0:00:00So Myke, I'm walking home today and suddenly my Apple Watch starts going crazy.
0:00:07Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping.
0:00:10I look down and this is what I see.
0:00:14I've sent you something on iMessage.
0:00:15Okay.
0:00:16I told you this would happen!
0:00:18I remembered you, Myke, saying this was going to happen.
0:00:22And, uh, yes, so I sent Myke a screenshot of my Apple Watch screen that had too many
0:00:30Buy Milk reminders that had scrolled off the visible, the visible area from both recording
0:00:37and editing the show.
0:00:38My watch wanted to remind me to buy milk when I left the office.
0:00:42I'm so happy that this happened to you, especially today.
0:00:45I told you this was going to happen.
0:00:47Yes, well I was extra confused today and it took me much longer than normal to figure out what the situation was.
0:00:55Why do I have all of these reminders?
0:00:57I'll just say something like, "Hey Siri, remind me to buy milk when I leave the office."
0:01:04Like that kind of thing, that's what I use reminders for.
0:01:07I remind you about my milk when you leave work.
0:01:09Thank you Siri, see? That's it.
0:01:13That's the case where I use it sometimes, and it's great.
0:01:18And now, when I get back to my office, which is, what,
0:01:212,000 miles and at least two months away,
0:01:25I will buy some milk.
0:01:26As soon as you leave it, you're going to be like, OK.
0:01:30You'll come home that day, and you'll
0:01:31put the milk in the fridge and say,
0:01:32there's so much milk here already.
0:01:34What?
0:01:34What happened to me?
0:01:35[LAUGHTER]
0:01:36[MUSIC PLAYING]
0:01:39I'm probably going to put in a flashback to that.
0:01:42The flashback to that is exactly what the people need.
0:01:45You have to do the flashback sounds as well.
0:01:47[HARPSES]
0:01:50I don't know why we as a civilization
0:01:52have standardized on the harpy, watery sounds
0:01:56as the flashback sound, but this is where we are.
0:01:58First usage of flashback sound.
0:02:01I don't think that's going to be a very fruitful Google search.
0:02:03Yeah, I've given up on that.
0:02:06Wow, that was fast.
0:02:07That didn't take long.
0:02:08Yeah, all the results were nothing.
0:02:11I'm not wasting time.
0:02:12Yeah, we don't have any time to waste.
0:02:14Because Myke, I figure you have 90 minutes with me at most before I start to fall apart.
0:02:21So we can't spend any time googling about what's the origin of the flashback sound.
0:02:28And we've only spent 30 minutes together, which is very rare.
0:02:31I mean, usually we will spend at least two hours before we start recording.
0:02:35Today's got to be business.
0:02:37Business only today.
0:02:38Boom, boom, boom.
0:02:39We got to get stuff done.
0:02:40Extenuating circumstances, which again, I know you hate this phrase, but in a very out
0:02:46character move for you, you just like arrived in London a mere couple of hours ago and here
0:02:55we are recording a podcast. What a thing.
0:02:58Yes, three hours ago I was on a plane from America and now I'm recording a podcast with
0:03:05you which is not something I want to do. Not obviously recording a podcast with you Myke,
0:03:11I'm always very happy to do this. High on the list of things that you want to do. High
0:03:14on the list of things that I want to do. Low on the list is recording after having just
0:03:19arrived home. I do this every now and then, I will arrive home from a trip and I will
0:03:25record. And it is a very disorienting experience. As I warned you at some point during the episode
0:03:32today you're likely to get a little bit loopy because that's what happens to me.
0:03:36Yeah I mean we're recording today because there's literally no other day
0:03:41that could work for us for doing the show. We moved it like twice already and
0:03:47here we are. And also I asked you today to move it sooner which sooner in time
0:03:54which may be the first time I've ever done that because I always want to push
0:03:58things back. And also, also, this is the first time ever Gray has showed up to record, ready
0:04:04to record, before the scheduled time. Okay, now that's, that's just slanderous. This is
0:04:11totally true. This is not slanderous by any way. When you work with somebody for four
0:04:16years, which is how long we've been doing this show for now, which is a wild thing to
0:04:20think about, during any collaborative process like that, you just learn how the other person
0:04:25I'm sure that there are many things that you know about me, right?
0:04:28That are just like, I know Myke's gonna react this way,
0:04:30so I'll work with him within these parameters.
0:04:32- Yes. - And one of those,
0:04:33for working with you, is we will set a time.
0:04:36That time is when you will start to get ready,
0:04:38not when we will start recording.
0:04:42- That's true, that is true.
0:04:43- So I know that like when we say,
0:04:45all right, record at three o'clock,
0:04:46we will be on the phone together probably about 3.30.
0:04:49But that's just the way it is. - Yeah, that's fair.
0:04:51- Because then I now know,
0:04:52so I start my preparation at three.
0:04:54I'm never sitting here ready to record when we say we're gonna record.
0:04:57Yeah, that is totally fair. But you are right. Today, as soon as I walk through the door,
0:05:04basically, said hello to my wife, and I was like, "I gotta get ready for Cortex."
0:05:09Honey, I know I haven't seen you in a few weeks, but Myke's waiting.
0:05:12Yeah, well, the thing was, I was standing at the baggage carousel thinking about,
0:05:19"Oh God, there's a show later today.
0:05:21And I've just stepped off this plane.
0:05:24And what's a-coming is jet lag."
0:05:27But I thought, "If I wait too long,
0:05:32the jet lag is going to hit."
0:05:34So what I need to do is a podcast shock and awe campaign
0:05:39to my body.
0:05:41- To the senses.
0:05:42- Yeah, just, "Hey, you're up.
0:05:44We're gonna walk home and we're basically gonna go
0:05:47straight into the recording booth.
0:05:49there's gonna be nothing that even resembles relaxation.
0:05:52It's like, nope, I'm not gonna take a shower and get cozy.
0:05:57No, it's like straight off the plane,
0:05:59right into the recording booth
0:06:00because I know full well if I don't do this,
0:06:01I'm just gonna die.
0:06:03- You're effectively still traveling.
0:06:04- Yes, yeah, and I think that is the way
0:06:07that I'm sort of tricking my brain.
0:06:09It's like, oh, we have a layover at Cortex Airport
0:06:13and then we can sleep, right?
0:06:15That's what this moment is.
0:06:16But also to give the listeners
0:06:18little bit of a sense of this. I was trying to count on the flight over, and I have been
0:06:27away from home in America for 73 days.
0:06:32"Summer of Grey"? My word.
0:06:35Yes. It has been quite a trip.
0:06:40Wait, when did it start?
0:06:42Well, see, you're thinking, Myke, you're thinking, Myke, oh, my summer started at WWDC when we saw each other.
0:06:50But I had already been in America at a totally other conference before WWDC even started.
0:06:56Yes, I remember now. Yeah, I remember now.
0:06:59Right? So, and then, like, after that conference, I had, like, work stuff that I needed to do at another place.
0:07:05So I had like, I basically had before you saw me,
0:07:09there were already three events that I had been a part of.
0:07:13And then I saw you at WWDC.
0:07:15And then after WWDC,
0:07:18there was more things that needed to happen.
0:07:20I had to go to VidCon and then after VidCon,
0:07:23there was more stuff that happened
0:07:25and I've only just returned.
0:07:26- How was VidCon?
0:07:27I haven't even asked you.
0:07:28- Ah, okay, listen, we'll get to VidCon.
0:07:32- Okay, oh, we'll get to VidCon.
0:07:35So this has been, I've said it every summer because it's been true every
0:07:39summer. This is a total record for travel time.
0:07:42And you say summer of gray,
0:07:45but it's also not even over yet because you and I were just trying to plan when
0:07:49are we going to record in August and realize that we only have three days out of
0:07:54the whole month between the two of us that we could even possibly do it because
0:07:59like in less than a week I already have another travel thing that I need to do.
0:08:03and then there's two more events in August.
0:08:05So it's like this summer of gray for traveling
0:08:09is a tremendously long traveling season.
0:08:13But yeah, so I'm very adjusted to America time
0:08:16after 73 days.
0:08:18And so yes, that's why it's like,
0:08:20gotta record the podcast immediately
0:08:22before the jet lag hits me.
0:08:24- Well, you know, you're an early riser.
0:08:26It's like 6 a.m. right now, so you're fine.
0:08:29- Yeah, no, it's great.
0:08:30It's perfect. Everything's perfect.
