Connected

00:00:00 ◼   ► [Music]

00:00:06 ◼   ► From relay FM, this is Connected episode 118.

00:00:10 ◼   ► Today's show is brought to you by Smile, Mac Weldon and Hover.

00:00:14 ◼   ► My name is Myke Hurley. I am joined by Federico Vittucci. Ciao Federico.

00:00:19 ◼   ► Ciao Myke.

00:00:19 ◼   ► Do you remember that time when your ISP caught on fire?

00:00:23 ◼   ► I do actually. I do remember.

00:00:26 ◼   ► So that fire never truly went out and it's uh it's just spread east I think.

00:00:31 ◼   ► What's uh what's what's the sign there's a there's a light that never goes out?

00:00:35 ◼   ► Yeah there's a fire that never goes out at an ISP.

00:00:38 ◼   ► And that that fire has spread over somewhere uh in southern America and it has affected

00:00:50 ◼   ► Comcast I think. That is why Steven is not here today.

00:00:53 ◼   ► I wish I had a good thing to say for when Steven misses the show, like how you two do with me,

00:00:59 ◼   ► where you proclaim me as very dead. You think that's a good thing,

00:01:04 ◼   ► so you think when we say that. No, it's not a good thing, so I wish I had something in return,

00:01:10 ◼   ► but I don't. Like a comeback, you don't have a comeback for that. Last week I was sitting

00:01:16 ◼   ► listening to the show live, as you two were recording, whilst I was sitting in my new flat

00:01:21 ◼   ► while a boiler was being replaced. How did it feel? It was horrible because as I was listening to the

00:01:28 ◼   ► show it was at that moment that the plumber came in to tell me that it wasn't just a pipe that

00:01:33 ◼   ► needed replacing but it was the entire water heater. You did feel like you were dying. It felt

00:01:40 ◼   ► like that for a little bit. My bank account is thoroughly dead right now. It was a metaphor for

00:01:47 ◼   ► your wallet. It's a very very very good metaphor. Talking about metaphors for

00:01:53 ◼   ► wallets and no money etc etc, Steven bought the Apple coffee table book and

00:01:58 ◼   ► he produced a lovely little video, something that only he could do, which

00:02:03 ◼   ► was to show off the book alongside the actual hardware that he owns and when

00:02:10 ◼   ► you see it in this context, I mean obviously he didn't show every page but

00:02:13 ◼   ► you just see the incredible amount of stuff that he has accumulated over the last couple

00:02:19 ◼   ► of years. It really is quite frightening.

00:02:21 ◼   ► Yeah, so you know the movie Jumanji. It's like Jumanji for Apple nerds. You just open

00:02:28 ◼   ► the book and all products come out.

00:02:30 ◼   ► That's what that book is in his house. Every time he opens it there's a stampede of IMAX.

00:02:38 ◼   ► I mean he has 13 so it's quite literal at this point.

00:02:43 ◼   ► That's a really unlucky number. Oh man. It's a nice video. I like the Apple socks part

00:02:49 ◼   ► when he opens it and all the socks are all stuck in the book. Apple should have actually

00:02:52 ◼   ► done that I think. They should have just put a selection of Apple socks, the iPod socks

00:02:58 ◼   ► in the book for you to just peel off and use to your heart's content.

00:03:02 ◼   ► I'm not sure that's a good idea. Buy a book with the socks inside?

00:03:06 ◼   ► Is the book a good idea?

00:03:09 ◼   ► I don't know.

00:03:10 ◼   ► Are you going to buy it? Are you interested in buying it?

00:03:12 ◼   ► I don't have enough space. I'm already full of stuff, right?

00:03:16 ◼   ► All of these home accessories and iPads and consoles,

00:03:20 ◼   ► I mean, only to convince my girlfriend

00:03:22 ◼   ► that the PSVR was a good idea.

00:03:24 ◼   ► I needed to do some serious cable management

00:03:26 ◼   ► to hide that mess, you know, from her field of vision.

00:03:30 ◼   ► - I have not gotten that down yet.

00:03:31 ◼   ► - I feel like if I buy this book,

00:03:33 ◼   ► because when I got the iconic book a few years ago,

00:03:37 ◼   ► it took a lot of convincing to say,

00:03:39 ◼   ► look, this is a good idea because it's a great product.

00:03:42 ◼   ► And I feel like the Apple book is even bigger, especially if you get the big version.

00:03:45 ◼   ► And I live in a small apartment and I don't have that kind of space.

00:03:48 ◼   ► Steven has a museum, so it makes sense for Steven.

00:03:51 ◼   ► That's true.

00:03:51 ◼   ► I just, you know, I cannot afford that.

00:03:54 ◼   ► It is a little known, but Steven actually lives in a mansion house.

00:03:59 ◼   ► And he has a whole wing of his home,

00:04:02 ◼   ► a vast, vast wing of his home dedicated to displaying his Apple products.

00:04:07 ◼   ► It really is quite impressive.

00:04:08 ◼   ► Yeah. Yeah. I mean, his family members pay a ticket to go inside.

00:04:12 ◼   ► So, you know, it's serious.

00:04:13 ◼   ► - It's legit.

00:04:14 ◼   ► It's legit.

00:04:16 ◼   ► - It's a whole enterprise.

00:04:17 ◼   ► - It's a whole big thing.

00:04:18 ◼   ► That's what he does.

00:04:18 ◼   ► That's what he does.

00:04:19 ◼   ► He doesn't actually do anything for Relay FM.

00:04:21 ◼   ► He just manages his museum.

00:04:23 ◼   ► It's all a front, you know?

00:04:24 ◼   ► - Yeah, his brother does the podcast actually.

00:04:27 ◼   ► It's not Steven.

00:04:27 ◼   ► (laughing)

00:04:29 ◼   ► - Nobody's seen Steven in 10 years.

00:04:32 ◼   ► He's been curating the museum.

00:04:34 ◼   ► The whole thing is a lie.

00:04:35 ◼   ► I have to say, as time has gone on,

00:04:38 ◼   ► I've decided that I do want to own this book.

00:04:41 ◼   ► But I don't think I'm going to buy it. I think I might put it on the list.

00:04:46 ◼   ► You're going to steal it?

00:04:47 ◼   ► Yes, I'm going to run it to the store and just pick up the ones. They don't care about

00:04:51 ◼   ► anything anymore.

00:04:52 ◼   ► Good luck.

00:04:53 ◼   ► You know, because in the new stores they have that thing, right, where you can just pick

00:04:55 ◼   ► up and walk away with stuff. But when you leave the store, the phone locks down. So

00:04:59 ◼   ► like, what happens to the book? Does like all the ink run out of it? Like what happens

00:05:02 ◼   ► to the ink?

00:05:03 ◼   ► There's just going to be some guy with a gun chasing you.

00:05:05 ◼   ► - Oh man, that's only a book.

00:05:07 ◼   ► I've got to put it on my Christmas list on my birthday list

00:05:12 ◼   ► and somebody might get it for me.

00:05:14 ◼   ► But it's something that I want to own.

00:05:16 ◼   ► I have grand dreams here of putting it on my coffee table

00:05:20 ◼   ► in my new apartment, you know?

00:05:22 ◼   ► It's like, look, this is how artistic I am.

00:05:25 ◼   ► I have just a pure white book.

00:05:28 ◼   ► - Look at this beautiful product.

00:05:29 ◼   ► This is how I make money.

00:05:30 ◼   ► I talk about the things in this book.

00:05:32 ◼   ► - Exactly, I just open it up to a page

00:05:34 ◼   ► and as people come in and out of the home, I can explain to them the intricacies of the

00:05:40 ◼   ► antenna bands on this iPhone compared to the other one.

00:05:43 ◼   ► I make a living talking about the iPod socks, that's what I do.

00:05:47 ◼   ► We talk about them an awful lot though, so kind of, yes we have.

00:05:51 ◼   ► It's kind of accurate.

00:05:52 ◼   ► Talking about soft products created by technology companies.

00:05:56 ◼   ► Did you just say soft?

00:05:58 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:05:59 ◼   ► Okay.

00:06:00 ◼   ► The Google Daydream arrived.

00:06:01 ◼   ► Oh yeah, it is soft.

00:06:02 ◼   ► It is very soft.

00:06:03 ◼   ► pajamas for your face it is like pajamas for the face that's exactly because also

00:06:07 ◼   ► when you put it on you go into a wonderful dreamland oh man like yeah

00:06:13 ◼   ► what's that you're you're making a really bad pun about the name of this

00:06:17 ◼   ► product no no I was going for the idea of the pajamas thing okay right so when

00:06:23 ◼   ► you when you put oh man daydream daydream and pajamas actually makes a

00:06:27 ◼   ► dream pajamas you know you do have a point I'm sorry it's okay it all goes

00:06:32 ◼   ► together eventually. So my daydream arrived unexpectedly a few days ago. I knew it was

00:06:38 ◼   ► like on the way but I didn't have any tracking information. But it's here now and the hardware

00:06:44 ◼   ► is really really nice. I actually can appreciate the route that Google took to make this a

00:06:50 ◼   ► soft feeling product and that makes it very comfortable actually. It fits very nicely

00:06:56 ◼   ► with my glasses on. You're able to pull the front part out so it can be cleaned. It's

00:07:01 ◼   ► It's all very nice, it looks good, it's well made.

00:07:04 ◼   ► I think this is definitely continuing along the trend that Google started with the Pixel

00:07:09 ◼   ► of making good hardware.

00:07:12 ◼   ► This is good hardware.

00:07:13 ◼   ► The little remote that it comes with is awesome.

00:07:16 ◼   ► It's like a little Wiimote and you just move it around, but it adds something more to phone

00:07:22 ◼   ► VR.

00:07:24 ◼   ► A lot of phone VR stuff, you're kind of just moving around and tapping the headset.

00:07:29 ◼   ► The one time I played the Gear VR that was what I was doing.

00:07:32 ◼   ► You just moved your head around and tapped the headset which didn't really work so much

00:07:35 ◼   ► for me.

00:07:36 ◼   ► And all of the good VR platforms, the serious VR platforms, they have their own controllers

00:07:39 ◼   ► and their own systems like that.

00:07:41 ◼   ► So creating this little controller is really nice.

00:07:42 ◼   ► And the way that you store it, you store it inside the headset which is really cool too.

00:07:46 ◼   ► So they're always together, it's got a little piece of elastic that holds it in and then

00:07:49 ◼   ► you just close the headset and it's all together in one little piece.

00:07:54 ◼   ► The thing that I find the most interesting and compelling about this whole thing is that

00:07:58 ◼   ► now I have a package of VR that could be used anywhere.

00:08:04 ◼   ► Now that's what's really interesting to me.

00:08:06 ◼   ► So you know, let's just say that I was a person who used my Pixel all day every day, right?

00:08:13 ◼   ► Like that I was a full time user of that, it was my full time phone.

00:08:16 ◼   ► I could just throw this thing in a bag when I'm traveling or whatever and if I'm on a

00:08:20 ◼   ► long journey I could just pull it out, strap it on my face and play some games or watch

00:08:24 ◼   ► some YouTube videos or whatever, right?

00:08:26 ◼   ► That's kind of the idea of this.

00:08:28 ◼   ► Let's set aside for a moment the awkwardness of that,

00:08:30 ◼   ► 'cause I wanna talk about that in a moment.

