S2E04: The ‘Machine Economy’ and the Future of Automation

May 18, 2022

MIN

S2E04: The ‘Machine Economy’ and the Future of Automation

This episode features an interview with Rex St. John, Founder of Taroko Technology.

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Rex St. John

Episode Transcript

Episode Summary:

This episode features an interview between Matt Trifiro and Rex St. John, founder of Taroko Technology. Rex has spent the last decade building developer and innovator ecosystems at Intel, Arm, and NVIDIA. He recently resigned to work full time in Web3 to organize communities and developer programs. While at NVIDIA, Rex built the global software ecosystem for NVIDIA Jetson. At Arm, he built global developer relations programs for IoT and Edge. While working for Intel, Rex was the lead developer on many projects and built the Global developer ecosystem and GTM for Edge AI, Robotics, Drones, IoT, Industrial, and Embedded Systems. On his YouTube channel, Rex shares knowledge, analysis and insights about the future of hardware, software and crypto technology. He received his education from the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst and is on the advisory boards for Silicon Valley Robotics and Dronecode.

In this episode, Rex tells us how he got his start in video game technology and then decided to learn to program and code on his own. He turned that into a career of coding, software development consulting, and technical evangelism. Rex provides his views on the evolution and adoption of Edge computing and IoT, including how kubernetes is helping to drive transformation. He also delves into the future of what he calls the ‘Machine Economy’ - where hardware, cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the metaverse may work in tandem to ensure continued efficiencies and support for business operations and security. Rex also raises the importance of improving the environmental impact of cryptocurrency and blockchain, and advancements in democracy, social engagement, and community.

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Key Quotes:

“I do think people get tired of hearing about IOT and the conversation has to change. And then ultimately, it's driven by the workloads and the profitability. If people aren't investing, then the innovations are going to move slower. And then if the workloads aren't there, then it's not a justified innovation. So, I think right now it feels very much like edge computing is on the rise.”

“Shifting everything from manual allocation to the biggest thing I think is just shifting all compute resources to an open economy, where you can list anything on the network and get paid to put that on. I think that's going to have a very profound and massive impact on the computer industry at the very least.”

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Show Timestamps:

(02:29) Getting Started in Technology

(04:00) Evolution of Edge Computing and IoT

(06:45) Electrical IMP and Particle

(08:22) Internet Connectivity and Rise of Edge Computing

(10:00) Latest Trends in IoT and Kubernetes

(13:30) Kubernetes Driving Transformation

(16:00) Orchestration

(18:10) Machines Operating Machines

(18:55) Principles of Web3 and Security

(21:00) Intersection of Security with Web3, IoT, and Edge

(22:30) Cryptocurrency, Helium Mining, and Device Networks

(24:00) Demand for Hardware and maintaining efficiencies

(26:20) Market Based Scheduling
(28:40) Metaverse Rental GPU Market

(29:40) Proof of Work and Proof of Stake

(32:00) Improving Environmental Impact from Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

(35:00) Machine Economy and Carbon Credits

(36:36) Carbon Accountability

(39:25) Doughnut Index / Doughnut Fund

(43:30) Views on Regulation

(46:45) Technology Breakthroughs

(47:25) Innovations in Democracy, Social Engagement, and Community

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Sponsor:

Over the Edge is brought to you by Dell Technologies to unlock the potential of your infrastructure with edge solutions. From hardware and software to data and operations, across your entire multi-cloud environment, we’re here to help you simplify your edge so you can generate more value. Learn more by visiting DellTechnologies.com/SimplifyYourEdge for more information or click on the link in the show notes.

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