female announcer: "press here" is sponsored in part by barracuda networks, cloud-connected security and storage solutions that simplify it. male announcer: this week, old mcdonald had a robotic farm, automation in agriculture. and former yahoo executive sue decker takes on both twitter and facebook. our reporters, john swartz of "usa today," and national public radio's laura sydell, this week on "press here." [music] scott mcgrew: good morning, everyone, i'm scott mcgrew. i was looking over a list of past guests on the show and i was struck by how many of them, at some point in their career, worked at yahoo. yahoo, remember, was the valley's first big dot-com success story, and for many executives, it was a strange, and often frustrating, chapter in their lives. here are just a few of them.

dan rosensweig, jeff weiner, marissa meyer, brad garlinghouse, they all worked at yahoo. marissa is still plugging away there, and boy have they seen some stuff. to that list, we can add sue decker. she was yahoo's cfo, then president. wall street loved her. the "wall street journal" praised her sharp mind. "fortune" called her a financial ace. now, sue's no longer at yahoo, join the club on that one, but she's more influential than ever sitting on the boards of costco and berkshire-hathaway, and veil ski resorts. and much to our surprise, she's also got an app. it's called raftr. it's sort of twitter meets reddit where you can chat with other people about politics, or sports teams, or tv shows. in fact, sue posts on raftr herself where she talks about "the bachelor." joined by laura sydell of npr, john swarts of "usa today." before i start my traditional first question, i was doing my research, and i hope i did it all properly, discovered you are also a board member at vox media, is that correct? sue decker: that's correct, yes.

scott: okay, we are owned by nbc. we have invested in vox media, did not know that at all, but i wanted to make sure everyone else knew that that was something that had happened. so, it was news to me, so alright, now let's get to the actual first question. so, there is twitter, and there is reddit, and there is facebook. why did the world need another way to chat with their friends? sue: that's a great question. i think the reason is that it's become really difficult to have good conversations on some of the traditional social networks. and in some ways it's because they've been so successful, right? there's so much going on in facebook these days that suddenly our feeds are becoming kind of crowded, and noisy, and may not have everything that we're really interested in. and on twitter, it's become so terrific at breaking news and one-to-million celebrity megaphone, that it's a little bit scary for some people to come in and have a conversation about the topics they love. so, i think it's sort of a natural evolution in the industry. john swartz: is it also maybe a less toxic version of twitter, and maybe absent of fake news?

i mean, that seems to have driven a lot of people away from twitter in particular. sue: yeah, that's the goal, is that by having a phone number sign in, most people only have one phone, so that prevents people from having 30 pseudonym email accounts. and it's not gonna ever prevent trolling and harassment entirely, because it's the internet, but we have a lot of safeguards in for that. laura sydell: i noticed i went, and i tried it, and i was reading a little about it, and one thing i noticed though is, right now the business model is that the stuff that people are writing is where the money's coming from. so the ads are basically incorporated into posts that you have people writing. so, i wondered about that, because that, of course, as a journalist, raises some questions for me about how accurate the content will be. will it be swayed in a certain way? sue: yeah, you know, the ads that we have in it now are in our weekly blogs that we have people write. just like if you had a "new york times" app, there would be ads inserted in the content. we actually aren't running any ads in the social feeds,

just in the content we produce. scott: so, when people get together to talk about "the bachelor," they themselves are at home creating their own content, then occasionally you will have ads based on the blog section of the same app. sue: yes, the way this works is that people come in and follow stories as opposed to following people. scott: i can see the appeal on that, and that is that when you, you know, you mentioned facebook, which when's the last time you saw a baby picture on facebook? like, we use to gripe about baby pictures on facebook and, you know, it's all politics. facebook and twitter are interesting to me, but i can't categorize them in a way that i only wanna see what my facebook friends are talking about sports, or they're only talking about x, and this is kind of what you're doing, right? sue: that's the idea, is you follow sports teams, or television shows, or news stories that are serialized. john: i tried it, we tried it when we met in new york recently. and one of the things i did like was you had a curator who is kind of in a sense, kind of a moderator, somebody who would spark a conversation.