00:08:32 ◼   ► But that's what's good about this,

00:08:34 ◼   ► is I have this little package, it's not very big.

00:08:37 ◼   ► It isn't very big.

00:08:38 ◼   ► I mean, you know, it's big enough, but it's not huge.

00:08:40 ◼   ► It's just about the right kind of size,

00:08:43 ◼   ► throwing this kind of thing in your bag

00:08:45 ◼   ► when you're going on a long trip and you'd be fine with it.

00:08:48 ◼   ► Now, one thing that I was interested about

00:08:52 ◼   ► is wondering if the quality of the screen

00:08:53 ◼   ► would be good enough, and it is vastly good enough.

00:08:56 ◼   ► Like the resolution of it looks much better than the PSVR does.

00:09:00 ◼   ► Because these screens are incredible.

00:09:05 ◼   ► You know, look at what's in these phones these days.

00:09:08 ◼   ► Like I can't see the pixels at all in this thing.

00:09:10 ◼   ► And you know, you can in the PSVR.

00:09:13 ◼   ► There are some games where like you can see the resolution isn't that great.

00:09:16 ◼   ► Right. But on this thing, that's not the case.

00:09:18 ◼   ► And the reason is, is because the phone is like 600, 700, 800 pounds.

00:09:23 ◼   ► Right. It is incredibly advanced hardware.

00:09:26 ◼   ► and you're paying for a lot more with the PSVR, right?

00:09:29 ◼   ► Like it's not just the screen, it's the whole thing.

00:09:31 ◼   ► And understandably that's more expensive right now.

00:09:34 ◼   ► But if you think about the previous Oculus devices,

00:09:38 ◼   ► I don't know off the top of my head what it is now,

00:09:41 ◼   ► but they were using the same screens

00:09:43 ◼   ► that Samsung phones were using, right?

00:09:46 ◼   ► - I think so, yeah. - They were.

00:09:48 ◼   ► I don't know if they still are,

00:09:50 ◼   ► but they were in all of the DK2s

00:09:52 ◼   ► and all of the development kits and stuff like that.

00:09:54 ◼   ► They were using phone screens.

00:09:55 ◼   ► And it's because they are incredibly high pixel density

00:10:00 ◼   ► right in front of your face.

00:10:01 ◼   ► Like it works perfectly for that.

00:10:03 ◼   ► However, the phone gets incredibly hot after use.

00:10:08 ◼   ► Like I played for-- - Do you feel it?

00:10:10 ◼   ► - Oh yeah, I played for like 25 minutes

00:10:13 ◼   ► and couldn't hold the phone comfortably.

00:10:15 ◼   ► - Oh wow.

00:10:15 ◼   ► - Yeah, it gets insane.

00:10:18 ◼   ► Because it is processing an incredible amount, right,

00:10:21 ◼   ► to do this.

00:10:22 ◼   ► Now, you know, I'm going to assume that it's okay

00:10:25 ◼   ► that Google have thoroughly tested all of this, but the phone gets really really hot

00:10:29 ◼   ► after playing for an extended, not even a massively extended period of time, but like

00:10:35 ◼   ► a good comfortable amount of time.

00:10:38 ◼   ► What kind of games have you played?

00:10:40 ◼   ► There aren't a lot right now. There is a handful of games and then there's some experiences.

00:10:46 ◼   ► I haven't done any of the experiences stuff, I've played some of the games. Some are good,

00:10:50 ◼   ► I found a couple that I did like. There's one called Arc Slinger which is a first person

00:10:58 ◼   ► shooter game but it's like a you are fixed in position and it's like a shooting gallery

00:11:02 ◼   ► type thing. It's like a Wild West game and you have to shoot people and it has something

00:11:07 ◼   ► that I really like. There are like power ups that you can do but to do the power ups you

00:11:12 ◼   ► have to do like fighting game style combinations on the touchpad so you know maybe to get the

00:11:18 ◼   ► the fire bullets you have to do up down left right left right up down up down and it's

00:11:22 ◼   ► really cool because like you're doing these like little combos to get the special power

00:11:26 ◼   ► up bullets because it's got the touchpad on the on the controller as well as the movement

00:11:30 ◼   ► stuff and what I really like about it just from a game design perspective the codes as

00:11:37 ◼   ► you call them for these combos they're written on the floor beneath you so you look down

00:11:40 ◼   ► and you follow them you look up and you can start shooting people so that's it's a really

00:11:43 ◼   ► fun game it's got good sound design I actually really like it there's another game called

00:11:48 ◼   ► danger goat as well that I liked which is your go yeah it's like an isometric

00:11:52 ◼   ► point-and-click type thing so yeah you're you're trying to get the goat

00:11:56 ◼   ► through this level it's like multiple levels that are set diorama style like

00:12:00 ◼   ► monument valley you know like just the floating levels in the sky and you have

00:12:03 ◼   ► to get it's like a puzzle game you know that you have to get the goat from point

00:12:07 ◼   ► a to point B it's nicely designed to go cartoon like animation and there are

00:12:13 ◼   ► like certain challenges and puzzles that you have to do to get them through the

00:12:16 ◼   ► I've noticed this from PSVR from a couple of games that I've played that kind of like the isometric point-and-click type stuff works really

00:12:22 ◼   ► Well because you can literally just point in the world. You can look around the world

00:12:25 ◼   ► Zach in the chat room asked about the the phone heating stuff if it takes a while for the phone to cool down

00:12:32 ◼   ► Because his is pretty quick. It doesn't take a long time for it to cool down

00:12:35 ◼   ► But it gets worryingly hot the first time, you know

00:12:39 ◼   ► like I am

00:12:39 ◼   ► Went to take off the headset and touch the edge of the phone and was like wow

00:12:44 ◼   ► Like, you know, I was I was surprised by it, you know, because the phone kind of clips into the headset

00:12:48 ◼   ► So I think all in all though. I am very impressed with this

00:12:52 ◼   ► I mean it kind of just leads into to my overall feelings about the pixel is that this is just top quality stuff

00:12:58 ◼   ► Right. Yeah for a phone based VR system. This is very compelling

00:13:04 ◼   ► Like I could imagine taking this thing. Like I said, I can't a plane with me. I could think it'd be great for that kind of use

00:13:11 ◼   ► But I feel I would feel silly doing it right now. Yeah, I was about to ask you would you do it?

00:13:16 ◼   ► I don't think I could not right now. And I think I think there will come a time in the not too distant future

00:13:22 ◼   ► Where we will do this type of stuff

00:13:25 ◼   ► You know, I I foresee an airline like Virgin or someone like that

00:13:31 ◼   ► Putting their in-flight entertainment into VR headsets

00:13:34 ◼   ► There has to there has to be some

00:13:38 ◼   ► social changes. There has to be an inflection point which we're not at

00:13:41 ◼   ► But once we get there

00:13:44 ◼   ► This is the type of hardware that you will want to use

00:13:46 ◼   ► Something that you can put your phone into and you can play games and you can watch YouTube 360 videos and stuff like that

00:13:53 ◼   ► But this hardware is good enough and the phone works well enough

00:13:58 ◼   ► That I continue to question Apple's

00:14:01 ◼   ► lack of any kind of visible strategy on VR

00:14:05 ◼   ► That it concerns me Federica might as well be happening internally. We don't know but I

00:14:11 ◼   ► Also, I was talking about this with Sylvia because a friend of ours asked us is there any sort of VR?

00:14:18 ◼   ► accessory that I can buy for the iPhone as a gift for Christmas and

00:14:22 ◼   ► We I had to explain, you know, what are the current VR options and how on the iPhone? There's basically nothing

00:14:30 ◼   ► Whereas if you get a Samsung, there's a Samsung Gear VR, if you get a Pixel there's the Daydream VR.

00:14:36 ◼   ► Yeah, Motorola I think just announced that their phones have been updated now to be Daydream ready.

00:14:41 ◼   ► Like that's starting to roll out more now.

00:14:43 ◼   ► Yeah, and it also concerns me, but it depends on whether VR is gonna be socially acceptable,

00:14:51 ◼   ► if it's gonna take off for games outside of people like you and me.

00:14:56 ◼   ► if it's gonna be something that everyone wants to have.

00:15:00 ◼   ► And when the time comes, will it be too late for Apple to join the race?

00:15:05 ◼   ► Traditionally, Apple has taken a wait-and-see approach,

00:15:09 ◼   ► and maybe it'll work this time as well,

00:15:12 ◼   ► because they've done it with the iPhone, with the iPad, with the Apple Watch, to an extent.

00:15:16 ◼   ► And maybe this time as well, if VR takes off, maybe they're working on it,

00:15:21 ◼   ► and when it's ready, when it's socially acceptable, when everyone is kind of in the market for VR,

00:15:26 ◼   ► they'll have a product. But based on what we know, based on the rumors, it sounds like Apple wants to

00:15:31 ◼   ► go a different direction, wants to try with AR, with glasses, you know, with a different type of experience.

00:15:36 ◼   ► So I don't know. Right now VR is expensive. Just by telling my friend, she asked me how much,

00:15:43 ◼   ► you know, what's the budget here, what kind of money do I need. And the prices of, you know,

00:15:48 ◼   ► PSVR or even the HTC Vive are crazy expensive for, you know, any kind of normal person who's not a,

00:15:55 ◼   ► hardcore video gamer. So right now we're still in the early stages.

00:16:00 ◼   ► Even the games are not full games, right? You cannot play

00:16:04 ◼   ► the real Final Fantasy XV for example or real Super Mario

00:16:07 ◼   ► on a VR device. It's a different type of game. It's not consumer...

00:16:11 ◼   ► I would say it's not consumer ready because of the prices, because of the

00:16:15 ◼   ► setup,

00:16:15 ◼   ► but I think it will be. I think it will be socially acceptable

00:16:19 ◼   ► and when the time comes will Apple be ready or

00:16:23 ◼   ► you know, we're in a state of flux when it comes to VR.

00:16:28 ◼   ► This is the start of the consumerization of it though, right?

00:16:31 ◼   ► Because everybody has a smartphone, and if your smartphone can support VR,

00:16:35 ◼   ► which will happen more and more as time goes on, right, maybe over the next 12 to 18 months

00:16:40 ◼   ► as more Android phones are released with this built into them,

00:16:43 ◼   ► this headset costs £69, you know, and it's probably, I think it's around that dollar wise,

00:16:49 ◼   ► maybe somewhere in the $60 to $90 range.

00:16:52 ◼   ► That is more than affordable for this type of experience.

00:16:57 ◼   ► And so I think that this is, this is what I'm saying, that this is clearly a route to

00:17:01 ◼   ► this.

00:17:02 ◼   ► This is a route, this is a path for consumer VR.

00:17:05 ◼   ► And Google have found it and they're working on that.

00:17:08 ◼   ► And they will be able to make more and more compelling products because they're beginning

00:17:11 ◼   ► now in VR's infancy.

00:17:15 ◼   ► And it's interesting to see, as I've said before, whether VR is going to be a thing

00:17:21 ◼   ► or not, that's kind of irrelevant to the point of the major technology companies, with the

00:17:28 ◼   ► exception of Apple, all believe that it will be.

00:17:31 ◼   ► So it's going to be pushed on us whether we like it or not.