0:08:33(laughs)
0:08:35- So nice and orderly year so far.
0:08:39- I see what you're doing there, Myke.
0:08:40- Yeah.
0:08:41- I see what you're doing there.
0:08:43So last year I talked about how the travel stuff
0:08:48was just a total disaster for me,
0:08:50but this year, right, is Year of Order 2,
0:08:54The Revenge of Order, I think, was the exact title
0:08:57that I gave it before.
0:08:58And then I realized I have this enormous amount of travel in the middle.
0:09:03I do have to say I have a little year of order update, which is,
0:09:09for a change, it's a very nice year of order update in that I knew this big stretch of time was going to come.
0:09:18And so I went into the summer with the clearest mindset that I ever have had on any of my traveling trips.
0:09:26of like, okay, you can't travel for so long and let things fall apart the way they do
0:09:33other times.
0:09:34So I have been really good about trying to maintain some kind of normal life schedule
0:09:41while traveling this time.
0:09:42And so it's like I've been, I made a real conscientious effort of like, I still have
0:09:47to go to the gym on a regular basis, which I've been really good about.
0:09:51Although I have discovered, or I should say I've rediscovered what I always knew, which
0:09:55which is, I really hate exercising in the morning.
0:09:58I don't have words to describe how much I hate exercising
0:10:01in the morning.
0:10:02- Okay, not 100% sure why that's related.
0:10:05- It's related because there were some days
0:10:07where stuff started too early,
0:10:09and I felt like the thing that's important
0:10:11is I have to keep, like exercise is part of the order,
0:10:15like it's a foundational thing.
0:10:17And there were some days, you know, say for example,
0:10:20it's at VidCon, where the days are starting early,
0:10:23and I just know full well that as soon as I leave the hotel,
0:10:26like I'm never coming back until I'm ready to go to bed.
0:10:29(laughing)
0:10:30And so I'm--
0:10:31(laughing)
0:10:32- I'm sure it feels a lot like that VidCon.
0:10:34Well, this might be the last time I leave this hotel.
0:10:37(laughing)
0:10:40- But yeah, so like I would exercise in the mornings
0:10:44because I knew like if I didn't do this,
0:10:46if I didn't put in the effort to do this,
0:10:47like I'm just not going to.
0:10:49And so that's why it's sort of,
0:10:51it's related is on days when I was busy,
0:10:54I was still really trying to make this effort.
0:10:56And I was like, boy, do I hate exercising in the morning.
0:10:59I hate it with a tremendous passion.
0:11:01And I resent all of the other people who are in the gym
0:11:03who look like, oh, they're having a great start
0:11:06to their day.
0:11:07And I'm the guy who's literally bringing in coffee with me
0:11:09to sip between different exercises.
0:11:12I'm like trying to wake up and get ready for the day.
0:11:16So it was a little brutal, but.
0:11:18- Can we talk about exercise for a second?
0:11:20- Sure.
0:11:20I have a thing that's frustrating me.
0:11:23- What's frustrating you?
0:11:24- When I hear people talking about exercising
0:11:26and they talk about how it makes you happier
0:11:29and releases the endorphins and all that kind of stuff,
0:11:33I understand all of that.
0:11:34I have never experienced this in my entire life.
0:11:38No matter how frequent I am with exercise,
0:11:40it doesn't make me feel happier.
0:11:43- I'm with you 100%.
0:11:44- Okay, I thought if anybody would be, it would be you.
0:11:47I can't relate any time in my life where exercise has made me feel happier.
0:11:52[laughter]
0:11:54I'm laughing because you just say it, you said it so directly and so starkly there.
0:12:00But yes, I can agree with that sentence.
0:12:04There's never been any time in my life where exercise has made me feel better.
0:12:09The results is a different thing.
0:12:11But that's not what people are talking about when they're talking about like,
0:12:15it will declutter your mind and all that kind of stuff.
0:12:18It doesn't do any of that.
0:12:19It just adds another thing in my life
0:12:21that I don't want to do.
0:12:23- Yeah, yeah.
0:12:24The comparison for me is there's very much a saying
0:12:26among people who write for a living.
0:12:28They're like, "Writing is terrible.
0:12:30"Having written is great."
0:12:33That is the closest I can get with exercise is,
0:12:38like I'm thinking of two mornings in particular
0:12:40where I had like very busy days,
0:12:42but I still did find time to exercise in the morning.
0:12:45Later in the day, I can think,
0:12:48oh, good on me for exercising this morning, right?
0:12:50Like I'm very happy with myself for having done that.
0:12:53- I don't think that's what people are talking about though.
0:12:55- Yeah, no, I know, it's like,
0:12:57that is like a very abstract layers removed,
0:13:01like talking myself into it,
0:13:03feeling about exercise is great.
0:13:07I believe people who describe this experience of
0:13:12- Yeah, I'm not saying that they're lying.
0:13:13- They get like a high from exercise.
0:13:14Yeah. - Because it makes sense.
0:13:16- Yeah, it's the only thing that makes sense.
0:13:18- But I've just never experienced this phenomenon.
0:13:21- Yeah, well, I think this came up ages ago
0:13:24when you asked me about trying out running,
0:13:27because you were gonna be really annoyed
0:13:29if I was another one of your friends
0:13:30who got on the running train.
0:13:31- Yeah. - And I did not.
0:13:33- Good. - But part of the running
0:13:35thing for me was as well, like giving it enough of a try
0:13:38to be able to definitively say,
0:13:40this experience that other people get out of running,
0:13:43I am never going to get out of it.
0:13:45And now I'm done, right?
0:13:46Like I've given it enough of a try,
0:13:49and this is just not happening.
0:13:51- It is the thing I will never understand.
0:13:53Again, like I know many people that love running.
0:13:55I know many people that have found running later
0:13:57in their lives, right?
0:13:58Like that it's not just a thing
0:14:00'cause you were bad at it when you were a kid.
0:14:02I cannot fathom how this is ever an enjoyable activity.
0:14:07It is like one of,
0:14:08I have tried many types of exercise.
0:14:11Running is the thing that is the most painful to me.
0:14:13It totally is true.
0:14:15And I really, like, I feel so strongly about writing in this same category of
0:14:20something like, "Oh, you must really love writing."
0:14:22No.
0:14:23I really love having, I was like, I was just talking to a friend who sort of does
0:14:29similar work where he has to write stuff like this and we were both commiserating
0:14:32over the same thing where other people go like, "Oh, your job must be so interesting
0:14:36and you must love writing about this stuff."
0:14:37I was like, "No."
0:14:39I love having written, finishing a thing and publishing it and getting it out into the world.
0:14:45That's great, but the process itself is not fun at all,
0:14:50and exercise is the same thing.
0:14:52It's like, "Oh, both of these activities,
0:14:54they're good for me and I feel much better later in the day if I've done them in the morning."
0:14:59But an exercise high is as baffling to me as the concept of a writer's high.
0:15:04"Oh, I'm really happy while I'm churning this out."
0:15:08No, this is not a thing that my brain is built for.
0:15:11And apparently it's not a thing that your brain is built for,
0:15:12which is why we can commiserate together over this.
0:15:15- Good.
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0:16:45To quickly answer your question about VidCon and to sort of tie up a little bit some of my Year of Order stuff is
0:16:52I very much treated VidCon and a number of the things I was doing this summer as, but particularly VidCon, as a surgical strike
0:17:01as like, "Okay, I am getting into LA and boom boom boom, what are the three most high value things for me to do?"
0:17:10It's like, okay, I've got one event, I've got another event, I've got two meetings,
0:17:14and then I want to get the hell out of here as fast as possible.
0:17:17So I was very aware that part of this concept of trying to maintain a year of order
0:17:25was very much like a thing that we've discussed before is this conflict when you go to conferences
0:17:31or when you're at WWDC about what are you participating in and what are you not participating in.
0:17:36and you feel like, oh, you spend all of this time and effort to travel to a place,
0:17:40you want to try to extract all of the value out of it that you possibly can.
0:17:44And this summer for me was very much the opposite of like, okay, I am going to all of these places,
0:17:49but I'm just going to try to do the smallest number of highest value activities that I can while I'm at those places.
0:17:56And while that does mean for me that I like, strictly speaking, I got a lot less out of any of the particular things that I went to, I feel like it was, it was much more sustainable over the long run.
