, and a simple habit that helps you catch recurring bills before they creep up: enabling credit card text notifications. We also cover bundle options through cell carriers and the real question you should ask before you “save” money by adding yet another service.

From there, we pivot into summer tech decisions that can save you hundreds. We explain why now is a strong time to buy a refurbished computer before the back-to-school rush, what to look for in a quality business class machine, and why details like fresh CPU thermal paste and a new CMOS battery matter for long-term reliability. We also weigh the hype around Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone, including price rumors, durability concerns, and why version-one hardware can turn buyers into beta testers. Finally, we react to Florida’s experimental highway that can charge EVs while you drive and close with an important Windows 11 update warning to help you avoid a corrupted install.

Subscribe for more practical tech talk, share this with a friend who’s drowning in subscriptions, and leave us a review with your biggest streaming bill frustration.

Transcript

Welcome And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Hey there and welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, President and Founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, and technician Adam Littlefield. And you can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if you have a comment during the show, we'd love to hear it. Use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. You can also check out the website over at Refresh Computers.net or stop at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, just three and a half miles east of I-4 in Longwood. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. And if you're listening to the show here on Saturday, that means you still have time to stop by. They'll be open until 7 p.m. today. And now for the men themselves, David Levitt and Adam Littlefield.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

All right. Thanks, Greg. And thanks everybody for listening to another edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. Well, we are here on a Saturday, and you know we have a fresh show also tomorrow, Sunday morning from 8 a.m. until 9 a.m. And uh, you know, you can listen to any of these shows that we're doing on WDBO now in podcast version by going to our website at refreshcomputers.net, click on that podcast link in the upper right hand corner, and you'll be able to hear this show and gosh, several shows going back a few years now.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Tons of them, and you you get to see kind of how everything's been growing over the last years, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

That's right. You can actually, you know, the history of tech right there on the podcast page at refreshcomputers.net that you'll be able to check out. That's pretty cool. We have a lot to talk about today. We're gonna be talking about how streaming is becoming the new the new cable and you're paying for it. And we're gonna talk about some summer tech refresh tips for you. And then we'll be talking about Apple's coming out with a new foldable phone. They're actually doing it. Yeah, it's exciting. So might be exciting for a lot of people. Not really for me. I don't know, I don't know. But you know, they they're doing because Samsung has a foldable, right? They've had one for a few years now, and Apple's finally getting into the foldable phone game. Boy, we've come full circle now. We have so you know the new flip phone, right? And uh then we'll finish the show today with some Windows 11 tips for you. Some things you may not know about in your in your Windows 11 computer, and you know, something that might help you with whatever you're doing with your Windows, with your computer.

Streaming Turns Into Cable Again

SPEAKER_01 2:37

So let's get into you know how streaming is becoming you know the new cable. So you know the cable TV comparison, the streaming is the big one, right? So remember why everyone cut cable? I remember when I cut the cable, right? It was too expensive. And you can just pick and choose what you wanted and pay less. Yeah. Right? So you you just so many cables on channel, so many channels on cable, I'll get that right, that it was just really I always thought that was just kind of ignorant. 200 channels, you know, they were like for channel surfing at that point, right?

SPEAKER_03 3:14

Yeah, yeah, and there was a lot of you know, life changes a lot of people made around cable because you know, you want to catch your show, it's only available, you know, at this certain time. You can either watch it and set it aside a block of your schedule, or you know, even some cable companies were offering recording of television shows.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yes, that's right. Well, that was a big thing, it was right. And so now I think you know, streaming as opposed to cable TV. So basically what we're talking about streaming is that you're that you have an internet connection and you're picking whatever you want to watch, Netflix, you know, or whatever. And with cable, you just got whatever they pres present it to you on cable, right?

