Apple Watch X Next Year-Big Changes; Zuck Musk Cage Match Cancelled-Shocking; Threads Use Drops 79%; Social Media Influencers-Watch for Counterfeit Goods

From all leaks and rumors, the next Apple Watch out in September will be another minor upgrade…but it looks like in 2024, we may get significant improvements. Appleinsider.com reports that the Apple Watch X…and most are calling it that since Apple used that designation for the 10th anniversary iPhone…will have magnetic attaching bands instead of the slots…which will free up significant room for a bigger battery or other upgrades. It is also rumored to have a thinner design…made possible by the additional space gained by losing the slots. Apple watchers will have to keep an eye peeled for new patents. I expect them to call the new system Mag-something, to go with their MagSafe charging system, marketing-wise.

Fight fans, and tech magnate haters worldwide are crushed, but it looks now like the much-hyped Mark Zuckerberg-Elon Musk cage match is off. In a series of posts on Threads, Meta CEO Zuckerberg said he was done talking about the fight because Musk never got “serious” about it. Lately, Musk has claimed he needed surgery before he could fight. Despite all the b.s. and taunting online, Musk has never agreed to a date or location. Zuckerberg did leave the door open a crack, according to arstechnica.com. He said he might still be game if Musk properly trains. Zuck has been doing serious MMA training for 2 years. 

Threads usage has apparently fallen off by some 79% in one month. It is now down to just over 10 million…from a high of almost 50 million in early July. Zdnet.com says the numbers were crunched by analytics firm Similarweb. This sounds pretty terrible, but considering that we reported last week that Twitter had lost quite a few users from May to August, it doesn’t seem all that bad. It remains to be seen if the usage will pick back up when the Meta owned platform gets a desktop or browser based version, and search that actually works…which we have been promised are coming in weeks.

Social media influencers are quite a phonom…but with apparently following their lead isn’t always so beneficial. Thenextweb.com reports that a new study by Portsmouth University of some 2,000 people in the UK found that around 22% had bought goods recommended by influencers that turned out to be counterfeits. According to the study, people between 16 and 13 years old are three times as likely to purchase endorsed counterfeits as those aged 34 to 60. Males, meanwhile, accounted for 70% of all the buyers. In retail, it has always been caveat emptor…let the buyer beware…and more so on the internet…but apparently even more than that when it comes to influencer-endorsed stuff.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.