♪ emily: i am emily chang. this is "best of bloomberg technology," where we bring you the top interviews in this week in tech. samsung's attempt to steal the smartphone thunder from apple. we have details on both devices. plus, mutual funds take into year of drama. could new sales stats boost investor confidence? as the price of bitcoin surges, investor interest is growing

stronger. now the question is, are we in a crypto currency bubble? when could it pop? first, our lead. it is a redefining moment for the samsung note line as the south korean company unveiled the new samsung note 8. it is their largest phone yet and it could be the most important. after last year's exploding battery fiasco, consumers could be hesitant to pick up their new phone, however, samsung is confident that the problems are fixed and wants to move forward with what it hopes will be its best mobile device yet. selina wang attended event in new york and has more. >> i am in midtown manhattan for the unveiling of the samsung note 8. the stakes are very high for this phone to succeed since it is the latest version since the galaxy note 7 was recalled after reports of catching on fire and exploding. let's take a look at it. ♪

>> the note has always been samsung's biggest phone. one with the screen so large, it has been compared to a tablet. now, the screen is getting even bigger, measuring at 6.3 inches to be exact. the note 8 has an improved camera with two lenses on the back of the device. it also supports faster networking for browsing the web and downloading content. but the question remains, can samsung win big with customers after last summer's note 7 debacle? samsung killed off the smartphone after customers reported earlier models exploding and even replacement phones catching fire. the whole fiasco cost the south korean company an estimated $6 billion. >> we won't really know if they have gotten over the note 7 debacle until probably early 2018, when the phone has been out there long enough, and people have tested it. >> but that is not the only problem the company faces.

this week, the de facto head of samsung was jailed for charges for bribery and embezzlement. >> their management is not inextricably tied to the brand of the company. other companies, for example, apple's tim cook is different. he represents the company and i feel very few consumers know who runs samsung. >> but perhaps the biggest obstacle the company faces is its competition, especially with apple and other competitors in asia. apple plans to unveil their highly anticipated iphone 8 in a matter of weeks. >> if you are doing feature by feature, comparison and you are looking at what is rumored to come in to the iphone, there is a very strong lineup. >> samsung regained its top spot in the global smartphone shipments earlier this year with 23% of the market, after losing ground during the note 7 scandal. so, can samsung hold on to it

spot in the increasingly crowded smartphone market? only time can tell. but one thing is for sure, by keeping the same note branding, samsung is making it clear that the note 8 has fixed the problems of the past. emily: selina wang reporting. meantime, the latest edition of the smart phone that started it all, the 10th anniversary of the apple iphone is still shrouded in secrecy. mark berman has a lot of the .ecrets about what to expect >> for the first time, they will have three new phones. this will essentially be the size of the iphone 7 plus screen. but that is the whole phone. it is very slim. it will be easy to hold, not as heavy. the 3-d sensor and the fingerprint scanner is going to be the crown jewel of the phone.

emily: you can even do it in the dark. tell me more. >> there is the 3-d scanning sensor and an infrared sensor that you would see in a classic remote control for your tv. the laser creates this flight. creates light. in the dark, i imagine being on a swat team with your helmet that can see in the dark, and it is something like that. so, the phone will be able to work in the dark in milliseconds. emily: when it comes to some features, apple is lagging. i did sit down with tim cook back in june and he had this to say about being first. take a listen. tim: for us, it is not about being first, it is about being the best. and giving the user an experience that delights them every time. we don't let that impatience

result in shipping something that is just not great. emily: talk about the future when it comes to apple. which features are apple first in, and what features are they behind? >> you can apply what he said in june to any other recent products. the screen is something that has been appearing in samsung phones. motorola has had them. bezels have them.l you saw the android marketplace and google play come out for that. apple was the company that popularized the smartphone in in 2007 the beginning. emily: also when it comes to profits speed, apple has them first. >> yes, a couple months before that, i think i said the phone

