JC

John Cook

Things John Says on Podcasts

Where to Find Them

John Cook hosts and writes GeekWire . They have also been a guest on the weekly seattle .

Recently: “Amazon’s new AI wearable, Booking's return to Expedia's backyard, and LinkedIn’s not-so-Seattle startup list” on GeekWire (October 2026); “White House vs. Microsoft, AI fighter jets, and a visit to a startup founder's Seattle recording studio” on GeekWire (October 2026); “Seattle and San Francisco: Big tech, political backlash and the AI boom” on GeekWire (October 2026); “Live show: Amazon, Meta and the fight over the future of AI; Plus, is Seattle still the place to build?” on GeekWire (September 2026); “AI meets real estate, with Zillow's engineering SVP Toby Roberts” on GeekWire (September 2026); “Study warns Seattle over-relies on Big Tech; Seattle Times v. Microsoft; Apple's iPhone Duo echoes the past” on GeekWire (September 2026).

What They Said

“I actually don't care… Like, we don't live in a privacy-oriented world… Here's what I don't like… I have to pay $12 a month for the privilege of buying more crap on Amazon that I don't need.” — John Cook, GeekWire

The hosts are discussing an Amazon wearable whose opt-in paid tier listens to everyday conversations and suggests products to buy. He says the privacy angle doesn't bother him; the business model does.

GeekWire · 2026-10-17 Permalink → Listen →
GeekWire Around 20:57 into the episode
John Cook

is kind of brilliant. I appreciate the thought that went into this. And I'm sure the one-pager on this was awesome. The six-pager where they haven't

Todd Bishop

quite gotten down to the list. They need to truncate

John Cook

that. Get it down to a one-pager. Anyway, I'm sure the six-pager was fascinating on laying this out. And most people would probably be listening to this podcast and they'd say, I agree with John. I really dislike this because of the privacy implications. That's actually not my beast. You don't care. I actually don't care. I've resigned myself to a one-point book. You're an open book. I'm kind of open book. I'm kind of resigned myself to that. Like, we don't live in a privacy-oriented world, and I understand the pros and cons to each. Here's what I don't like. All right. Here's my rant continuing. I have to pay $12 a month for the privilege of buying more crap on Amazon that I don't need. Wow. That is true. That is almost devious.

Todd Bishop

Yeah. And it's come on. There are other features. The other features

John Cook

are a little more tasteful to me than the idea that I have to spend a $12 per month subscription fee that's going to listen to me to order more things for me.

Todd Bishop

It's not going to order things. It's going to promote them to you. And the other features of the paper. It's going to put it in your shopping cart pretty soon. Is that B Pro will offer you for that $12 a month unlimited conversation summaries? So kind of a freemium model that way. And the ability…

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode
“Here you have an unmanned AI-piloted aircraft that has a 39-foot wingspan that's going to be built in this community's backyard and sent off wherever to cause havoc. And the concern, at least among some citizens, was making sure that it was not a data center getting set up in their backyard.” — John Cook, GeekWire

The GeekWire hosts were discussing a planned factory south of Seattle for an AI-piloted fighter jet. The local city's FAQ, written in response to early feedback from residents, stresses that the facility "is not a data center".

GeekWire · 2026-10-10 Permalink → Listen →
GeekWire Around 21:26 into the episode
John Cook

AI-piloted warfighting machine designed to replace the F-35.

Todd Bishop

And now, I've been talking with folks in the defense industry and the community, and they would say, wait a second, this is going to improve American safety. And they would disagree with what I just said. That said, you would think that that would be the big concern. But what did this FAQ say?

John Cook

Well, there was some clarification from based on the citizens' feedback that came in early on this. Program. And it very clearly states that this facility is not a data center. Which I sent that to you because I found that somewhat humorous as well. That here you have an unmanned AI-piloted aircraft that has a 39-foot wingspan that's going to be built in this community's backyard and sent off wherever to cause havoc. And the concern, at least among some citizens, was making sure that it was not a data center getting set up in their backyard. And so, yes, this was pretty unusual.

Todd Bishop

Yes, talk about Bizarro World. You know,

John Cook

well, Todd, you know, it reminds, I got to bring up another Cleveland story because it reminds me of when we were in Cleveland at the old dilapidated Westinghouse light bulb factory, which was in total disrepair on acres of space, massive facility with broken concrete all over the place. And there…

Todd Bishop

make light of the concerns over data centers. I understand the energy issues, the water usage. You know, the people at Amazon would disagree with a lot of those things, as would Microsoft. That's a whole other issue. I'm not making light of it, but just the level, the caricature that this debate…

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode