Personalized Pricing, College Sports Finance, and Teen Social Media Bans

Key Quotes

"Instacart's ai enabled pricing experiments may be inflating your grocery bill get this nine reporters at consumer reports and a non profit news organization and a think tank outed instacart with this investigation do grocery prices change depending on who's using the app am i getting charged 5 for doritos but my buddy is getting charged six bucks maybe nick maybe because in this investigation consumer reports got 437 volunteers and asked them to buy the same 20 things on instacart at the same time from the same grocery store now jack you think everyone would pay the same price for those same things right everyone had different prices for the same 20 items yeah the prices varied by as much as 23"

This quote highlights a significant finding from a Consumer Reports investigation into Instacart's pricing practices. The author, Jack, explains that the investigation revealed price discrepancies for the same items, with variations as high as 23% depending on the customer. This demonstrates how Instacart's AI-driven experiments may be leading to inflated grocery bills for consumers.

"what we found fascinating is they framed it kind of like a techie flex right jack instacart said that these price differences are actually all experiments you see they're using ai to help grocery stores test higher prices in the instacart app basically safeway is wondering if i charge a buck more for this box of oatmeal will customers buy it this lets them test that theory it's an experiment that does make sense you could see a tech company doing it however the report also said instacart's being dishonest about original prices the prices they strike out to show you that you're getting a good deal with their price jack let's whip up an example here let's look at the uh same 4 saltine crackers that are making me thirsty one person in the study sees that the original price was 5 the other person sees that the original price is 6 only one of those can be true nick"

Nick points out Instacart's response to the pricing investigation, where the company framed the price differences as "experiments" to help grocery stores test higher prices. He notes that while this approach might seem logical from a tech company's perspective, the report also suggests Instacart may be dishonest about original prices used to show discounts. This illustrates a potential conflict between Instacart's stated intentions and the consumer perception of fairness.

"the university of utah is finalizing a first of its kind deal selling a piece of the athletics department for 500 million bucks gordon gecko is the new sophomore quarterback wall street is tackling the fighting utes football program and this will not be the last of these deals yeah he's back in business school jack and i had a bunch of buddies who went into private equity right jack what's the playbook here you buy a company with a bunch of debt you find ways to boost profits and then you sell the company seven years later for a gain yeah some of our buddies bought factories some of them bought shoe brands one of our friends' private equity firms bought a chain of funeral homes but for the first time ever a private equity firm is about to buy a college football program to quote john madden stockbroker are you ready for some finance ball here's the news"

Jack introduces the story about the University of Utah's athletic department, highlighting the unprecedented deal where a piece of it is being sold for $500 million. He uses the analogy of private equity firms buying companies to explain the potential playbook: acquiring with debt, boosting profits, and selling for a gain. This quote sets the stage for the financialization of college sports.

"the only difference between pro and d1 college sports is mission statements yeah he's utah is the first but we don't think the last to get a wall street money in exchange for part ownership of their athletic department kentucky and clemson have deals in the works so do the big ten and big 12 conferences you see when college players started getting paid a few years ago college sports became pro sports by legal definition coaches are getting millions players are getting millions now and team valuations are in the billions the only difference though is in those pesky latin words the university's mission statements well we're really interested in is what happens when veritas lux scientia and draftkings who's offering a hundred million dollars to put billboards all over campus best these athletic departments have wall street investors who demand profits and returns will they continue funding sports that don't generate revenue like track swimming and fencing what happens when university sports becomes a for profit business the only difference between pro and d1 college sports it's the mission statements it's the latin mission statements"

Nick argues that the primary distinction between professional and Division I college sports is now reduced to mission statements, especially after college players began receiving compensation. He notes that the University of Utah's deal is likely the first of many, with other universities and conferences exploring similar arrangements. Nick raises critical questions about the future of non-revenue-generating sports and the impact of profit-driven investors on university athletics.

"yesterday australia became the first country in the world to ban social media completely for teens zuckerberg tried to stop it but australia did it anyway so what happens next in the united states yeah he's look we're all guilty of it we all use social media too much and nobody's debating that unless you have the impulse control of that toddler who passed the marshmallow test i know you're talking about then you wish you were on instagram less still this headline is going to shock you a gallup poll published on tuesday found that 20 of american teens are on social media and i quote almost constantly best these cigarettes are chemically addictive social media apps are psychologically addictive most countries ban cigarettes for kids but only one country banned social media for kids australia here's the news that's effective yesterday aussies under 16 years old are forbidden from using social media apps now all australia's schools already banned phones true but now those phones are banned from having social media apps on them best these add it all up and we're calling this the kangaroo tiktok kid block that's a good one it rolls off the tongue and the news but the news raises a bunch of questions"

Jack introduces Australia's ban on social media for individuals under 16, framing it as a significant global first. He draws a parallel between the psychological addiction of social media and the chemical addiction of cigarettes, noting that most countries ban cigarettes for minors but Australia is the first to ban social media. This quote highlights the growing concern over teen social media use and Australia's decisive regulatory action.