0:18:10So I think this might be something that I try to maintain going forward for any kind of traveling and events that I do is like, okay, you don't have to try to extract all of the value from whatever it is.
0:18:22is, try to think about what's the highest value per unit time, and then still maintain
0:18:29as much of a normal life as you possibly can around the corners of that.
0:18:32I can totally see how that has worked for you, right? Like, I get that. That sounds
0:18:38to us-
0:18:39I like the way you say that because it's very clearly something that you're like,
0:18:41"I see how that works for you."
0:18:43Yeah, no, but it does, and it doesn't work for many other people, I don't think. But
0:18:47But if I did what you do, I would have to do what you're doing.
0:18:52Like if I was away for such long periods of time, like you are, I would have to do that.
0:18:59If I stayed away from home for 76 days, going from place to place, the only way that I could
0:19:06keep my business running is to employ that method.
0:19:09But I don't do that because that would, that wouldn't, it wouldn't work for me.
0:19:13I mean, what it does is that I have these intense periods of crunch, right?
0:19:17So like, because I travel to a lot of different places quite frequently, I have,
0:19:23you know, like I'll have a week away, then two weeks of crunch, calm week, and then
0:19:28a week away again, and that's just, that's, that's the difference between the way that
0:19:32our travel allows us or will force us to work.
0:19:36I don't necessarily like my method, but it kind of works for me.
0:19:40Although it is actually helping me inform 2020's theme a little bit, which I've already
0:19:46started thinking about.
0:19:47Oh, interesting.
0:19:48Yeah, but again, it's like, the type of travel that I do, I wouldn't want to operate the
0:19:53way that you do.
0:19:54But if I traveled the way that you did, I would probably have to do something pretty
0:19:57similar.
0:19:58Yeah, well, and this is also where I think the really key thing for anybody thinking
0:20:02about how to arrange a life is that you need to know yourself and your own limitations
0:20:09and advantages and things like that sounds so obvious and dumb, but it's actually quite
0:20:14hard to do. But part of the reason why I arranged these stupidly large blocks of travel is that
0:20:20I know for me, the time change is just so brutal and has such a high cost in terms of
0:20:27productivity that that's why like it makes sense for me to try to bundle as much together
0:20:32as is possible. Whereas when you would describe your schedule, the number of times that you
0:20:38go back and forth to America in the time where I have just stayed, I would die if I did it
0:20:46the way that you did it, and I would also just lose so much of the productive time after
0:20:53any of those events because of that time change.
0:20:56I couldn't possibly do it that way.
0:20:57I really do wish I could be more like you in this case.
0:21:01I wish the time change didn't affect me so much because if I could engineer it, I would
0:21:06much rather be able to say like, oh, I'm going to fly to America more often for shorter periods
0:21:12of time and like try to get everything out of the event that I possibly can. But I just don't,
0:21:16I just don't think that's the way that works for me. It's interesting to hear you saying like that
0:21:20you've been thinking about your theme for next year, because obviously the summer is the best
0:21:26time to be thinking about themes. And so I too have been thinking about my upcoming theme. I've
0:21:33even settled on what it's going to be, but I know that we're not allowed to talk about
0:21:37this now, and so we'll have to wait until later in the year to actually visit this topic,
0:21:43because Myke won't let us talk about it.
0:21:44Myke
0:21:44Because it doesn't start yet.
0:21:45But I'm glad to see that you're slowly coming around to obviously the summer is the best time to think about themes.
0:21:55I think it's fine as a time to think about them because you've done like six months, you've already done half of the year of your current theme.
0:22:02I just don't think it's necessarily the right time to implement them.
0:22:06Rolling into September, that's when you want to have new themes, I think.
0:22:09That's the obvious time.
0:22:11Well, we'll talk about that later on, I guess.
0:22:14I want to say one of my trips that I'm doing, my next trip actually, is a trip that I tend
0:22:21to take every year.
0:22:22I didn't take it last year because we got married, not me and you.
0:22:27I was going to say not us.
0:22:30For everybody, I think including me and you, but nevertheless, is a trip that I take to
0:22:36to Memphis every year to spend some time with my business partner Steven and we go through
0:22:41a lot of the stuff that we do with the business and that kind of stuff. We just spend some
0:22:45time together. But this year we are then going to be traveling together to San Francisco
0:22:52because we're going to be putting on a big live show in San Francisco to celebrate Relay
0:22:56FM's 5th anniversary because that's what August this year brings. So if you are going to be
0:23:03in or around San Francisco on August the 22nd.
0:23:08We're gonna be doing a live show.
0:23:10I will put a link to tickets in the show notes
0:23:12for this episode.
0:23:13It's gonna feature a bunch of Relay FM hosts
0:23:16and we're gonna be doing kind of a variety show.
0:23:20We're working on some fun stuff for that.
0:23:22So if you're gonna be around,
0:23:23you should come out to the show
0:23:24'cause we're gonna try and make it as big
0:23:26and as fun as we possibly can.
0:23:28- It is shocking to me that Relay is five years old.
0:23:31- Shocking to me.
0:23:32It's just, I can't, it's, it's in, I don't know.
0:23:34It's one of those things, like it's inconceivable.
0:23:35It's, it feels too old and too young at the same time, but congratulations.
0:23:40Happy birthday.
0:23:41Thank you.
0:23:41Oh, thank you very much.
0:23:42It makes me feel confident for the next five years because I feel like we have
0:23:46done five years without any major toll on our lives, if that makes sense.
0:23:54Right.
0:23:54Where like, I feel like, oh, we did that.
0:23:57I mean, everything's good.
0:23:59Like I don't feel like I have driven myself
0:24:01into the ground over five years trying to like,
0:24:05by hook or by crook make this business work,
0:24:07you know what I mean?
0:24:08And so I feel like we are operating within our skillset,
0:24:12we are growing within a level that we can handle, right?
0:24:17And that we're adapting.
0:24:19Like I feel like we're taking things in our stride
0:24:23as opposed to absolutely giving every ounce that I have.
0:24:28that I have, if that makes sense.
0:24:30I feel confident for the next five years
0:24:33because the previous five years have gone by pretty well.
0:24:37- Congratulations. - Thank you.
0:24:38- On to 50, 50 years of podcasting.
0:24:41- 50, 50 seems like more than I'm willing
0:24:44to commit to at this moment.
0:24:45- Oh, okay, all right, all right.
0:24:47But another five years.
0:24:49- Another five for sure.
0:24:50I can do another five and then we'll reevaluate.
0:24:5350 seems like too much.
0:24:57Yeah, you should be very proud of what you guys have built together.
0:25:01Thank you.
0:25:02Myke, I don't know if you remember, but what seems like a thousand years ago, during the summer,
0:25:07I sent you a message, "I can't remember why we were talking about putting the betas on our devices."
0:25:12And I said to you, "Oh, it's a terrible idea, and one mustn't be too hasty about putting the betas on their devices."
0:25:22and I sent you a little Lord of the Rings meme on this topic.
0:25:27Which I 100% got.
0:25:28Yes, yeah, and I'm sure you did 100% get.
0:25:31Totally got it.
0:25:32Right, but see the thing that you didn't know, Myke,
0:25:35is that message really wasn't for you.
0:25:38That message was for me.
0:25:40I was just as much trying to tell myself,
0:25:44"Don't put the beta on your device, you total moron."
0:25:47So how long have you been running the beta?
0:25:49In less than 24 hours after I sent you the Treebeard Mustn't Be Too Hasty meme, I had put "Developer Beta 2" on my iPad, because there wasn't even a public beta at that point in time.
0:26:07I at least held till 4.
0:26:09Here's the thing, like, I didn't tell you because I felt ashamed.
0:26:18I was like, "I can't believe I totally crumbled."
0:26:20It's like I 100% completely crumbled.
0:26:24But I at least was wise because since I was traveling, I had made an iTunes
0:26:32backup of my iPad before I had started this whole process, and I think it only
0:26:37took me about a week before I realized I had made a terrible decision and for the first time ever
0:26:43I've actually reversed on having the betas on any of my devices. Oh you're probably okay now by the
0:26:48way. Two was really bad. Four is good. I'm running it. I mean I get issues every now and then.
0:26:56They're like weird things that happen but most of the time just a reboot of the device fixes it.
0:27:02Yeah. Look, I'm going to try to stay off the betas until the actual thing comes out.
0:27:11No more betas for me. That's my policy.
