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“Smart” was a dumb choice: Walgreens swapped out their fridge doors for smart screens five years ago, and it’s been such a disaster they’re suing to get out of the $200 million contract. They were supposed to show what’s in stock and run ads, but instead, the screens crash, show the wrong inventory and even catch on fire.
What would you do for $5 million? Contestants on Amazon’s “Beast Games” are taking on giant beer pong, racing in potato sacks, and playing hide and seek with Navy SEALs. YouTuber MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, spent $15 million building “Beast City” in Toronto, where 493 folks are competing for the grand prize. After five episodes, it’s Amazon’s second-most-popular streaming show ever, with 50 million viewers.
To fund a real-life “Jurassic Park” project. Biotech startup Colossal BioSciences wants to bring back extinct species, including the wooly mammoth, dodo and thylacine, aka the Tasmanian tiger. I saw the new dinosaur in “Jurassic Park” is a hybrid; I guess that makes it Prius-toric.
Elon Musk’s unmanned Starship prototype went boom after launch, lighting up the Caribbean sky like a meteor shower. The debris diverted at least 20 commercial flights. Imagine being on a plane and seeing that. It wasn’t a total disaster, though. The 233-foot-tall booster made it back to the launchpad in one piece. They’re already planning to try again.
Learning Chinese on Duolingo compared to this time last year. With the TikTok ban looming and so many people running over to another Chinese app, RedNote, they likely need a crash course. RedNote is in Mandarin by default. Duolingo downloads are up 36%, too.
Adults under 35 who say products invade their sleep. Imagine when the tech exists for advertisers to get in on their own, not just relying on what you saw while awake. “Tonight’s rest is sponsored by …”
The Nintendo Switch has sold over 146 million units since its 2017 debut, second only to the Nintendo DS. A new trailer shows the first console morphing into the fancy Nintendo Switch 2. The screen is bigger and the Joy-Cons snap magnetically instead of sliding. There’s no release date yet, so you have time to begin saving.
For the world’s most prolific sperm donor. This year, 32-year-old Kyle Gordy from California will join three others who have fathered 100 kids. No kidding — he was on the reality show “90 Day Fiancé” and runs a website full of fertility advice and products. Look how far we’ve come.
For Meta VR tech over the last five years. Zuck told investors their investments would pay off eventually. Definitely related: After February performance reviews, the bottom 5% of workers, or 3,600 folks, are getting the boot.
For DirecTV’s sports-only subscription. MySports, available in 24 metro areas, includes 40 sports from ESPN and Fox Sports, plus local channels, the NFL and MLB networks, NBA TV, and lots more. There’s golf, too. Tee-riffic!
Up for grabs in a claw machine in Queens, New York. It’s the game you remember (move the claw, drop it down, pray), except there’s a $50 buy-in (paywall link). Other prizes ripe for the plucking include $549 AirPods Max headphones and a $600 Chanel wallet. Why can’t anybody win at a “Frozen” claw machine? Because it will always let it go.