00:17:34 ◼   ► Doesn't mean it will take off, but this is the next iteration, the next generation of

00:17:38 ◼   ► computing and experiences in gaming.

00:17:41 ◼   ► this is what Facebook and Google and Microsoft are betting on, that this is going to be a thing.

00:17:47 ◼   ► So they're going to keep making these products. So that might force it to become a thing.

00:17:51 ◼   ► But as of right now, Apple is absent from that.

00:17:54 ◼   ► I'm trying to think of examples in the past of technologies that seem to be a big deal

00:18:01 ◼   ► because everyone was doing them and Apple was not. And eventually, you know, kind of cooled off,

00:18:07 ◼   ► the hype and the anticipation and maybe it was a sound decision from Apple not to invest time

00:18:13 ◼   ► and marketing and everything into making those products. I'm trying to think of examples.

00:18:18 ◼   ► Netbooks?

00:18:19 ◼   ► Maybe. That could be. Maybe. Netbooks could be because it's for a while, for a couple of years

00:18:25 ◼   ► at least, it seems like everyone's doing netbooks and then Apple came up with the iPad. So maybe,

00:18:30 ◼   ► could be that right now everyone is doing VR and Apple will come up with something different,

00:18:35 ◼   ► related but different? I don't know. I do get your argument and if it really takes off in this current shape and form

00:18:42 ◼   ► it's gonna be more powerful, it's gonna be faster, it's gonna be cheaper,

00:18:46 ◼   ► but will it be the visor that you put on your head and shuts you off completely from what's around you, or will it be

00:18:53 ◼   ► some other thing like the HoloLens or like a mixed VR/AR together? I don't know.

00:19:02 ◼   ► It is interesting to... also because we're lucky we can afford it to try right now.

00:19:08 ◼   ► I think it... I'm interested in the smartphone VR. I don't want to buy a phone, like an Android phone, just for VR.

00:19:18 ◼   ► That's why I'm happy that I got the PlayStation VR. Because I'm having fun with it, and it's also fun to show it off to friends

00:19:23 ◼   ► who are not in the market for a PlayStation 4 and the VR accessory, which all together it's like almost a thousand euros.

00:19:30 ◼   ► which is crazy expensive, but I'm glad I did because it's showing me

00:19:35 ◼   ► what could be in the future one of the new standards when it comes to interaction and video games.

00:19:41 ◼   ► I'm still skeptical if this is going to take off in terms of non-game applications.

00:19:47 ◼   ► I can imagine the potential, I can imagine things like Skype or conference calls.

00:19:52 ◼   ► I think it's going to be an entertainment-focused platform for a long time.

00:19:57 ◼   ► Or an education platform, maybe.

00:19:59 ◼   ► Yeah, content. Consumption.

00:20:02 ◼   ► Right. Everyone is talking about the new Google Earth VR app on the HTC Vive, I think it came out last week.

00:20:11 ◼   ► Maybe it's also on the Oculus, I'm not sure.

00:20:13 ◼   ► And it's impressive, I watched the videos, you can fly around, you can look at stuff as if you're actually visiting Paris, for example.

00:20:20 ◼   ► That's impressive. But what's the, you know, am I picturing myself at home

00:20:27 ◼   ► and be like, "Okay, instead of relaxing on the couch with Facebook and Twitter, I'm just gonna put on the headset and go to Paris."

00:20:34 ◼   ► Maybe, maybe that could be the future, or maybe just a fun demo that you try once for like 15 minutes and that's about it.

00:20:41 ◼   ► Does it warrant having a presence in this market?

00:20:44 ◼   ► Because I truly don't believe that Apple cares about making their own games,

00:20:48 ◼   ► they do care about the developer community making games,

00:20:51 ◼   ► but I mean, we've seen with third-party controllers, even if you go simple, something as simple as a controller,

00:20:56 ◼   ► Apple doesn't really care about those.

00:20:58 ◼   ► The standard basically hasn't been updated there.

00:21:00 ◼   ► The MI5 controller for iOS hasn't been updated for like two years.

00:21:05 ◼   ► So when it comes to Apple and video games, I don't have a lot of hope.

00:21:07 ◼   ► When it comes to Apple and other types of applications, well maybe.

00:21:12 ◼   ► I could see, you know, Flyover and Apple Maps in VR.

00:21:15 ◼   ► That could be cool.

00:21:16 ◼   ► But doesn't work.

00:21:17 ◼   ► That's not enough.

00:21:18 ◼   ► Right?

00:21:19 ◼   ► Exactly.

00:21:20 ◼   ► What else could you do?

00:21:21 ◼   ► I don't know.

00:21:22 ◼   ► You can visually conceive the layers of iOS, you know?

00:21:26 ◼   ► Like Johnny Ive set out the layers of iOS 7, you can just like get all up in the layers,

00:21:31 ◼   ► go see where control center's hanging out, that kind of thing.

00:21:33 ◼   ► Yeah, you could be hanging out in the Johnny Ive VR experience, it's just a white room.

00:21:38 ◼   ► White room.

00:21:39 ◼   ► You look around, you think it's loading, you know?

00:21:42 ◼   ► It's actually, that is the VR experience.

00:21:45 ◼   ► It's all white.

00:21:46 ◼   ► It's the Ive simulator.

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00:22:54 ◼   ► You get teachy.blog?

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00:23:00 ◼   ► the Snapchatification of Instagram continues. So Instagram just launched the ability to send

00:23:09 ◼   ► self-destructing DMs. It's kind of like an extension of Instagram stories, you can now send

00:23:16 ◼   ► an image or a video as a DM to someone and it will self-destruct after it's been viewed

00:23:23 ◼   ► and also you get a notification if the person on the other end takes a screenshot. So it's basically

00:23:28 ◼   ► Snapchat and they're also launching a live video which is not Snapchat but also kind

00:23:34 ◼   ► of like a, I don't know, kind of a rolling Facebook Live and Periscope into Instagram

00:23:39 ◼   ► I guess, which makes sense. I just wonder how much Snapchat and others are dictating

00:23:45 ◼   ► the evolution of Instagram at this point.

00:23:49 ◼   ► That's a good way of looking at it, right? Like, if Instagram is the daddy, right? I

00:23:55 ◼   ► I guess we assume, I think it's probably still safe to assume that they're top of the tree

00:24:00 ◼   ► when it comes to photo sharing, but Snapchat is probably close.

00:24:04 ◼   ► Like I imagine that they jockey it out.

00:24:07 ◼   ► What Instagram is doing right now is looking at who else is around and they are being bold

00:24:14 ◼   ► and brazen in the fact that they are not trying to disguise what they're doing.

00:24:19 ◼   ► I think usually with Silicon Valley companies, they all kind of copy each other and iterate

00:24:25 ◼   ► and that kind of thing.

00:24:26 ◼   ► Yeah, there's this new trend that I've seen of being very clear about what some company

00:24:34 ◼   ► is copying.

00:24:35 ◼   ► So like Instagram, when they launched stories, they were super honest about the fact that

00:24:40 ◼   ► Snapchat got there first.

00:24:42 ◼   ► And I saw last week the project management service, Asana, they...

00:24:47 ◼   ► They launched Trello-like things and said "Trello did a great job and now we're doing

00:24:52 ◼   ► it!"

00:24:53 ◼   ► I mean, okay!

00:24:54 ◼   ► I'm not sure, I mean, props for the attribution I guess, but I don't know how I feel about

00:25:01 ◼   ► a company coming out and saying "Look, we know that these other people did it first

00:25:05 ◼   ► and we're really thankful and by the way we're copying it."

00:25:09 ◼   ► I mean, okay, it's just, I don't know if being honest about it, I guess it's better than

00:25:14 ◼   ► not admitting, you know, when someone else did it before.

00:25:18 ◼   ► Anyway, what I've seen is, especially in the past year, we've talked about this before,

00:25:25 ◼   ► but the... just the... the acceptance and the popularity of Snapchat in Italy with my friends has truly taken off.

00:25:33 ◼   ► Now, everyone has it, at least everyone in my circle of friends.

00:25:36 ◼   ► And they're not necessarily, you know, I don't hang out with, like, teenagers anymore, like, 20-somethings.

00:25:43 ◼   ► Everyone has Snapchat and when we're hanging out together, we're, I don't know, at a party or, you know, out for drinks,

00:25:50 ◼   ► I see people using Snapchat, I see people taking pictures and saying, "Oh, follow me on Snapchat, you'll get these photos."

00:25:56 ◼   ► And I don't see Instagram as much. I see my friends checking Instagram.

00:26:03 ◼   ► I don't see them taking a lot of pictures as it used to be until a few years ago.

00:26:10 ◼   ► I think that there is a definite trend towards the ephemeral, right? That's why Instagram went for stories. I think people right now

00:26:18 ◼   ► Enjoy sharing their lives with their friends in this way that isn't so takes all this work because yes

00:26:26 ◼   ► We said before you know when Instagram launch stories

00:26:28 ◼   ► It's not about crafting the most perfect picture, right?

00:26:32 ◼   ► It's about just like sharing whatever's happening in your life

00:26:35 ◼   ► And that's what Instagram is moving towards because they can see that snapchat is owning that you're like

00:26:41 ◼   ► Instagram or maybe going a step further their live video function the video that you record

00:26:46 ◼   ► Cannot be saved or viewed later. You either catch it when it's live or you don't see it at all

00:26:52 ◼   ► so they're going like an extra step right like periscope and

00:26:55 ◼   ► Facebook live you can save the recordings or they're saved automatically for a certain period of time

00:27:01 ◼   ► But Instagram is trying to like bundle this in with the idea of like these two separate services that they run right they run the

00:27:08 ◼   ► It's there forever

00:27:10 ◼   ► Make your life look amazing get beautiful filters the photo stream stuff

00:27:15 ◼   ► right

00:27:16 ◼   ► like the actual what we know Instagram to be and now this whole other section of features like stories and live and the

00:27:22 ◼   ► DM system now, which is kind of just like just share random stuff

00:27:26 ◼   ► I think that it is a good move for them from a business perspective because it's kind of

00:27:32 ◼   ► keeping them relevant.

00:27:35 ◼   ► But I can't overlook the fact that they're kind of just like, they're just aping features

00:27:40 ◼   ► from other companies now in a very bold way.

00:27:44 ◼   ► They're just like, they just call it out.

00:27:46 ◼   ► And I don't know how I feel about that.

00:27:47 ◼   ► Like I can kind of respect the fact that they're being scrappy, right?

00:27:51 ◼   ► And they're just like, even though they're owned by Facebook, so they can kind of just

00:27:55 ◼   ► whatever, that they're deciding that they're going to keep trying to push, keep trying to grow,

00:27:59 ◼   ► keep trying to grow. I can appreciate that, but it's like this idea of just like, are you

00:28:06 ◼   ► innovating anymore? Because the reason that you're here in the first place is because you were a

00:28:13 ◼   ► company that did something that nobody had done before in the way that you did it. You created

00:28:17 ◼   ► this whole platform, this whole idea of filters. Again, they really popularized it. They were

00:28:25 ◼   ► There are apps like Hipstamatic which did it, but Instagram kind of really made it a

00:28:28 ◼   ► thing that you had this social network and all you did was share photos with people and

00:28:34 ◼   ► you'd like the photos.