0:27:14You know now that you're going to put Beta 4 on your device within the next 24 hours,
0:27:18right? You know that that's going to happen now because you just said that.
0:27:21No, I don't think so.
0:27:23Did you get a chance to use a mouse of your iPad yet?
0:27:28No I didn't.
0:27:29Oh my God.
0:27:30I didn't use the mouse.
0:27:31Do you like it?
0:27:32Oh my god, it's changed my life.
0:27:35Really?
0:27:36Yes.
0:27:37Because now I can observe correct posture at all times when using my iPad on a desk.
0:27:44So you have your iPad mounted at eye level now and you can use a mouse with it?
0:27:48Is that what you're doing?
0:27:49I have a really good stand called the Clearlook stand of a K and it's at eye level and I can
0:27:56sit with my bridge keyboard like detached, I just use that keyboard because I can detach
0:28:00to my iPad from it, put it in the stand, and a Logitech mouse, and it's a dream. It is
0:28:07so easy to adapt. It's unbelievable.
0:28:09Have you tried an external monitor with it yet?
0:28:12No, I haven't tried that yet.
0:28:14Come on, Myke.
0:28:15I don't have one.
0:28:16I literally have a spare LG monitor.
0:28:20I don't think I want it.
0:28:24But listen, you're actually going to be near me in less than a week.
0:28:29- Oh, wait, I have my PC monitor, I could use that.
0:28:31- Oh, yeah, use your PC monitor then.
0:28:33- All right, I'll try it.
0:28:34- I was gonna try to have you drag one of these LG monitors
0:28:37that I hate away from me.
0:28:38- I know you were, I know you were, I didn't want it.
0:28:40I was like having to find a way around it, I don't want it.
0:28:44- Let's be honest here, that moment was much less about you
0:28:48than it was about me trying to think about what to do
0:28:50with these stupid monitors.
0:28:51- I know you're trying to get rid of it
0:28:53'cause you gotta make space for a $6,000 monitor
0:28:56and a $1,000 stand, I know what you're doing.
0:28:58(laughing)
0:29:01- If it's so, you have a PC monitor.
0:29:02I want you to try that and report back
0:29:05because I think that's,
0:29:06like if you're already, you have the iPad on the mount,
0:29:10you gotta go all in, do it on the external monitor
0:29:13and like, and time is now a circle
0:29:16and like we've come right back to,
0:29:18I've turned my iPad into a computer
0:29:20with an external keyboard and external mouse
0:29:22and external monitor.
0:29:23And you have to give that a try.
0:29:25- Again, and I know when people hear this,
0:29:26they think that it's insane, right?
0:29:28that like why would you do this?
0:29:30- It's not remotely--
0:29:31- No, no, no, but I can understand why people's like,
0:29:34what are you doing just using Mac?
0:29:35Like I get, for this, most of the time I'm like,
0:29:38no, you have no argument.
0:29:40But in this case, it's like, all right,
0:29:42I understand what you're saying, but who's in it?
0:29:44- I disagree, there's no, no, no.
0:29:47This time people have no argument.
0:29:49- Okey-dokey.
0:29:50- Because now it's just a question of,
0:29:52oh, you have a different operating system preference.
0:29:54- Right, but that's what I'm saying.
0:29:55- It's gone so circle, yeah.
0:29:57- That's the point.
0:29:58The point is I prefer iOS, I prefer the apps on iOS, I prefer the way that I use iOS to
0:30:04get stuff done, it makes more sense to me, I find it more enjoyable.
0:30:07It's basically this boils it down to the absolute essence now because it's not about form factor,
0:30:14it's not about hardware, this now is just about iOS and iPadOS is amazing and I love
0:30:20it and I'm really excited about it and I cannot wait for all the applications to start supporting
0:30:26the multiple instance stuff because I'm realizing how much of a difference it's going to make
0:30:31for me to have. So like for example, you know like we spoke about a long time ago, like
0:30:38basically when iOS 11 came out, the idea of having these like fixed spaces that you would
0:30:45have, I can see how I'm able to do some of that stuff, right? Because let's say for example
0:30:52I have my show notes for connected, right?
0:30:57My show notes for connected will include
0:31:00a Google Doc and an Apple Note,
0:31:03and then all I need to do is be able to click links
0:31:06in my Apple Note and open Safari or whatever, right?
0:31:09So I can copy and paste things or read stuff from Safari.
0:31:13Now, what I've been doing in the past is like,
0:31:15oh, I'll have Safari on one side, Docs on another side,
0:31:19and then use Notes in SlideOver.
0:31:21But if I'm willing to change that up a little bit and use docs on one side and notes on
0:31:28another side and then use Safari and SlideOver, then I can set up scenarios where I could
0:31:34have for example just a shortcut on my home screen that I would tap it to open a link
0:31:40to the Google doc.
0:31:41And because the last time I would have used that Google doc, like that exact one, would
0:31:45be side by side with the note in its own window, right?
0:31:49So I would end up in a situation where all I need to do
0:31:52is open the link to that Google doc
0:31:53and the note is always gonna be there.
0:31:56My connected show notes and my connected research notes
0:32:00will always be next to each other
0:32:02because that was the last pair that I used them in.
0:32:05- So just so I understand,
0:32:06can you set that up as an individual,
0:32:10can you do that for multiple shows
0:32:12to have a link to click that brings you into the environment?
0:32:16Because right now I have a shortcut that I've built
0:32:20which gives me a dropdown so I can set
0:32:24both a relevant time tracking timer
0:32:26and then open the Google Doc, right?
0:32:28So like I just choose, I hit it,
0:32:30it's like which show, I press Cortex
0:32:32and it opens the Cortex Google Doc, right?
0:32:35But now because the last,
0:32:36because I would have basically set it up
0:32:38to have these individual windows of docs and notes
0:32:40next to each other for like Google Docs and Apple Notes,
0:32:45So it's got like the running show notes
0:32:46and my research notes.
0:32:47They were always open together
0:32:49because it was the last pair that I had them in.
0:32:51So it just becomes a fixed window.
0:32:53- That's a really interesting use case.
0:32:54I didn't think about that,
0:32:56that if an app supports a link like that
0:33:00to a particular part of it,
0:33:02that you can use that as a hook to a two app environment.
0:33:07- And also, but it doesn't even need to be a link like that
0:33:09because so many apps would support this in shortcuts.
0:33:14So I could do it the other way around.
0:33:15I could open a specific note, Apple Note, using shortcuts.
0:33:18So I could just have it that way,
0:33:20which is even easier to do,
0:33:21but I just already have it set up
0:33:23with the link to the Google Doc.
0:33:25- Boy, that's very interesting.
0:33:27That's very interesting.
0:33:28I didn't even think about it like that.
0:33:29- So then, you could even just have,
0:33:31you could create a shortcut
0:33:33and then you could create a home screen icon for it
0:33:35and then you could just tap the home screen icon
0:33:38and it would take you to that pair.
0:33:40- Hmm, I might have to install the beta and give this a try.
0:33:43The only problem is, I can't do this right now because Google Docs doesn't have multi-window,
0:33:51like it doesn't have it, right? But you could do it with Notes and Safari.
0:33:55Yeah, the reason why I got pulled by the beta is because I just so love the iPad now as my little research buddy,
0:34:06and all of this multiple window stuff is the kind of thing that I found myself continually frustrated on,
0:34:12like, "God damn it, I just want two Safaris so I can have one for one project and one
0:34:16for the other project."
0:34:17Like, that was the whole reason why I wanted to put the beta on, was so I could just get
0:34:20started with that.
0:34:22But I ran into too many just deal-breaking problems or complications with the beta.
0:34:26But it's like, that multiple windows stuff is the thing that really pulled me.
0:34:32But that is an interesting description that you've said.
0:34:35Yeah, I'm excited about it.
0:34:36I'm very excited about it.
0:34:38I can't wait.
0:34:39I know it's going to take a long time for Google Docs to update, but it will be great
0:34:43when they do.
0:34:44Can't wait.
0:34:45Yeah.
0:34:46There's one thing that, because whenever I have loaded up any of the betas, the first
0:34:52thing I want to do is, of course, mess around in all of the settings for everything, because
0:34:56you can often find little stuff that hasn't been mentioned elsewhere, like hiding in the
0:35:01settings.
0:35:02And I found one thing in the developer beta, which I was originally, I took a screenshot
0:35:08I was going to send it to you and go, "Oh look,"
0:35:10but then I realized I would have to confess
0:35:11that I had installed the beta,
0:35:12so I just saved it until this very moment.
