Daniel and Manton talk about their experiences so far with the Apple Vision Pro. They question whether it’s safe to wear “all day” and whether it might damage your eyes. They talk about the various means of justifying the purchase, while Daniel argues that “experiencing a taste of the future” is worth more than money. Finally, they contemplate the future of Apple Vision and whether Apple will release updates annually or less frequently.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
