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Connected

478: Not So Bankrupt Anymore

 

00:00:00   [Music]

00:00:08   Hello and welcome to Connected, episode 478.

00:00:14   It is made possible by our sponsor, Squarespace.

00:00:17   My name is Stephen Hackett and I'm joined by Mr. Federico Vittucci.

00:00:21   Hello, Stephen. How are you?

00:00:22   I am good. How are you?

00:00:25   I'm doing fantastic. It's very early for you.

00:00:28   We're recording this at a different schedule and it's like at 8 30 in the morning.

00:00:33   Yeah, so if I sound... This is how I sound in the morning, basically.

00:00:37   Okay.

00:00:37   Deeper and worse, but what can you do?

00:00:41   I had a couple weeks ago, I was already up and moving and one of my parents called me.

00:00:47   They're like, "Did I wake you up?"

00:00:48   I was like, "No, this is just how I sound."

00:00:49   Like, I just sound like death until 10 a.m. or so.

00:00:52   But we're here, Mike is on vacation.

00:00:57   And I think Mike needs something from the listeners to know that he's missed.

00:01:02   Yeah, so we've done emoji before, right?

00:01:07   I think it's time we move past the emoji.

00:01:10   And I think we should do something that Mike is not capable of doing.

00:01:18   Mike, if I recall correctly, cannot write haikus.

00:01:24   He has struggled with that in the past.

00:01:26   The counting gets him, I think.

00:01:27   Yes, so I think we should ask listeners to write Michael a haiku.

00:01:36   Okay.

00:01:37   And tell him he's missed.

00:01:39   I think so.

00:01:40   Yeah.

00:01:41   Yeah?

00:01:42   I love it.

00:01:42   I absolutely love it.

00:01:44   Okay, so feel free to get creative, write a haiku and tell Mike he's missed from the show.

00:01:52   And the discord, whatever, he's missed.

00:01:55   Yeah, you know, however you get to sound with us.

00:01:58   Yeah.

00:01:59   Uh, get in touch with the UK embassy.

00:02:01   If you imagine Mike gets home and like the military shows up at his door and like,

00:02:10   uh, we've got all these letters for you.

00:02:12   You need to come with us.

00:02:13   We have some really important follow ups, Steven.

00:02:18   We do.

00:02:19   Most of the show today is follow up.

00:02:21   There's a lot of follow up, I think.

00:02:23   It's basically so, so basically this episode, a couple of things happened, right?

00:02:26   We're recording at an unusual time.

00:02:28   Mike is gone.

00:02:29   Nothing happens the week after American Thanksgiving.

00:02:33   So this was me basically cleaning out our feedback inbox.

00:02:38   That's basically what the whole episode is, is answering questions for people.

00:02:41   We're going to help people today is what we're going to do with two tiny topics that are

00:02:45   actually topics.

00:02:46   But first, uh, big, some shopping advice, I guess.

00:02:50   Yes.

00:02:50   Yes.

00:02:50   Some retail advice that are going to say that I needed a Christmas tree.

00:02:55   Where would you suggest I go?

00:02:57   Uh, I would suggest you go to 25 West center street Orem next to burger King at Federico

00:03:05   Christmas trees, which is open for business.

00:03:10   Again, I literally just read the address from their Instagram page.

00:03:14   Um, Federico Christmas tree Christmas trees, uh, a business, uh, based in Ohio.

00:03:21   Do I, did I get this right?

00:03:24   No, Utah.

00:03:24   I'm sorry.

00:03:25   Yeah.

00:03:25   Utah, uh, at the Orem at central street and state street next to the burger King next

00:03:31   to the burger King.

00:03:32   Um, they have a tree growers in Oregon and they have the lot in Orem, Utah.

00:03:39   Um, I don't recall correctly how, how these, um, family run business, I want to say, came

00:03:48   to be a recurring topic on the show.

00:03:51   I think a listener sent it into us.

00:03:53   I think so.

00:03:54   Eventually.

00:03:55   Initially.

00:03:57   We've been advertising for free with, they're not a sponsor of the show, but we have been

00:04:04   mentioning Federico Christmas trees, um, for the past few years.

00:04:08   And, uh, they're, they're back in full swing now.

00:04:11   They're open for business again, they opened on November 22nd.

00:04:15   And I guess if you need a Christmas tree and you are in Utah, uh, go check out for the

00:04:18   ego Christmas trees and tell them connected sent you, they will have no idea what that

00:04:23   means, but at least you will be, you will have the satisfaction of saying that in real

00:04:28   life.

00:04:29   Look, they're, they're a family business since 1988.

00:04:32   And I really, I mean, I was born the year you were born.

00:04:37   And honestly, I mean, you and I both run like small businesses, right?

00:04:42   Like we know how hard it is out there.

00:04:44   And these, uh, these fine people look really nice.

00:04:47   I got to say their Instagram page is pretty good.

00:04:50   Like lots of nice pictures.

00:04:52   People look happy.

00:04:52   It's, uh, it's great.

00:04:55   Yeah.

00:04:56   They posted six days ago, a family photo, the first customers of the season.

00:05:01   Um, they have hundreds of beautiful trees from Oregon and Washington.

00:05:05   So go check them out.

00:05:06   Uh, you know, the, the actually quite nice trees.

00:05:09   I should say, I would say we should all follow them on Instagram.

00:05:13   175 followers is not enough.

00:05:15   Yeah.