0:35:14But I'm going to send you a screenshot of a setting
0:35:18that I found deep in screen time.
0:35:22I couldn't get it to work in the developer beta,
0:35:25but what it looks like is it's a setting
0:35:30that allows you to say, "During downtime,
0:35:34do you want to allow specific contacts
0:35:38to still be able to reach you?
0:35:40Now, like the wording on it is a little bit strange
0:35:45about like specific context, is this during downtime
0:35:48or like are there limits for people or whatever?
0:35:51But it does look like at least in that beta,
0:35:55there's the option to be able to say,
0:35:58this person should still be able to get in touch with you
0:36:01even if the device is in downtime.
0:36:03- That's good.
0:36:04If that makes it into the final thing, I will be so happy because that has always been my number one problem is
0:36:11I still want my wife to be able to get in touch with me even if the device is in downtime
0:36:17and it seems crazy to me like that hasn't been possible before.
0:36:20So that was a little thing that I was very excited about.
0:36:23I remember being a little grumpy after WWDC because I didn't expect to get any changes for iMessage or notification hierarchies.
0:36:32But at least there's, here's a little bit of a, a little bit of a something that's still
0:36:37moving in the right direction.
0:36:38So I just want to thank whatever Apple engineers are working on that feature.
0:36:42Honestly, I'm surprised that they have done as much as they have done.
0:36:47Like, there are other little bits and bobs, right, that are in this, that have been added
0:36:52to screen time and to app limits and all that kind of stuff.
0:36:56Like, I, I think we originally thought this is going to be like a one and done.
0:37:01- Yeah.
0:37:01- Because one of the things that I saw
0:37:03and that is considered a resolved issue
0:37:06is that downtime settings are coming to,
0:37:08like they're syncing to the Apple Watch now,
0:37:09which is something that we spoke about.
0:37:11It's like, this is a thing that's just always been broken.
0:37:14But seems like they're, I think that's the thing
0:37:16that they're now trying to fix.
0:37:17'Cause this definitely felt like one of those features
0:37:20where it's like, all right, we've done the bare minimum now
0:37:22and wait four years for an update to it.
0:37:25And then it's coming to the Mac too, right?
0:37:27Which is the other thing we wanted, so.
0:37:30Yeah, I'm always happy to see continual motion.
0:37:34And so that's the other reason why I felt really happy
0:37:36about that.
0:37:37It's like, oh, okay, great.
0:37:38Yeah, it doesn't make sense necessarily to talk about this
0:37:41on stage because it's a minor thing, but I'm just glad
0:37:43to know that there's still an active team that's working
0:37:45on this stuff.
0:37:46So I was very happy about that, but I'm still gonna try
0:37:49to hold off on the beta for at least until the end
0:37:52of the show.
0:37:53This episode of Cortex is brought to you in part by Hover.
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0:38:43interface speaks to that. Behind the scenes, if you need to change anything, everything is nice
0:38:48and obvious. I love their interface. That's why if I have an idea for a project, Hover is the place
0:38:54I go to get that name. So you, whatever domain name you have in your head right now that
0:38:59you'd like to get, go to hover.com/cortex. That's the place to get your domain name
0:39:05and also get a 10% discount on all new purchases. That's hover.com/cortex. Make a name for
0:39:12yourself with Hover. Our thanks to Hover for their support of this show and all of Relay
0:39:18FM.
0:39:19So considering that I think over the years, having not only just increased our traveling
0:39:24time, but I mean we both just finished some travel, it made me think it might be worth
0:39:30spending a little bit today talking about our bags and what goes in our bags. Because
0:39:38I'm intrigued to kind of understand if and how your travel bag and a daily bag changes
0:39:43for you. I am definitely in a mode where I do not have any kind of daily carry bag now.
0:39:49I have a travel bag only, because I don't need a bag when I'm in my average daily
0:39:58life because I don't co-work anymore like I used to or anything like that. So, like
0:40:03I have other backpacks around and if I need to go somewhere in a day I'll grab one and
0:40:07throw some stuff in it but I don't have a set bag like I do my travel bag which is
0:40:13by and large, I add things to it every time,
0:40:16but it's pretty much like it's there,
0:40:18it's got its stuff in it, and I'm ready to go with it.
0:40:21You know, like I have my iPad or whatever,
0:40:23and then I'm good for my trip.
0:40:25So I wanted to maybe spend a bit of time today
0:40:28talking about what bags are using,
0:40:30what goes in them, and why.
0:40:32- Oh, you've caught me at a real bag transition mode.
0:40:38- Okay, maybe we can talk about what's not working for you.
0:40:41Well, like I'm in an interesting position where years ago I had a very, very clear.
0:40:48Backpack system of like, okay, I've got these two backpacks and it depends
0:40:53on where I'm going for the day, which one I'm going to grab.
0:40:56And I had a bunch of redundant equipment in each of them.
0:40:58And I had a little checklist to go through and make sure like each
0:41:01bag was always up to date with whatever it is that I needed.
0:41:03Then when I eventually got an office outside of the house, that situation
0:41:08And that situation sort of crumbled away because sort of like you just said, I didn't need
0:41:13to have a working bag to bring out to the coffee shop with me all the time.
0:41:19But it may be coming back at least for a little while because I have abandoned the glass cube
0:41:25and I am currently office-less, which I left as a situation for Future Grey to resolve
0:41:32when he was done with all of his traveling.
0:41:35And that's now current me.
0:41:37and finding a new office is never a quick thing.
0:41:39So I have been thinking about bags
0:41:41and like, what do I need to do?
0:41:44And I may be back to at least temporarily
0:41:47a kind of a system like I used to have.
0:41:50But why don't you tell me what's your current situation
0:41:55so that I can possibly crib good ideas for you
0:41:59and then I'll tell you what I have hacked together
0:42:01at the moment.
0:42:02- All right, so my current bag
0:42:03is the Peak Design Everyday Backpack,
0:42:06the 20 litre version, so they do a 20 and like a 30 litre.
0:42:10The 30 litre is too big for me, I think,
0:42:12and it's also more than I need,
0:42:14because the 20 litre, I can fit everything
0:42:16that I want to take with me
0:42:18and still have a little bit of space in it.
0:42:20So I've been very happy with that.
0:42:22I've used this bag for over a year now
0:42:24and I'm very happy with it.
0:42:26It is, in essence, a camera bag.
0:42:29That's kind of what it was designed for,
0:42:31or at least it was designed by people that make camera bags.
0:42:36So Peak Design make a bunch of different types of bags,
0:42:38but they all have focus or features
0:42:42that have been learned from having been a company
0:42:45that has made camera bags for a long time.
0:42:47So there's a lot of really interesting bits and bobs
0:42:52that this bag has, like one of the main things,
0:42:54like it all opens from the side instead of the top
0:42:57is how you access the main stuff.
0:42:58And then there are these like changeable,
0:43:02like velcro shelves inside of the bag essentially,
0:43:06which divide it up into different sections
0:43:09that you can amend and change to your heart's content.
0:43:13And it has a bunch of pockets and nice little features
0:43:15that I like a lot that work well
0:43:19for how I like to have my bag set up.
0:43:22- Yeah, it's a really amazing backpack.
0:43:25In terms of, sometimes people wanna know
0:43:28about like projects that I've killed.
0:43:30And I think on the last show I mentioned,
0:43:32I've shot a bunch of vlogs that never made it anywhere.
0:43:35One of those projects I could mention here
0:43:38is two summers ago or maybe three,
0:43:42I can't even remember now.
0:43:44I first got this backpack when I first came across it.
0:43:48I basically shot a whole vlog about just traveling
0:43:51with this backpack, which then I realized afterward
0:43:53was like, it was just very boring.
0:43:54Like it wasn't interesting.
0:43:56Nobody wants to see someone travel around
0:43:58with a backpack trying it out for a whole while, but.
0:44:01- Oh yeah, they don't?
0:44:02- I don't think that-- - This is like
0:44:03the whole thing on YouTube.
0:44:04Like, this is like a whole thing.
0:44:06- Yeah, well, anyway, I scrapped it.
0:44:09It's gone, it's dead, it'll never be a thing.
0:44:11- It might be people don't wanna see your version of it,
0:44:13but there are versions. - Yeah.
0:44:15- Right, but like it's a very specific type of thing.
