Daniel gives Manton an impromptu review of the new Micro.blog home page. They talk about striking a balance between coming across like a charming one-person company vs. a faceless corporation. Manton talks about open-sourcing the React-based version of Micro.blog, they talk about the benefits of doing so, and briefly discuss the GPL and MIT licenses.
Daniel quits Twitter! Manton and Daniel talk about how everybody has a “last straw” when they quit Twitter. They compare Manton’s frustrations with Twitter 10 years ago and the new problems with Elon Musk’s Twitter. Is Mastodon a viable alternative to Twitter, and how is Facebook evil different than Twitter evil? Then they think about what kind of leader would have to come in to potentially save Twitter in the way that Steve Jobs came back to Apple.
Manton talks to Daniel about the forthcoming re-design of Micro.blog’s home page. They discuss the marketing importance of home pages, comparing them to the “storefront” of an online business. Are claims that an app “doesn’t have a lot of features” ever accurate, and if they are, is such an assessment valid criticism? Daniel asserts that he and Manton have lost some of their “hustle” compared to earlier years, and looks forward to plans to ship a public release of Black Ink for iOS.
For the first show of the new year, Daniel and Manton talk about themes vs. resolutions, follow up bug fix updates to the MarsEdit 5 release, and book goals in Micro.blog. They reflect on the virtue of making things rather than merely consuming them, and Daniel’s lack of an enthusiastic desire to work on “just one app”. What is the likelihood of MarsEdit becoming “the thing”?