00:05:17   You know what?

00:05:17   You know what?

00:05:18   I just clicked the follow button myself.

00:05:21   And they are, unfortunately the name for the Rico is not spelled, uh, like my name.

00:05:27   It's, it's got the extra R so it's F R at the Rico, Fred, the Rico.

00:05:32   Yeah.

00:05:32   That's how my mom says your name by the way.

00:05:34   Yeah, I know it's, it's how everybody in America says my name.

00:05:37   So it's fine.

00:05:38   I can't do it because I know how your name is pronounced, but Fred, Fred, Fred, Fred,

00:05:42   the Rico Fred, Fred, the Rico.

00:05:45   Yeah.

00:05:45   Uh, go check them out, follow them on Instagram.

00:05:47   And if you happen to be nearby, uh, go buy a Christmas tree.

00:05:50   Um, because why not?

00:05:52   Why not?

00:05:53   Listener Jason wrote in with a miracle and I just wanted to share this because we were

00:05:59   speaking about what products we think should be more water resistant, I think is what we

00:06:05   were talking about.

00:06:05   And Jason wrote about a year and a half ago, I was cleaning leaves out of a pool and one

00:06:11   of my AirPods pro fell out of my ear and into the pool.

00:06:14   Okay.

00:06:15   That's not good.

00:06:15   They need better tips.

00:06:16   They need your foam tip.

00:06:18   Yeah.

00:06:18   The charging pro memory foam tips.

00:06:23   That's what I would recommend.

00:06:24   He scooped it out with a net as soon as I could, but it was submerged for at least three

00:06:29   to four minutes.

00:06:30   I guess he was looking for the net.

00:06:32   I don't know.

00:06:32   It took Jason three or four minutes to look for a net.

00:06:35   Yeah.

00:06:35   I dried it off and it worked fine.

00:06:38   In fact, I listened to the most recent connected episode on those same AirPods.

00:06:44   That's incredible.

00:06:45   It is.

00:06:45   That's incredible.

00:06:46   Jason.

00:06:47   Uh, well done to, I don't know.

00:06:50   Congrats.

00:06:51   I mean, that's surprising because I would have thought that three or four minutes submerged

00:06:56   in water.

00:06:57   I would have thought that those AirPods were done for.

00:07:00   Me too.

00:07:01   Yeah.

00:07:02   Also, if you're cleaning leaves out of a pool, are you not using a net to do that?

00:07:07   Like I was thinking about the logistics of this.

00:07:11   Like Jason mentions they were cleaning leaves out of a pool.

00:07:15   And then Jason said, I scooped it out with a net as soon as I could.

00:07:21   So how was Jason cleaning those leaves?

00:07:25   With his hands?

00:07:26   He's just like leaning out over the pool and like pulling them to his chest with his hands.

00:07:29   I don't know.

00:07:29   I guess.

00:07:31   I don't know.

00:07:32   I don't have a pool.

00:07:33   I don't know how it works.

00:07:33   Yeah.

00:07:35   I have no idea.

00:07:36   But yeah.

00:07:37   Okay.

00:07:38   Interesting.

00:07:38   Interesting.

00:07:39   Hey, Stephen, do you know if the, like, is it like a, like a myth, like a, like a urban

00:07:46   legend?

00:07:47   The thing about, like, if you drop your phone or any electronics in water, you got to put

00:07:53   them in a bag of rice or something.

00:07:55   Like, is that, is there any actual scientific truth to the rice method?

00:08:00   I think it, I mean, it can't hurt.

00:08:03   But like what happens if you, if you put your phone in a, in a bag of pasta or something?

00:08:09   I, so I fix it and I trust I fix it in these regards says, uh, when we put a phone in rice,

00:08:17   it's the same thing as doing nothing.

00:08:20   We're just pretty strong language.

00:08:21   So, okay.

00:08:24   I would say follow what I fix.

00:08:26   It says, and they basically say, uh, you want to displace the water.

00:08:30   Uh, but then they're like open, you know, use rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush, open

00:08:36   your device as soon as you can take out the battery.

00:08:38   So, you know, that's not as feasible.

00:08:42   I don't know.

00:08:43   Put in rice.

00:08:46   Yeah.

00:08:46   I can't hurt, but I don't know if it's like the miracle cure.

00:08:51   Uh, we have some important real time follow up from the real FM, uh, historian, Kate and

00:08:57   Kate says for the Rico's Christmas trees first came up in episode 161 at the time y'all were

00:09:05   messing with each other's names in the intros and Frederico as an alternative to Federico

00:09:10   came up and Kyle's shared the link in the chat in response to that discussion.

00:09:15   There it is.

00:09:16   That's some incredible context.

00:09:19   Thank you, Kate.

00:09:20   There's some amazing things in the links for this episode.

00:09:23   Let's see episode 161.

00:09:27   So first off, what year are we talking about?

00:09:29   This is 2017.

00:09:32   Oh my God.

00:09:32   We've been referring to Frederico's Christmas trees for six years.

00:09:36   Yeah.

00:09:37   Okay.

00:09:38   Uh, the description of the episode is files on iOS 11 is taking shape.

00:09:45   It's still in some, honestly, and some problems are emerging.

00:09:48   That's still true.

00:09:49   Federico gets sad listening to the others talk about their watches then slowly disappears

00:09:55   as Steven talks about macOS High Sierra.

00:09:58   That's a pretty good description.