would have the 64-bit chip. it was correct. they are still years ahead of the competition when it comes to processors. emily: let's talk about the home button. you get more on screen real estate. what does that mean? >> to make the phone smaller, they have to chop off things. they are getting rid of the home button. it will be in the screen. it will have a home button area. there will be new things, new swiping gestures to navigate between apps. it is moving things into the screen to the that you do not point really need the click buttons around it. maybe even the volume buttons will go away in the future, too. emily: obviously, the note is coming out. how does it stack up to the competition whether it is samsung or essential? 8 is think the note

significant because of the note 7. the note 7 was one of the highest reviewed phones when it first came out. it was one of the most anticipated and reviewed phones. but then it came down to the exploding batteries and everything. so i think the note 8 will be a serious challenger in people's eyes. emily: what do we know about the timing of this new iphone? the new iphone has been dogged and that they have had production issues. what do we know? >> they will release more of the models that they have supply of. there are going to be three models. initially, the mix will be much higher for the new updates. we will see the new, pro model , the more expensive one, probably trickle out. it will be hard to find the first couple of months of release. emily: that was bloomberg's mark gurman. in india, there is a new nonexecutive chairman at infosys.

he's backed by a group of infosys founders that want to take back control. the founders group has clashed with the board in recent months, and that led to the c.e.o.'s departure last week. coming up, uber's drama is weighing down its valuation in the eyes of mutual funds. plus, mark cuban flips on bitcoin. calling the currency a bubble, the outspoken skeptic is now a believer. are digital currencies now becoming a mainstream investment? we will discuss. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ emily: since going public in june, blue apron has lurched from one challenge to another. the meal delivery startup is losing its human resources chief and they have gone through a

hiring freeze. the shakeup comes just as the company ramps up a new center that is supposed to handle half of its production volume. blackrock, vanguard group, and t. rowe price have lowered their valuations of uber by as much as 15%. most of this year, the company has faced a persistent drumbeat of bad news including court battles. this on top of an ongoing c.e.o. search after travis kalanick was ousted in june. uber has held up its $69 billion valuation. they are a transformational, once in a generation company. making uber seem less viable -- valuable than it is may scare off future investors. newcomer joined us to talk about the newest development. >> the mutual funds marking down uber, 15% vanguard.

by several percentage points, it is a useful sign. especially as this big softbank deal gets done, and we do not know what the valuation is of the secondary shares that are going to be bought. people doing the selling, having these professional assessments of valuation could give them a guidance. emily: you have been reporting about new investor interest. is it happening at that $69 billion valuation? is it significant that the evaluation would be flat and not increasing? >> there is certainly strong interest from insiders to see the primary valuation stay at $69 billion. emily: but even if it is flat, is that a good thing? >> it is hard to say. i think given the circumstances, flat valuation is the best they are going to get. and it is sort of a paper valuation.

softbank will do it in that round and the secondary. in terms of what they are actually paying netted out, it is going to be a lower value. emily: who is selling these shares? investors, employees, former employees? >> that is the big question. especially, is benchmark doing the selling? is travis doing the selling? the range of the secondary sale was anywhere from $2 billion to $10 billion. you can get a sense of how uncertain people are about what the appetite for selling will be. emily: in the meantime, uber is showing fairly positive revenue numbers and growth numbers. trips up within the last year. losses are falling. what do you make of the numbers? >> i mean, they are good. it is a stalled out perspective. uber is losing historic amounts of money. if you annualize the amount of

losses this quarter, you get to about $2 billion. if you compare that to amazon in 1999 when they had their worst loss, it was $300 million. so, the scale of their losses which have fallen are still humongous compared to any company. emily: for most of that quarter, uber still had a c.e.o. even though the investigation was ongoing. it will be very interesting to see the numbers for the current quarter. the c.e.o. search. labor day is approaching. they said they would have someone in place by then, or have at least voted on it. there is only one name out there. >> yes, and he remains the frontrunner. there were reports that meg whitman was back in the mix. we have held our tongue there. other outlets have said she is not in the mix. there is a lot of confusion on that.

