Chris Berube

And so to demonstrate this point, I want to talk to you about the design of tractors.

Very little, if I'm being honest.

I know there is a company called John Deere that makes tractors, and they have green hats.

I assume there was probably a guy named John Deere at some point in the past.

You would assume?

Mm-hmm.

Not too much else, but I learned quite a bit for this story.

So there's one thing that's been vexing farmers that really surprised me, and that is the software in their tractors.

So like a lot of things, modern tractors are now run by a computer operating system.

And one of the farmers who's not happy with the software in his tractor is a guy I spoke to for this story, a farmer in Missouri named Jared Wilson.

So Jared runs a family farm.

You know, he's deep in the trenches of this world.

And he told me something I did not really know about farming equipment.

Tractors, harvesters, spraying machines, you know, all of these vehicles that are critical to farming today, for the most part, they are run by computers.

I am sure if you're a farmer, this is all incredibly obvious stuff.

But, you know, this was a surprise to me.

Like, it's the same thing with a lot of cars now, where functions that used to be mechanical, they are now all run by an operating system.

And my car, you know, gives me a driving score, for example, which is very, very annoying.

But for the most part, Jared told me this digitization of the tractor, it's a really positive thing.

Like, in lots of ways, these controls make his job a lot easier.