00:10:00   That's yeah.

00:10:01   That's good.

00:10:02   That's so yeah.

00:10:03   There's iCloud family sharing in here.

00:10:05   We were still raising money for St. Jude through the marathon before we were like official

00:10:10   partners.

00:10:10   What a wild time.

00:10:13   Yeah.

00:10:14   Apple watch series three.

00:10:15   That feels like forever ago.

00:10:17   Yeah.

00:10:17   Wow.

00:10:18   Okay.

00:10:19   Wow.

00:10:20   Uh, Lloyd wrote in with a question for you, Federico.

00:10:23   You were mentioning wanting a better case for the iPad.

00:10:26   Lloyd wrote, I've recently been using the Logitech combo touch and I think it solves

00:10:32   a lot of problems mentioned.

00:10:33   So just wanted to throw it out there as an option.

00:10:36   Have you played with this?

00:10:37   Uh, see the problem with the combo touch, there's actually a couple of them.

00:10:44   First, I don't like putting my iPad in a case like that the combo touch is the kind of like

00:10:50   rugged case that's all around the iPad because the thing about the iPad for me is that sometimes

00:10:55   I want to use it with the keyboard and other times I want to use it as a tablet.

00:10:58   I want to take it, take it out of the magic keyboard and just want to use it quickly as

00:11:03   a touch device.

00:11:04   And with this combo touch and with other similar cases, it becomes a whole thing where you

00:11:10   need to, you know, you gotta apply some pressure and take the iPad out.

00:11:15   And essentially you end up in the situation where you are less incentivized to use the

00:11:20   iPad as a tablet because it becomes a whole thing to take it out of the case and put it

00:11:24   back in.

00:11:24   And so you're just like, you know what, I'm just going to use it as a case with the case

00:11:28   and never take it out.

00:11:30   Which is why ultimately I preferred the Magic Keyboard and I was not a huge fan of the old

00:11:42   design of the bridge keyboards because the bridge keyboards with the, do you remember

00:11:46   you needed to slide the iPad into those two sort of hinges like at the bottom?

00:11:52   It felt bad because they had these rubber little inserts in there and if it got like

00:11:58   folded under you were just scraping your iPad into like a, it was bad.

00:12:02   Exactly.

00:12:03   And which is why I was very keen to try the new design of the not so bankrupt anymore

00:12:13   bridge max plus keyboard, which unfortunately, and this is some follow up as recent as 30

00:12:22   minutes ago, Steven, I unfortunately missed the delivery of that keyboard today because

00:12:27   I was at Ikea 30 minutes ago and OTJ was able to get, do you know this whole story?

00:12:33   No, I don't.

00:12:34   Okay.

00:12:34   So a reader on Mastodon got in touch with me saying, Hey, did you know that like the

00:12:40   key, the bridge keyboard you mentioned, the one with the new design is like on sale on

00:12:45   clearance on Best Buy for like 50 bucks in the US.

00:12:50   I was like, wait, that can't be true.

00:12:51   And I sent a link to John.

00:12:53   I was like, John, can you confirm that you can get this on clearance for 50 bucks?

00:12:56   And he's like, yeah, it's like $49.

00:12:58   And so he got, he got one for me and shipped it to me.

00:13:03   In fact, I paid more for the shipment than the keyboard itself.

00:13:06   But, but, uh, uh, the new doorman, uh, you know, we, we, you know, we don't have Mario

00:13:14   anymore.

00:13:15   Did I tell you we don't have Mario the doorman anymore?

00:13:18   Oh no.

00:13:18   Retired?

00:13:20   And he was, it was, uh, it was let go.

00:13:24   Yeah.

00:13:26   Anyway, we have Giovanni now.

00:13:28   So we're going from, from stereotypical Italian name to stereotypical Italian name.

00:13:35   Anyway, Giovanni was not here today.

00:13:37   And so I missed the delivery of the keyboard.

00:13:38   I'll get it tomorrow.

00:13:39   But anyway, all this to say that keyboard, I am very intrigued because it's got the same

00:13:45   idea of the magic keyboard.

00:13:47   It's got a flat sort of back where you just snap the iPad and it doesn't go around the

00:13:54   edges of the tablet.

00:13:55   So that bridge keyboard should be as easy to take your iPad out and put it back on as

00:14:02   the magic keyboard.

00:14:03   This combo touch, it's got that.

00:14:06   The first problem is the case.

00:14:07   And the second is that kickstand in the back.

00:14:10   Now, you know me, I like kickstands, but I think right now, um, I am more looking for

00:14:19   a tie, a really like laptop like setup for my iPad pro.

00:14:25   Where like, I don't need the extra support on my knees, on my legs to prop up the iPad.

00:14:32   So either the magic keyboard or the bridge keyboard, like a proper laptop mechanism.

00:14:39   I think that's what I'm looking for at the moment.

00:14:40   There also, I also did something else.

00:14:45   Speaking of keyboard, Steven.

00:14:47   Now this may be a bad idea, but you know me, I got to do it for science.

00:14:54   I am waiting for delivery.

00:14:58   So, okay, so don't judge me.

00:15:02   All right.

00:15:02   Promise you won't judge me?

00:15:04   No judgment.

00:15:04   Okay.

00:15:06   So I saw this Instagram ad for an unknown brand of iPad keyboards.

00:15:13   Unknown to you or like, this is one of those brands no one's heard of.

00:15:19   All right.

