John Reviews The Social Reckoning, Muse Wonder, Apple’s HomeView | Diet TBPN

This week on Diet TBPN, John and Jordy dive into a range of hot topics, from a new film about Facebook to Meta's latest AI model and Apple's foray into smart home devices. The conversation is candid, critical, and full of the insightful banter listeners have come to expect.

"The Social Reckoning" - A Flop in the Making?

John kicks off the discussion with his review of "The Social Reckoning," a film that attempts to capture the internal operations of Meta (formerly Facebook). Despite his professional obligation to see it, John admits to having zero desire to watch it, a sentiment Jordy seems to share. John's review, however, is far from indifferent. He recounts a humorous anecdote about accidentally dressing like one of the film's protagonists, Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter.

John critiques the film for feeling "out of date" in the current "scaling era" dominated by the race for superintelligence. With a worldwide opening of only nine million against a 40 million dollar budget, the movie is already gearing up to be a flop. John argues that the film fails to address the pressing questions surrounding tech companies today, such as Muse's margins or the impact of Muse Wonder on underlying benchmarks. He believes the film's focus on "old stories that have been settled in the courts" misses the mark entirely, especially given Mark Zuckerberg's significant reinvention since 2019.

Jordy agrees, finding the film's character dynamics and dialogue "forced" and "contrived," likening it to a polished, but ultimately out-of-place, 80s journalistic thriller. Both agree that Aaron Sorkin, the film's writer, "completely drops the ball" by not engaging with the more relevant and challenging questions facing Meta today.