Today’s Hashtag Trending script was prepared by Samira Balsara.
Amazon users experience website outages, China’s crypto crackdown may solve the GPU shortage and are email a thing of the past?
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It’s all the biz/tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday, July 13 and I’m your host, Tom Li.
Amazon customers experienced trouble shopping Sunday evening with 31,000 customers reporting outages. According to website downdetector, 81 per cent of customers reported issues with the website, 15 per cent experienced login issues and 5 per cent were having trouble checking out. A spokesperson for Amazon reported that the website was experiencing technical difficulties but should be working again now. It is unclear what caused the outage.
China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency may be an unexpected solution to the GPU shortage. The ongoing semiconductor shortage has increased the price of GPUs and tech devices like TVs, laptops and phones. However, with China’s recent crypto mining ban, many cryptominers are selling their GPUs for cheaper prices according to a report from PC Gamer. While this is not an overnight solution the prices are dropping very slowly. China’s crypto ban shook the industry as up until recently, 65 per cent of global bitcoin mining happened in China.
And lastly, to email or not to email? According to The New York Times a study from consulting firm Creative Strategies revealed a generational gap in work tools. The survey showed that those over 30 were using email as their top work tool, but participants under 30 used Google Docs, Zoom and iMessage to communicate. A 24-year-old who started his own video production company said he would choose any other form of communication before using email. He communicates with his clients over text, video calls and Instagram. He feels that email combines every aspect of your life into one, making it easy to get confused and overwhelmed with a full inbox. Other Gen Z respondents described email as a chore. On the other hand, a report from Fast Company wonders if certain meeting topics could be discussed and resolved in emails. According to the article in a SurveyMonkey study, 32 per cent of respondents believe a meeting can be replaced by a quick message. The article argued that instead of spending an hour in the board room, an email would save time and increase productivity. And so, the age-old email debate continues.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Friday at 3 pm. Thanks for listening, I’m Tom Li.