00:15:19   So have you ever heard of Dokomidi?

00:15:22   Nope.

00:15:23   Okay, so there you go.

00:15:24   So, but here's the thing.

00:15:27   So I see this Instagram ad for this iPad keyboard, and I'm going to send you a link.

00:15:32   This is all the collection of iPad cases that they make.

00:15:35   Look at this thing that I got.

00:15:41   So, and I'm posting this link in Discord.

00:15:44   Look at this other one.

00:15:45   Not the one with the swivel mechanism, the other one.

00:15:48   That's essentially what if the Apple magic keyboard was mixed with the bridge keyboard?

00:15:55   Yeah.

00:15:56   Which is pretty much what the rumors are saying in terms of what Apple is working on for next year.

00:16:01   Like this is a magic keyboard with a fancy floating design, a magnetic attachment,

00:16:08   but a proper keyboard that is backlit.

00:16:12   And look in the back as is also a USB hub with ports.

00:16:19   So this has USB-C, I guess for power, HDMI, two USB-A, SD card and micro SD or mini SD, whatever it is.

00:16:31   Yeah.

00:16:31   So, now.

00:16:33   This is sick.

00:16:33   Okay.

00:16:35   And they mentioned now the trackpad is responsive.

00:16:38   Dude, you can put the iPad in vertically.

00:16:40   Exactly, exactly.

00:16:42   The only compromise, of course, is you gotta run the short USB-C cable from the iPad to the keyboard,

00:16:50   because otherwise you're not gonna be able to use the hub.

00:16:53   Right.

00:16:53   That's no big deal.

00:16:54   Now, is this too good to be true?

00:16:58   I guess we'll find out together.

00:17:01   Oh, no!

00:17:01   Because I am waiting...

00:17:05   I don't know.

00:17:06   They're using this Chinese Express delivery service that I never heard of before.

00:17:11   So, we'll see.

00:17:12   It's moving.

00:17:13   The package is moving.

00:17:14   That's good.

00:17:15   Yeah.

00:17:16   So, I mean, this looks really good.

00:17:20   And hopefully, hopefully the trackpad won't be terrible, I guess.

00:17:26   The renders don't fill me with a ton of confidence.

00:17:30   Me neither.

00:17:31   Just look at how the iPad changes in between these pictures.

00:17:34   I know, I know.

00:17:36   But...

00:17:37   But maybe.

00:17:37   But maybe.

00:17:38   You know, sometimes, sometimes I've realized in recent years that there are so many relatively unknown to us,

00:17:52   Chinese brands and accessory makers that are actually making really cool products.

00:17:59   And maybe this is one of them, or maybe not.

00:18:03   Because at the end of the day, it's still Bluetooth.

00:18:07   I think they mentioned they're using Bluetooth 5.

00:18:09   So at least there's hope, some hope there.

00:18:11   We'll see.

00:18:13   But yeah, I'm waiting for the Dokomidi iPad keyboard.

00:18:19   Let us know.

00:18:19   Yeah, let us know.

00:18:21   Having the hub built in is a super interesting idea.

00:18:25   I know that there was like that...

00:18:26   Over the years, there have been hubs and there was like that weird stand from Belkin?

00:18:32   Or Logitech?

00:18:33   You know what I'm talking about?

00:18:34   It was like a big vertical stand and it had a bunch of ports on the back.

00:18:37   But having it built into the keyboard case, this turns the iPad into a laptop.

00:18:43   Really.

00:18:43   Fascinating.

00:18:45   Yeah, and I really hope that Apple eventually does something like this.

00:18:49   Because I mean, if you're making the keyboard thicker, and this is why I mentioned this a few weeks ago.

00:18:55   You can keep making the simple Magic Keyboard.

00:18:59   Make a Magic Keyboard Pro that is more expensive.

00:19:03   Like I will...

00:19:04   I'm gonna say something potentially controversial.

00:19:06   I would give Apple $400 for a Magic Keyboard Pro that is this product, but better and done by Apple.

00:19:15   You know, because I mean, I'm already spending $250 for the Magic Keyboard, right?

00:19:19   I don't want to say that I would spend $500, but I would definitely spend more to have a Magic Keyboard Pro.

00:19:27   That is really integrated with iPadOS.

00:19:30   As I mean, the trackpads that Apple makes are always going to be the best ones.

00:19:36   I don't know, we'll see.

00:19:38   There's something else that I wanted to mention while we're on the topic of keyboards and trackpads.

00:19:43   I was also sent this by a couple people.

00:19:46   And I have no idea if this product is shipping or not.

00:19:51   My understanding is that it's only available in the UK right now.

00:19:54   So Logitech came out with this, they call a pop-up desk system.

00:20:00   It's called the Logitech Casa pop-up desk.

00:20:05   Now Casa means home in Italian, in case you're not familiar.

00:20:08   So this is like, it looks like a little...

00:20:12   It's like a lunchbox for your tech accessories.

00:20:15   So it's a little like plastic trays that opens up and inside it's got a keyboard.

00:20:23   A trackpad and the case itself becomes sort of like a prop-up thing for your laptop.

00:20:30   Now, it's not every day that you come across a Bluetooth trackpad.

00:20:37   And Logitech claims that this trackpad works with MacOS and iPadOS.

00:20:42   Now if anybody has gotten their hands on this,

00:20:47   I would love to know how that trackpad specifically works on Apple platforms.