SPEAKER_03 3:53

The the best comparison I can think of of cable to to the streaming services is the uh on-demand options you always had with cable. If you could pay a little extra for, you know, additional channels to watch on demand. It's kind of what streaming's like.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Kind of, kind of like that, yeah. So I think you know, right now even CNBC is calling it like streaming cables, you know, streamings is you know, cable TV tipping point. So it's in other words, it's getting to the point where now streaming is getting like, you know, people are cutting the streaming cord, right? As opposed to cutting the cable cord and at least cutting down on the streaming cord because you know, you look at all the things that are going on, like Netflix just raised its standard ad-free plan to twenty bucks a month, right? $19.99. And that's the second price in just over a year. I mean, just a year. They they they've increased their price twice. Disney Plus has more than doubled its original price since since they launched Disney Plus. So a lot's going on there. Spotify, Max, HBO Max, Hulu, they've all gone up in 2026. So your streaming bill is starting to look a lot like the cable bill you cut to get away from this. Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_03 5:06

And there's there's a big problem, at least to me, with streaming services, is there's one show maybe you want to watch and it's only available on Netflix. It's exclusive to Netflix. So you got to pay for that. Right. But then you also want to watch a show that's only on Hulu, so you got to pay for that as well. You know, that there's a lot of exclusivity now coming out with streaming services where you almost have to have all of them to get the shows you want.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Well, and that's that's true. And but you know, right now there's still no annual plan requirement. Right. But watch, mark mark my word, that is going to be the future of streaming. Because why? Because you you see something on Netflix, or maybe there's a new show on Netflix and you're not subscribed to Netflix. So what do you do? Just subscribe to Netflix until you're done watching the show. Right. You know? And so 20 bucks, oh, maybe that's a cheap price to pay to be able to watch this whole series that you heard all about.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Right. And it used to be that for a lot of those new series on these streaming services, they would come out with the entire show all at once, and then you could cancel your subscription, like you're saying. They finally caught on as to why television channels had all of these different episodes and you had to come in next Sunday to see what happened to who shot JR coming up next week. It was because they needed people to come back and watch. That's right. Yeah. And then and these streaming services have finally figured that out. You could look back at like the most recent season of uh Stranger Things on Netflix as an example.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

And and I think uh I think 2020 really shined a light on that because a lot of people staying at home were binge watching tons of shows. You could get through a whole season of a show in a day if you were dedicated enough. Oh, I was. So I was too. But now, you know, being how it is with with streaming services, releasing them like normal television shows, it it pulls a lot back to the normality of of what we had with cable.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

So I wasn't familiar with Netflix actually doing that. So they're making you wait now, right? Is that more than just stranger things?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Is it a whole lot of their new shows? They'll they'll have a weekly episode that comes out. If you go on HBO Max, they did the same thing with the pit. That was how they had it set up, was a weekly episode came out. And it's again, it's it's to maintain that subscriber base because that's what all these stock investors are looking at is how big is your base and how long does it stay that big?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Yeah. So that's to prevent you from doing what I was suggesting maybe you could do, right? Sign up for it, watch your show, cancel it.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

And even more I've noticed actually now is a lot of television shows that are coming out on streaming services, they are doing about you know eight to ten episodes a season. And that is, you know, almost guaranteed two to three months of subscriptions because it's only once a week you're getting an episode. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Oh my gosh. Well, you know, it's not just Netflix, right? Who raised prices in 2026? Disney Plus slash Hulu, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Flash ESPN slash whatever else they've bought. Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Well, it costs twice as much as it did when it launched, like we already mentioned. Spotify premium went from twelve bucks to thirteen bucks this past February. Max or HBO Max went from oh well, they're $18.50 for standard or $22.99 for premium now. I don't know what the difference is. You guys know? I have no idea. I mean, because I don't think HBO has advertising. Not that I'm aware of.

SPEAKER_03 8:15

I think it may be for like higher definition streaming, I could imagine. Maybe you know HD is your standard and uh 4K would be premium. Could be.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

And we have Amazon Prime video went from nine bucks. You know, well, they have nine bucks with ads and fourteen dollars without ads. And so, and just so you know, the average US household now spends about sixty-nine dollars a month just on streaming. Yeah, so that's that's a reason why I think people are starting to cut back on streaming.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

