YouTube Killed Shorts - WAN Show April 17, 2026

YouTube is now allowing users to limit YouTube Shorts to zero minutes, a feature that many have found useful for self-control or simply to avoid them. The rollout seems to be gradual, as not all users have access to it yet, with some speculating it's a regional or staggered release. While some users have reported that setting the limit to zero effectively hides Shorts, others, like Crystal, found that it only presents a bypassable warning, making the feature less effective for those struggling with addiction to doom-scrolling. It is believed that this change might be a response to a recent ruling concerning app design that harms minors. In other news, DaVinci Resolve 21 has emerged as a strong alternative to Adobe Lightroom. Blackmagic Design's announcement at NAB 2026 revealed a dedicated photo page in Resolve, offering raw editing, tethering, masking, and more. This update supports raw files from major camera brands and brings Resolve's node-based color tools to still images. Most of these features are available in the free version, with only AI Magic Mask and Film Look Creator requiring a one-time $295 Studio upgrade. This stands in stark contrast to Adobe's subscription model, which charges $10 a month for Lightroom alone. This development is seen as a potential disruptor to Adobe's near-monopoly in creative software, especially given the growing number of students using DaVinci Resolve. The cost for Adobe Creative Cloud for Linus Media Group is reported to be around $62,000 annually, with an additional $4,500 for Adobe Acrobat Pro, highlighting the significant expenses associated with Adobe's subscription model. A new California bill, AB 1921, dubbed the "Protect Our Games Act," aims to require long-term support for server-connected games released after December 1st, 2026. This bill mandates a 60-day notice before game services are shut down, detailing affected features, how users can continue playing, and any security risks. It also requires operators to provide either a new offline version of the game, a patch for the existing version, or a full refund. This provides an important safety net for consumers, particularly for games with a long history of community engagement. However, the bill does not apply to subscription-based or free-to-play games, which raises questions about how it will address in-game purchases in "free" titles. Separately, the EU Parliament held an introductory hearing on a similar European Citizens' Initiative to "Stop Destroying Video Games," indicating growing international momentum for game preservation. Apple is making a renewed push into the education sector with "Apple Education," a redesigned landing page showcasing the benefits of its hardware and software for lifelong learning. This initiative aims to re-engage potential users early, particularly with affordable iPads and MacBook Airs for K-12, and then guide them through the product line for higher education. This move is seen as a direct challenge to Chromebooks, which gained significant market share after Apple seemingly abandoned the education market post-eMac. The affordability and performance of the new MacBook Air are particularly highlighted as a compelling alternative to Chromebooks, especially given its ability to run full desktop software as opposed to iPadOS apps. The discussion also touched on Apple's pricing strategy, suggesting that if they can offer a $500 laptop to educational customers, they could potentially release a $400 iPhone, leveraging their in-house silicon for processors and modems. In other tech news, NVIDIA's N1 SoC has surfaced on a motherboard, featuring a 20-core ARM CPU and a Blackwell architecture GPU with 6144 CUDA cores, potentially competing with the RTX 5070. This marks NVIDIA's first venture into consumer PC chips after years of Tegra SoCs for mobile devices. It's designed to challenge Apple Silicon, AMD Strix Halo, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite in the Windows on ARM space. However, concerns remain about game compatibility and the functionality of kernel-level anti-cheat on Windows on ARM. The Internet Archive is facing challenges, as 23 major news outlets, including USA Today and The New York Times, are blocking its crawler, IS-Archiver bot. This action is an attempt to limit AI agents from accessing historical data for training, which raises concerns about fair use policies and the bandwidth costs incurred by the Internet Archive due to frequent LLM bot access. This is particularly problematic given the decline of print journalism and the disrepair of traditional archives, making the Internet Archive increasingly crucial for preserving historical information. Despite these challenges, the Internet Archive is also expanding its collections, notably by digitizing over 10,000 rare bootleg concert recordings from a super fan's collection, including early Nirvana performances. In a humorous turn, struggling shoe retailer Allbirds rebranded as "Newbird AI," an AI compute infrastructure company, causing its stock to surge from under $3 to $17 in a single day. This pivot, which involves buying GPUs and leasing them for AI compute, has been criticized as a "ridiculous" move reminiscent of the dot-com and crypto bubbles, where companies rebranded to capitalize on market trends. BYD is upgrading some of its top EVs with "five flash charging" technology, claiming a 10% to 70% charge in five minutes and 10% to 97% in nine minutes, even in extreme cold. With over 5,000 flash charging stations already built in China and a European rollout underway, this could be a significant step towards widespread EV adoption by addressing charging time concerns. Google will begin punishing sites for "back button hijacking" starting June 15th. Websites that trap users in loops, redirect them, or display intrusive ads when they try to navigate back will face ranking penalties. This move is welcomed by users frustrated with such practices, even if some site owners are unaware that third-party ad scripts are causing the issue. Finally, the show also featured several product announcements from LTT Store and Creator Warehouse, including motorsports-inspired "Moto T" jerseys, "Sir Ability Toucan" shirts, and blank baseball caps. Floatplane subscribers will receive early access to the upcoming "Shipstorm" sale event and reduced free shipping thresholds. Several exclusive videos were also announced for Floatplane, including one about a "highest PC build ever" filmed in a plane, which is expected to be controversial.