and i looked at the golden state warriors area, and this person had a pretty good idea of what he was talking, or she was talking about, and kind of leading you into a discussing that doesn't turn into what often is kind of one-upsmanship, especially with sporting discussions on social media. laura: i'm curious, actually, if down the road, will you also move this into, i don't know, health issues people are interested in? for example, you know, so say certain people have, you know, heart disease or whatever, i mean, how many categories would you imagine or would this be more like pop culture? sue: yeah, no, that's a good question. i think to start, we're really focused on the stories we all follow together. and those are the stories that are unfolding sort of in serial form, episodes, and seasons, like television shows, or like the warriors, or the politics, an evergreen news story. that's our primary focus right now, because we think that there is such a large--so many of us have this sort

of preverbal water cooler conversation at work about what happened on "game of thrones" last night, or, oh my gosh, did you see what the latest is with the trump administration? we like to talk about those stories together that don't have an end yet. scott: sue, i know there are people at home saying, "yeah, that's reddit." i mean, you're familiar with reddit? you've used reddit? in what way would you convince somebody it's not reddit? and let me give you my own opinion first, and that is reddit's super hard to use. it's just, it's not built for the casual user, particularly on the web. john: i would also think about facebook groups, because we-- scott: see, i don't even do facebook. john: i quit. i mean, somebody else, a friend of mine, another journalist and i started one for the giants the day that facebook announced groups, and we had, like, 200 members, but i got so tired of the notification and the same discussions over and over again that i just bailed. scott: yeah, so reddit, it's similar to reddit in that sense. there are categories and fans talk about things, et cetera. sue: yeah, i think that the difference is that you pointed

out that it's a little bit more difficult to use. it was based as a website as opposed to a social and mobile app experience. it's not as strong overall. but also, on reddit, you have hundreds of thousands of subgroups that come up from the-- scott: yeah, it's amazing. sue: right, whereas we have 50 stories that people could follow. we may expand that over time to 500 stories, but they're all curated with a writer who writes a weekly blog and poses the questions. we think of our curators as charlie rose, you know, someone who's going to bring together a conversation. scott: could you think of 'em as scott mcgrew? sue: and yes, exactly, a scott mcgrew. scott: and you started on mobile, i mean, in mobile first, which makes the most obvious sense. sue: yes, i think that's where the biggest opportunity is. scott: sue, we're gonna just take a quick commercial break, but we'll come back with sue decker in just a second.

scott: welcome back to "press here," we're talking

with sue decker, laura sydell. laura: so, i was just thinking that what you are doing, it seems to me, is probably gonna be more the future direction of social media. because i think a lot of people, myself included, maybe are getting a little sick of this news feed, where you've got many different topics coming up at once. and so, i wonder to what degree you think that's true yourself, that's why you're doing this, and what direction you think it's likely to go? sue: yeah, that's a great question, and i actually think that all of these things evolve in industries and in media, and i think what happens is, at first, often there's a general interest network, and then over time, more specialized ones start to develop. so, for example, in general social media, you have these vertical networks popping up, like slack for the office, or next door for your neighborhood, where people have a common interest because it's hard to find those people on a large, very successful, social network. i think the other thing that happens is that use cases stratify over time. so we were talking earlier about posting baby pictures on

facebook, et cetera, well today, when you think about the networks to post about your personal life, which is not what raftr does, but in your personal life, you have instagram at the top, which is the broadest reach with the most limited depth, your top picture goes there, then you have facebook in the middle, which is the highlight reel from which you pick that top picture, or maybe your top six pictures from your recent vacation, and then you have snapchat, which is the behind the scenes reel of everyday life. and so, those three have stratified, all with the same kind of content in terms of different use cases. and we think the same thing's gonna happen in the content that runs on twitter, which is news, sports, entertainment, that there's the broad-reach networks of breaking news, and then there will be the ones where there's more conversations and, you know, a little bit more curated around topics. laura: of course, i'm just gonna follow up on that, which is that, you know, of course i wonder to what degree facebook will try and incorporate that and come in, because they have a tendency to do that, and this would seem to me to be a bit of a threat to them,