00:28:35 ◼   ► And now there are many companies that try and do that in the way that they do it, but

00:28:39 ◼   ► now it just feels like they're not really contributing as much as they used to.

00:28:45 ◼   ► When you look at like, I am becoming increasingly obsessed with Snap's rollout of Spectacles.

00:28:54 ◼   ► I am just devouring news stories about it.

00:28:59 ◼   ► I think it is one of the most incredible product launches

00:29:03 ◼   ► of the last 10 years.

00:29:05 ◼   ► The way that they are just, you know,

00:29:07 ◼   ► you guys spoke about it,

00:29:08 ◼   ► like these vendor machines popping up

00:29:10 ◼   ► and they're creating these pop-up shops

00:29:12 ◼   ► and like no tech press are getting review units.

00:29:15 ◼   ► They have to fight to get them,

00:29:16 ◼   ► even though the reviews are universally good, right?

00:29:19 ◼   ► They're not hiding it.

00:29:20 ◼   ► They made a good product.

00:29:21 ◼   ► Like everything about the experience is fascinating

00:29:26 ◼   ► and I desperately want a pair to try

00:29:29 ◼   ► because I actually think that it really is

00:29:31 ◼   ► a very interesting product that looks good

00:29:34 ◼   ► and seems to work well.

00:29:36 ◼   ► And I just keep looking at that and I'm like,

00:29:38 ◼   ► that is an innovative company right there.

00:29:41 ◼   ► They are doing new things, but Instagram are not.

00:29:46 ◼   ► They are like bumbling along

00:29:47 ◼   ► and trying to catch up on features.

00:29:50 ◼   ► and it's just interesting to watch that happen.

00:29:52 ◼   ► - Yeah, I feel like we're moving on from,

00:29:55 ◼   ► you know, we used to say congrats for shipping,

00:29:59 ◼   ► now it's becoming, congrats for copying,

00:30:02 ◼   ► and it's becoming acceptable

00:30:03 ◼   ► without being sarcastic about it.

00:30:05 ◼   ► And I also believe that Snapchat

00:30:09 ◼   ► is truly doing some innovative stuff.

00:30:13 ◼   ► I have to say, I kinda wanna get the spectacles,

00:30:17 ◼   ► even though probably not gonna get those in Italy anytime soon.

00:30:21 ◼   ► That's a... I mean it's a simple idea, right? It's camera and sunglasses.

00:30:26 ◼   ► But it's a whole package, the whole idea of the experience combined with a Snapchat app on your phone.

00:30:32 ◼   ► Because I feel like many, many times when I'm out, when I'm around, and I want to share something,

00:30:42 ◼   ► I just don't have the timing or the patience to capture something and to say, to announce

00:30:49 ◼   ► myself, to say, "I'm about to take a Snapchat."

00:30:52 ◼   ► I just forget about it.

00:30:53 ◼   ► I'm just not in that mindset.

00:30:55 ◼   ► And I feel like having the spectacles, especially in the summertime with a good season when

00:30:59 ◼   ► you're walking out more often, going to the beach and stuff, I feel like that's a great

00:31:05 ◼   ► idea.

00:31:06 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:31:07 ◼   ► I think me and you are embedded in a certain way of social networking which doesn't fit

00:31:11 ◼   ► to Snapchat, because I think to myself, I'm going to post it, but I can't tell anyone

00:31:15 ◼   ► that I've done it.

00:31:16 ◼   ► When I post something on Instagram, I can just cross post it to Twitter.

00:31:22 ◼   ► So again, that's just the locked in thing of me, of assuming that everybody is looking

00:31:27 ◼   ► at my Twitter feed, and that I push things there.

00:31:31 ◼   ► I did a thing recently where I was taking Snapchat things, I can't even remember what

00:31:34 ◼   ► it was about, and I tweeted about it to tell people to go there, because in my mind, that's

00:31:39 ◼   ► That's the only way anybody ever finds out about anything.

00:31:42 ◼   ► I keep Snapchat on my home screen and I keep opening it and just poking around, but I never

00:31:48 ◼   ► feel like I know what to share.

00:31:50 ◼   ► And I agree with you, there's this thing in my brain that's like, maybe if I had the spectacles,

00:31:56 ◼   ► I would try and force myself into this idea of just like, all I have to do is press the

00:32:01 ◼   ► button and it will record what I'm doing.

00:32:04 ◼   ► I also think it would be really cool for vlogging.

00:32:07 ◼   ► I think it could be. Are you following DJ Khaled now on Snapchat?

00:32:14 ◼   ► I had to stop man.

00:32:15 ◼   ► No, why?

00:32:16 ◼   ► I couldn't do it, it was just too much stuff. I didn't understand any of it, I felt like an old man.

00:32:21 ◼   ► Have you learned the key to success?

00:32:23 ◼   ► No I haven't.

00:32:25 ◼   ► Oh man, you gotta follow.

00:32:28 ◼   ► I can't, I followed him for like a day and it was like here's a bunch of things that I don't know what he's talking about and there's like a million of them.

00:32:34 ◼   ► He's talking about the major key alert and the key to success and a bunch of life lessons.

00:32:39 ◼   ► Really important stuff.

00:32:40 ◼   ► Stuff I don't understand.

00:32:41 ◼   ► Yeah, top notch work from Khaled.

00:32:43 ◼   ► Talking about top notch work, Apple have released their holiday ad.

00:32:49 ◼   ► As with many companies now, Apple has a holiday themed ad they had.

00:32:53 ◼   ► Was it last year that they did the one with the kid making…?

00:32:56 ◼   ► No, it was three years ago.

00:32:58 ◼   ► Really?

00:32:59 ◼   ► Yeah, he won an Emmy Award.

00:33:02 ◼   ► That was a great one.

00:33:03 ◼   ► know what last year's was last year's one Stevie Wonder? I think Stevie Wonder was with

00:33:08 ◼   ► Andrew Aday the song was last year yeah I cannot remember 2014 because

00:33:14 ◼   ► Misunderstood was 2013 with the kid and you know the movie mmm-hmm last year was

00:33:19 ◼   ► Stevie Wonder and Andrew Aday and I cannot remember the year before. So Apple are

00:33:24 ◼   ► taking the line a lot of a lot of companies are I'm seeing this in the UK

00:33:29 ◼   ► I don't know if you've seen this in Italy.

00:33:32 ◼   ► From people that have spoken to online,

00:33:34 ◼   ► it doesn't really seem to be the trend in the US yet either.

00:33:37 ◼   ► But to make holiday season ads that do not push a product,

00:33:47 ◼   ► but have a story, like some kind of story to them,

00:33:52 ◼   ► which makes you feel positive things for the brand.

00:33:58 ◼   ► Do you have other examples?

00:33:59 ◼   ► - John Lewis is my biggest example.

00:34:02 ◼   ► In the UK, John Lewis really kind of pioneered this.

00:34:07 ◼   ► They are the ad that everybody waits to come

00:34:12 ◼   ► and then when it does, it's like, oh great,

00:34:15 ◼   ► the John Lewis Christmas ad is out now, right?

00:34:19 ◼   ► Like it is a big thing.

00:34:21 ◼   ► They have a thing this year called Bust of the Boxer.

00:34:23 ◼   ► It's like this whole thing, right?

00:34:26 ◼   ► Like they create these ads which focus on some fictional thing that they've created

00:34:31 ◼   ► and they are multi-million dollar things and it ties in with the store and they sell merchandise.

00:34:36 ◼   ► Like here is a big thing.

00:34:38 ◼   ► John Lewis is a huge department store.

00:34:39 ◼   ► Think of like Bloomingdale's or Macy's or something but it's a nationwide chain.

00:34:45 ◼   ► And this is their ad.

00:34:46 ◼   ► So for example, the John Lewis Christmas ad right now has 18 and a half million views

00:34:52 ◼   ► on YouTube and it was launched two weeks ago. It is a big thing here and now there are a

00:35:00 ◼   ► lot of companies, especially supermarkets and department stores that are creating these

00:35:04 ◼   ► types of ads. So they don't show products. They are just intended to give you warm, fuzzy

00:35:10 ◼   ► feelings which you impart put onto the brand. It's a very simple message. You know, like

00:35:17 ◼   ► Casey pointed out to me, like Coca-Cola are a good example of this, even though they show

00:35:20 ◼   ► people drinking coke in the ad, but like the red truck thing and the...

00:35:25 ◼   ► Yeah man, the coke ads always made me feel good as a kid.

00:35:29 ◼   ► They're like classic, this is like classic brand advertising but with a new twist and

00:35:34 ◼   ► the twist seems to be these days creating these stories and worlds and Apple this year

00:35:39 ◼   ► have really dived into this form of advertising because the previous ones... so like last

00:35:46 ◼   ► year's was just people singing a song and it was a beautiful song but like you know

00:35:49 ◼   ► misunderstood one, the one that everyone keeps talking about, the guy was using Apple products

00:35:52 ◼   ► to create a thing. But the tie-in of Apple in this new ad is so slight, like it may as well not even

00:35:59 ◼   ► be there. So the ad is Frankenstein's monster, played by Brad Garrett from Everybody Loves Raymond,

00:36:07 ◼   ► the guy with a really deep voice. He is singing a song which he's recording in voice memos.

00:36:14 ◼   ► That's one of the only two times you see an iPhone. He receives a package.

00:36:18 ◼   ► The true winner of this ad is Voice Memos. Voice Memos, the app that nobody knew existed.

00:36:22 ◼   ► So it goes in everybody's Apple folder. He receives a little package which are two little

00:36:29 ◼   ► light bulbs. He goes down to the town. Everybody is horrified to see Frankenstein's monster in the

00:36:36 ◼   ► town. And he puts the little lights in where his bolts go and they light up and he starts singing

00:36:43 ◼   ► a song and everybody rejects him but a child and the wonder of the child sings with the monster

00:36:47 ◼   ► and then everybody loves them, right? There is an idea of like, I don't know, that oh, he also,

00:36:52 ◼   ► he's playing the little song, he's playing the tune from his voice memos and singing along with it.

00:36:56 ◼   ► And it is intended, I assume, to be an ad which is to invoke the holiday spirit, right? Like that is

00:37:03 ◼   ► the idea that they want people to be together over the holidays and they have created a very expensive

00:37:10 ◼   ► with a star and clearly some very expensive make-up and sound effects, visual effects

00:37:18 ◼   ► to pull this whole thing together because they've had to create this guy that's taller than life, right?

00:37:22 ◼   ► Why do they do this, do you think Federico? What are Apple trying to get out of this?

00:37:27 ◼   ► I think it's not necessarily about the iPhone, it's more of... I see it as more of a statement about Apple as a company.

00:37:35 ◼   ► You know the message of the message of love each other, you know, we're even though we're different

00:37:40 ◼   ► We're all in this together. That's the idea that I get and you know

00:37:44 ◼   ► it's a very good timing for this ad especially because of the political scene at the moment and

00:37:49 ◼   ► And I feel like they're using the iPhone and voice memos just briefly to kind of identify the company

00:37:56 ◼   ► But then the message is at Apple we you know, they say this over and over we care about diversity

00:38:02 ◼   ► We care about all kinds of people and we want to make products for all kinds of people also.