benchmark kind of denied the idea they had put her out there. it seems jeff immelt is the main candidate. but there are others reportedly still in the mix. emily: do you think labor day is a realistic deadline? >> think everybody is exhausted and they would like to see deadline met, but it would require investors that do not get along to get along. it is hard to say if they will meet the deadline. but they are all tired and would love to see if they can get along. emily: coming up, after the events of charlottesville, tech firms have taken a stand against neo-nazi groups. but the debate in silicon valley on how it deals with hate continues. we will discuss next. plus, tech firms are stepping up spending on original shows and content. we break down the new media marketplace. this is bloomberg. ♪

emily: jeff jones the former , president of uber has been named president of h&r block. he previously served as chief marketing officer at target. the move is part of a greater digital push. h&r block touted a collaboration with ibm for free online returns as it competes with online services like turbotax. since president trump took office, tech leaders and the white house have butted heads on several fronts from immigration to climate change. and most recently, the policy around hate groups and hate speech after the events in charlottesville, virginia. now, washington has grown more critical over tech firms, hiring practices, and news content that could have far-reaching effects on legislation and regulation. we discussed this. >> we mentioned some of these cultural issues.

the ban on trans service members in the military. these are places where the administration and the company have clashed in a very public way. and those kinds of clashes have policy consequences, you know, especially in this administration where loyalty is a big deal. there is not a lot of love lost between some of those companies and the white house, especially given the events in charlottesville more recently. but i think it is more important to realize that there is a policy dimension here. issues like privacy, on the table. issues like net neutrality are on the table, and more and more , washington is looking to take them on. either we do not necessarily know where they will go or it seems like tech is kind of losing in them. so, there are a lot of ways in which these companies are being surrounded right now. emily: obviously, the trump administration has not had the best of luck pushing through

their policy initiatives. michael, the white house is considering tax, energy immigration reform, which are , all important to silicon valley. white house is clearly not on the side of silicon valley. how much of a concern is that? >> what you have is a divergence of values. you have silicon valley where there are a number of things that are very important. net neutrality, some of the things we mentioned, skilled immigration. and you have the gender issues. but more broadly, we have things that are important to tech companies. one of them is consumers. these are companies with hundreds of millions of users. and they are very afraid of some sort of consumer activism. and so, they want to focus on their values. they are willing to bend their values when it is things that are important to their companies. two examples are upgrading the government's infrastructure with contracts for each of these companies.

and other things like tax reform because many of them want to repatriate foreign earnings. emily: so, ben, there was the recent trump tweet about amazon doing great damage to companies throughout the u.s. and many jobs being lost. are we getting to a point where tech companies could ultimately end up being regulated like utilities, or at least that is the direction the trump administration wants to go? >> i do not necessarily think we are at that point yet. i think it is definitely where we are at the point where some people in washington, both liberals and conservatives, are calling for people to look in on this. this is not the mainstream opinion yet. i would say there are people who say there is a lot of market share here. there are a lot of companies like amazon gobbling up smaller ones.

even medium and large ones like whole foods. democrats are saying this as well, we need to take a look at what is going on here. i think it is important to realize as well that some of these companies are on the chopping block when it comes to these issues. emily: so, how would tech companies change their approach to lobbying? we know they spent a lot of money during the obama administration, lobbying various lawmakers. what is happening right now? >> well, they are spending a lot of money. that is what it comes down to. there was some talk that these companies did not have any republican representation. they needed to bring in conservatives. i think that was a little overstated. in d.c., big companies always employ democrats and republicans. but google has record spending in their last quarter. they spent about $6 million on lobbying. a company like goldman sachs often does not even spend $1 million.

so, they are really spending a lot of money, because they know that a lot of things are coming their way. either coming or going. and they want to be a part of it. emily: michael, we are looking at potentially three more years in the trump administration at least. what are the main issues you are going to be watching? >> from a tech perspective, i will be looking at any potential efforts that are about hampering these companies because we cannot stop the march of technology. amazon, apple, google, facebook, these are companies that have not just impact in the united states but impact globally. we should be wary of anything that will get in the way of their growth. and yes, they are also, they tread in politics. jeff bezos owns "the washington post." so, there is a lot of progress in tech companies which can be

threatened people not just in the administration but other businesses. emily: since the events of charlottesville, virginia, a surprising topic has come to the forefront in silicon valley. deep-seated divisions about how far tech companies should go to silence hate groups, specifically nazis. where do these companies draw the line? bloomberg's editor explored this topic and joined us to discuss. >> silicon valley has had a hard time navigating the era of donald trump. and that is partly because, even before the election, there was all this controversy around companies like facebook and google as to whether or not they were media companies or technology companies. if you are a technology company, you do not have to take responsibility for the content on your platform. if you are a media company, you do. most of these companies want to be a technology company because they are valued higher and you do not have to spend as much on content moderation.

