Week In Geek Podcast: Amazon reveals its Whole Foods plan and the psychology of how we use apps

It’s official: Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods will finalize Monday, and the tech giant is already planning big changes for the high-end grocery chain.

The biggest change is aimed at customer’s wallets. Amazon announced this week it will immediately start slashing the prices of some of Whole Food’s most popular items, sending Whole Foods in a typically Amazonian direction. Time may be short for the chain’s sassy nickname: Whole Paycheck.

There are also long-term changes in the works, including an integration with Amazon services like Prime, Fresh and Lockers, and the stores will likely be home to many of the tech giant’s retail experiments. We break down what it all means on this episode of the Week In Geek.

Meanwhile, Google and Walmart are teaming up for their own retail partnership. The companies are hoping to take on Amazon with voice-enabled ordering through the Google Home and Google Assistant. Is it enough to challenge Amazon’s e-commerce dominance?

We also take a look at a study released this week that examines how different generations use apps, and some of the findings are surprising.

Facebook and Google dominated the top apps by usage, but what about apps that people say they can’t live without? For millennials, that app was Amazon, even if it isn’t used as often as others.

The study also revealed differences in how millennials and other generations think about and organize apps on their phones. If you’re under 34, chances are you scroll with your thumb, while those over 55 are five times more likely to use their phone with two hands.

Speaking of handling new technology, our avid bike riders have been trying out Ofo, Seattle’s newest bike sharing service — the yellow ones. How does it shape up to the others? Well, spoiler alert: they’re all pretty much the same, Taylor says, although Todd likes the larger size of the Ofo bike vs. Spin and LimeBike.

On the Random Channel this week: We puzzle over Instant Pots; an eclipse photo that seemed too good to be true; a Dungeons and Dragons podcast; and trying out Headspace, the app that helps you meditate.

Listen above, download the MP3, and don’t forget to subscribe and rate the podcast in Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you listen. Thanks for listening!