I agree, and and you know, there's a lot of these streaming services that are starting to offer even bundles where you pay, you know, a little bit more every month for, say, I think Disney Plus Hulu and I think HBO Max is about $33 a month. Right. So you save a little bit bundling it, but do you really need three streaming services just to save a little bit of that money is the big question.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Well, and another question is why are the prices going up? Why are they going up? And so, and basically what analysts are saying is you know, the you know, grab market share at any cost, that era is over. So streaming companies now actually need to think about making money. That goes back to your point, Greg, about well, you can't just sign up for Netflix now to watch a series because you can see the whole thing and binge watch it. You know, they're they're now making you w wait. So you have to at least subscribe for a few months to get through a series on Netflix now. So, and they also spent billions of dollars on content to do what? To lure subscribers, right? So, and now they're collecting on that, right? So the ad supporter model is changing the math also. So a viewer watching like over 40 hours a month on the $9 plan can generate more revenue than the $20 subscriber.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Right. I've noticed something too with uh the ad-supported streaming services, and even ones where you're paying for premium without ads, is if you have like an ad blocker extension on your browser, me personally, I have one on my browser and I have streaming services that don't have ads. Whenever I go to those websites and I open a show, it's just a black screen. Yeah, I can't imagine that. Will not load. Even though I don't get ads already, that's a good point. I have to disable my ad blocker to even be able to use their website.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

So they won't even let you so ad blockers are out, yeah. So when you're trying to use the internet to watch your computer, basically to watch shows. Wow, that's that's a good point. I didn't realize that. So what's the translation here is they want you on the cheaper plans with ads. Right. They really do because they make a more money that way. So and it's becoming much more profitable for them in that

Cut Streaming Costs Without Guesswork

SPEAKER_01 10:48

model. So what should listeners actually do? Right? Right. Audit your subscriptions right now. I mean you probably hear people advertising about oh, we can help you save on your subscriptions, you may not know you have. So, you know, a lot of people are paying for services they forgot about. They just forgot about that they that they had them, and it just gets it gets automatically charged every month, and it's just such a nominal fee, it's hardly it's not noticeable. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

And that's the thing is once you kind of do the math on it and you see it's coming around to that $70 a month price point, then it's a little bit more noticeable. But $8.99 here, $12.99 there, it's easy to just look past that.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

It is, and so what I'm going to suggest is that just about every credit card company on the planet has text notifications whenever your card is used. So go ahead and you know, log into your credit card online and check the text notifications box that they have there that to notify you of any charges that are occurring on your credit card if you're not already doing that. That way you'll get the little reminder, oh, $8.99 for Netflix or whatever it was, right? And then you'll see that what it was for, and then that will be your reminder. Oh, wait a minute, I gotta get rid of that. Otherwise, if you don't have the text reminders, it's just happening, and and it's so such a small amount relative to everything else that you know, you don't notice.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yeah. So that's what they're hoping you do. That's honestly what they're hoping for. Is you for you forget about this and you just keep on letting it increase in price and until you realize all of a sudden that $599 subscription you had is $29.99.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

That's right. Yeah. And it just it creeps up over time, and you know, and they're you know, so they they can, I guess for every, you know, if it creeps up 20%, I don't know what the math is, but if a certain amount of people cancel, but not enough to m make the difference, they're still making more money. Right. Yep. Because of all the people who didn't notice the difference. So and you know, and you know, we already said that the ad tiers, the ones the the subscription services that include ads, make a lot more money for the streaming services than the ones that don't, even though they charge more for the ones that don't because they make a lot more money off the ads. But if you can stomach the ads, maybe switch to the ad version, you know, so like Netflix nine bucks instead of twenty bucks a month.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

Even though the streaming service is making more money off of the ad-supported tier, it's not coming out of your wallet.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

And bundle deals too. Now, a lot of cell phone carriers, I know mine, T-Mobile, you know, I get Netflix for free. I get HBO. You see, with with my plan. And so make sure you check with your cell phone company if you're not already getting something like that through them. You know, Verizon also offers services, streaming services for free. And so check with them. Yeah, you're already paying for it. You're already paying for it, yeah, whether you like it or not. Hey, you know, another thing I love about T-Mobile is I get MLB. I love baseball. Hey, it's perfect for you. And that saves me about, I think it's like a it's $140 a year now. Over $100 a year for the MLB package, and I get it for free.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

And that's the upcoming Wild Wild West, right? The live sports packages that are now, you're seeing it going through the courts right now, where they're where all these different where the different leagues are being brought to to court for violations of their antitrust laws because they're going away from the traditional broadcast and trying to get onto these streaming platforms because there's money to be made.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