the thing that happened two weeks ago was suddenly these , companies realized, maybe we have to take some responsibility. that came to the forefront when google and go daddy and a bunch of other companies took down "the daily stormer," which is a nazi publication had been on the internet until then. emily: right, cloudflare was the last of those companies to finally cut off "the daily stormer." this is a company that has taken a more free speech approach to these things. we did have the c.e.o. on the show and he said he was still uncomfortable about taking down the site. he did so because they were claiming they had cloudflare's support. he believes that no person, no company should have the power to do such a thing. take a listen to what he had to say. >> we turn to the experts like law enforcement, regulators, and we say, here is the content.

what do you like for us to do? that feels like the principle of due process. they are politically enshrined organizations who can make these decisions as opposed to these decisions being based on the political whims of me mark , zuckerberg or jeff bezos. emily: he's arguing these companies should be regulated like utilities, and that decision should be out of their hands. what you think? >> yeah, i don't know if he has really thought through that one. if you are regulated like a utility, you worry about the burden of having to check out the content on every website. if you are regulated like a utility, there are price controls and a whole bunch of other things where if you really think through it, you don't necessarily want. emily: coming up, call it crypto fever. bitcoin is bigger than ever as the price surges past $4000.

we get an investment perspective on the future of digital currencies. and a reminder, all episodes of "bloomberg tech" are live streaming on twitter. this is bloomberg. ♪

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♪ emily: welcome back to the "best of bloomberg technology." i'm emily chang. well, outspoken billionaire mark cuban thinks there is opportunity and cryptocurrencies after all. cuban, who tweeted in june that the claim was in a bubble, is now investing in a fund called "one confirmation." cuban tells bloomberg in an email, i have always looked at block chain as a foundation platform from which grid applications can be built. hopefully, we can find a few. caroline hyde sat down with the head of level 39 to get an investor perspective on crypto currency. >> block chain has enormous

potential in much of the interest is in finding expression in the valuation of bitcoin. we are seeing a galloping ahead of interest in the technology manifesting in the price of bitcoin. caroline: and not only in the price of bitcoin, but also in the ripple. it is tempting a lot of companies to come out in response in this new way of i ceos, -- of ico's, initial coin offerings. within minutes you are able to go to the crowd and raise millions. is this something we are seeing in europe as well as the united states? ben: there is huge engagement with ico's, token sales, the fcc in the united states is clarified recently, the authority and the u.k. has taken a keen interest. it is keen to make sure that it encourages innovation, protecting markets and consumers. the real potential of ico's is very exciting, but it comes with a health risk. it is an extreme sport. caroline: it is an extreme sport. therefore, do you think that we will start to see u.k. regulations come in, and say, these will be asset securities

that we want to be regulated, to be registered, in the same way? ben: well, they have been consulting on this over the last few months. they have not declared a clear position looking for just yet. but they are prioritizing protection of the marketing consumer, while seeking to encourage innovation. and that is one of their key strengths, being the superhero, the u.k. is keen to make sure it supports innovation and maintains its position as a great place to innovate. caroline: what is interesting about level 39, that you are a hub for startups, but you are in the middle of morgan stanley or jpmorgan, where they are based in london, how much are you seeing the banking sector respond to the rise of block chain technology? ben: that is a really great question. the actual application of these technologies that you described,

is a long and complex process. you have to look carefully, listen, and look what people are building deep relationships. that is what we seek to support at level 39. it is not a dramatic activity. it involves drilling into the details. >> how can it change the way they operate? ben: well, if you consider at the heart of distribution of trust across networks, many compare this to the early stages of the internet. there is a -- and that is -- and that comparison is useful. much of the interest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies right now looks like the hype that surrounded the internet in the late 1990's. but in just the same way, the fundamental transportation -- transformation potential is hard to see in full now as it was in 1995 as people consider the future of the internet.