00:20:54   Does it support multi-touch gestures, for example?

00:20:56   Because I mean, it looks like a smaller magic trackpad to me.

00:21:02   I don't know, I'm really intrigued by this.

00:21:05   Now I don't want to buy the whole thing.

00:21:08   Like I don't want to buy the case and the keyboard and the full kit.

00:21:13   It's a whole system.

00:21:15   I just want to know about the trackpad.

00:21:17   So if any listener has a Logitech Casa pop-up desk system,

00:21:22   let me know how the trackpad is.

00:21:24   It is cool that it all folds down to its own thing though.

00:21:28   Yeah, yeah.

00:21:29   Huh.

00:21:30   You just get your laptop, get your Casa kit and just work from anywhere, I guess.

00:21:38   But it's only in the UK.

00:21:40   I don't know what they're doing.

00:21:41   I don't know.

00:21:42   You need big buddy Hurley to mail it to you.

00:21:44   I want to talk about RCS briefly,

00:21:49   because Apple announced this is going to be coming to the iPhone in the future.

00:21:54   That's old news at this point, but we had a listener right Ed

00:21:59   wondering what you thought this would mean for WhatsApp.

00:22:03   WhatsApp, of course, is not as big here as it is the rest of the world.

00:22:07   So I'd love your input on if there's any...

00:22:10   Is this going to change anything basically in that market?

00:22:14   I am very skeptical that anything is going to change.

00:22:19   In fact, not only do people here just want to use WhatsApp

00:22:24   and it's become the default communication system with anybody of any age group,

00:22:30   but over the past few years, and especially since the pandemic began,

00:22:35   I've noticed that the number of businesses using WhatsApp has increased.

00:22:45   Like it's become so common to use WhatsApp for personal communication,

00:22:50   group communication.

00:22:51   And for example, my doctor, I can text him on WhatsApp and get documents via WhatsApp.

00:23:00   I can book appointments with my dermatologist on WhatsApp.

00:23:04   I don't want to say it's as entrenched in our lives as something like WeChat in China, for example,

00:23:12   but it's obviously they...

00:23:15   Meta would love to have some of that business, right?

00:23:18   Where everything you're doing happens without WhatsApp.

00:23:21   I don't think at this time, even if the messages app on your phone got better,

00:23:28   I don't think anybody would be incentivized to switch from WhatsApp to messages or SMS or RCS,

00:23:37   in that case.

00:23:39   I'm lumping them all together because they end up in the same messages app.

00:23:43   I don't think anybody will be incentivized to make the switch

00:23:47   because even though the technology may be better,

00:23:50   it's still missing the key component, which is the social graph.

00:23:55   If everybody you know is using WhatsApp and everybody's there, why would you switch?

00:24:01   Most people don't have the technological curiosity that we have.

00:24:08   Like I'm going to try RCS because it's my job and I'm curious

00:24:12   and it's like more of a principle thing that it's now available.

00:24:17   But why would I do it?

00:24:18   Why would I do it if all my friends and neighbors and relatives and my doctor and my, you know,

00:24:25   my hair salon is on WhatsApp, right?

00:24:30   My video game store guy tells me stuff on WhatsApp

00:24:37   and I can make reservations for it.

00:24:39   Like I pre-ordered my PS5 Slim via WhatsApp.

00:24:45   Like why would I use something else?

00:24:47   Yeah, it's really hard to break that sort of hold on a market no matter what the market is.

00:24:52   Yeah, yeah.

00:24:54   So I think it'll be, look, it'll be convenient, right?

00:24:59   When you get the occasional text from somebody who's like,

00:25:04   "I'm not sure if I can text them on WhatsApp."

00:25:10   Because I noticed that that's also a social behavior that has changed.

00:25:15   Like until a few years ago, say seven years ago, eight years ago,

00:25:18   you wouldn't sort of cold message somebody that was not in your address book on WhatsApp.

00:25:26   Because that felt like more like, "We're not close friends, right?

00:25:32   I'm gonna send you an SMS instead."

00:25:35   A little more sort of distant.

00:25:38   WhatsApp was for your close friends.

00:25:40   But now like sometimes I get texts from people on WhatsApp,

00:25:43   be like, "Hey, I'm such and such person."

00:25:45   And you know, for any kind of request.

00:25:48   Now anybody just starts their first communication via WhatsApp.

00:25:52   And it's fine.

00:25:55   So that social barrier is not there anymore.

00:25:59   Plus all the tools that they have launched.

00:26:02   Look, I don't love WhatsApp as an experience, as an app.

00:26:08   But what I like is that everybody I know is on it.

00:26:12   And so, you know, groups, you can do polls.

00:26:17   Sometimes with our friends we do polls for like picking a day to go out for dinner.

00:26:21   That's something people in their 30s do, I realized.

00:26:26   You know, you can mute people, you can archive conversation, see?

00:26:29   It's pretty good.

00:26:31   And everybody's using it, so why would you switch?

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00:28:23   I couldn't help but notice that y'all have a new feature over on a Mac Stories.

00:28:30   You have a very fancy setup page where you and John

00:28:34   tap pictures of your desks and what you're using.

00:28:37   How did this come about and how in the world are you going to keep it updated?

00:28:42   Yeah, so the second, to answer your second question,

00:28:47   unless there are some major changes in the setup, I think our goal is to update this.

00:28:53   John and I discussed twice a year.

00:28:56   To sort of coincide with the typical time when we update and optimize our setups.