economically, what you're doing. you know, because they're whole model is based on, you know, getting the widest reach possible for every post. sue: yeah, well, they're doing really well. i don't think we're too much of a threat to them. john: they're going to hit 2 billion users this year. laura: right, but in the long run that this model could be a threat to them. sue: yeah, i mean, i think that the point that people want to follow topics in addition to individuals is true. i think that twitter tried it with moments as a separate, sort of, sub-effort on what they're doing, but i think that's hard to do under the same brand. i think you almost have to come in with a different brand that has a different meaning to the users, and, you know, facebook has instagram and facebook, so it does have a multi-branded strategy. scott: sue, you were at yahoo for a long time, and at one point, we thought you were gonna be the ceo. can i get you to comment at all on marissa meyer's performance as ceo, or any--you know, i wrote it down. since you were gone, bart thompson, levinsohne,

and meyer, a lot of ceos have come and gone. i mentioned only in the last one, but comment on her performance, or what she had to face. sue: you know, i think she had a tough hand to play. i would evaluate any ceo on, you know, how well they played the hand they got. and i think she did some really good things in terms of trying to change the culture and bring in more of a product focus which was clearly lacking. i think the hard thing to do that never really got done was the core identity of yahoo, what made it special, and how it would differentiate and be really magic in consumers' minds. it seemed to get broader and more diffuse instead of really helping identify that. so that's the thing i think was unfortunate. john: so the deal with verizon closes in the second quarter. do you think--what do you think she's gonna do? i mean, post-yahoo, where do you think she might end up? people always ask that question and always speculate. sue: yeah, i have no special knowledge of any of that.

i think she was a product exec at google. i think she sees herself that way. i think some people think she's pretty strong at that. unfortunately at yahoo, that's not where she left her mark and i think maybe in her next act she'll do that. scott: your next action was to become the board member of quite a few things including berkshire-hathaway, which if people don't know, is--owns geico, bnsf railway, helzberg diamonds, fruit of the loom underwear, and dairy queen, among other things. which means you have to be an expert in insurance, railroads, diamonds, underwear, and ice cream, right? sue: doesn't that sound fun? scott: how do you even begin to say, "well, you know, i think we ought to do this," when it's heavy rail and ice cream? sue: well, i think as a board member, what we need to understand is how berkshire creates value for shareholders. and the way it does that, is it has a lot of disparate businesses in traditional core areas that probably,

in aggregate, grow a little bit like gnp, five, six percent a year. and then, warren takes the money that is generated, excess-free cash flow, and invests it quite profitably in other companies, and sometimes public market stocks, and that ends up doubling the annual returns. scott: well, i'm just thinking if i'm a board member at apple, i ought to know a bit about the iphone, and the macbook, and kind of where the internet is going. i would be lost at berkshire-hathaway. sue: yeah, i think if we tried to understand all those things, we wouldn't be very good board members. i think we look for great ceos that are able to run those businesses, and that also feel very much aligned with the berkshire values in terms of how we generate cash and create value. laura: i wanted to change the topic for a minute to one that's big in the news, what's going on around immigration and the tech world. and i'm really curious your take on where this is going. i mean, it feels like there's just this increasing clash

with the trump administration. do you think they need to figure out how to work with the administration? any thoughts on where this might go? sue: no, i do think that washington and silicone valley really need each other, and i think this is the core issue where there is not alignment. and i don't know where it's gonna go. i think that when you look at the whole trump agenda, there are puts and takes in that. some corporations are excited about lower taxes, they're excited about more investment in infrastructure, they're excited about repatriating cash, but the issue--and some of them are probably very excited about the made-in-america component. from my perspective, free trade, which is traditionally one of the most conservative of values, is a core element of capitalism, and a core reason why our economy has done so well. so i think, and hope, that this--that there will be a movement more toward understanding that we need to

have free trade and be able to keep prices low for consumers, and then if there needs to be a wealth transfer to middle america and to companies that are maybe losing business from some of the tech industry, i think that's reasonable, but i sure hope it doesn't come from raising the cost of creating and innovating out here. scott: sue decker, i have to let you go with that. sue decker with raftr, and berkshire-hathaway, and veil ski resorts, and vox media. did i miss any? sue: costco. scott: costco, you're on the board at costco as well. sue: alright, thank you so much, thank you for having me. scott: up next, down on the farm with robots, when "press here" continues. [music]