caroline: that was an interesting point that mark cuban made out. from the ashes of some of these bubbles like bitcoin, you will see the ico's, the digital currency versions of amazon, google, facebook, come to be the real game changers. where will they be based? san francisco, london, switzerland? switzerland is trying to claim precedent. ben: there is a huge amount of innovation. we can look further afield as well, and china, russia, japan. also great innovation in cryptocurrencies. we should be ready to be not surprised where the real progress arrives. but of course, it is also important to look beyond cryptocurrencies, and consider for example the implications of smart contracts. there are very exciting developments, which are also

built from the same essential foundations. caroline: there been questions as to whether one digital currency will win out over all. do you believe one will or can we have many? ben: i think we will have many. you look at the governance debates and the technology debates that have been shaping the recent developments of bitcoin. i do not think any major currency is immune to this. governance is a challenge. scaling is a real challenge. it is systemically useful to have real diversity of currency. just as it is useful to have diversity in almost every other. caroline: and what is interesting is also government interaction between yourself and level 39. are you discussing with the government how they should be adopting and looking at cryptocurrencies?

you are someone who used to get startups connected with investments. are you saying that ico's would be a good way for companies to start? ben: i think the government does a fantastic job. they do a great job of balancing and maintaining protections for markets and consumers, while also being permissive. it is the envy of regulators around the world. and i've seen plenty of evidence in my travels. as far as the central government is concerned, there is no doubt in any of the minds that i've been engaging with that developing u.k.'s huge advantage as a great place to innovate is a forefront to that. emily: bloomberg's caroline hyde with level 39 ben brabin. combating the problem with lines. sanford connecticut may be the second city to combat the problem with -- they adopted an ordinance to outlaw -- honolulu adopted an ordinance to outlaw using a cell phone while crossing streets. it is $30 per violation. u.s. pedestrian deaths have an on the rise but there are no statistics to show whether texting played a role in fatalities. coming up, is faced look copycat strategy paying off? why the user base could be waning.

the solar eclipse got everyone's attention. even president trump got the glasses to watch at the white house. we discussed the excitement around the once in the 100 year event. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ emily: this year, facebook is expected to see a decline among teenagers users in the u.s. 14.5 million people will use facebook in 2017. that is a drop of 3% -- that is a 3% drop from the prior year. this is the first time a research company has predicted a fall in facebook usage from any group. teens are migrating to snapchat. -- snapchat and instagram, which is owned by facebook, but will snap be able to capitalize on this weak spot.

sarah joined us to break down. sarah: we have seen the stock climbed today after a long drawn out fall since the ipo. in one of the main reasons, of course, that's that has fallen, is because facebook has been coughing its most popular features on its main app and an instagram. you know, this company continues to be very compelling to a lot of young people. that is what this report reminds us of. it is still a lot cooler than the big social network is. emily: of a concern is this for how much facebook, given that they own instagram, is it still a big problem that they lose teen users? sarah: well, when i talked to teenagers who use facebook come on -- facebook, and a lot of them do. but they use it to coordinate their soccer matches, work on group projects with people from

their spanish class. i mean, it is the kind of thing you have to kind of be on to survive in high school and college, and a social setting with your teachers and all. it is more of a tool. it is not utility. it is not fun. and the way that teens are communicating, they are communicating in images, video. it is less the kind of status updates we have seen on facebook, which have become increasingly political, or increasingly heavy. this more light communication on instagram and snap. does it harm facebook? i think facebook made a smart that a few years ago acquiring instagram. it has become so crucial to their future. and so, i would love to see a little bit more color from the company in the future of exactly how much instagram contributes. emily: when it comes to staff, you got nbc doing a show now on

snapchat, cnn is now doing a daily show on snapchat. how much traction are these kinds of things actually getting? sarah: they are getting a lot of traction. like millions of views. it is very interesting. this kind of media consumption experience differs in many ways. first of all, it is mobile first. second of all, it is in these short bites that people really consume on the go. and it is something that caters to this very millennial audience that is increasingly not paying for cable, not watching conventional tv. it is a way for brands like cnn and pc to reach this new generation -- cnn and and nbc reach the new generation that may not be on facebook. emily: how well do we think the facebook hopping of instagram and snapchat is actually working? making the camera primary and adding stories, is a backfiring? sarah: i would not say yes, that it is backfiring.