00:38:07 ◼   ► And I feel like the ad itself is kind of weird initially because you're seeing this monster

00:38:14 ◼   ► and it stays weird until the moment that it screws the lightbulbs into his neck.

00:38:21 ◼   ► But then when you see the child, when you see the reaction, when you see the second

00:38:24 ◼   ► half, I mean I gotta say it brought a smile to my face, this commercial.

00:38:29 ◼   ► Which I totally get it, I'm smiling for a commercial.

00:38:32 ◼   ► There's a multi-billion dollar corporation making money off of this.

00:38:36 ◼   ► But it's still the idea, the genuine idea of, you know, it's the holiday season for

00:38:41 ◼   ► those who celebrate it, of course.

00:38:43 ◼   ► And it's a good moment to reflect upon the idea that we're different but we gotta love

00:38:48 ◼   ► and respect each other and accept each other.

00:38:51 ◼   ► And I think it's very smart, you know.

00:38:55 ◼   ► constantly bombarded with all these commercials about phones and computers

00:39:01 ◼   ► and it's you know with the holiday season with the end of the year

00:39:05 ◼   ► approaching I think it's a good message I know it's about a corporation it's

00:39:10 ◼   ► about a business that makes money makes billions of dollars and not all parts of

00:39:14 ◼   ► that business are as kind and warm and you know loving as this commercial but

00:39:20 ◼   ► it's a good ad and it makes me feel good it makes me feel good watching it I like

00:39:25 ◼   ► the story I like the the romantic idea that the ad tells. I agree with you like

00:39:35 ◼   ► I think that the ad is weird but it's not weird in a way that I think is

00:39:39 ◼   ► unpleasant it's weird just because why did they choose Frankenstein like

00:39:43 ◼   ► monster otherwise people are just gonna correct you you know it's not what I was

00:39:47 ◼   ► saying it every time right frankenstein's monster yeah people love to correct you on that um

00:39:52 ◼   ► i think that even it's it's just a strange route to take right like i i i can't imagine the meeting

00:40:00 ◼   ► in which that came up it's it's very abstract but that will make it memorable um i i find it

00:40:08 ◼   ► just a weird way to tell the story but the ad made me feel good which is exactly what it's supposed to

00:40:14 ◼   ► So I think that they've probably succeeded?

00:40:19 ◼   ► - I think so.

00:40:21 ◼   ► I mean, in an alternate universe,

00:40:23 ◼   ► maybe there's an ad with Tim Cook sitting behind the desk

00:40:27 ◼   ► and making a big political statement.

00:40:30 ◼   ► But in this universe, they're taking the more subtle,

00:40:34 ◼   ► warm fuzzy feeling approach of,

00:40:37 ◼   ► or showing you a monster who gets accepted by a child

00:40:41 ◼   ► and all kinds of people afterwards.

00:40:44 ◼   ► I think it's a good message, I think it's nice.

00:40:46 ◼   ► It puts up all in your mind, but on in the way of,

00:40:49 ◼   ► here's the latest iPhone, it takes a bunch of pictures

00:40:51 ◼   ► at super crazy resolution.

00:40:53 ◼   ► It's more of a feeling.

00:40:56 ◼   ► It's classy, that's what I'm gonna say.

00:40:58 ◼   ► Even in its weirdness and strangeness,

00:41:03 ◼   ► it is a classy, elegant ad.

00:41:05 ◼   ► - I agree.

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00:41:54 ◼   ► you you're gonna feel good in them because they spent a lot of time making

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00:42:05 ◼   ► you just keep the products because you know they just they don't they don't

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00:43:01 ◼   ► So do you want to talk about the Mac Pro?

00:43:03 ◼   ► Yeah man, let's talk about the existence of the Mac Pro.

00:43:06 ◼   ► So we had a hot tip come through to us this week, that in 2017 the Mac Pro is going to

00:43:14 ◼   ► be taking the shape of an iPad.

00:43:19 ◼   ► I wanted to see where you were going with that.

00:43:22 ◼   ► Good job.

00:43:23 ◼   ► I wasn't sure where I was going with it when I began.

00:43:26 ◼   ► What I want to talk about is the only Pro that truly matters, which is the iPad Pro.

00:43:30 ◼   ► Wow.

00:43:31 ◼   ► It's making it worse.

00:43:33 ◼   ► I figure, you know, go nuclear, you know, this is the hill that I'm willing to die on.

00:43:38 ◼   ► There was an analyst's rumor, as there many of them are.

00:43:41 ◼   ► Okay.

00:43:42 ◼   ► And you can take these things always of a grain of salt because who actually truly knows

00:43:46 ◼   ► if these people have any idea what they're talking about or if they're just making it

00:43:49 ◼   ► up.

00:43:50 ◼   ► But there was an analyst rumor that said there is likely coming in March a refresh to the

00:43:59 ◼   ► current line of 12.9, 9.7. Both will get True Tone, both will get speed bumps and other

00:44:05 ◼   ► hardware improvements that we would expect. However, after this, the 9.7" Pro will become

00:44:13 ◼   ► the lower cost iPad, most likely eliminating the air from the line. What it will be replaced

00:44:20 ◼   ► by is a new 10.9 inch screen iPad Pro. However, this device will have the same physical size

00:44:29 ◼   ► as the 9.7 inch iPad Pro. It will lose the bezels, make the screen larger. These are

00:44:36 ◼   ► rumors in line with what we're expecting to see in the iPhone in 2017. What do you think

00:44:43 ◼   ► of this?

00:44:45 ◼   ► I think we touched upon this with Steven. I think it...

00:44:50 ◼   ► I can imagine an iPad that is just a piece of glass that you hold in your hands.

00:44:55 ◼   ► And it's truly the highest point of the original vision of the iPad.

00:45:02 ◼   ► It is a piece of glass that you hold in your hands and it's just interface.

00:45:08 ◼   ► You're holding the interface. And I can see that happening.

00:45:11 ◼   ► However, I have a few questions about the practicality of that idea.

00:45:16 ◼   ► And the two most pressing questions, if you like, are what's going to happen with the bezels

00:45:21 ◼   ► when you hold the device, how is the interface going to react,

00:45:25 ◼   ► and what's going to happen with the home button,

00:45:27 ◼   ► how you're going to use Touch ID, how you're going to move in and out of apps.

00:45:33 ◼   ► The idea on paper sounds amazing, and even when we saw, you know,

00:45:37 ◼   ► Xiaomi making that phone a few weeks ago with no truly edge-to-edge display that was beautiful.

00:45:44 ◼   ► And I could imagine that vision applied to a bigger device, to an iPad. That would be

00:45:50 ◼   ► amazing. But I have some practical concerns that I'm sure Apple is thinking about, of

00:45:54 ◼   ► course. They have truly smart people making these decisions. Maybe it could be a preview

00:46:00 ◼   ► of the next iPhone with the Home button and Touch ID inside the display, with the speaker,

00:46:06 ◼   ► what on the iPhone you would call, you know, maybe speakers blending into the unit, I don't know.

00:46:14 ◼   ► Maybe there's a curved edge for this display, kind of like a Samsung.

00:46:20 ◼   ► I feel like it would be beautiful just to look at, I feel it would be comfortable, but I don't know practically,

00:46:30 ◼   ► Does it mean that Apple has basically finalized the implementation of the Home button inside the display?

00:46:37 ◼   ► Does it mean that Touch ID can now be available anywhere, not just at the bottom, on the side of the iPad?

00:46:43 ◼   ► That would be amazing.

00:46:44 ◼   ► I don't think that the Touch ID will find its way into the screen.

00:46:51 ◼   ► I'm skeptical of this, and the MacBook Pro, I think, shows where my skepticism is coming from.

00:46:59 ◼   ► I think that the touch bar was intended to include a touch ID sensor embedded in the

00:47:04 ◼   ► screen, but it wasn't able to be done.

00:47:06 ◼   ► Now, you know, I appreciate that you refresh on that because I know that you and Steven

00:47:10 ◼   ► spoke about this rumor specifically last week, but I wanted to kind of use this as a jumping

00:47:15 ◼   ► off point to talk about the current iPad Pro line and where me and you are sitting within

00:47:19 ◼   ► that right now.

00:47:21 ◼   ► So you've had time to, you know, we've made lots of jokes about this, right, about the

00:47:25 ◼   ► multi-pad lifestyle and if you have multiple iPads now that kind of thing like me but I

00:47:30 ◼   ► wondered like now that you've probably have more time to spend with them kind of where

00:47:34 ◼   ► you are feeling...

00:47:35 ◼   ► You're gonna be disappointed.

00:47:37 ◼   ► I know I feel like I understand it but I'm just trying to work out like where are you

00:47:41 ◼   ► feeling about the iPad like what one are you using the most do you ever use the the smaller

00:47:46 ◼   ► pro and if so what for?

00:47:48 ◼   ► So after the review of iOS 10 was done I gave my small iPad Pro to Sylvia she's been using

00:47:55 ◼   ► instead of her old iPad R2 she's been using the small Pro. So I've always used the big iPad Pro more.

00:48:03 ◼   ► And it is my main computer, the only reason I'm talking to you on my Mac is because I need to use Skype.

00:48:09 ◼   ► All in with the iPad Pro 12.9. I posted a story about the keyboard that I'm using, what I need to type, it's a Razer keyboard.

00:48:19 ◼   ► I love the iPad Pro, generally I never liked and appreciated a computer before.

00:48:26 ◼   ► I use it all the time.

00:48:29 ◼   ► I took this year, and this is part of a story that I'm working on, this is actually quite useful.

00:48:36 ◼   ► The past year I've done a lot of optimization for the things that I do.

00:48:43 ◼   ► with the Mac stories, with the Club Mac stories, I have a bunch more responsibilities, a lot more collaboration going on.

00:48:51 ◼   ► And so I took the past year with the iPad Pro to understand for each task that I do each week,

00:48:58 ◼   ► what is the best way that I can do it on the iPad? What is the best way that I can do it better than a Mac?

00:49:04 ◼   ► I've changed a lot of apps, I'm still considering a lot of apps, because my priority is to write, talk, and to spend as little time managing stuff as possible.

00:49:19 ◼   ► And I feel like I've found a pretty good workflow, a pretty good setup with my iPad Pro at this point.

00:49:27 ◼   ► It doesn't mean that it's perfect, there are some things that I would like to do, whether it's iOS itself or the iPad Pro hardware,

00:49:34 ◼   ► there are some things that need to be better.

00:49:36 ◼   ► But I feel like I have found the iPad and the device that truly satisfies my needs for computing.

00:49:44 ◼   ► computing, it's such an ugly word but I'm happy with my computer.

00:49:49 ◼   ► And in a way that maybe I wasn't in the past, I was constantly looking for maybe a different

00:49:56 ◼   ► Mac, maybe a different iPhone, I feel like the iPad Pro is just, it gets out of the way,

00:50:03 ◼   ► it's reliable, it's fast, and I truly want to see what Apple wants to do next, because

00:50:09 ◼   ► Because if you ask me right now, I have a hard time coming up with requests.

00:50:13 ◼   ► Because it, you know, it works.

00:50:17 ◼   ► So you're definitely in the camp, but the bigger is better though, right?

00:50:20 ◼   ► Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.

00:50:22 ◼   ► Well I mean, even when you use multitasking and split view, there's just no contest between the two.

