Daniel and Manton follow up on Core Technology Fee and how it affects marketplaces and small developers. Then, they celebrate Black Ink for iOS finally shipping, weighing the benefits of 7-day vs. 30-day trials. Finally, they discuss their purchase plans for the Vision Pro and Rabbit R1 devices, and what they expect from the cutting edge hardware. Is it okay to hide technology purchases from your kids?
Daniel and Manton talk about Apple’s announced App Store changes to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. They discuss who can take advantage of the new rules, how they impact users and developers, and the limitations of new features both geographically and in terms of the financial status of a developer’s company.
For our first show of 2024, we talk about new year ambitions and achievements. Manton’s Indie Microblogging book is almost done. Daniel reads the book Atomic Habits and thinks about the scaffolding for changing a lifestyle.
For the last episode of the year, Daniel and Manton discuss the latest tech news including Apple stopping sales of new Apple Watch over a potential patent violation, and Adobe and Figma calling off the acquisition. Then Daniel and Manton look toward 2024 and what they might be working on.
Daniel and Manton talk about the MarsEdit 5.1 release and some things that affected it, such as the range of Mastodon instances and forks with different behaviors. They talk about the increasing sentiment towards locking down access to data on the web, in Mastodon specifically and more generally the public’s reaction to AI bots. How will AI empower data collectors to “imitate” styles of other expressions, and how does using copyrighted visual art to train AI differ from using copyrighted binary code to train code? Daniel answers why MarsEdit 5.1 isn’t called 6.0, plus some closing thoughts about the waning viability of one-time purchases for desktop software.
All about the last week of OpenAI news: Sam Altman’s firing, board upheaval, Microsoft’s influence on the future of the company, and Sam Altman returning as CEO. Daniel and Manton then talk about the merits of OpenAI fulfilling their original nonprofit goals vs. pursuing commercial goals, and where all the activity around AI leaves Apple.
Daniel and Manton talk about The Verge article on POSSE, which mentions Micro.blog and includes quotes from Manton. They discuss the value of speaking to press to get your message out, and the increasing appeal of cross-posting to multiple social networks. Then they wrap up with testing SupportAgent.ai and the trend of personal automation tools — using computer assistance to create products that are more humane than they might have been otherwise.
Daniel and Manton talk about WordPress.com introducing ActivityPub integration, how it effects Micro.blog, and the ability of Automattic to leverage work of plugin developers on WordPress.com, but not for Tumblr. Then they wrap up with an AI discussion of Humane’s Ai Pin and how it might be related to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s investment in the company.
Daniel and Manton discuss Apple’s latest round of in-person and online “Apple Experts” events, the Apple Vision Pro sessions and whether the NDAs allude to anything exciting, and Daniel’s shoulder injury and worrying about getting older and being stuck in our ways as the technological world changes.
Daniel finally ships a MarsEdit beta for Mastodon, and Manton and Daniel discuss the value of the beta feedback loop, with Daniel keeping focus on shipping the final 5.1 release. They reflect on the various ways that blogging and microblogging services treat photos. Finally, they talk about how shipping a new version often means cutting what you think are vital features. Ship often to increase your odds of success.