with any user base of more than 2 billion people, some people are going to use whatever they create. but i have not seen people use facebook stories, at least on my own facebook. that is anecdotal. they have not released information on it. have you? emily: no. [laughter] sarah: maybe we are old, emily. it is something we have not seen gain traction. it was the top think mark zuckerberg talked about at the developer conference earlier this year. that part is embarrassing that they made such a big deal about the augmented reality platform of the future and then we have not seen a lot happen there. but in terms of instagram, that is going solo. that is incredibly successful copycat effort. emily: that was bloomberg technology's sarah frier. competition in the streaming space is set to get intense. apple's $1 billion spending on original content in 2018 will allow it to produce 10 shows.

while it may seem that apple is using deep pockets to launch original shows, it is interesting -- it is interesting crowded field already dominated by netflix and amazon. michael wolff joined us to weigh in on this new media landscape. michael: apple brings a lot to this party. they have devices, people watching video on their phones and on apple tv and computers. but at the same time, they also got a lot of data and they know what people are watching and they know what people are doing. but at the same time, it is very difficult to produce hit tv shows. youtube is using data to be able to decide what shows they will produce. for example, they are doing a spinoff of "the karate kid," because they know people are watching "of "the karate kid," or doing shows about dancing

because they know what people are looking at. in apple's case, it is not as easy as going to the video store, or the content store, and saying, just serve the up a hit series. that is very difficult to know what to produce. there is an old line in hollywood -- "no one knows nothing." that means no matter how may times you have made a film, you may not know what will make the next tv show or some successful. you know, i think it will be interesting to see how apple involved, and at the same time, near competing against a bunch of other people. they are competing against facebook, youtube, as well as other companies that are out there that are already well established in the tv business. emily: facebook is set to unveil an original series. youtube is as well. of the two, is it a tossup in terms of who is better positioned to compete, or are you optimistic about them both? michael: it is hard to make the

judgment based on their platforms. it really comes down to who is able to produce hit shows. and a lot of that revolves around talent -- directors, writers, stars, people they can put together, and then there is that bit of luck. one of the advantages that facebook has is they have hundreds of millions of people in this country who are in a constant basis, going to that platform. if nothing more, they will click on that watch but to see what is there. but when you look at an average of $3 million an episode, and you are talking about 10 episodes per season, it is going to take a long time to burn through that billion dollars. and at the same time, it is going to take a while to ramp up. it is hard. you cannot just go out and buy it, you have to build it.

emily: that was michael wolff with activate. coming up, the once-in-a-lifetime come out of this world event that unfolded right before our very eyes. we explain how tech played a role in the first total eclipse across the u.s. in 99 years. and if you like bloomberg news, check us out on the radio pair you can listen on the bloomberg radio app, on bloomberg.com, and a sirius xm. this is bloomberg. ♪

emily: well, the total solar eclipse has come and gone this week, and it put the u.s. power grid to the test. utility owners and link electricity generators braced for more than 12,000 megawatts of solar power possibly going off-line. sunrun is the largest independent solar company in the u.s. >> i think the best part about the sun is that it is a reliable. with these eclipses happen, which happens once a generation as you mentioned, we have a lot of advance notice. we were working with grid operators and they were able to procure power to meet the needs during the eclipse. it is important to put it into context, when you look at the overall, traditional power sources, they go off-line all the time and without a lot of

notice. annually, they will go out to the tune of 9000 times the amount of power loss that we will see from this eclipse. so, the sun is really there and is reliable, and we're asking our customers to turn their power down and enjoy it. >> if this in a way, testing how you react in an event where we have solar power as a dominant force in the provision of power generation in the country so you can look at what the options are in terms of switching between one and the other? as you said, in terms of solar power, i mean, that is the most reliable source of energy that we have out there. >> it is. and the cost production has been so significant that it is becoming the dominant source of new generation. you know, the segment that my company operates, on the rooftops, also adds a different dimension. we often think about renewables as one and the same.