00:50:29 ◼   ► I tried to get work done and I observed you, Myke, the way that you do stuff with the small

00:50:35 ◼   ► Pro with a small smart keyboard and I just cannot do it. It's just too small for me and

00:50:42 ◼   ► I get used to the big iPad Pro so much and the way that you see more content on the screen

00:50:48 ◼   ► when you're using the software keyboard and the comfort of split view on the 12.9 and

00:50:55 ◼   ► how much I see when I read at night or how big a movie is when I use my iPad Pro as a

00:51:02 ◼   ► That's just beautiful and and I cannot go back to the to the small form factor

00:51:07 ◼   ► Well, what about a 10.9 inch one? That's that's what I'm thinking about, right because

00:51:12 ◼   ► 12.9 versus 12.9. It's not a lot, but I feel like the difference could still be

00:51:20 ◼   ► You know a considerable difference

00:51:22 ◼   ► maybe they're just I

00:51:25 ◼   ► just need to see it I because I

00:51:30 ◼   ► I'm skeptical about whether I want to go smaller even just a tiny bit, you know?

00:51:37 ◼   ► So I tell you why I'm very interested in a 10.9 inch because I think that the

00:51:43 ◼   ► 9.7, the small Pro, the form factor is perfect and

00:51:48 ◼   ► I find that the form factor of the larger iPad Pro to not be perfect

00:51:53 ◼   ► because it's bigger and heavier and

00:51:56 ◼   ► more ungainly and less easy to move around.

00:51:59 ◼   ► But the 9.7 inch, it's great and I can put this big keyboard case on it and it's still really easy to move around.

00:52:05 ◼   ► But if I put the same big keyboard case on the bigger iPad Pro, I'd be carrying around a MacBook Pro basically.

00:52:12 ◼   ► Right, like I use the Logitech Create which is a vastly superior keyboard in absolutely every single way over what Apple have made.

00:52:18 ◼   ► and

00:52:21 ◼   ► That coupled with the 9.7 is incredible and I imagine a world where like let's just say I mean

00:52:27 ◼   ► I don't know this for sure

00:52:29 ◼   ► But let's just say that a 10.9 inch iPad screen allows you to do better split view

00:52:34 ◼   ► Right like that the the split view is more akin to what you see in the 12 9

00:52:38 ◼   ► I let's just say that the barrier is there right you get more on the screen

00:52:42 ◼   ► You're able to get like the two apps side by side as opposed to like one iPhone one regular iPad app

00:52:48 ◼   ► You know like that that to me. I think would really probably create the best of both worlds device

00:52:54 ◼   ► I'm looking for because I do continue to use both iPads

00:52:57 ◼   ► Frequently every day I use them for different tasks

00:53:01 ◼   ► When I'm out and about I always had the 9.7 with me because it's way better for traveling with

00:53:07 ◼   ► And I get the benefits of the great keyboard

00:53:10 ◼   ► But like this morning when I was doing the show notes for the show

00:53:13 ◼   ► I wanted the large screen of the 12.9 to get all of my notes side by side of Google Docs and Apple Notes

00:53:18 ◼   ► But if the 10.9 can provide me the best of both worlds

00:53:21 ◼   ► then

00:53:23 ◼   ► Maybe I maybe I would say goodbye to the multi-pad lifestyle

00:53:26 ◼   ► Yeah, I want to ask you

00:53:31 ◼   ► What do you want from a

00:53:35 ◼   ► Future iPad what is that you're missing and I'm not talking about iOS. I'm talking about the iPad hardware

00:53:42 ◼   ► I don't think that there's so much missing from the iPad hardware really.

00:53:47 ◼   ► Like if you bring them level with each other from a specs perspective, I'm good with what we've got,

00:53:54 ◼   ► right? Like the screens are so good, but I would love the larger one to have true tone.

00:53:59 ◼   ► I would like to see more advancement in input devices from the keyboard to the pencil to

00:54:08 ◼   ► other devices you can connect to the iPad Pro to make it more powerful, like expandability and stuff

00:54:13 ◼   ► like that. That's what I'm more interested in. Me and you firmly believe in this computer as a

00:54:19 ◼   ► replacement for computers as they currently exist, right? But the only way that we can truly remove

00:54:28 ◼   ► all of the needs that we have for computers, for Macs in our lives, is if the iPad can understand

00:54:37 ◼   ► and technology wider.

00:54:40 ◼   ► That's what I want to see Apple focus on.

00:54:44 ◼   ► If they truly believe that the iPad and the iPad Pro

00:54:47 ◼   ► is a desktop replacement,

00:54:49 ◼   ► it is the thing that will replace PCs,

00:54:51 ◼   ► it is the thing that will replace Macs,

00:54:53 ◼   ► which I do believe that they believe this,

00:54:56 ◼   ► or at least I believe that Tim Cook wants this,

00:54:59 ◼   ► which is why they're pushing for it.

00:55:01 ◼   ► I would like to see a world that my,

00:55:06 ◼   ► People don't like it when I say this, me and Jason

00:55:08 ◼   ► will talk about it as an upgrade.

00:55:09 ◼   ► I wanna see USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 on an iPad Pro.

00:55:13 ◼   ► - Yeah, I feel like so much of that falls under

00:55:18 ◼   ► two aspects of iOS, which is file management

00:55:21 ◼   ► and the audio framework.

00:55:22 ◼   ► Because a lot of the things that, when we talk about

00:55:25 ◼   ► understanding technology wider, a lot of that is

00:55:28 ◼   ► external drives for managing documents and archiving files

00:55:34 ◼   ► or audio interfaces, whether it's a microphone or probably a USB audio interface.

00:55:42 ◼   ► Fixing file management and the way that iOS manages audio streams and connections to audio hardware,

00:55:52 ◼   ► that's on the top of my list.

00:55:55 ◼   ► I guess that maybe Apple wants you to buy a bunch of dongles.

00:56:00 ◼   ► I also think it would be better to have multiple connections going on at the same time.

00:56:04 ◼   ► I know that it kind of chips away at the idea of an iPad is just a piece of glass, just one button that goes home,

00:56:13 ◼   ► and just one connection, which is lightning.

00:56:15 ◼   ► There's a beauty, there's some kind of elegance about that, because it's like the iPhone.

00:56:19 ◼   ► But maybe it doesn't have to be like the iPhone.

00:56:21 ◼   ► They've broken the seal now anyway, the smart connector broke the seal.

00:56:25 ◼   ► Exactly, there's already a smart connector.

00:56:27 ◼   ► So once you've done that, and Apple seems to be kind of eager to support USB-C,

00:56:35 ◼   ► because all things aside with the confusion with Thunderbolt 2 and 3, it is a beautiful standard.

00:56:43 ◼   ► It's just one reversible plug, it's small, and it's going to be the future of USB.

00:56:47 ◼   ► And I think that would be a fair compromise to have Lightning and USB-C on the iPad Pro,

00:56:54 ◼   ► Because you can sell the idea of the future so much. Everything is going to be wireless, everything is going to be this beautiful wire-free communication.

00:57:02 ◼   ► But it's always going to be the future. It's always going to be that way.

00:57:07 ◼   ► But right now there's people who need to connect things to get work done.

00:57:12 ◼   ► And most of those things tend to be file management, audio interfaces, you could say displays maybe.

00:57:21 ◼   ► I don't want to see Wacom tablets or things like that because I don't see the cursor support happening on iOS

00:57:28 ◼   ► but

00:57:30 ◼   ► just one USB-C

00:57:32 ◼   ► connector and then let me buy a hub, let me buy a dongle, whatever. I feel like a lot more people would be optimistic

00:57:39 ◼   ► about the iPad as a platform if only it had that connector and

00:57:44 ◼   ► You know

00:57:48 ◼   ► There's some people are gonna say Apple is never gonna do that

00:57:51 ◼   ► But I feel like we're past the point where we can argue what what Apple is never going to do. They made a stylus

00:57:58 ◼   ► They made a stylus. They put a connector on the back of the iPad. They made a keyboard that is also a case

00:58:05 ◼   ► they then

00:58:07 ◼   ► this idealistic view of Apple as

00:58:10 ◼   ► against cables against

00:58:12 ◼   ► External inputs that is not true anymore. There is the idea of Apple

00:58:17 ◼   ► five, six years ago, I think from a very practical point of view,

00:58:21 ◼   ► just having Lightning, a USB-C,

00:58:25 ◼   ► would go a long way to just free people from the idea in the back of the mind

00:58:32 ◼   ► that they're always gonna need a Mac because the iPad, some things cannot do.

00:58:36 ◼   ► So we'll see.

00:58:39 ◼   ► I hope for it. I really do. I want to see this platform continue.

00:58:44 ◼   ► There's a lot of talk right now about the Surface Studio and about Apple's

00:58:50 ◼   ► Apple turning its back on creatives, right? In the wake of Microsoft creating

00:58:56 ◼   ► something like the Surface Studio. The key, the Apple's thing that they have,

00:59:01 ◼   ► the jewel in their crown is iOS, is the iPad. That is what they can push in the

00:59:05 ◼   ► creative market if they really want to go that way. And I think that the iPad

00:59:09 ◼   ► can be really well suited for that. You mentioned Wacom tablets. You don't

00:59:14 ◼   ► need them because you can do it directly on the screen with the Apple Pencil.

00:59:18 ◼   ► Right. Like the the iPad, the type of work that can be done on the iPad is

00:59:25 ◼   ► quite frequently creative work.

00:59:27 ◼   ► Right. It is stuff that does not require really strong processing power.

00:59:34 ◼   ► Right. It is writing.

00:59:36 ◼   ► It is painting.

00:59:38 ◼   ► It is design.

00:59:39 ◼   ► It is layout. It is all that kind of stuff that will allow you to kind of

00:59:44 ◼   ► of really open the door to allowing creative people in and I really hope that Apple continue

00:59:51 ◼   ► to think about what they can do to iOS and the iPad and the iPad Pro as a way to open

00:59:57 ◼   ► up to that market a little bit more.

01:00:00 ◼   ► I think that maybe it is interesting to consider that instead of Apple taking its foot on the

01:00:06 ◼   ► gas for the Pro market on Macs or the creative market on Macs that they're actually putting

01:00:12 ◼   ► the gas back on with the iPad and they see that as their route and me and Federico hope

01:00:19 ◼   ► that Apple also see that as the future of their computing platforms as they continue

01:00:23 ◼   ► to make the iPad a better and better machine.

01:00:26 ◼   ► We'll see, it's something we can continue to hope for and I'm eagerly awaiting March

01:00:31 ◼   ► to see exactly what it is that Apple is looking to do and I really hope to see not only what

01:00:39 ◼   ► the rumors we've spoken about for the last couple of weeks about a refresh to the line

01:00:44 ◼   ► but also to see what they're willing to do to the iPad Pro to make it an even more Pro device.

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01:01:09 ◼   ► you. That's what PDF Pen Pro is, but luckily it's software so you don't see how big it

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01:03:01 ◼   ► So Federico, a couple of weeks ago I sent you a message and I said, "Federico, I need

01:03:08 ◼   ► a good markdown text editor." And we spoke about this on the show that I ended up going

01:03:12 ◼   ► with Bear, and Bear is what I'm using. But now you're going to tell me about another

01:03:16 ◼   ► one.