00:29:04   That's before WWDC, the famous spring cleaning.

00:29:08   And after review season.

00:29:13   That's really when we have the time again to think about our setups.

00:29:19   So I think the goal is to do it twice a year.

00:29:21   Unless, like in two months, I lose my mind and I stop using the iPad Pro and I switch to Linux,

00:29:28   then I will update my setup.

00:29:32   I mean, you did switch to Windows secretly for a while.

00:29:35   Yes.

00:29:36   I'm just putting that out there.

00:29:38   You know, you said like, "Oh, that would never happen."

00:29:40   It's like, "Dude, dude, dude."

00:29:44   I guess.

00:29:44   And your first question.

00:29:47   So I was inspired.

00:29:50   So a few weeks ago, I started noticing that on Mastodon, a bunch of people were sharing

00:29:58   their default apps.

00:30:00   This is something that began on a podcast, I believe, called Hemispheric Views, I want to say.

00:30:10   Yes.

00:30:11   This is not a show I was familiar with before.

00:30:14   And I've actually added it to my list since.

00:30:18   So I did this episode about like picking your default apps and they have a point system.

00:30:25   And after that episode, a bunch of people started sharing sort of as a follow up to the show,

00:30:29   their default apps.

00:30:31   And so I noticed that trend and I thought, "That's an interesting idea."

00:30:33   Sort of like sharing a permanent list of the software you're using.

00:30:41   And I thought, "Maybe we should do something similar on Mac Stories."

00:30:44   But I sat on it for a couple of weeks and I started thinking, you know, this idea actually

00:30:51   could be something a little broader, a little more fleshed out in the sense that people

00:30:58   often ask us, "Hey, what's the microphone you mentioned that you're using?"

00:31:03   Or like, "Hey, what's that HDMI adapter that you mentioned unconnected?"

00:31:09   Like people ask me these sorts of questions every time, like every week.

00:31:12   And I thought, you know, what if there was a page where people could go to like this

00:31:17   idea of the default apps, but what if the idea was default apps and default hardware?

00:31:22   And so I realized, well, that's a setup page.

00:31:25   We are describing our setups.

00:31:27   And so that's how it came together.

00:31:30   Sort of like as a way for people to have a single place where they can go and see what's

00:31:36   the weird cable that Federico is using or how many controllers does John have?

00:31:40   Too many is the answer.

00:31:42   But yeah, that was the idea.

00:31:43   Yeah, and this has expanded, just going back to the app defaults on Hemispheric Views.

00:31:49   Rob Knight has a page on their website of two, it's now currently 212 blog posts from

00:31:57   people doing this, which is so, so cool.

00:32:01   Yeah, it's very cool to see this old school blogging come together for the same thing.

00:32:10   I love it.

00:32:11   And every single website, of course, has an RSS feed, which is a beautiful site, obviously.

00:32:17   As it should be.

00:32:18   You do have a similar page, Steven.

00:32:21   I do, yeah.

00:32:22   So five fill pixels dot net slash gear, and it's not as well organized as yours, but it's

00:32:28   basically the same thing.

00:32:29   It's like, this is my desk.

00:32:31   This is my computer.

00:32:32   This is some key software.

00:32:34   This is how I record podcasts.

00:32:36   It started as a page of like, what podcast gear should I buy?

00:32:40   And I had like what I use and then what everyone else should buy because, you know, I've been

00:32:43   doing this 10 years.

00:32:44   I've built up my gear over time, but I've expanded it kind of slowly.

00:32:48   And I do basically the same thing you do.

00:32:51   Like I have a recurring thing, I think every six months.

00:32:54   So it's like, just skim this and see if it's woefully out of date and I'll go in and tinker

00:33:00   with it.

00:33:00   But it is a fun project to have.

00:33:04   Yeah.

00:33:05   Yeah.

00:33:06   So we'll see.

00:33:06   I can tell you that there are already some changes on my end.

00:33:09   Very minimal.

00:33:10   But yeah, we'll see how to keep it updated.

00:33:15   Maybe there should be.

00:33:17   I was actually thinking like, you know, what would be cool is to have a change log for

00:33:23   this page.

00:33:24   That would be cool.

00:33:24   Like on this day, this is something that I believe, and this is why something I love

00:33:31   about my job is when you get creative and you can sort of get your inspiration from

00:33:42   different sources, right?

00:33:44   You can be influenced by different fields.

00:33:47   And so like this idea came from a podcast.

00:33:50   But then I was thinking like Kotaku, the video game website, they have every year, they do

00:33:57   a running list of the best games of the year, parenthesis, so far.

00:34:02   And throughout the year, they update the list.

00:34:05   And in that list, there's a change log that says, I don't know, May 2023, removed, I don't

00:34:13   know, God of War and replaced with Zelda.

00:34:16   And like, that's a pretty cool idea, you know, but to apply it for Mac stories and for tech,

00:34:22   like, I don't know, December 2023, I replaced these, you know, keyboard with something else.

00:34:30   Like to keep a log over time would be interesting, I think.

00:34:34   Very cool.

00:34:36   I did that when I had my Mac Pro.

00:34:39   I just had just a page on 512 where I would go through and when I would do something with

00:34:45   it or change something in the setup, I would just have a little addition to the page.

00:34:50   And it is fun to do these sort of long term projects.

00:34:54   I enjoy them.

00:34:56   Blogging, it's not dead.

00:34:59   Still very much alive.

00:35:03   I want to wrap up today talking a little bit about some of Apple's content businesses,

00:35:10   because they've had this big push over the last couple of days about the year in X.

00:35:16   Right.

00:35:16   So the year in podcasts.

00:35:18   Oh, yeah.

00:35:18   Apple Books got a new year in review feature, which I think is actually pretty interesting.

00:35:23   So I should try mine.

00:35:24   I've read zero books.

00:35:25   So you can go into Apple Books and not only do they have like, this was the most popular

00:35:32   stuff for the year, but also personalized highlights and like insights and what you

00:35:37   read.

00:35:38   So I guess for you, Federico in particular, maybe not so interesting, but I think it's

00:35:43   cool they added that to Apple Books.

00:35:45   That's a very natural extension of this idea, I think.

00:35:48   And if you read an Apple Books like, yeah, why not?

00:35:53   But the one I want to talk to you about particular was Apple Music Replay, because this is back.

00:36:01   It's still on the web.

00:36:03   You have to go to what is it?

00:36:04   Replay dot replay dot music dot apple dot com, which doesn't even sound like a real

00:36:11   domain.

00:36:12   Yeah, it sounds like it's it sounds like a phishing domain.

00:36:15   It does.

00:36:16   And then you have to sign in with your Apple ID, which is like not always the easiest thing

00:36:20   to do on the web.

00:36:21   Why is this still on the web?

00:36:24   Like, I know they've made some changes to it, but why is this not in the music app?

00:36:29   I don't know.

00:36:30   And I can tell you that when I saw when I saw the the news yesterday, I clicked the

00:36:37   link in in an article that I found.

00:36:39   And of course, thanks to the weirdness of universal links, it took me to the music app.

00:36:46   When I click that replay the music, the apple.com URL, it took me to the native music app, but

00:36:54   into an error page because the music app didn't know what to do with that replay URL.

00:37:00   So I had to go manually in Safari and do the thing.

00:37:03   I don't know what they're doing on the web.

00:37:05   The problem is.

00:37:07   I I think they're still in that phase where they want to try and be as hip and creative

00:37:19   as Spotify with this feature, but they just aren't.

00:37:23   And I just saw today the Spotify wrapped.

00:37:27   Launched today.

00:37:29   And now they're doing the thing where I believe what's a new thing?

00:37:33   What's a new gimmick this year?

00:37:34   They assign you like a musical town or whatever.

00:37:38   A sound town based on the sound town.

00:37:44   So every year, I mean, that's already funny just just to say it.

00:37:48   Spotify really knows how to capture sort of the cultural zeitgeist, even just for two

00:37:55   days with this feature.

00:37:57   And Apple's let alone the fact that it's like you got to go to a website, which is like,

00:38:01   you know, what am I?

00:38:02   My dad going to a website to get a report for my music.

00:38:07   But it's just it's kind of bland and just uninspired, you know, it's like and I go in

00:38:15   there and brief aside, Steven, once again, that cap for Cutie is my top listen artist.

00:38:24   Yeah, there's a reason and there's a reason and this won't be the case next year.

00:38:30   So I wouldn't I wouldn't say every night of a typical week, but maybe three nights a week,

00:38:39   three or four nights a week.

00:38:40   I like to fall asleep listening to either plans by that cup for Cutie, transatlanticism

00:38:48   or narrow stairs.

00:38:50   I love it.

00:38:51   I just like to put on, you know, let me tell you, a big big canyon bridge while you're

00:38:58   in bed.

00:38:58   Top choice, really.

00:39:00   It's not a very like sleepy song that bridge.

00:39:03   No, but but it's got an atmosphere.

00:39:05   Yeah, I like to listen to one of these three albums and that has completely skewed my Apple

00:39:13   music report toward that cup for Cutie.

00:39:17   It looks like, hey, look at this guy really loved listening to plans and transatlanticism

00:39:22   in twenty twenty three.

00:39:23   This won't be a problem next year because in seventeen point two, which is not out yet

00:39:30   in iOS seventeen point two, you will be able to make a filter that says when I'm in this

00:39:36   focus mode, don't gather my music activity.

00:39:40   That's smart.

00:39:42   What I will do is as soon as the sleep focus comes on, do not collect my music listening

00:39:50   habits because it means I will be listening to that cup for Cutie or other people may

00:39:54   be listening to white noise playlists.

00:39:56   That's the idea.

00:39:57   So I think they're doing it on the web because my my idea is that.

00:40:03   I don't know, Apple is focused on other things.

00:40:07   Would be would be my explanation here.

00:40:11   They're focused on lyrics, on having a better than Spotify native experience, and maybe

00:40:19   they just don't have they just don't have a big enough team to take care of this stuff.

00:40:25   Like you go to this page and call my top artists or that cup for Cutie, the main and Blink

00:40:30   one eighty two.

00:40:31   I listen to a lot of plans.

00:40:33   I listen to the main and Boy Genius and my top genre is alternative and indie rock.

00:40:38   That's pretty much it.

00:40:40   Like.

00:40:41   It doesn't it doesn't have it doesn't have a lot of personality, you know, and if you

00:40:47   want and actually I believe that John just published these on MaxTories today.

00:40:54   He did.

00:40:54   If you want this kind of more, let's call it objective sort of report.

00:41:01   And if you are this kind of music person, like I want to know stats about myself.

00:41:06   Right.

00:41:07   That's a legitimate thing to do.

00:41:09   But if you want to have this for music and you are really into music, just use last of

00:41:15   them.

00:41:15   You know, the last of them report, which you get monthly and you get a big one at the end

00:41:21   of the year.

00:41:22   Those are so much better and have a lot more data than these Apple ones.

00:41:26   These Apple ones are this hybrid of like we're trying to be hip, but also just give you the

00:41:32   numbers.

00:41:33   And in the meantime, they're like.

00:41:34   What would you say in English?

00:41:37   They're neither fish nor fowl.

00:41:39   Is that an expression?

00:41:41   Yeah, they're that they're that in my opinion, they're just there, right?

00:41:44   It's not they're just there.

00:41:46   They're just doing something, but they're not as full featured as last of them and they're

00:41:51   not as fun as Spotify.

00:41:53   They are in the middle.

00:41:56   Yeah.

00:41:56   Honestly, I think the Apple books one is more interesting than music because one thing they

00:42:00   did is like the type of reader you are.

00:42:03   It's like I'm a completionist.

00:42:04   I'm this or that.

00:42:05   And the artwork is really good.

00:42:07   Like, yes, I would like to see more of that approach in Apple Music next year.

00:42:11   Yeah, you give it some love.

00:42:14   Give it some personality.

00:42:15   Do something.

00:42:16   Hey, you're you know, I wouldn't mind Apple telling me you are a sad emo person.

00:42:21   Yeah, give me that.

00:42:22   You know, I deserve it.

00:42:23   Yeah, I deserve it.

00:42:25   We'll get like a true emo.

00:42:26   Yes, you're right.

00:42:29   Apple.

00:42:30   You're right.

00:42:30   Apple Music.

00:42:31   Hopefully they'll do something more fun next year.

00:42:34   But in the meantime, Spotify wrapped is out there doing its thing like, you know, I'm

00:42:39   looking at the screenshots now and like Spotify can tell you your your sound town is Mexico

00:42:46   City or, you know, now they give you they give you these sort of these characters in

00:42:53   Spotify wrapped like it says me in 2023, Luminary or Shapeshifter or Time Traveler like and

00:43:01   it's got fancy artwork.

00:43:03   Some of this looks AI generated, I should say, but maybe I'm wrong.

00:43:08   Don't look at the hands.

00:43:10   Don't look at the hands.

00:43:11   But at least it's fun and colorful.

00:43:15   And, you know, and speaking of these end of the year features, I want to give a shout

00:43:20   out to Pocket Casts.

00:43:23   Pocket Casts came out as of a couple of days ago with their best of like your year in podcasts.

00:43:30   And it's really good, for example, scrolling through mine.

00:43:35   You know what my what my most listened show of 2023 was, Stephen?

00:43:39   Mac power users.

00:43:42   No, I'm sorry.

00:43:44   It was Upgrade Plus with 33 episodes for a total of two days and two hours.

00:43:51   Second spot, The Besties, third place, TripleClick.

00:43:56   Excellent video games podcasts.

00:43:59   Number four, More Text and number five, Into the Aether, another excellent video game show.

00:44:04   And yeah, I mean, why is there no end of the year report for Apple podcast?

00:44:10   I don't know.

00:44:11   But my take is if they want to do these features at the end of the year, and they should because

00:44:15   they're fun and they're like put a nice bow at the end of the year for your digital life,

00:44:20   they should do it.

00:44:21   But if you do it, make it fun, make it colorful and make it informative.

00:44:25   Right now, they're just kind of, you know, the dead version of whatever Spotify is doing.

00:44:31   Spice it up.

00:44:33   That's what we're saying.

00:44:34   Make it weird.

00:44:35   I think the weirder the better for these.

00:44:37   Make it weird.

00:44:37   I'll always, exactly like we'll always be on this program.

00:44:41   We'll always be in favor of Apple making it weird.

00:44:43   Like do it, you know, I have a little dance in Tim Cook when you open the page, whatever,

00:44:49   you know.

00:44:49   Before we go, I want to remind everybody about the membership sale that's going on.

00:44:54   You can go to give relay dot com and get 20 percent off all annual memberships across

00:45:00   the network.

00:45:01   This is running through December 15th.

00:45:03   You can buy one for yourself.

00:45:05   You can buy one as a gift for somebody else.

00:45:07   You can send this to your aunt who never knows what to get you.

00:45:10   And it's a great way to enjoy some membership content here.

00:45:15   In connected, we do a longer ad free version of the show each week called connected pro.

00:45:20   This week we spoke about play 2.0 and update to an excellent video management app.

00:45:25   And I asked Federico if he would go to space.

00:45:28   So you can enjoy that connected pro.

00:45:30   In the meantime, you can follow us online.

00:45:34   Federico is on Mastodon as Viticci at Macstories.net.

00:45:39   And of course, you can find his writing at Macstories.net.

00:45:43   You can find my writing at 512 pixels.

00:45:45   And I co-host Mac power users here on relay each and every Sunday.

00:45:49   And you can follow me on Mastodon as ismh@eworld.social.

00:45:53   We'd like to wish our co-host a happy vacation.

00:45:57   Again, go send him a haiku saying that he was missed from the show.

00:46:01   I like to thank Squarespace, our sponsor this week.

00:46:04   And until next time, Federico, say goodbye.

00:46:06   Arrivederci.

00:46:07   Bye y'all.