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Connecting the Dots - 4-18-2025 · Connecting the Dots

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  Today's tech news moves fast, but understanding
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  it shouldn't be hard. That's why Snarful Solutions
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  Group brings you Connecting the Dots, where we
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  break down what's happening in tech and why it
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  matters to you. Now let's dive in with your hosts.
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  Friday, April 18th, 2025. Feels like a crisp
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  spring day out there. Definitely. And the market's
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  some movement today, it looks like. Yeah, seeing
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  a bit of action. And you know, it's Friday, so
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  here at Snarfle Solutions Group, it is Casual
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  Friday. Always nice to wrap up the week a bit
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  more relaxed. Absolutely. But relaxing doesn't
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  mean slowing down on the news front. We're diving
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  straight into some big tech stories today. Right
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  on connecting the dots. We're looking at what
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  three main headlines exactly three key tech stories
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  making waves and importantly how they connect
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  or might connect Back to your everyday life.
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  It's always interesting to see those threads,
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  isn't it? How things in different areas academia
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  entertainment politics They often will they reflect
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  similar pressures for sure. So let's jump into
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  the first one. This is getting a lot of attention
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  the Increasing pressure on the American university
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  system. Ah, yes significant pressure It seems
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  coming from the Trump administration specifically
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  right and the administration's reasoning or the
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  stated reasoning revolves around concerns about
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  quote viewpoint diversity and also Antisemitism.
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  Yeah, those are the terms being used and you
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  know, this isn't entirely out of the blue if
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  you look back Vice president JD Vance back in
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  2021 gave this speech the universities are the
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  enemy Wow, strong title. Very. And he explicitly
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  talked about intending to aggressively attack
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  the university, so the intent was signaled quite
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  early. And you also have figures like Christopher
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  Ruffo, the conservative activist who's been...
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  pretty clear about his goal. Set them back a
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  generation or two, he said. A generation or two,
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  that's quite something. It is, and there's even
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  reporting about Trump aides discussing sort of
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  strategically how toppling a high -profile university
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  could send a powerful message. So this is moving
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  beyond just words then? Definitely. We're seeing
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  actual actions. Sources mention things like deporting
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  non -citizen students based on speech or beliefs.
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  Really? Yes. And investigations open into, I
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  think the number is over 50 universities. Plus
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  the financial leverage is huge. All right, I
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  saw the numbers. Threats to grants and contracts.
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  We're talking big figures, like $510 million
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  for Brown. Yep. Columbia, $400 million. Cornell,
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  a billion. A billion dollars. Harvard, $9 billion
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  potentially at risk in contracts and grants over
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  time. Penn, $175 million, Princeton, $210 million.
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  It's serious financial pressure. Absolutely serious.
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  And that deal with Columbia, that sounded pretty
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  intense. It was. It reportedly forced changes
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  to their protest policies, security, and it even
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  singled out the Middle Eastern, South Asian,
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  and African Studies Department. And did they
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  get their funding back? of $400 billion? Apparently
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  not. The deal didn't restore it and now there's
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  talk of a possible consent decree which would
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  give the government ongoing oversight. It's a
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  tricky spot for them. And it's not just Columbia,
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  right? Harvard's facing demands, too. Oh, yeah.
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  Demands to audit every department for, again,
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  viewpoint diversity and to hire faculty based
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  on, well... undefined administration standards.
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  Undefined standards? How does that even work?
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  Exactly. Plus, Trump himself has threatened Harvard's
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  tax -exempt status, and the IRS might actually
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  be poised to act on that. Wow. And cutting off
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  international students, too. That threat's been
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  made. And look at Ed Martin, the interim U .S.
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  attorney for D .C. He told Georgetown his office
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  won't hire their grads if the school teaches
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  DEI. DEI. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. That's
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  a direct hit. A very direct hit. And if you look
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  at, say, Project 2025, that conservative policy
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  blueprint, it suggests more federal control over
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  accreditation, privatizing student loans, never
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  ending compliance reviews for elite schools,
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  demands for a patriotic education. It paints
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  a picture of a much more involved federal role.
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  So with all this coming at them, how are the
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  universities reacting? Are they just taking it?
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  Not entirely. You've got leaders like Princeton's
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  president, Christopher Eisgruber, calling it
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  the greatest threat since the Red Scare. That's
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  a strong statement. It certainly is. And Lee
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  Bollinger, former president of Michigan and Columbia,
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  he framed it as part of an authoritarian takeover.
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  So strong language in response. And Harvard.
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  You mentioned they were facing demands. Right,
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  and they seem to be digging in. President Alan
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  Garber said they will not surrender its independence
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  or relinquish its constitutional rights. Good
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  for them. What were the specific demands again?
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  It was a long list. Reducing student and faculty
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  power, the viewpoint diversity vetting, plagiarism
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  checks on all faculty, sharing hiring info, shutting
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  down DEI, auditing departments for anti -Semitism,
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  even the Divinity School. The Divinity School,
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  okay, so by resisting Harvard's facing funding
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  cuts, the tax status threat, maybe losing international
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  students. That seems to be the potential fallout,
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  yes. Which brings up a huge question. What tools
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  do these universities actually have to fight
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  back? They seem powerful, but against the federal
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  government? That's a great question. And the
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  source material points to a few things. First,
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  obviously, money, endowments. Collectively, U
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  .S. universities have something like $800 billion.
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  $800 billion? You'd think that would give them
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  some leverage. You would, but endowments are
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  often restricted, right? tied up for specific
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  long -term purposes, not exactly a rainy day
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  fund for political fights. Plus, there's the
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  counter threat of taxing those endowments if
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  they don't comply. Ah, okay, so it's not simple.
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  What else? Students. There are 15 million of
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  them. That's over 4 % of the U .S. population.
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  History shows that if you mobilize even a small
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  percentage, like 3 .5 % for nonviolent action,
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  it can be incredibly powerful. Interesting point,
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  these sheer numbers. and the institutions themselves.
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  Over 4 ,000 colleges and universities. If they
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  could coordinate better on, say, lobbying legal
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  defense communications, that could be a force.
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  Makes sense. Strengthen numbers. Then there's
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  faculty and alumni. Think of the expertise historians,
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  political scientists, lawyers, and the networks
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  they have. Like the Georgetown Law Dean pushing
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  back. Exactly. Bill Treanor firmly standing up
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  to Ed Martin, citing the university's mission
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  and expertise. That's a key resource. Plus, real
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  estate campuses could host debates. organizing
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  right using their physical space even athletics
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  potentially maybe not shutting down games but
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  using that platform to highlight the university's
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  value and the threats and for big research institutions
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  their defense and cyber research things the government
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  relies on precisely and their medical centers
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  essential community resources highlighting that
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  value maybe expanding services could build public
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  support So, connecting this first story to everyday
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  life, what's the takeaway for listeners? Well,
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  it fundamentally impacts the future quality of
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  education and research. Fewer top international
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  students, maybe research funding drying up, that
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  affects the pipeline of skilled professionals,
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  scientific breakthroughs, you know. Yeah, the
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  long -term effects. And it raises these really
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  big questions about academic freedom, government
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  overreach. Values that matter beyond just the
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  campus walls, right? Definitely food for thought.
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  Okay, let's shift gears a bit Sticking with external
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  pressures, but moving into the tech we buy Nintendo
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  ah The switch to saga. Yeah seems like they're
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  caught in the crosshairs of these potential Trump
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  tariffs, right? It's creating Uncertainty as
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  they put it affecting pricing pre -orders the
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  whole launch plan seems a bit wobbly So the initial
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  prices announced were what, $449 .99 for the
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  console itself? Yeah, $449 .99 and then a bundle
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  with Mario Kart World digitally for $499 .99,
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  though they said that bundle is limited production
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  through fall 2025. While supplies last, probably.
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  And the games themselves. Mario Kart World standalone
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  is $79 .99 and that Donkey Kong Bonanza game
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  coming in July is $69 .99. Seems pretty standard
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  for next -gen pricing, maybe a little high for
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  some. Possibly. But the real curveball is the
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  tariffs. These are basically taxes on imports,
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  right? And Nintendo makes its stuff in places
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  like China and Vietnam. So tariffs would just
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  jack up Nintendo's costs directly. Exactly. Which
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  puts their pricing strategy in question. Some
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  analysts, like Sarcantoto, thought maybe Nintendo
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  would already price the console high enough to
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  absorb potential tariffs. Tried to make it tariff
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  -proof, as he said. Hmm. Interesting theory.
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  Build it into the price from the start. But others,
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  like Piers Harding roles, they're suggesting,
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  well, maybe not. He thinks a prize hike in 2026
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  is still possible if the tariffs stick around.
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  Nintendo tends to be careful, especially with
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  the U .S. market. And what are gamers saying?
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  Well, apparently Nintendo's promotional streams
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  have been flooded with comments like Drop the
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  price. Even at the announced $450, $500 level
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  shows how price sensitive gamers can be. Yeah,
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  that's a vocal audience. So how's Nintendo responding
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  officially? They've delayed the U .S. pre -orders.
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  They were supposed to start April 9th, but now
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  it's indefinite. Indefinite just in the U .S.
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  Yep. They said it's to assess the potential impact
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  of tariffs and evolving market conditions. The
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  actual launch date, June 5th, 2025, that's apparently
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  still on. for now. So what are their options,
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  really? Basically, they can either eat the price
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  of the tariffs, right, sell the hardware for
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  less profit, maybe even at a loss, and hope to
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  make it back on games. It's a classic console
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  strategy. The old razor and blades model. Kind
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  of, yeah. Or, like Harding rules suggested, they
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  might just have to pass the cost on and raise
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  the price later if tariffs become reality. It's
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  a gamble either way. So the everyday connection
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  here is pretty direct, isn't it? Oh, absolutely.
