The Big Tech Show

Jack Williams is co-founder and CEO of the Belfast-based ecommerce fulfilment firm Selazar. While the company made headlines recently for getting £20m in funding, the highest amount of venture capital in Northern Irish history, this week it was also in the news for less flattering reasons, having lost an employment tribunal case in London over claims of ageism. Adrian Weckler sat down with Jack this week to talk about ecommerce, retailing, being a young CEO, and also about what happened in the tribunal case.

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Is the tech party over for Ireland? Google has announced a temporary recruitment freeze, Microsoft is eliminating open jobs, while both Meta and Apple are reportedly planning to hire fewer people. In other words, some of Ireland’s biggest tech employers are scaling back their plans. The tech sector here has been on the biggest bull run in Irish industrial history. But is it finally facing a slowdown? And is our indigenous tech sector any more resilient? Joining Adrian Weckler to discuss the issue are Sarah-Jane Larkin, director general of the Irish Venture Capital Association, and Gareth Fleming, director of tech recruitment at Brightwater Recruitment.

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Technology editor Adrian Weckler reports on the results and concerns he had after taking a DNA test with online service 23&Me. He is joined by Stacy Detweiler, a genetics counsellor working for the company's medical team.

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If you were a billionaire, would you give most of it away? That’s what Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says he’s doing. He’s the world's fourth richest man, worth €115bn. But he says he has an "obligation" to return his resources to society. He says he wants to drop out of the world’s rich lists. And he’s not alone in the tech elite. Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook, among others, also say they’ll give away almost all of their wealth. Does this make them decent stewards of capitalism? Or is sort of another type of ego-trip? Joining Adrian to discuss it is the Irish Independent’s deputy business editor, Jon Ihle.

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Is the new M2 too expensive? Is the older M1 MacBook Air a better deal? Or might you be better off getting the new MacBook Pro M2, which is almost the same price? Adrian Weckler is joined by fellow reviewer, PocketLint.com’s deputy editor Britta O’Boyle, to discuss the pros and cons of Apple’s latest MacBook Air M2.

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Is it possible for a brand new phone from a brand new company to capture your Apple or Samsung-bound cash? The Nothing Phone (1) is the brainchild of OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei. This week, tech editor Adrian Weckler flew to the London launch to see what all the hype is about. He gives his verdict on the phone, as well as the views of some other experts.

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How can you watch your Netflix series in a foreign Airbnb? Is it possible to avoid getting gouged when using your smartphone abroad? Adrian is joined by Colin Baker, gadget expert and managing director of Back From The Future to discuss 10 useful devices and services to enhance a summer holiday, either abroad or in Ireland.

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In 2007, Steve Jobs took to the stage to introduce what he called a “revolutionary new product”. This week 15 years ago, the first iPhone went on sale. Is it still an all-conquering device? What might September's iPhone 14 bring? And can the iconic smartphone stay at the heart of Apple’s world, or will smart glasses and cars become the company's new focus? Joining technology editor Adrian Weckler to discuss all of this is someone who was at the original launch – Stuart Miles, the founder and CEO of Pocket-lint.com.

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30 years ago, John Touhy set up the logistics and delivery company Nightline, which also spawned Parcel Motel. Having sold it to UPS for €30m in 2017, he's back with another offering in the field -- OOHPod. This is a smart locker service that is supposed to make it easy to pick up and return parcels in your own time. The company aims to place “out of home” lockers in 1,000 locations across the island of Ireland by 2025. John Touhy talked to Adrian about his past, present and why some entities in Ireland seem intent on blocking progress in the parcel delivery field.

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What’s it like being the CIO of one of the most iconic pandemic-era tech companies in the world? No-one knows better than Harry Moseley, Zoom’s chief information officer . The man from Rathfarhnam has been close to the helm of a company whose very name has become a verb in the English language. But what’s coming next? Is the drive for remote working stalling? And can Zoom pull back from a steep decline in its own share price recently? Harry spoke to tech editor Adrian Weckler.

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