That's right. Absolutely there is. So you see more and more advertisers going on these streaming services that you never saw on streaming services before because that wasn't the norm, but hey, it's quickly has become.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Well, summertime is here, and what we're going to talk about coming up next, why now is the best time to buy a refurbished computer from refresh computers. You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if you wanted to leave a comment, maybe about some of your favorite streaming services, let us know. Use that open mic feature inside the WDBL app. And now, back to David and Adam.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. And, you know, in the previous episode, if you missed any of it, we talked about streaming services, like Greg just mentioned, and you know, all the changes going on just in the past, well, several months. You know, in 2026, you know, they're all their prices went up. It's like almost all of them just went up. And so if you missed any of that, want to catch up, go to refreshcomputers.net, click on that podcast link, and you'll be able to hear all about that. So in this segment, though, we want to talk about you know why right now is the best time to buy a refurbished computer.

Why Refurbished Beats New Right Now

SPEAKER_01 16:10

So, you know, summer's here, right? So soon the back to school rush is going to be coming. Yeah. Kids heading to college and so on. New new new computers are expensive. Uh most people don't even need the latest and greatest. You just don't need it because today's machines that uh the refurbished computers, re refresh computers, you get what I always say is better than the new computer. So you can buy a brand new computer, you have a box you gotta get rid of, you get all that bloatware that's on there, and you uh that computer lasts you four, five, six, seven years, maybe. You buy a computer at refresh computers, you know, 70% of the cost of a new one, and that computer is going to last you four, five, six, seven, eight years. So still, and it'll do the same things that you are buying that brand new computer for. So, so why not? So, what does refurbish actually mean? So it's at refresh computers, I like to think more like it's remanufactured as opposed to refurbished because it's professionally clean, tested, and certified by our own techs that it is going to last you a long time. Now, we put new thermal paste on the CPU. You and that's a very important aspect that you know other quote unquote refurbishers over overlook, or they just don't bother.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

They think it they think it's good enough and that's it, but not us.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yes, but you know, that is like probably one of the most important things that you somebody can do to refurbish a computer is to put new thermal paste on the CPU. It's going to prevent it from overheating in the future, and it's just the thing to do. And it takes a little bit of time, which is why a lot of refurbishers overlook that, but not at refreshed computers. Brand new CMOS battery on the motherboard, right? Yep. So we put brand new CMOS battery, that's the clock battery, very important. You get a computer that's that's getting along in age and it starts to blue screen on you and stuff like that. Well, a lot of times it's because that CMOS battery is dead.

SPEAKER_03 18:13

Yeah. Most people don't even know that the computers have that little CMOS battery in them.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

I mean, and you know, it's such an inexpensive thing for us to do. Yeah. And it takes just a minute to replace the CMOS battery because we already have everything wide open anyway when while while we're refurbishing the computer. So for the price of, you know, so inexpensive for these CMOS batteries, might as well just put a new one in every computer, and that's what we do. We don't even bother testing the other battery, we just take it out, right? Recycle it and put the new CMOS battery in there, and you're good to go. So at Refresh Computers in Longwood, every machine goes through a full inspection, not once, not twice, but actually three times, right? So we have several different layers if you think of an assembly line, you know, and how these things are done. And in each segment, they are tested and then tested again and then tested one last time before they go out on the floor for sale.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

And these are these are business class models. Business class. So they are they are the best machines that you know big manufacturers like Dell, HP, Lenovo make. They're the good ones.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

And you get free shipping right now on orders over 300 bucks. We had several orders this past week. I had to give a I mean, we just started the free shipping. And so they online the bought the purchaser purchased a $299.99 computer and they added a $2 cable. Yep. Yep. And which is great. I loved it. I thought, okay, that's what I would do. That's the point of it. That's exactly what I would have done. They got the free shipping. So go to refreshcomputers.net, and uh, there's a banner up there on the page right now about free shipping. You can click on it, it shows all the details about that.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Coming up, we're going to talk about Apple's new foldable iPhone. Is it gonna be worth the sticker shock? We'll talk about it coming up next here on Tech Talk on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, President and Fender of Refresh Computer Superstore, a technician Adam Littlefield. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if you have an open mic you'd like to leave, go ahead and leave that inside the WDBO app. You can also check out the website over at Refresh Computers.net or stop it at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, just three and a half miles east of I-4 in Longwood. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. You're listening to the show here on Saturday. Means you still have time to stop by. They'll be open until 7 p.m. today. And now back to David and Adam.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. If you want to recap anything that we talk about on today's show, you can go to RefreshComputers.net, click on that podcast link, and you can hear the show in its entirety. Better yet, scroll down to the bottom of the page, any page at refreshcomputers.net. At the very bottom of the page, there's a place to put your email address. That's all we ask for. We don't ask for your name, your phone number, we don't ask for any of that stuff. Just your email address. And what that will do is subscribe you to emails that will alert you whenever a new show is ready to be listened to. And another thing that it will do is once a week or so we send you an email letting you know all the great deals going on at Refresh Computers, maybe some new additions that we just got in at the store. Those emails will show that. Address in there, click the okay, and then boom, you're signed up. Just like

Apple’s Foldable iPhone Rumors

SPEAKER_01 22:04

that. So, Adam, I know you love this story. Because you have a foldable phone, right?

SPEAKER_03 22:10

I used to have a foldable phone. Uh oh. Don't tell me it broke. I no, I uh I tried out the uh I tried out the Galaxy Z Fold uh three when that released many, many years ago now, it feels like three or four years ago. Something like that. It feels like a long time now, but yeah, I haven't gone back to the foldable phone, but I d still do like them.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Okay, so why did you give up your foldable phone before we get into this Apple foldable phone? I want to know why.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

Honestly, the practicality of it. I have a uh uh uh S26 Ultra now. I like the larger screen on the main display. The main thing I did not like about the foldable phone was that candy bar design. Very skinny but taller design on the main display. Oh, really? It's mostly what I ever use, but I was also scared of ever using the inner screen.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Okay, so I I I I think I may have seen it, but I don't remember because I don't even remember which way it folds.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

It was like a like a book, like a book style.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Like a book. Oh, so that's why you said the candy bar, right?

SPEAKER_03 23:05

So it's like the very skin and skinny and thin, and when you open it, it's like a like a little book, almost like a mini tablet I kept in my pocket.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

So I'm thinking it was folding the other way.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Yeah, that's uh that's the flip one, and that's entirely a different device. And they're making those. They are making those, yeah. Samsung is. Samsung is, yep. Wow. Like Pixel has one too now, right? I think so, yeah. Google's getting into that game as well. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

So Apple's catching up. Yep. Yep. As they do normally in the phone scape. Yeah, you know, it's funny how they were like the innovators, and now they seem to always be the ones catching up on things, right? And they do innovate on some things still. Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

They they were the ones that that coined.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

They they coined the MagSafe option, and you Dave, you can see it on my phone. I have a MagCase, a MagSafe case because I like that function that Samsung just hasn't integrated into their phones fully.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

I have one on my case. Exactly. I have actually a charging case on my iPhone. And that charging case is a has a MagSafe charger on it. So it's pretty cool. So, what's going on with this new Apple foldable phone? So, you know, the price of these things, I guess, is the first thing that sticks out for me, you know, between $1,800 and $2,500 is the rumor. $2,500. $2,500 for a phone. You know, I remember not too many years ago helping my nephew buy a car. I think we we found one for him for like $2,500. So I don't know. But did it have an iPhone in it? That's that's a good question. And so anyway, so they are expected to launch it. So it's not, they haven't made it really official yet, but pretty much everybody knows it's happening this fall. Right. Likely in September, because that's when Apple will showcase their new iPhone 18 lineup, right? The new the newest regular iPhone, but leaks are everywhere. So and supposedly productions already started and the tech word tech world is buzzing.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

Yeah. The the main thing I always see with the with phone leaks that always happens is the companies that design phone cases for them, they list them on their website before the phone's even announced. Outer bots will have the first announcement, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Exactly. That's a good point. Yeah. And how do they find out, right? Exactly. And you know, and I I think a lot of that is marketing also on the part of Apple. So where we think that, you know, they're they're kind of I think they're just kind of teasing it a little bit, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Quote unquote leak is actually very well calculated.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Yeah, the very calculated leak by Apple. So So what is the iPhone fold, I guess, or is it going to be called the iPhone Ultra?

