Bill Gates on the future of work; Vicis reborn; Nintendo meets Lego

Here’s what we’re talking about this week on the GeekWire Podcast.

Bill Gates talks about how work will change after the coronavirus ... and how school shouldn't. A Seattle startup that is trying to make a safer football helmet gets a new lease on life. And Lego and Nintendo bring Super Mario into the physical world in a surprising way.

We have a lot of tech news to discuss on this week's episode:

• Vicis assets sold for $2.85M to Schutt investor, promising to revive failed startup’s helmet tech
• No Neo in 2020: Microsoft pauses work on dual-screen device running Windows 10X
• The quest for a better blockchain: Former Microsoft AI chief invests in Seattle startup Asensys
• Ray Ozzie’s latest project: Former Microsoft exec raises $11M for IoT startup Blues Wireless

News about the COVID-19 pandemic:

• COVID-19 crisis sparks ‘inflection point’ for online grocery — and huge revenue for Amazon
• Startup stimulus? How logjams and ethics are impacting federal loans for tech companies
• Internet should be an ‘essential utility,’ WA schools chief says as state pulls plug on rest of term

Microsoft says its Teams collaboration software hit another record in usage, but the number isn't quite what it seems:

• Microsoft reports new spike in Teams usage as work habits change around the world

Bill Gates talks about how some forms of work will never go back to "normal" after the virus, and why he thinks school shouldn't change too much:

• Bill Gates says coronavirus will forever alter work, but face-to-face school is ‘totally irreplaceable’

A Seattle startup is selling games for Slack but ... isn't that what ruined Facebook?

• Games on Slack: Seattle startup Polly looks to unite remote teams with shared interactive activities

Super Mario moves out of your game system and into the real world of Lego and it's kind of cool:

• Pre-orders start for LEGO and Nintendo ‘Super Mario’ set that interacts with the physical world

And how a rant about reheating a fancy Seattle takeout meal turned into a viral force for good:

• Seattle restaurant delivery complaint in ‘reply all’ email turns into $10K donation to food charity

With GeekWire’s Todd Bishop, Monica Nickelsburg, Kurt Schlosser and Taylor Soper. Our podcast producer is Curt Milton. Our theme music is by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.

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