Seeking Alpha Author Victor Dergunov joins Cheddar to discuss his predictions for Netflix going into 2018. The streaming service reported 110 million subscribers last quarter, but how will the Disney / Fox deal impact its future growth? Dergunov says Disney's new streaming platform won't be competition for Netflix.
What Netflix doesn't have right now is a live aspect. Dergunov says it should happen as soon as next year, as long as the platform sees potential in that type of content. He does say Netflix has a lot of international momentum, and whether it starts a live component or not, it will have another stellar year.
Plus, will Netflix open a theme park just like Disney? Dergunov believes the company will stick to more of an online marketplace. However, he never says never and wouldn't be surprised if it's something Netflix explores in the coming years.
The popular online gaming platform for kids, Roblox, is reportedly expanding its offerings into the educational space. Ayal Shmilovich, managing partner at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Investment Management, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into the report from the Wall Street Journal and how Roblox plans to incorporate the metaverse concept into schools. "I definitely think it helps them expand their market to a much broader audience," Shmilovich added. He also noted that Minecraft has 35 million users on its educational platform and was even more optimistic about Roblox's prospects.
President Biden is under some pressure from members of his own party over rising gas prices. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for the president to utilize oil reserves to lower gas prices ahead of the holiday season, as gas prices are currently at a seven-year high. Energy Workforce & Technology Council CEO Leslie Beyer joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Roblox is getting into education. The gaming platform is investing $10 million into developing educational video games for middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the country. This marks the first time Roblox is putting money into developing games for the platform, and it comes as Roblox also plans to build a stake in the metaverse. Sarah Needleman, technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal, breaks it all down for Cheddar.
Russia is being blamed for putting the International Space Station and its crew at risk after it fired a missile during a weapons test at a non-functional satellite. NASA has said that the debris from the explosion could potentially orbit the Earth for decades.
The collaboration platform Slack is launching a massive revamp at its annual customer conference, aimed at creating a more flexible and connected work experience. CEO and co-founder Stewart Butterfield joined Cheddar to provide some additional details about the digital HQ upgrade.
Bob Sutor, the chief quantum exponent at IBM, joined Cheddar to break down what the tech giant's new 127 qubit quantum processor, dubbed Eagle, will mean for computing. "We've broken through the way to scale these quantum devices to be bigger and bigger and therefore to be more useful," he explained. According to Sutor, quantum computing breakthroughs will provide faster or entirely novel solutions to complex, real-world problems in medicine, the creation of new materials, and even optimizing financial services.