gus is a handful. we don't know what this thing is, but someday, gus will because this is the thing that gus will build that will change the world. and this is the thing that could change gus' world. gus doesn't know what this thing is, but we know what this thing is. this is the thing we'll help gus get rid of. and without this thing, gus can grow up to build this thing, whatever that thing is, because that's what we do. we do health things, and we do those things for northern california, birthplace of pioneers. scott: welcome back to "press here." and we do those things for northern california, i have spent a lot of time on farms. my first reporter's job was in iowa, which is where i also went to school. and i can tell you, whatever image you have of small-town

american farmers is probably inaccurate, and about 50 years behind the times. scott: american farmers are businessmen, and increasingly businesswomen, who deal in a global market and use a lot of technology, gps, drones, big data, and robotic tractors, tractors like these are like self-driving teslas, except they cost way more than a tesla. and you won't find these just in iowa, they're in china and india as well. ganesh jayaram is leading john deere's efforts to bring those big green tractors all over the world. it's been moving into china and india, which don't strike me as agricultural industry. because when you go to iowa, these farms are miles long and run by corporations, largely these days. in china and india, i'm guessing that's not the case. ganesh jayaram: it's actually a mix, you would be surprised, if you go to the northeastern part of china, large state farms, thousands of acres in size that adopt a lot of the precision ag technology that you see here in the united states.

soil conditions are as fertile as you see in iowa, so it depends. the size of the farms run the gamut. really small farms that you would see in india and china, all the way up to large farms with thousands of acres. laura: so, i wanted to ask a question. you know, about using software in tractors. and i don't know where this issue is now, but i went to visit some smaller, somewhat smaller farmers, who were complaining because john deere and all the tractor companies don't want them to be able to repair their own tractors anymore, because of the software. so, essentially the copyright law criminalized breaking into the software to try and fix it themselves. and i don't know if you're aware of this issue, but it does seem like putting all this software, computerizing tractors, does change that idea of the farmer fixing things themselves, something that's important to them. ganesh: so, at john deere, we always respected the right of the farmer to fix the equipment. we've always supported that, and we supported that in the form of

publications online as well as hard copies. so, a farmer has a publication that would detail out the technical aspects of the machine, but what we also believe is that these machines are so sophisticated these days, with the integration of the software, just like as you talked about, that it is best served for the farmer to work with our dealers. our dealers service technicians are trained, especially as you look at some of our large tractors. we don't believe our farmers really want to go fix it on their own. it is much better, especially on the embedded software, and all the aspects associated with working with the embedded software, that it is best served to have our dealers service technicians work on the tractor themselves. laura: i'm gonna push back just a little on that. because one of the things that farmers say to me is that when they need something fixed, they need it fixed right away, and that's why they need to be able to get into the software and do things themselves, because when it's time to pick the crop, it is time to pick the crop. you don't have time to travel to the dealer who may be very far away, or for them to get to you.

ganesh: unfortunately, the technology has advanced so much in our latest equipment, a lot of that, diagnostics can be done remotely. in fact, we have what is called the remote control just for our dealers service technicians to have a look at the cab of a tractor or a large machine exactly like he would be as if he is sitting in it, physically. he can do the diagnostics remotely. and in many of these cases, if our farmers choose to share the data with their dealers ahead of time, then a lot of this can be prognosticated well ahead. so, imagine if an engine service light comes up in your car telling you that you gotta fix it. wouldn't it be great if the service technician could come ahead of time and fix it? scott: so it's--a degree tesla is doing to some degree. let me ask you about the automation of farms. farms seem like they would be ready for automation. they deal in grids, you know, another tractor is not gonna be coming the other direction, the tractor can drive itself. farms seem like ripe for automation, and it, and technology. ganesh: and it's absolutely true.