SPEAKER_03 25:45

I would like the name iPhone Ultra. I think that would, you know, make it a little more distinct from the other companies that are doing folds because you've got the Galaxy Z fold, the uh Pixel Fold. Apple going with the same naming scheme, I can't see them.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Do you know how bad how big those screens are in the on the uh the Z fold?

SPEAKER_03 26:04

I'm not sure how big the screen is. On the newest one, at least I know my my old Z Fold 3 was around like six and a half, I think, inches diagonally.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Because these new iPhone folding phones are supposed to be like 7.8 inches. Yeah, right? That's the inner display when open. So that's that's a big that's a big phone.

SPEAKER_03 26:22

Yeah. It's still smaller than most iPads that Apple has released, but I mean, again, when you think about it, you fold it in and put it in your pocket. It's normal size of a phone, or maybe a little, maybe a little bit larger. But when you take it out, you've got, you know, an iPad in in your hands all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

So here we go. You know, when Apple enters a new category like they're doing now, it usually goes mainstream, right? Right. Pretty quick because there's a there's still this this rabid fan base that Apple has with their iPhones. You people just have to have the latest and greatest. And that's not, I don't think, as prevalent or as strong as it used to be years ago, right? Where people would line up outside Apple stores around the block, you know, to buy the latest iPhone, because I haven't heard about that happening in a few years at least.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Right, yeah, definitely a different consumer marketplace for sure.

SPEAKER_03 27:12

Yeah, most carriers now actually you can get the newest ship to your door saying like the day it releases. I've even seen some carriers accidentally put some air quotes there, ship it early, and you get the new model a day or two before it releases.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

So I don't know if you're thinking about buying one, should you should you buy one? I for for me, it's like the first hardware release of anything. Yeah. Yeah, wait till version two.

SPEAKER_03 27:37

And and I was gonna say, you know, we we did a show once before talking about, you know, being the beta tester for software and getting the first foldable phone that Apple puts out. You are putting yourself on the front lines to be the beta tester of how that phone's gonna hold up. And you know, going back to the the Z Fold 3 I had, I got that on the buzz of it being the greatest and newest phone that Samsung made, and I really started seeing all of the the defects that this phone started having. After I opened it, you know, a couple thousand times, there was a crease that started forming in the middle of the screen that I just could not not see, you know? And to somebody like me, that really bugged me. I'd see, and that's why I can't have one.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Yeah, I don't want to see that crease. I think I think Apple is doing it right because they've let everybody else be the guinea pig. Right. Everybody else, they've figured out all this. And from what I'm looking up, from what I'm seeing, Samsung will be building these displays for Apple for this fold. Because they figured it out, they've already figured it out. So I think I think the hardware side of it may be not as big of an issue. I think it's gonna be the software side of it because changing over to that folding screen and things like that. There were a lot of bugs when those first Samsung's came out when they would try and change orientations and go to different screens. I think that'll be the bigger problem for Apple for this first round app.

SPEAKER_03 28:51

And app support too is another thing. I had issues on my old foldable that you know I would try to open up even Google Chrome on the main display. I'd open up the phone, Google Chrome would crash. And I go to open it up and it would crash again. So, you know, it's little things like that that you would have to deal with and paying, you know, two grand for a phone, over two grand for a phone. Yeah, it's it's there's a really shop. There's more shops.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

I don't want a phone that bad. I just don't. I still have my iPhone 13. Right. It still does me, it does me very well. So anyway, so and also I don't know about the like you know, we the Florida humidity. Do you think that might, I mean, have anything to do with with maybe considering waiting a little bit to see if they actually engineered the thing correctly. Right. Because it folds, yeah. I mean you got so it has a hinge, obviously, because it folds. And so I'm just wondering if the heat that in your old Samsung were you able to leave it outside in the heat and not worry about it?

