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”?
Manton and Daniel celebrate the apparent revitalization of blogging, a possible silver lining on cloud surrounding Twitter’s downfall. They talk about Matt Mullenweg’s recent podcast and public speaking appearances, and his general positivity about the future of blogging. They compare the virtue of owning your own domain name to owning your own home, and wonder whether awareness of this virtue will grow among the general public.
Daniel and Manton talk about Micro.blog trying to get more serious about marketing. How do we actually measure the success of advertising campaigns, and should we aim to attract more “influencers” to our products? Manton tries to be conscious of wrapping up high-pressure work in time to take it easy for the holidays. Finally, Daniel gives an update on his continuing efforts to get MarsEdit 5 approved in the Mac App Store.
Manton talks to Daniel about releasing MarsEdit 5, his excitement about the positive reactions, and his frustration about it not being approved by Mac App Store Review. They grapple with the uncertainty that app review opaqueness creates, and Daniel wonders if he could have done anything differently to make things go more smoothly. They talk about the mind-blowing impact of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and about the implications of machine learning on human creativity. Finally, they weigh the pluses of minuses of AI in general, and Daniel wonders whether he could fake virtually any job with the help of the technology.
Manton and Daniel talk about payments from the Small App Developer settlement against Apple. Why does Manton refuse to accept free money, and are there valid reasons to opt out of the settlement? Then they reflect on the wave of opportunity from Twitter’s drastic downfall, and whether Manton and Daniel can “catch it”. Finally, Manton remembers the IndieWeb principles about plurality and monoculture, and they discuss how that might relate to Mastodon.
Manton and Daniel catch up on the latest news from Twitter, including the fact that Twitter is allegedly hiring. They talk about whether Manton would accept the far-fetched opportunity to be CEO of Twitter, and what he would do in that scenario. They acknowledge the mass exodus from Twitter and the potentially golden opportunity for both Daniel and Manton with respect to Micro.blog and MarsEdit. Finally, Daniel stares down the last two week of MarsEdit 5 development before his promised ship date.
Manton returns from the road while Twitter continues going off the rails. What is the company’s viability as they bewilder users and advertisers, and how much should Manton react to the opportunities that might exist? Daniel and Manton discuss Twitter, whether Jack Dorsey stands to gain even if Twitter fails, and the nihilistic tendencies of certain leaders. Finally, Manton checks in with Daniel on progress toward MarsEdit 5.
Manton checks in with Daniel from his west coast road trip. They talk about Elon Musk’s first, chaotic week at Twitter. Daniel talks about his commitment to shipping MarsEdit 5 on Dec 5, and how sometimes we have to ship software for own sake first, and for our customers’ sake second.
Daniel and Manton talk about everything Twitter. Elon Musk officially taking over the company, Manton’s 10-year anniversary of not posting to twitter.com/manton, Twitter’s open source Bluesky initiate and the AT Protocol, social media network effects, and how Twitter may or may not change in the coming months.