if you look at all the innovation that you talk about in the automotive space, this has been going on in the farm for the last 10-15 years. we invest in precision ag technology well about 20 years ago, and as a result of that, automated, driverless vehicles have been especially on the farms, have been going on for the last 15 plus years. it started off with precision. it started off with really understanding where you are using satellite guidance. it started off with a few inches of accuracy. nowadays, the state of the art is you've got sub-inch accuracy, and the reason it is so important is that even if you're off an inch in planting, that has a significant impact in terms of the profitability of the farm. john: you know, i was gonna ask you about manufacturing and automation but before i do, i was gonna tell you, my dad is a retired engineer who owns a farm in manhattan, kansas, soy, and he's been--and a lot of the things you're talking about, he's been interested in, and he's looking into, but i wanted to ask you, in terms of manufacturing in, is it illinois, is that where you're doing most of your manufacturing? how has automation played a role in maybe in manufacturing jobs,

and how might the administration have any influence on you in terms of maintaining jobs here or expanding? ganesh: sure, look, automation technology has changed the nature of the jobs. so, if you think about farming itself, our customers really love to work on the land themselves. so even though our technology in the tractors has enabled these vehicles to be driverless, you will still find a farmer sitting in the cab of the tractor because he loves to work the land. what has changed, therefore, is the nature of the job. john: but i'm wondering within your manufacturing facilities, i mean, your workers. are they being--are they adapting? it's like a tesla employee would be adapting to the way the cars are manufactured within their plants. ganesh: absolutely, innovation is the core of what we do, in fact, not just in the machines that we sell, but also in how we manufacture it. so that's being a standard practice that's been adopted across the factories, not just in moline, but all across the globe. scott: i wanna go back to this global idea, and that is, as people look for the next big thing, oh, it's gonna be healthcare, oh, it's gonna be this.

agriculture is an enormous one, and first of all we need it. secondly, there are emerging countries that are not industrialized in their farming, and you guys are in just the right place to bring that to them. ganesh: absolutely, and if you look at the whole space of precision ag technology, we believe we've been the innovators in that space. so we talked about investing in that technology well before it was cool, well, about 20 plus years ago, and it's really revolutionized the world of farming. so, if you were to go traverse the fields in china and in india as an example today, a lot of the work gets done from sunrise to sunset, and that's because you are limited by technology. scott: gps tractors don't need it. ganesh: gps tractors don't need it. you can pretty much work all through. in fact, it's not uncommon if you go to iowa or illinois today to find that our farmers are sitting in the seat of the cab for 20-hour days, working well late into the night in foggy conditions. those could not have been possible without the advent of technology. laura: well, with the technology, you know, one thing, what does it do in a tractor?

how does it--i think people would be interested to hear what are the things that we couldn't do before that this technology enables? ganesh: so, imagine you're sitting in a tractor, and the tractor itself doesn't do a whole lot. it's an implement that is coming behind it that does all the activities, an implement that could plant the seeds. so if you're sitting in the seat of a tractor, a common planter that is running behind is 120 feet wide. it carries 48 rows. each of that row plants seeds at about 80 seeds per second. in a conventional technology, a lot of the time would be spent looking behind and making sure that those rows are doing exactly what they're supposed to. scott: ganesh, i gotta leave you with the plowing of the rows, 'cause we've run out of time, but i appreciate you being here, and "press here" will be back in just a minute. [music]

scott: that's our show for this week. my thanks to my guests. we podcast the show, you can find it on itunes, and the folks over at apple tell me a review does a lot to push the podcast up the charts. so, if you're on itunes, it would be tremendous if you could give it a review. you can search nbc press here and you'll find it. we're gonna take a couple of weeks off to make room for hockey, so if you miss us, you can find a library of interviews at pressheretv.com. i'm scott mcgrew, thank you for making us part of your sunday morning.

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nbc sports, home of the olympic games, the nhl, premier league, the nascar playoffs and primetime's number one show, sunday night football. only on nbc. welcome to the u.s. bank nbc sports report. >> hello, everyone. our coverage of the world alpine ski championships continues from st. moritz in just a moment. first a quick look at other sports news. starting with the nba and the return of kevin durant to oklahoma city. k.d. back in okc last night for the f