SPEAKER_03 29:53

I mean I had no problems with the heat and being outside with it, but I will tell you, and this is a major thing for the state of Florida, because if anybody anybody living in the state of Florida knows how our dirt is and and the sandy beaches, sand everywhere. If you're near the beach today at all. Exactly. If you get just a little bit into the hinge of that phone, you will never hear the end of it. And I mean that literally, the phone will crunch and it will gravel as you open and close it. And that's not something that you can easily disassemble and clean out the hinge. It is a nightmare for getting into those phones. They don't even give them a dust rating, they they give them a very, very minimal water rating, but there is no dust rating to these phones because that hinge, like you were saying, Dave, is a major, major like vulnerability to them.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

I would think so. And you know, so I don't know. The other thing I thought about is you know, if you drop it.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

So you get out of your car at the grocery store, oops, and it falls down on the asphalt or the concrete. I haven't read anything yet about how durable they could be, like in a in a drop test.

SPEAKER_03 31:04

And and that's something that has always deterred me away from Apple devices, is it's always been so expensive to repair the back glass on an iPhone. And now more than ever, because they've they've engineered the back glass into the chassis of the phone. Right. So if you have to replace that back glass, you're basically just replacing the whole phone at that point. It's crazy. So this folding phone, it's it's adding more, more uh dollar signs, I guess, to the risk of it slipping out of your lap. And you know, I've even had an iPhone fall on the carpet before and I've seen it just shatter into a million pieces.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Well, you know, Apple, like everybody else, has to stay relevant. Yeah. So they have to come out with with the latest and greatest of whatever they're making, and and in some cases, brand new things that they that they thought of that to make, you know. And I think of the Apple Watch, right, when it came out. That was that was innovative. Yeah. And I I don't wear a watch. I never wore a watch. And uh it's just uncomfortable to me. But I can I see where people that do have the Apple Watch, it's they they love it and it works pretty cool. It's a pretty cool device. So Apple's very innovative in in that way. And and in this case, I think with a foldable phone, they're they're more in catch-up mode since the other companies are already, you know, have been producing foldable phones for a while now.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

And and I mean, here's here's the one thought I have, and I gotta play devil's advocate with it because I always love new tech, right? Yeah, is if you're somebody that already is in the Apple environment and you carry around your iPhone, you keep your MacBook in your your bag, you carry around your iPad, you know, it doesn't hurt to combine two of those devices into one, the iPhone and the iPad. You know, you're saving a little bit of what you're carrying around in your bag.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

What you're getting with the foldable phone. Exactly. Right? So you're getting like two in one. Yeah. And so maybe you can use that to justify paying $2,000. I don't know, but I just wouldn't do it.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

I remember when they first came out with these foldable phones, they were so thick. Right. It was so uncomfortably thick. But the screen technology has come so far since then. They're not much thicker than a typical phone. And if you look back a couple of years, it's not going to be much thick, it's not going to be much, if any thicker, than your iPhone 13 that you've got in your pocket.

SPEAKER_03 33:09

Yeah. So uh And that's that's the thing is the Z Fold 3, Dave, looking at your phone with the uh the charger case on it, yeah, closed, that's about how thick the phone used to be. So, you know, it was it was much a lot to carry in my pocket, especially coming from a smaller, I believe, an Apple device I had at the time.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:27

So it's it's a big change, but I again you got to be really, really aware of what you're buying at that point because again, there's gonna be software bugs. It's gonna happen. That always happens when a new device is released into the wild.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Well, yeah, true. So I would personally, if it was me, I would hold off. Yeah, I have an iPhone, like I said, iPhone 13. I've held off for the last several years to upgrade because it mine's still working just fine. So, and I use it primarily for talking to people and texting. Right, right, you know, and and looking up some stuff every once in a while.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

That hasn't innovated much past that, Dave, I promise you.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

And so what so what's the big deal? So, you know, just and as a closing point on this, you know, Apple is expecting to sell 10 million of these to people who already have a perfectly work good iPhone 16.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

Yeah. So I I think it'll be interesting to see them if you know announce this with the with the iPhone 18 because you're gonna have probably the iPhone 18 Pro Max, I would imagine. They'll make one of those. And then you're gonna have it right next to the iPhone fold or iPhone Ultra, whatever they call it. You know, as a consumer of Apple products, I don't really know which way you're gonna want to lean. You'll need bigger pockets as well.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

That's the way that you'll lean for sure, is bigger pockets. So, what do you think about these new iPhones? Let us know. Use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. But coming up, Florida building a highway that can charge your car while you drive. Yeah, we're living in the future. We'll talk about it more coming up next on Tech Talk on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Hey there, and welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073 FM and AM580, Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, president and founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, and technician Adam Littlefield. And you can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. You can also check out the website over at refreshcomputers.net. And now back to David and Adam.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. In the last segment, we talked about Apple coming out. They really are coming out with their new foldable iPhone. So that's going to be an interesting thing to see coming this September. And we talked about a whole bunch of things about their features of the new iPhone, compared it to some Samsung foldable phones and things like that. If you missed any of that and you want to catch up, go to refreshcomputers.net, click on the podcast link, and listen to the show in its entirety. And you can scroll down to the bottom of the page, put in your email address, and then we will notify you when the show and other shows are ready to be listened to.