0:44:18- But like, the reason I mention that is because
0:44:21it is a bag that is actually interesting enough
0:44:24that that kind of project could even be conceived.
0:44:28Whereas most backpacks are much more straightforward.
0:44:31And if you are looking for a backpack,
0:44:34I think it's one that is worth giving a look
0:44:37because it is very different from most backpacks
0:44:40that you're going to come across.
0:44:41And yeah, so I have kind of my own journey
0:44:45that I've been on with that backpack,
0:44:47which I can get to later,
0:44:49but it's an interesting one to check out.
0:44:51I also see them, particularly at WWDC,
0:44:54I was very aware that, again,
0:44:57even though it is ostensibly a camera bag,
0:44:59it seemed very popular with the developer crowd as well of people.
0:45:04There were a lot of everyday carry backpacks at WWDC.
0:45:07And so I've been very happy with this bag and I want to run through with you my typical what goes in.
0:45:13Yeah.
0:45:14So my 11 inch iPad Pro is what I will take with me when I travel.
0:45:18And I have the Brydge Pro keyboard with it, which kind of makes it like a nice laptop form factor.
0:45:24This iPad doesn't live in this bag like it usually is a iPad that I use basically every single day
0:45:29I keep it by my bed
0:45:31And it's what I will use at night in the or in the morning if I want to use a iPad during those periods of
0:45:36Time to read or catch up or wind down or that kind of thing
0:45:39That is what kind of like my just like a nice iPad that I use at home for media stuff
0:45:44But on the road is the iPad that I use for everything
0:45:48One of the reasons I tend to travel with the 11 inch is in case I also travel with my MacBook Pro
0:45:53But other than that, I will always travel with that one is the only iPad that I have with LTE
0:45:58The ability to have LTE connection. So it is my travel iPad
0:46:02It is you know, like in essence as I say said in the past in the way that people travel with a specific laptop
0:46:07Right, like you you won't use a desktop at home on a laptop on the road
0:46:11I use my 11 inch on the road
0:46:13But then sometimes I take a MacBook Pro with me as well if I'm gonna be recording stuff and editing stuff on the specific trip
0:46:19Which isn't always
0:46:21I am a recent convert to the iPhone smart battery case. Oh
0:46:26You finally got on that train. Yeah, those battery cases are amazing
0:46:31Yep, because if you travel and you put your phone your iPhone on one of those battery cases
0:46:35You do not need to charge it no matter what you do to the phone on that day
0:46:39And so that's really nice, but I only use it when I'm traveling
0:46:43So it lives in my bag and then I will like swap over to it at some point on the trip
0:46:47Maybe when I'm leaving in the morning to get my way to the airport might be when I do it
0:46:52But yeah that that's when I will switch over to the smart battery case, which is wonderful
0:46:57If you use technology in the year of 2019, you need a bag which has your dongles in it
0:47:04Because that's just a thing now
0:47:07So I use Tom Bihn maker like a little bag called the snake charmer
0:47:12Which is just like basically for this exact type of thing
0:47:15It's where you put power cables and dongles and adapters and all that kind of stuff and I have it
0:47:20So like I can I have adjusted my peak design like the little dividers to basically fit
0:47:26Just perfectly around the exact size that the snake charmer needs and it goes in the bottom of the bag like the bottom compartment
0:47:33So just stuff it in there and that's where it's got everything
0:47:36That's an interesting idea. And SnakeCharmr, that is an amazing name for a dongle bag.
0:47:41Yep, it's perfect, right?
0:47:43A+ naming to Tom Bihn on that one, that's perfect.
0:47:47Yep, and in that bottom compartment also goes my huge external battery that I have,
0:47:53you know, like everybody has one of these. I have one, it's called the ZMI-QB820, and it's
0:47:59very powerful, it is a 20,000 milliamp hour battery.
0:48:05Whoa!
0:48:06Yeah.
0:48:07I got this one because it can power Nintendo Switches and MacBook Pros and all that kind
0:48:13of stuff.
0:48:14It has power delivery.
0:48:15What are you bringing your Switch with you in your backpack?
0:48:18Yeah.
0:48:19Why do you need such a...
0:48:20Why do you...
0:48:21Really?
0:48:22Yeah, I haven't gotten to it yet, but most of the time I travel with my Nintendo Switch.
0:48:26Oh, okay.
0:48:27Alright.
0:48:28It is a portable console.
0:48:31I know, I know, I know it's a portable console, like I'm aware of that.
0:48:39So why wouldn't I travel with it?
0:48:43I don't know.
0:48:44Okay, you know what, never mind, I withdraw my snarky remark, you bring your Nintendo
0:48:49Switch with you, that's perfectly fine.
0:48:52Next up is my Nintendo Switch, which I bring with a pro controller, I don't even bring
0:48:58the Joy-Con anymore.
0:48:59Oh god, you're bringing the Pro Controller too.
0:49:01I can't use the Joy-Con for long periods of time without it hurting my hand, so I bring the Pro Controller.
0:49:08Yeah, no one should use the Joy-Cons. Everyone should use the Pro Controller.
0:49:14But it's particularly that you're also shoving this into the peak, everyday backpack is hilarious to me.
0:49:20The middle compartment fits just this. That's all that goes in there, the switch and the Pro Controller.
0:49:26I put my Switch in something called a hybrid cover.
0:49:29So it's a cover but also a stand, which is a very nice little thing.
0:49:33So it covers up the screen, stops the screen from getting scratched.
0:49:37But you can also wrap it around kind of like iPad Smart Cover like,
0:49:41and have it stand up on its own so I can like play it on a plane or I can play games wherever I want.
0:49:47I, many times, I bring my Switch on a trip and don't use it.
0:49:51But every time I have it with me and I do use it, I'm really happy that I brought it.
0:49:55I'm still debating whether I continue to bring my Nintendo Switch with me on trips.
0:50:01It might end up being that I will know in advance the type of trip where I take it.
0:50:06I don't find myself playing it on planes very much because I tend to watch movies or TV or
0:50:12whatever more frequently than I would play the Nintendo.
0:50:15But I'm still debating on that.
0:50:17I'm going to start some trips where I don't bring it and see if it makes an effect.
0:50:22But on the last trip that I went on, I used it a couple of times.
0:50:25So, you know, like it really I think it just it's depending on the trip now,
0:50:29but it is something that I do travel with because in some instances it's a great little thing to
0:50:33have with you. And it's it's not too heavy, it's not too cumbersome. And I really I'm not fighting
0:50:39for space in this bag, right? So I'm not that's not the reason I wouldn't bring it. I mean,
0:50:45the reason I wouldn't bring it is just because then my bag is a little bit lighter,
0:50:48but I'm not struggling to fit stuff into this bag anyway.
0:50:54Next up is a pen case called the NOC Co Sinclair. When I bring pens on a trip, which is becoming
0:51:00more and more frequent, and I mean my good pens, my nice fountain pens, I will bring
0:51:05this. I always have a Retro 51 and a Rotring 600 mechanical pencil in my bag anyway. Oh,
0:51:11and a Sharpie too. But this is like if I want to bring some extra stuff. I will bring some
0:51:18I will bring one of these.
0:51:19It's a nice little pen case, like a nylon pen case
0:51:22made by my friend Brad and I really, really love it.
0:51:26For headphones, I use my AirPods most of the time,
0:51:30honestly, because I like them the most.
0:51:33But if I want to connect with other ear headphones,
0:51:37mostly because the AirPod battery is dying
0:51:40over an 11 hour flight, I keep in my bag
0:51:43a pair of wired B&O H6 headphones with a USB-C dongle
0:51:48permanently attached to the end of it, to the iPad Pro. These are headphones that they sound fine,
0:51:56but I don't really like them very much ultimately. I don't find them particularly comfortable,
0:52:01and the headband, I cannot, and this is not a thing that I experienced in the past,
0:52:06I cannot get the headband to be small enough. I do not have a small head, so I don't really
0:52:12understand why this is happening, but I feel like I always want the headphones to be smaller than
0:52:16than they are. I don't know if I accidentally bought like the pair for big head people,
0:52:20um, because I've never heard of, I know many people that have owned these headphones
0:52:24and have never had this complaint, but I feel like that the headphones are too big. And
0:52:29I kind of refuse to buy any more headphones for now because I don't want to and I'm
0:52:37still expecting Apple to bring out some version of over ear headphones at some point and I
0:52:43don't want to buy wireless headphones until I see that because the AirPods technology
0:52:48works so well and you can buy some beats that have some of this stuff in it but it's the
0:52:53old chips not the new chips and I'm just hesitant to buy any and I'm not a big fan of noise
0:52:59cancelling and all of the other wireless headphones are like really focused on noise cancelling
0:53:05so I just haven't gone down that route yet and I use these B&O headphones like I might
0:53:11use them like six or seven times a year because I don't use them on every flight even.