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  If you're planning to buy a Switch 2, Well, you
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  might end up paying more than you expected or
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  maybe have trouble finding one if supplies are
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  affected by this uncertainty Yeah, it's a perfect
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  example of how you know big geopolitical trade
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  stuff can trickle right down to the price tag
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  on your next gadget Exactly hits the wallet directly.
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  Okay final story for today. Let's stick with
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  gaming but look at a success story this time
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  Assassin's Creed Shadows. Right, Ubisoft's big
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  new release. And despite maybe some online chatter
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  beforehand, it seems to have launched really
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  strongly commercially. Yeah, the numbers look
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  impressive. Matt Piscitello from Serkana says
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  it was the best -selling game in the U .S. for
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  its first three weeks. Launched March 20th. Three
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  weeks at number one, that's solid. And year to
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  date, it's apparently number two in U .S. sales,
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  just behind Monster Hunter, Wilds. Ubisoft itself
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  announced over two million activations. Two million
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  already? Wow. And I saw something about launch
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  day revenue. Yep. Second highest ever for an
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  Assassin's Creed game, only Valhalla did better
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  on day one. And on the PlayStation Store, best
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  day one launch for any Ubisoft game. That's huge
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  for them. What about PC? PC seems strong, too.
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  About 27 % of activations. And on Steam, it actually
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  beat the all -time peak player count for Assassin's
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  Creed Odyssey. Oh. So good engagement there,
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  too. So sales are good. How's the reception?
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  Critically player reviews. Generally pretty positive.
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  It seems open critic scores around 82 Metacritic
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  81 solid numbers and steam reviews are about
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  80 % positive from like 16 ,000 players So better
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  received than the last couple of AC games overall
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  looks like it. Yeah Which is interesting, maybe
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  the changes they made, the setting, maybe it
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  just clicked better this time. And this success
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  comes at a pretty crucial time for Ubisoft, doesn't
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  it? Oh, definitely. They've had some rough spots
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  recently. Underperforming games like Star Wars,
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  Outlaws, Avatar, studio closures, layoffs, they
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  shut down X -Defiant. Right, so a big win with
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  Assassin's Creed is exactly what they needed.
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  And they're forming that new subsidiary with
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  Tencent now, right? Focusing on AC, Far Cry,
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  Rainbow Six. Yeah, seems like they're doubling
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  down on their biggest hitters. Yeah. And it's
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  worth remembering, Shadows itself had delays.
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  That's right. It got pushed back a couple of
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  times. From November 24 to Feb 25, then finally
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  to March. The last delay was supposedly for incorporating
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  player feedback. Shows how complex making these
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  massive games is. And there's talk of DLC already.
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  Yeah, potential expansion called Claws of Awaji,
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  maybe later this year. Keep the momentum going.
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  So connecting this one to everyday life, well...
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  For gamers, it's obviously relevant. A major
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  new release doing well. Right. It tells you something
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  about what's popular right now, what kind of
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  experiences players are looking for. And it also
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  kind of pulls back the curtain a bit on the game
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  industry itself. How so? Well, you see the impact
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  of delays, the pressure on big companies like
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  Ubisoft, how player feedback might shape the
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  final product. It's not just about playing the
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  game, but understanding the whole ecosystem around
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  it. Make sense. So let's quickly recap the three
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  stories we dove into today. Okay. We had the
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  significant pressure on U .S. universities from
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  the administration, driven by concerns over viewpoint
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  diversity and anti -Semitism and the university's
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  responses. The uncertainty around the Nintendo
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  Switch 2, specifically how potential tariffs
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  are messing with pricing and pre -orders. And
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  finally, The strong launch of Assassin's Creed
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  Shadows, a needed success for Ubisoft, despite
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  some earlier bumps in the road. And the common
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  thread really is how these big picture forces,
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  government actions, global trade, industry pressures,
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  they actually ripple out and connect to us. Yeah,
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  whether it's the future of education, the cost
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  of your entertainment, or just understanding
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  the context behind the games you play, it's all
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  surprisingly linked. It really encourages you
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  to, you know, look beyond the headline and see
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  those connections, how these bigger shifts can
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  affect things closer to home. Definitely something
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  to keep thinking about. We are here to help here
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  in Snarful, so reach out on our website if you
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  have any more questions. That's a wrap on today's
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  top stories. Remember, tech doesn't have to be
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  complicated and we're here to help connect the
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  dots. If you've got questions or want to learn
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  more, visit us at snarful .com. Thanks for listening
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  and we'll catch you next time.