01:03:17 ◼   ► I mean, I'm sorry, that's my first comment, but there's an update for, you know, IA Writer,

01:03:26 ◼   ► you know, from the company Information Architects, I think it's the full name.

01:03:31 ◼   ► Yeah, it is, IA Writer is an app that's been around for a while, it's done some weird things

01:03:36 ◼   ► in the past, when it split up into like, what was it, like 17 different applications it

01:03:40 ◼   ► became.

01:03:41 ◼   ► Yeah, it used to be two apps, it used to be a pro version, eventually they kind of went

01:03:47 ◼   ► back and did just IA writer. And they've done some things with the developer

01:03:53 ◼   ► community I think that didn't put them in a, you know, under a good spotlight at all.

01:03:58 ◼   ► What was that? They tried to paint some words or something?

01:04:02 ◼   ► Yeah, no they tried to file a pen for one of the features of the app I think.

01:04:08 ◼   ► Either focus mode or how you can highlight different parts of speech.

01:04:14 ◼   ► Like the syntax highlighting stuff.

01:04:16 ◼   ► Yeah, yeah. That was a truly bad move.

01:04:19 ◼   ► I can tell how nice you are. You know how nice you are.

01:04:22 ◼   ► I'm goading you into talking about these things.

01:04:24 ◼   ► You don't want to talk about them, but I'm making you do it.

01:04:26 ◼   ► No, no, it's fine. I mean, it's, you know,

01:04:28 ◼   ► I feel like they made a truly bad decision with that stuff.

01:04:33 ◼   ► It's something I wouldn't have done,

01:04:37 ◼   ► especially because, you know, the iOS in the developer community

01:04:40 ◼   ► is very, you know, tight community.

01:04:43 ◼   ► Exactly, and it used to be the time when that troll was threatening to sue developers, and

01:04:53 ◼   ► then another developer was also asking for credit, and it was messy, and something I

01:04:59 ◼   ► would not have done.

01:05:00 ◼   ► But it's been a few years, and it is my job to judge apps on the technical level, on the

01:05:06 ◼   ► functional level.

01:05:07 ◼   ► So this update to IA Writer version 4 came out and I got a beta, I've been playing around

01:05:14 ◼   ► with the beta.

01:05:15 ◼   ► And there's some aspects that truly intrigue me and I feel like the app itself, if you

01:05:23 ◼   ► forget about the backstory, which most people don't care about, you know, nobody...

01:05:28 ◼   ► No, it's mostly forgotten now, it's dealt with, they took the right thing, they went

01:05:33 ◼   ► back on it.

01:05:34 ◼   ► Yeah, exactly.

01:05:35 ◼   ► backtracked on it and only looking at the app.

01:05:40 ◼   ► There's a lot of things to like and there's a lot of features that could make this app

01:05:48 ◼   ► one of the best markdown text editors on iOS.

01:05:51 ◼   ► And I think because of what happened a few years ago, I don't see this app mentioned

01:05:57 ◼   ► on a lot of blogs, at least the people that I follow on Twitter and RSS.

01:06:03 ◼   ► But it is an app full of interesting details.

01:06:08 ◼   ► The big news in version 4 is that you can add content blocks.

01:06:13 ◼   ► This is called in computing transclusions.

01:06:14 ◼   ► Uh oh, we're going deep now.

01:06:18 ◼   ► With transclusions you can...

01:06:19 ◼   ► No, it's very simple.

01:06:20 ◼   ► You can reference a file and include that file in the output of another.

01:06:28 ◼   ► So in IaRatter it means you can create a text file, reference by name another text file,

01:06:35 ◼   ► actually a bunch of text files, a bunch of images, then when you compile, let's say you

01:06:40 ◼   ► compile the master file, you're gonna have the contents of all the references inside

01:06:46 ◼   ► the body of the main file.

01:06:49 ◼   ► In practical terms this means I could have a master table of contents file when I insert

01:06:55 ◼   ► a bunch of references to introduction.txt and section1.txt and when I export this file,

01:07:02 ◼   ► the contents, the plain text, the markdown of those files will be included. And when you apply

01:07:09 ◼   ► this transclusion to the fact that I rather can include text files, images and even CSV files,

01:07:19 ◼   ► spreadsheets which are automatically converted to multi markdown tables. That's amazing!

01:07:25 ◼   ► And the idea is we can let you produce these long manuscripts, you know, documents that take

01:07:32 ◼   ► files and references from a bunch of different places in your local directory.

01:07:37 ◼   ► So you don't have to have, you don't need to have this long document that's like 20 000 words,

01:07:45 ◼   ► you can just include references.

01:07:47 ◼   ► Could be quotes, could be sections, could be images, could be tables.

01:07:52 ◼   ► And I think that's a very clever idea.

01:07:54 ◼   ► They're publishing in a very stark difference from the past.

01:07:59 ◼   ► They're publishing the spec that they used on GitHub for other developers to adopt.

01:08:04 ◼   ► And I saw some back and forth on Twitter with John Gruber.

01:08:09 ◼   ► And John said this is exactly why I didn't want to have

01:08:13 ◼   ► a very precise and updated spec for Markdown, because it means people can jump in, make modifications, suggest them,

01:08:22 ◼   ► and by leaving Markdown the basic idea, so pure, so simple, others can extend it in a way that I don't want to do.

01:08:30 ◼   ► And I think that's very clever, and I think content blocks based on Transclusion is one of those ideas.

01:08:36 ◼   ► It builds upon Markdown in a way that makes sense to me, because the syntax to include these references is super simple.

01:08:42 ◼   ► You just need to type a forward slash followed by the file name.

01:08:45 ◼   ► All right, I have a few things.

01:08:47 ◼   ► I'm a little bit confused about this, okay?

01:08:49 ◼   ► So I'm gonna need your help.

01:08:50 ◼   ► So why do you want to do this?

01:08:53 ◼   ► I'm thinking when I'm working on reviews or other types of documents, long documents,

01:09:00 ◼   ► instead I can break it up in different files, kind of like I did with Scrivener this past

01:09:07 ◼   ► summer for my iOS 10 review.

01:09:09 ◼   ► It was broken up in a bunch of multiple documents instead of being in one single document that

01:09:14 ◼   ► is too long to scroll or when you want to find and replace you're going to have too

01:09:19 ◼   ► many results, so it's more convenient when you're working on a long document, it's more

01:09:23 ◼   ► convenient to break it up.

01:09:25 ◼   ► And I can reference files to include them in the final output with just a line, with

01:09:31 ◼   ► just the file name.

01:09:33 ◼   ► And especially for multi-markdown tables, being able to work in Excel or Numbers, which

01:09:39 ◼   ► are fantastic for, you know, spreadsheets are made for this, I can create a table there

01:09:45 ◼   ► instead of having to deal with a messy multi-markdown table syntax. I can create a table in Excel

01:09:50 ◼   ► or Numbers and then I can save it in IaWriter and I have a multi-markdown table. I don't

01:09:56 ◼   ► have to do any script.

01:09:57 ◼   ► How do you do that though? Like if the table is in Numbers, how can it be in IaWriter with

01:10:02 ◼   ► a piece of text?

01:10:04 ◼   ► import it because I write it as excellent support for document pickers

01:10:09 ◼   ► so you can import the document and I was curious to check out this

01:10:15 ◼   ► feature so during the weekend I needed to produce some documentation for max

01:10:21 ◼   ► stories for the way that we do things I needed to write a tutorial for the

01:10:27 ◼   ► people who work for me and I took a bunch of screenshots and instead of

01:10:34 ◼   ► having to upload them, get the link, I put everything in a folder in iA Writer.

01:10:40 ◼   ► So you import the images into the application? Yes, in a folder, in a sub

01:10:46 ◼   ► folder into the iCloud container of the app. I created a folder, put a bunch of

01:10:53 ◼   ► images, started writing my text file, I referenced the images without having to

01:10:57 ◼   ► upload them by using a file name. Then I hit preview markdown, I generated a PDF

01:11:05 ◼   ► and I had a PDF documentation file that I shared with my people.

01:11:11 ◼   ► And how do you know the file names? How do you know them to reference them?

01:11:14 ◼   ► Do you name them in IARiter?

01:11:15 ◼   ► Yes, yes. There's a rename feature and you see there's keyboard shortcuts.

01:11:23 ◼   ► If you're working on the iPad, you can go back and forth between the sidebar, where the files are,

01:11:29 ◼   ► and the text editor, and the preview. You can navigate all of it with the keyboard.

01:11:33 ◼   ► And I feel like this support for content blocks could be useful for me.

01:11:38 ◼   ► But there's also other features that I want to talk about that I think could be useful.

01:11:43 ◼   ► So i8Rider, unlike other text editors, is one of the few apps that allow you...

01:11:47 ◼   ► This is going to get confusing, so pay attention, Myke.

01:11:50 ◼   ► One of the few apps that allow you to open a document from other apps using the document picker in open and edit mode.

01:12:01 ◼   ► Oh, yeah, no, I understand this because I listen to Canvas.

01:12:04 ◼   ► Yeah, you can... So let's say that I have... So we use GitHub or Club Maxories to organize our text documents that every Friday will become the newsletter.

01:12:16 ◼   ► With IA Writer, I can open a file from a GitHub repository.

01:12:22 ◼   ► I can make edits. I don't have to create a copy, I don't have to create a duplicate. It makes changes

01:12:29 ◼   ► directly into the working copy. It's the name of the app that we use, it's a GitHub client.

01:12:35 ◼   ► It makes changes directly into the version of the file that is originally stored into working copy.

01:12:41 ◼   ► And that is amazing because it means I can leverage all of the other markdown features of the app

01:12:47 ◼   ► instead of having to use the, you know, working copy doesn't have a real text editor

01:12:51 ◼   ► or having to use Textastic which is a code editor which is not really meant for markdown.

01:12:57 ◼   ► Yeah, most of these applications that use document pickers, they create a copy, don't they?

01:13:03 ◼   ► Yes.

01:13:03 ◼   ► Then you work on a new fresh version which you can then save back in, which is better

01:13:08 ◼   ► than it was before but still not where we'd like it to be.

01:13:10 ◼   ► This is interesting, so could you take a markdown document from Dropbox

01:13:15 ◼   ► and you could just open it and edit it and save it?

01:13:18 ◼   ► That's the thing. I think it depends on whether the document provider supports...

01:13:23 ◼   ► So Dropbox, I don't think it does.

01:13:26 ◼   ► Working Copy does, and it's an excellent drive.

01:13:28 ◼   ► Drive does as well, right? I think Drive does.

01:13:30 ◼   ► I think it does, I'm not super sure.

01:13:34 ◼   ► Anyway, there's Open and Edit mode.

01:13:36 ◼   ► There's also iCloud versions.

01:13:38 ◼   ► So to use these content block features that I told you about,

01:13:43 ◼   ► you need to use iCloud.

01:13:45 ◼   ► Because I think Dropbox SDK has some limitations

01:13:48 ◼   ► for developers.

01:13:48 ◼   ► And they cannot-- even Ulysses, we saw some features are

01:13:52 ◼   ► exclusive to iCloud.

01:13:54 ◼   ► And in i8Rider, you need to use iCloud for content blocks.

01:13:57 ◼   ► iCloud's getting a lot better at this stuff.

01:13:59 ◼   ► It is getting better.