0:53:15Like I try and use the AirPods for most of the time.
0:53:19So, because I can, especially with the newer ones,
0:53:23because I was struggling to hear on planes with my older AirPods, I think they were just
0:53:27dying slowly, right? But the new ones, they seem to be louder and
0:53:31they do a good job for me. When you say you're expecting Apple to come out with over-year
0:53:35headphones, do you mean with a little headband on top? Or are you talking about
0:53:39about something like, okay.
0:53:40- No, like a BNO H6, like a Sony MK3
0:53:45or whatever they are, the Bose Quiet Comforter.
0:53:48This has been a rumor for a while
0:53:50and it kind of makes sense
0:53:52that they would make a product like this,
0:53:54'cause it's like just a further extension
0:53:56of what AirPods are, even though they do own Beats,
0:54:00but I don't think that that makes a difference.
0:54:02- Obviously I'm a bit out of the loop on that one.
0:54:05That seems like a rumor I really wouldn't be
0:54:08holding off on a headphone purchase for.
0:54:10Maybe they will, I feel like I'd be surprised.
0:54:12- I mean, but I don't have any that I particularly want.
0:54:15Right, like I don't, I mean, I'm not dying
0:54:17for a new pair of headphones.
0:54:19I don't like what I have, but I don't really wanna spend
0:54:22all the money on a pair of headphones
0:54:25that I'm not that keen about anyway.
0:54:27So, you know, I haven't tried these new ones,
0:54:30the Sony ones that everybody likes,
0:54:31and Bose just came out with a new version
0:54:33of the QuietComfort, and maybe if I tried them
0:54:36I would like them, but it's not something that I'm really that desperate for, so I have
0:54:40no problem waiting. I'll probably wait until the end of the year and then think about making
0:54:45a purchase. Oh, and I always have a glasses cleaner. I don't know why I felt the need
0:54:50to put that in there, but if you are, I think it's more like if you're a person that wears
0:54:53glasses, put a microfibre glasses cleaner in your backpack. You will thank me later.
0:55:01It seems like such a simple thing, but if your glasses get dirty when you're travelling
0:55:05and you then have to try and clean them with a t-shirt,
0:55:07you're just never gonna be happy.
0:55:09Like just put a glasses cleaner in your backpack.
0:55:12- Yeah, and it doubles as a screen cleaner.
0:55:14- It doubles as a screen cleaner, yeah.
0:55:16But just trust me on that one, just put it in there.
0:55:18They're kind of like the main things that I have.
0:55:20You know, I'll have like various medications, right?
0:55:23Like always just put some spares in the bag, you know,
0:55:25like I don't know, like pain pills and allergy medicine
0:55:29and all that kind of stuff, just get all that in there.
0:55:31Like a little notebook, I'll put like a Field Notes notebook
0:55:33or something in the bag.
0:55:35And that's about it. That's about what goes in my bag.
0:55:38Interesting. I may totally steal that snake charmer for my own set.
0:55:41Don't steal mine, just buy your own. I need mine. It's got all my dongles in it.
0:55:46But that's why I want to steal yours, is because all the dongles will be nicely arranged for me.
0:55:52It's not neatly arranged. They're just in there.
0:55:55Oh, okay. Well then maybe I will get my own.
0:55:57Yeah, it's a great little bag for that kind of stuff. And it does fit really nicely in
0:56:02the Peak Design, if that's the bag you're still using.
0:56:05So when I originally got the Peak Design,
0:56:08kind of like two summers ago, I really liked it,
0:56:11but by the end of the summer traveling,
0:56:14a bunch of the things that were sort of different
0:56:16about that bag, I ended up being a little frustrated with,
0:56:19and I moved away from it for a while.
0:56:22I actually bought another Peak Design backpack
0:56:27while I was traveling this summer,
0:56:29because I realized I'd made a terrible mistake by abandoning it and that I needed it for what I was doing.
0:56:37So what I have realized for my travel setup is the mistake I was making is I was treating the Peak design more like
0:56:47this is an extension of my suitcase setup and I'm going to put the most vital things that I need for traveling in this bag that is never more than a hands reach away.
0:56:59So I was putting a little bit of travel stuff in there in the sense of toothpaste and a toothbrush and medications and a couple of travel-y things like that.
0:57:12And then I was kind of getting frustrated with when I was on the road wanting to do like go somewhere to work.
0:57:23But then I was also bringing a backpack that had a bunch of stuff that I didn't need to bring with me out to Starbucks, that kind of thing.
0:57:29So the thing that I settled on this summer, which worked out really well, was to just be like, no, no, no, I'm going to have a very strict rule for the Peak design,
0:57:38the Peak Design, which is this is going to contain
0:57:42only what I need for like a day's worth of work.
0:57:48So this isn't going to have any travel stuff.
0:57:51I'm just going to put that in my carry-on bag
0:57:55and accept that some of these vital items
0:57:59might have to go under the plane
0:58:01if I end up in one of those teeny tiny planes
0:58:03or they don't let you take anything on board
0:58:04except your smallest bag.
0:58:07And that's been fine.
0:58:08I've been much happier with that of like,
0:58:10oh, what is the role of this backpack?
0:58:12The role of this backpack is I should be able to grab it
0:58:15at any point in time and then just go for the day
0:58:19and know that I'm perfectly fine work-wise.
0:58:22Because what I had been trying before is
0:58:25I had bought one of the Tom Bihn Daylight backpacks.
0:58:30And these are these like, it's a super thin backpack
0:58:35that you can just, if you take everything out of it,
0:58:38it collapses to nothing.
0:58:39So you can just throw it on the top of a suitcase
0:58:41and zip it up like it's absolutely nothing.
0:58:45And my original thought was, oh, I will use this
0:58:48to put stuff in when I want to go out to work.
0:58:51But then I was routinely finding like, oh, I'm at Starbucks,
0:58:54but I don't have the charger for my headphones,
0:58:56or oh, I forgot to bring this other little thing.
0:58:58And I hated like minding this other backpack.
0:59:01And like, I never wanna have to think about
0:59:04what do I need to bring?
0:59:05Like that's a real frustration.
0:59:07And especially when you're traveling
0:59:09and you're in unusual environments,
0:59:11like the probability of forgetting something
0:59:13increases by 20 million percent.
0:59:16- Wow, that's some interesting science you've done there.
0:59:18- Yes, yeah, I have some numbers to back that up.
0:59:21- What do you think I've been doing for 73 days?
0:59:23Just crunching these numbers.
0:59:25- Yeah, while I do really like that daylight backpack,
0:59:28I realized this is not the solution that I'm looking for.
0:59:30So anyway, my everyday backpack is my like now work one.
0:59:35And let me, let me reach over and grab it.
0:59:39'Cause I'm not prepared for this.
0:59:44Let me see what I actually have in it.
0:59:46Having literally stepped off an airplane
0:59:48just a few hours ago.
0:59:50- It's the perfect time.
0:59:51- Okay, so.
0:59:54- This is ASMR right now.
0:59:56- No, don't.
0:59:58What I don't need is more channels.
1:00:01We don't need to start gray SMR.
1:00:04- Oh, but you got the name though.
1:00:06- No, I don't.
1:00:08Okay, so in the slot in the top,
1:00:10what will just barely fit is the big iPad Pro
1:00:15and a 15 inch laptop.
1:00:20- Oh, 15, I have a 13 and it would crunch its way in there.
1:00:25- It'll just fit and I also have the keyboard case
1:00:28on my iPad, I honestly think if it was one millimeter
1:00:32thicker with those two things, it wouldn't fit.
1:00:35But it'll like, what, it'll just make it.
1:00:40But you're definitely compromising on some of the interior
1:00:42space at that point, 'cause you can see like it's bulging,
1:00:45it's bulging out from there.
1:00:47- It's one of those situations where you then open
1:00:49the laptop and you see the keys imprinted on the screen.
1:00:52(laughing)
1:00:54You've pushed it to its maximum.
1:00:56- Yeah, that's as far as you wanna go.