Florida’s Road That Charges EVs

SPEAKER_01 36:12

So in this segment, we're going to talk about you know, Florida's actually building a highway that charges your car now. Yeah. Right? Right? So that's that's a real thing that's happening. And so, yeah, you know, all that gas tax money that you pay for people who drive gasoline-powered cars, we're paying to have people's battery-powered cars charged. I guess is the one way I look at it anyway. And so, yeah, I mean, uh, the technology is cool. I I like the idea of it, I really do. The thing is that the highway is only 4.4 miles. So if you're doing 60 miles an hour, how much charge are you going to get in four miles?

SPEAKER_03 36:53

I'll I'll tell I'll tell you, for four minutes of charging, and and I was reading that, they're they're wanting for it to uh have up to 200 kilowatts of charging power. You know, four minutes, my experience with like a Tesla supercharger, that can get you maybe 20 or 30 miles. It's I would say a substantial amount, but at the same time, what's the what's the cost offset gonna be of using this rather than just a charging stock?

SPEAKER_01 37:17

So you gotta think that a you know, four and a half mile, four point four mile technically road built just for you know, that's gonna have the charging capabilities, right? It's a new toll road, right? So it's gonna have but it's gotta be more experimental or more just hey, prove that we can do this. Right, right. Because practicality it's not practical. Yeah, it's not practical. Four miles is not practical.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

I think this is the prove it stage.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

The prove that it can be done.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

And and I remember something like this was, you know, something only me as a kid could dream of ever being in the world. And you know, now we're gonna have a proof of concept, but will this I think this, you know, little short four and a half mile span, like you guys are saying, it's gonna be the proof. If is it useful? Right, is it necessary? Is it worth it?

SPEAKER_01 38:01

And you know, and the cost of it, I'm not sure how much it's the whole thing is gonna cost, but I would imagine a lot. Yeah. Um, I think the whole project's supposed to be around $500 million for 4.4 mile stretch of highway. That's a lot of money. But you know what? Better 4.4 stretch of highway to get all the bugs worked out. Yeah. Because you know there's gonna be bugs. It's technology, you know, uh, before before they start rolling it out like you know, along the whole entire Florida Turnpike or something. And I even wonder, like you have a Tesla, Adam, is is your car even compatible? Probably not.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

It's not, but I know Tesla is working on you know making this technology available, especially for the cyber cabs that they're making. And the I'm I can imagine they'll make some sort of retrofit for their other models to add it, but you know, again, we're getting into the what if scenario, and as as any man auto manufacturer, they don't have to do that. You know, that's not required by law for them to add retrofits for cars to do that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

So hey, listen, let's we're almost out of time. I want to talk about this Windows tip that we want to give everybody.

Windows Update Warning And Signoff

SPEAKER_01 39:05

You know, the May 2026 update in Windows that just came out. It's taking longer than usual to do an update on your computer. So be sure to leave it running. Yes, it's often repairing itself, right, in the background as it's running, and that's why it's taking so long. Don't don't force restarting these things, or you're going to be visiting us probably at Refresh Computers to get your corrupt Windows update repaired because we see that a lot, don't we, Adam?

SPEAKER_03 39:34

Yeah, I've seen it get frozen at 99%, and you know, all you do have to do is restart your computer, and that's it. Something blows up, and you gotta come see us to get it fixed up again.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

So, yeah, so listen, folks, if you missed anything on today's show, please go to refreshcomputers.net, click on that podcast link up there at the top of the page, and you'll be able to hear the show in its entirety. That's all we have time for today. We'll be talking to you again tomorrow. Yep, Sunday, for a whole new show. For a whole new show.