01:14:00 ◼   ► It is getting better.

01:14:01 ◼   ► And with i8Rider, you can actually browse and revert

01:14:05 ◼   ► to an older version of a document in iCalc, which is very nice.

01:14:09 ◼   ► Are you using iCloud sync with Ulysses now?

01:14:11 ◼   ► Oh yeah, I've always been. I've always been using iCloud with Ulysses.

01:14:15 ◼   ► It's been working fine for me.

01:14:18 ◼   ► But the big difference between Ulysses and IE Writer is that

01:14:23 ◼   ► you see real markdown in IE, you see the syntax in line.

01:14:29 ◼   ► And there's...

01:14:31 ◼   ► I mean, what I mentioned, the syntax highlight, it's very useful, especially for someone like

01:14:38 ◼   ► me, English is not my native language, if I make the common mistake of using too many

01:14:43 ◼   ► adjectives or too many adverbs, I can just highlight those in the document and I will

01:14:48 ◼   ► see those parts of speech in a different color, which is useful if I want to avoid repetitions

01:14:53 ◼   ► or maybe cut on the adverbs that I use.

01:14:56 ◼   ► Don't listen to them, man, they're just trying to tame your passion.

01:14:59 ◼   ► No, sometimes I get a little too deep into those words.

01:15:04 ◼   ► So there's a lot of things to like about IE Writer.

01:15:09 ◼   ► I think it's important for me to consider what I need.

01:15:14 ◼   ► The big downside of IE is that it lacks the automation features of Ulysses.

01:15:21 ◼   ► It doesn't have an extensive URL scheme.

01:15:25 ◼   ► I think you saw what I do for the club.

01:15:28 ◼   ► I've seen some truly horrific things.

01:15:30 ◼   ► They're not horrific, they're beautiful.

01:15:32 ◼   ► I mean horrific in a "you won't believe you've seen such a thing".

01:15:35 ◼   ► It's beauty that one cannot perceive.

01:15:38 ◼   ► [Laughter]

01:15:40 ◼   ► I'm thinking whether, you know, what I do with Ulysses,

01:15:45 ◼   ► I have Workflow basically generate a template of sections for me.

01:15:51 ◼   ► It does some regular expressions, a bunch of things, it reformats text, and it puts it into a document in Ulysses

01:16:00 ◼   ► because there's a URL scheme that lets me do that automation.

01:16:03 ◼   ► In IEA there's not that kind of automation support, but I could just, you know, what Workflow does,

01:16:08 ◼   ► instead of sending it to Ulysses, I could just copy to the clipboard, open IEA and paste.

01:16:13 ◼   ► The result will be the same.

01:16:14 ◼   ► And I'm thinking, you know, with this content block stuff, with iCloud versions, with the document picker open and edit mode, with the parts of speech highlights, this is a great writing environment.

01:16:31 ◼   ► It seems like it's kind of like a love child of Ulysses and Scrivener.

01:16:36 ◼   ► Yes, that's a good way to put it. It's the best things of those two apps rolled into one that actually shows you markdown in line.

01:16:48 ◼   ► And it can, also I gotta mention it, exports in a lot of different formats.

01:16:53 ◼   ► IaWriter, I mean, there's a lot of power users, little features that are too many to mention.

01:16:59 ◼   ► There's a customizable keyboard row, you can generate HTML for text selections, there's a bunch of keyboard shortcuts.

01:17:05 ◼   ► keyboard shortcuts. It's really well done. It's a shame that it's not mentioned too

01:17:11 ◼   ► often I think between iOS "power users".

01:17:14 ◼   ► Well I think it kind of fell behind a little bit.

01:17:17 ◼   ► Maybe. It's been a good app for almost a year now I think.

01:17:22 ◼   ► Since version 3 came out I'm not sure when that was.

01:17:25 ◼   ► Well I just mean like in...

01:17:27 ◼   ► Okay falling behind is probably the wrong way to say it.

01:17:30 ◼   ► They haven't had a big release in a while.

01:17:32 ◼   ► You know, Ulysses and Scrivener have come, they're new, they've come to the fore, right?

01:17:36 ◼   ► Yeah. And I think, you know, I feel like, as I told you, for the iPad, it's important for me to

01:17:46 ◼   ► keep trying apps, to keep trying to optimize, and to understand what I can save more time.

01:17:52 ◼   ► And also, I need to have a writing environment that helps me write more and write better.

01:18:01 ◼   ► I like these features, and I know that there's going to be people who tell me,

01:18:06 ◼   ► "Also, now you're using this different app."

01:18:10 ◼   ► There's a couple of points that I want to make there.

01:18:14 ◼   ► The automations that I use with Workflow, the beautiful aspect of those,

01:18:18 ◼   ► is that no matter the text editor that I use, those automations stay the same.

01:18:24 ◼   ► I can publish to Mac stories from both Apple Notes or Scrivener even,

01:18:31 ◼   ► Jolysis, IE Writer, it doesn't matter. - Why is that though?

01:18:35 ◼   ► Because I made a workflow that makes sure that as long as I share markdown text,

01:18:41 ◼   ► the end result is always going to be the same.

01:18:43 ◼   ► Right, so the input is just markdown.

01:18:45 ◼   ► So like you can trigger it from wherever, basically, when the text is selected.

01:18:50 ◼   ► This gives me the freedom of trying a bunch of different apps,

01:18:55 ◼   ► see what works better, and have a consistent result in the end.

01:18:59 ◼   ► So even if I switch between apps,

01:19:03 ◼   ► I'm not switching between locked-in proprietary sandboxes.

01:19:09 ◼   ► I guess the only problem now, though, is that because the file system is iCloud,

01:19:13 ◼   ► it's harder to move, I assume, than it was when it was Dropbox?

01:19:17 ◼   ► Every time I have a draft for something important, I make a habit of making two copies.

01:19:24 ◼   ► I have a workflow that saves my document both to Dropbox and to GitHub.

01:19:32 ◼   ► I make two copies and every time I publish, in case I forget,

01:19:36 ◼   ► because you're gonna have people who tell me "Yeah, but what if you forget to export the document?"

01:19:42 ◼   ► I don't forget when I'm working on an important review.

01:19:45 ◼   ► But in case I forget, maybe I'm working on a linked post for Mac Stories,

01:19:50 ◼   ► something that is not super important, right?

01:19:53 ◼   ► Every time I publish, the same publishing workflow also saves a copy to my Dropbox.

01:19:58 ◼   ► So besides the copy in the local file system of AI Writer,

01:20:03 ◼   ► and besides the published version of Mac Stories,

01:20:06 ◼   ► I also have a text version, a txt file in my Dropbox.

01:20:11 ◼   ► So, I guess I rely on workflow to keep things consistent,

01:20:16 ◼   ► but I have the freedom of switching between different apps

01:20:19 ◼   ► and see which writing environment is the best.

01:20:23 ◼   ► And I think it's a good system, honestly.

01:20:25 ◼   ► - So are you currently planning on using IARiter over uses?

01:20:28 ◼   ► - I don't know.

01:20:29 ◼   ► I don't know, I think it's great

01:20:31 ◼   ► that I can have this experiment, right?

01:20:34 ◼   ► I think it's nice that I can,

01:20:37 ◼   ► Especially because a lot of my work stuff lately, and I mean in the past year,

01:20:43 ◼   ► happens on web services like Trello and Todoist or Zapier.

01:20:49 ◼   ► As long as my main data is in the cloud, the client side can be flexible.

01:20:56 ◼   ► So as long as I have my Club Max stories reader questions in Trello,

01:21:04 ◼   ► I can use Workflow to bring those questions into a bunch of different apps.

01:21:10 ◼   ► So, yes, I'm going to test IA Writer, but what I want to stress is I'm not going to test it.

01:21:18 ◼   ► It's not a losing game for me. It's not that I'm making compromises.

01:21:22 ◼   ► Because as long as I have my Workflow automation and my data in the cloud with web services,

01:21:29 ◼   ► I can switch between different clients and the result is always gonna be the same.

01:21:34 ◼   ► So optimized.

01:21:37 ◼   ► Yeah, that's what I like to do. I don't have time to

01:21:41 ◼   ► switch between different apps and every time I gotta do, you know,

01:21:46 ◼   ► the documents are not gonna be the same. As long as an app, my

01:21:51 ◼   ► at most essential aspects are, it needs to support Markdown

01:21:56 ◼   ► and it needs to have a share sheet.

01:21:58 ◼   ► And once those two conditions are met, I can do anything.

01:22:02 ◼   ► I guess you could say that if workflow goes away,

01:22:06 ◼   ► I'm screwed.

01:22:07 ◼   ► - I didn't wanna say it, but I was thinking it.

01:22:10 ◼   ► - But let's just hope it won't go away.

01:22:13 ◼   ► - I think me and you had this conversation before

01:22:15 ◼   ► that you would just have to buy it, right?

01:22:18 ◼   ► - Yeah, I think so.

01:22:20 ◼   ► - Max stories would just have to acquire workflow

01:22:22 ◼   ► just to keep it alive.

01:22:25 ◼   ► I'm not even joking when I say I've got to consider something like that.

01:22:31 ◼   ► You know, it used to be editorial and Pythonista, and workflow came around just when the development

01:22:39 ◼   ► on those apps kind of slowed down.

01:22:42 ◼   ► So I moved from one to another.

01:22:44 ◼   ► But at this point I'm way deeper into workflow than I used to be with editorial and Pythonista.

01:22:49 ◼   ► So if there's any problems, we will have to think of a plan.

01:22:54 ◼   ► We'll have to have a conversation.

01:22:56 ◼   ► We gotta have a talk, we gotta sit down and have a talk about what we're gonna do.

01:23:00 ◼   ► You gotta make them an offer they can't refuse, Federico.

01:23:02 ◼   ► I'm not sure I'm in the position to do that, but we have a bunch of money lying around

01:23:08 ◼   ► in my savings account.

01:23:09 ◼   ► You gotta start a war chest now, just in case.

01:23:13 ◼   ► Yes.

01:23:14 ◼   ► One of the best ways to help Federico with a massive amount of money that he's gonna

01:23:18 ◼   ► need to buy workflow one day is to support our sponsors the great folks over at Smile,

01:23:23 ◼   ► Matt Weldon and Hover. Do you like that? I'm all about tying things in today. I don't know if you've

01:23:28 ◼   ► noticed. No, no it was a great job. Thank you so much. Thank you and thank you as always Federico

01:23:34 ◼   ► for joining me today. You can find Federico online at maxlories.net. You can find him on

01:23:39 ◼   ► the twitter he is @Vitiicci. You should also check Federico out on his other Relay FM shows,

01:23:46 ◼   ► remaster and canvas. If you want to find me online I am @imikefederico

01:23:54 ◼   ► and I've already spoken about you. I'm now going to move to Stephen. Stephen is online

01:23:58 ◼   ► he's at 512pixels.net. He's somewhere in the internet right now. Maybe or maybe not. I

01:24:04 ◼   ► think he's trying to put out the ISP file which has found its way into level 4 of the

01:24:11 ◼   ► museum so he's trying to deal with that right now. It's a whole big mess. Thanks so much

01:24:16 ◼   ► listening. We'll be back next week. Until then, say goodbye, Federico.

01:24:19 ◼   ► Arrivederci.