Manton and Daniel talk about Apple’s latest workaround for lawsuits demanding they support “outside sales” on the iPhone. They talk about what Apple’s balance of priorities with money-making vs. world-changing should be, and whether they are on the right track. Finally, they ask whether Apple is destined to gradually lose its soul over time, and they issue a challenge to current Apple employees to turn things around.
Many thanks to our sponsor this week:
Links:
- Updated App Store Policies – The Verge summarizes Apple’s latest change to US policies, allowing
- Dictator on Day One – Manton’s blog post about the morality of Apple’s App Store policies.
- Epic – Creator of Fortnite and one of Apple’s chief legal antagonists.
- Shifting Baseline Syndrome – The notion that humans suffer from a shifting conception of what is right or acceptable, based on gradual deterioration.
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January 20, 2024 at 3:56 am.
Daniel and Manton talk about two hardware AI-focused products: Rabbit and Humane’s Ai Pin. They compare the features, the prices, and question whether the premise from each company is true: do people really hate their phones? Daniel argues that Apple Watch is the form factor that these devices should be pursuing, and they both reflect on how the phenomenal growth of AI in the tech industry is expanding out of software and into AI.
Links:
- Ai Pin – Humane’s flagship AI assistant.
- Rabbit r1 – A cheaper and in some ways more compelling hardware AI assistant.
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January 13, 2024 at 12:30 am.
Manton and Daniel react to AI announcements from Google and Apple, and speculate that AI could be the technological weakness empowering other companies to challenge Apple’s dominance. They talk about a new service from Beeper that allows Android users to connect directly to the iMessage network, and how likely they are to be stopped by Apple. Finally, they discuss the ethical implications of a company like Beeper “hitching a ride” on another company’s infrastructure without their permission.
Many thanks to our sponsor this week:
Links:
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December 9, 2023 at 10:17 pm.
Daniel talks to Manton about his road trip, how he got Covid, and had to rush home. They react to the leak of an internal Tumblr memo, and Matt Mullenweg’s subsequent public statements about it, evaluate Tumblr’s current status and prognosis for the future, and why the heck Tumblr posts don’t have dates.
Many thanks to our sponsor this week:
Links:
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November 17, 2023 at 10:21 pm.
Manton and Daniel react to Apple’s M3 Mac announcement. They have different feelings about the quality of the presentation, but agree on the substance of what was presented. They talk about resisting the urge to upgrade when Macs are increasingly holding their utility for many years. Manton observes that Apple actually talked about “AI” by name, and they both talk about Apple’s relative obliviousness when it comes to AI. Finally, they hint at Manton’s forthcoming road trip, combining work and pleasure.
Many thanks to our sponsor this week:
Links:
- Apple Events – Landing page that currently hosts the M3 Mac announcement event.
- LLaMA – Facebook/Meta’s open source AI models.
- Touché – Daniel’s free Touch Bar utility for Mac.
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November 2, 2023 at 10:38 pm.
Manton and Daniel talk more about the on-by-default Video Reactions feature, now that it’s been deployed to the masses. They acknowledge the risks of injecting emotional language and imagery into arbitrary digital contexts, and think about how Apple might have introduced the feature differently. Finally, they consider Twitter/X’s new $1/year subscription approach, which might not be the craziest idea they’ve ever heard.
Links:
- The Funniest Thing – Mat Haughie shares the experience of his friend also who encountered video reactions during therapy.
- $1 Annual Fee – The Guardian reports on the trial plan that Twitter/X is rolling out in New Zealand and the Philippines.
- Pinboard – Maciej Cegłowski’s link-saving service, a pioneer of creative payment options.
- Micro.blog – Manton’s microblogging service.
- Cost of Spam – Matt Mullenweg’s reaction to Twitter/X’s $1 subscription experiment.
- Kottke.org Comments – New feature on Jason Kottke’s site, limited to paying subscribers.
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October 20, 2023 at 6:50 pm.
Daniel and Manton Follow-up on whether they ordered any new phones or watches. They talk about resisting the temptation to buy things because they are “shiny and new”. Entropy and the incentive companies do or don’t have to make financial arrangements “simple”. Finally they talk about the risks and rewards of upgrading to macOS Sonoma and Xcode 15.
Links:
- iPhone Upgrade Program – Apple’s annual “subscription” for new iPhones.
- Upton Sinclair – “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
- Mercury Bank – Online virtual business banking.
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September 23, 2023 at 8:42 pm.
Manton and Daniel respond to Apple’s latest special event. They celebrate Tim Cook’s relatively good acting, and perhaps being … funny for the first time? The march of USB-C progress, and how iPhone 15 brings us one step closer to the elimination of Lightning ports. Finally they reflect on the forthcoming release of macOS 14 “Sonoma” and the funny way a new feature injected itself into Daniel’s life.
Many thanks to our sponsor this week:
Links:
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September 14, 2023 at 11:12 pm.
The end of Twitter is finally nigh, so Daniel and Manton talk about the continuing foolishness of Elon Musk. They celebrate the rebranding to “X” as a relief for people who ever loved anything about Twitter, and talk about Threads as a viable alternative to Twitter. Daniel shares that he has applied for a Vision Pro prototype to develop a VR version of Black Ink. Finally, they take a deeper consideration of the value of pushing yourself into areas you’re not comfortable with or feel unqualified for.
Many thanks to our sponsor this week:
Links:
- 𝕏 – The social network previously known as Twitter.
- Threads – Meta/Instagram’s new text-based social networking service.
- Bluesky – Another recently debuted social network.
- Mastodon – Increasingly popular federated social networking software.
- Micro.blog – Manton’s social networking site.
- Vision Pro Developer Kit – Enrollment page for requesting a prototype device.
- Everything Around You – Short excerpt of Steve Jobs interview in which he talks about inventing your own reality.
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July 27, 2023 at 8:17 pm.
Daniel and Manton talk about Apple’s threat to withhold FaceTime and Message from the UK. How much leverage should tech companies have over countries? They segue to a discussion of where to draw the line in general on public surveillance. Finally, they struggle to conclude whether or not companies should exert power over governments, and consider Apple’s unlikely goodness for being a huge company.
Links:
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July 21, 2023 at 7:40 pm.