but there is a difference between the large utility scale pipe the nobles, and what we do at the home-level, which is really pushing out, using the rooftop to produce power, using electric vehicles, getting a battery on this grid. and what we are going to see is a system that will be much more reliable what the addition of this rooftop solar, storage and electric vehicles. i really look for to that. >> to julia's point, we have been talking about power operators, scientists using this as an opportunity to test their systems and software. is there anything you are doing during the eclipse, are you testing battery capacity? what will you be observing? >> well, for our customers, you know, we have about 150,000 customers across the country. so, a full gigawatt of power. we certainly can test to see how

our systems will produce during this eclipse, and we will do that and record the data. we will also look at what the consumer patterns are. where we successful when we asked consumers to bring their consumption down? those are important learnings. again, because this eclipse -- and eclipse in any given point across the world happens once every 300 to 400 years, so it is fairly rare. so what we are more focused on is how do we get the storage piece to be cost effective -- cost-effective, so when it is a situation might this, we are able to fill up the battery with solar power and dispatch it to the grid when the grid needs it. emily: that was the ceo of sun run speaking to bloomberg television. meantime, we found down -- we sat down with tom to discuss the craze around this historic event. take a listen. tom: so, we used everything from very unsophisticated serial box viewer, our colleague used one.

use one of those google glasses that you tested out earlier in the week. we saw people looking with their naked eye. i wanted to shout over, i don't the you're supposed to do that. [laughter] tom: here in san francisco was a little cloudy and foggy. it covered about 70% of the sun. a little anti-climactic here, but the thing about this eclipse given the ubiquity of social media, when we got back into the office, you could hear and look on facebook and twitter, and see the experiences of people across the country who were in the path of totality. i saw people posting photos just saying, hey, my son just took this and it changed his life. i was listening to people in south carolina cheer as the sun went completely dark. so really, for some people, it had a very profound impact.

emily: i actually did cover a solar eclipse in china in 2009, and in the path of totality. so, going to complete darkness there is a magical erie feeling, the temperature cools. you definitely heard people talking about it across the country. as you say, it was this communal moment. even the president watched. kiva got a lot of flack -- he got a lot of flack on twitter for looking up briefly without the glasses. we're looking at him now. you must just took them off -- he just took them off. tom: very briefly. [laughter] tom: hopefully, he did not do much damage to his eyes. but you can hear in the video people down below the balcony shouting, hey don't look. this was one of those moments, i have seen essays about this, when this was an opportunity for the nation to come together and focus on something different. hopefully, wearing glasses, without the moment being upset by washington d.c. and yet, here is what happens. the president found a way to still the thunder from this event as well.

[laughter] emily: yet again. everyone had a different live stream. nasa, twitter, the weather channel. it was all over cable dues, but it was interesting -- it was all over cable -- it was all over cable news, and it was interesting to see how various tech companies from google to twitter to airbnb turned this into a business opportunity. tom: we talked to airbnb. there were thousands of people along a path who rented homes. in some instances, for the first time. i can't remember the exact number, they had a surge in listings. because people were wanting to be there. if you look at google maps, you saw traffic patterns acutely very read in that path of totality. emily: in fact, there were some folks in idaho, who spent a lot of money, and it rained, yet they were still happy about the experience. it was an all around experience, i guess, to commune and watch. looking at people in the path of totality.

tom: people throwing parties. i was on a plane recently, and a guy got sidelined going through security because he had a pair of welder's glasses. emily: bloomberg tech's tom giles there. that does it for this edition of "the best of bloomberg technology." we will bring you all the latest tech throughout the week. remember, all episodes of bloomberg tech are live streaming on twitter. check us out on weekdays. that is all for now. this is bloomberg. ♪ got you outnumbered.

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>> it was sudden and my mother found herself with her kids and no money. we are the champions for business. david: when you meet with a president -- ginni: people are respectfully honest. david: do you feel a certain responsibility? ginni: women do need role models. david: in the stay fit category. ginni: the difference is he does not get to hit me. >> would you fix your tie, please? >> people wouldn't recognize me if my tie was fixed. just leave it this way. all right.