"So you're really against that kind of marketing?" Sarah pressed further.
Nick set his coffee down and shook his head. "Not against it exactly — just not a fan. And hey, that's just my two cents."
Sarah let it go — this was getting into touchy territory, best not to dig further.
She flipped through her notes and asked, "I heard the new voice assistant you just released is going to be the last one. You're done releasing new products?"
Nick shook his head, smiling. "It's the last generation. Going forward we'll keep tuning and upgrading this line every year, but don't expect huge leaps.
Honestly, this product's basically hit its ceiling. Even with more tech advances down the road, there's not a whole lot more room to grow.
Maybe someday, if we land on a genuinely new idea, we'll launch a whole new product line. We'd love for people to weigh in and toss us ideas."
Sarah nodded. "So what's next for you guys? Can you tell us anything?"
"Heh," Nick smiled, "Even without more voice assistants, there's plenty else we could dive into.
Wearables, AR, VR — those are hot spaces right now.
Or a next-gen phone. Smartphones have been around, what, over a decade now unchanged? Feels like it's due for a shake-up."
"Oh?" Sarah's eyes lit up. "So you're getting into phones?"
Nick glanced at her and shook his head. "Just an example. Right now, at least in the near term, we've got no plans for that.
Besides, the phone market's a bloodbath right now — we're not trying to jump into that mess."
Seeing she wasn't going to get more, Sarah shifted gears. "Okay, so what's your bigger vision — which industries are you most excited about?"
"The future?" Nick thought about it and smiled. "A strong, stable country, and a peaceful world. That kind of environment is what lets businesses like ours actually grow.
As for industries — internet, tech, biomedical, aerospace, new energy — I'm bullish on all of it."
"What about you personally? Beyond tech and gadgets, it looks like you're moving into hardware manufacturing — you just dropped a new battery tech too. Is this a sign you're restructuring, moving into other industries?" Sarah asked, watching him closely.
Nick smiled at the question. "Any company hits a wall eventually once it gets big enough. At that point you've gotta restructure and find a new angle to break through.
Tons of big companies do this — they spread across a bunch of industries. That gives them a broader base to grow from, and it spreads out the risk too. If one sector takes a hit, the others can pick up the slack.
We're at that stage now — we need to diversify and grow in a more balanced way.
The new lithium battery tech is just a small step in that direction. Whether it pans out depends on how things develop."
"So you'll be getting into all these industries eventually?"
Nick smiled, spread his hands. "Who knows what the future holds?"
Sarah nodded. "Alright, thank you, Nick, for sitting down with us today."
"No problem, my pleasure." Nick stood up smiling and shook her hand. Interview wrapped, and honestly, both of them looked relieved.
Nick grabbed a wet wipe from his assistant to wipe the sweat off his face, took a sip of water, and turned to his assistant, Ryan.
"We got the stuff ready?"
Ryan nodded, walked over, and grabbed a white paper bag with their logo on it from one of the staff.
Nick took the bag and walked it over to Sarah, who was still packing up. "Here — our new voice assistant. Take it home, try it out, and let us know if anything's off."
Sarah didn't reach for it right away, just smiled. "Nicholas, you don't need to do all this. I'm just happy you agreed to the interview."
"C'mon, it's nothing fancy, just our regular unit. And I'm not giving it to you for nothing — you gotta give us honest feedback after you use it!" Nick said with a grin.
Sarah glanced at the other bags being handed out to her crew nearby. If she turned it down, none of her team would feel right accepting theirs either.
She looked back at Nick, nodded, and took the bag. "Alright, fine, we won't be shy about it. Don't worry, we'll post about our experience online to help spread the word."
"Ha, appreciate that!" Nick laughed.
Along with Sarah, the rest of the production crew who came with her all got voice assistants too.
The one Sarah got, though, was the carbon-fiber Pro version — everyone else got the standard.
Not stinginess — just gift-giving etiquette. You don't give the boss the same thing you give the interns. Otherwise what's the point of standing out?
It wasn't a huge gift by any means, just a token between friends. And she was sharp enough to offer up free promotion right away, so his goal was already met.
Once everyone had their gifts, Sarah said her goodbyes.
Nick tried to talk her into staying. "You guys worked all afternoon, at least stay for a meal. We barely get to catch up, Sarah."
"Next time, I promise," Sarah said quickly. "While there's still buzz around you, we've gotta rush back and get this episode cut and aired ASAP.
You have no idea how brutal this business is these days. Ratings tank, and suddenly the budget dries up, and everyone's under the gun."
"Your bosses are being cheap," Nick joked.
"Ha, they've got their own headaches too — so many shows competing for the same resources. Gotta be fair to everyone. This industry just keeps getting harder." Sarah sighed, then waved him off. "I'm out, don't walk me out. You've already given us so much of your time, I feel bad enough as it is."
"It's really no trouble..."
Nick walked Sarah and her crew to the door and watched them go.
Looking at the crowd still hanging around outside, Nick sighed and turned to the store manager. "I'm heading out. Keep up the good work — see you at the office."
"Bye, Nicholas!"