1:00:58But this is also partly why I have decided that I really want to try to get a smaller laptop next time around.
1:01:05Especially with some of the screen sharing features.
1:01:08You're going to be so sad. You're just going to be so sad.
1:01:10Again, the rumor is the next big change is a 16 inch MacBook Pro.
1:01:17Which is going to be all the bells and all the whistles and it's going to be amazing.
1:01:21And that's the one you're going to buy because you're going to be really excited about it.
1:01:24Well, my frustration is that's going to be the new shiny laptop and that there just isn't
1:01:32going to be a smaller shiny version.
1:01:35They will make a smaller shiny one, but it will be later because the rumors are saying
1:01:40that this laptop is going to be very expensive because it's going to be all brand new, so
1:01:44they have to only make it in the big one.
1:01:46Yeah, so I don't know what's going to happen, but I expect to be frustrated with what are
1:01:51my choices for equipment.
1:01:52Plus, let's not even discuss the additional complication of still like, "So what machines
1:01:57can run that nice display?"
1:01:59We don't know.
1:02:00We'll find out later.
1:02:01So I'm expecting to be very frustrated computer-wise in a couple of months.
1:02:03I can't wait to come to your house and see that display and the Mac Pro that you buy.
1:02:08In the meantime, I have some of these two things shoved into my everyday Peak backpack.
1:02:15Alright.
1:02:17Stuff that I've got in the top.
1:02:21So I have my absolutely vital refuse to step on a plane without them noise cancelling headphones.
1:02:29Which one do you use?
1:02:30You use the old Bose QuietComfort 35s, right?
1:02:33So I use those for a while, but when I say I refuse to step on a plane without them,
1:02:39I mean that quite literally.
1:02:42And on one of my more recent trips, I can't remember what happened, but I lost the Bose
1:02:47or I just forgot to pack them or something.
1:02:50And I was at an airport and I realized I did not have noise canceling headphones and I
1:02:53went to one of those like Best Buy vending machines.
1:02:57Which I always felt like, "Oh, who are the poor bastards who have to use these things?"
1:03:03Well guess what, it was me.
1:03:04They only exist for that exact situation that you're in.
1:03:08Yes, that's precisely why.
1:03:11And out of the machine popped the new version of the Sonys, which are the XM3s.
1:03:17xm3s? Yeah, there's like something something something 1000 something something something
1:03:22three. Yeah, they're terrible. I don't understand. Sony can come up with names like Walkman,
1:03:29Trinitron, like fantastic brand names, but then they just like, I don't understand 1000
1:03:37xm3 nonsense. Like just just sort it out, Sony. Yeah, it's it's a terrible name. WH-1000
1:03:46XM3. That is the name of these headphones.
1:03:50Very memorable, easy to communicate to other people.
1:03:53Rolls off the tongue.
1:03:53Rolls off the tongue, but they are amazing for noise cancelling. They're clearly better
1:03:59than the Bose headphones that I was using, but they're also like the latest generation
1:04:03of this stuff.
1:04:05Lots of people are, I mean it's now a toss up between these and the brand new Bose ones.
1:04:10Like I've seen a bunch of different reviews, some people are saying Sony still wins, some
1:04:14saying that Bose are taking the crown again. So, yeah, more for you to think about when next time
1:04:18you lose your headphones. Yeah, but like I'm totally, I'm very happy with these. I find them
1:04:23very comfortable. But I like, I will not get on a plane without them. And so, but you know, when I
1:04:30was on the plane previously, like I slept the whole night playing airplane noises over my noise
1:04:35cancelling headphones, right? On the planes. I know you like that so much, Myke. It's the best.
1:04:40you could do you could choose anything anything I love that you choose just the
1:04:45same noises I'll cancel out that airplane noise give me my own I want my
1:04:50own airplane noise no it's it's the people my no I am the thing out the
1:04:54you want to cancel out the people you want to cancel out the crying babies
1:04:57you want to cancel out the conversations like I get it but it's just still
1:05:00hilarious to me that you play more airplane noise I see the logic right
1:05:03because then there's nothing disorientating happening you know
1:05:06listening to a rainforest, you know where you are, but it's still just brilliant.
1:05:11Yes, okay, I'm glad that makes you happy. Okay, in addition then I also have Kindle Oasis,
1:05:17not the current latest latest but the previous generation Kindle.
1:05:22This is the square one, right?
1:05:23This is the square one. I have a like a travel case for it just because I'm much more
1:05:28rugged with it and I think it needs something to protect the screen a little bit and it's a case
1:05:33that folds out into being a nice little stand so it's just easy to like put on a tray table
1:05:37and read a book.
1:05:38With that, it frustrates me how much space this thing takes up, but I have the Logitech
1:05:44Ergo trackball mouse.
1:05:47That's what I use with my laptop and I find it most comfortable, especially for traveling,
1:05:52because you can be in a small space and not have to move the mouse around, you're just
1:05:56using the trackball.
1:05:57So I've got that in there.
1:05:59I've got one of these lacy, rugged drives that you see every YouTuber in the whole wide
1:06:05world using.
1:06:06That's the Time Machine.
1:06:07Oh, the orange one?
1:06:08Yeah, the orange one.
1:06:09It's like, I don't know when we all got together and decided these were the ones, but it's
1:06:14like okay, this is what every YouTuber uses, and I'm not too afraid of dropping it because
1:06:19it has all of this extra casing around it.
1:06:22So yeah, I've got that thing in here to be the time machine, which has totally saved
1:06:30my butt a couple times.
1:06:33And then what do I have shoved in the bottom here?
1:06:35Okay, so then I have some filming stuff.
1:06:39So I have the Moment case for my phone, which allows you to put these extra lenses on your
1:06:48iPhone and I've got one of the Moment wide angle lenses which are really nice for getting
1:06:54much broader shots sometimes with the iPhone.
1:06:59Also for the iPhone I have this very little Shure microphone that will plug into the lightning
1:07:06port of the iPhone and I use this for backup recordings of podcasts on the road and I also
1:07:14have recorded more than a few ads on the road using this microphone on the phone, which
1:07:21can be, if you're in a quiet environment, like just passable for a real microphone.
1:07:28So I've got that.
1:07:30And then, the very bottom here.
1:07:33What else do I have?
1:07:38- Oh, I have a super slim external battery
1:07:43with just a lightning cable on it
1:07:44as emergency backup for the phone.
1:07:46I don't have a 20 million milliamp battery for my Switch
1:07:50because I don't carry my Switch with me.
1:07:51- It charges everything, everything.
1:07:53It will charge everything multiple times.
1:07:55- Yeah, I honestly find it's only the phone
1:07:59is the thing that I ever run into a problem with,
1:08:01so I just have this little tiny battery
1:08:03to act as the backup for.
1:08:05I don't wanna be stuck somewhere.
1:08:07I just need to charge the phone up once.
1:08:09- I also have one of those Mophie ones
1:08:12with the integrated lightning cable in my backpack as well.
1:08:17It lives in my dongle bag.
1:08:18- And then I have this camera that I totally am in love with
1:08:26which is the DJI Osmo Pocket.
1:08:32It's this really tiny little gimbal camera
1:08:37but it is amazing.
1:08:40Like I got it for this trip for a couple of projects
1:08:44and it is a fantastic ratio of quality to size
1:08:49and so this thing is just gonna live in my backpack
1:08:53for forever because it is really tiny
1:08:57but can get just much better, more stabilized shots
1:09:01than the iPhone ever can.
1:09:03So it's a fantastic, fantastic little camera
1:09:06to just have on you.
1:09:07And it weighs nothing and it comes with a nice little case,
1:09:10so I can easily just throw it in the bag.
1:09:13So now, you know the Everyday Backpack
1:09:16has these two wings on the side
1:09:19where you can put other stuff?
1:09:21So the two wings I divide into technology and biology.
1:09:26So the technology wing is where all of my dongles live.
1:09:32So that's where I try to keep it
1:09:37so that I have a wire for everything.
1:09:39So it's like I've got the USB-C wires,
1:09:41I've got the micro USB, I have an Apple Watch charger,
1:09:44I have a spare Apple pencil in there
1:09:47just in case I ever lose the main one
1:09:48that's attached to my iPad,
1:09:50because boy is it annoying if you don't have the pencil.
1:09:52So that's where all like
1:09:53miscellaneous little technology junk lives.
1:09:58A CF card reader,
1:10:00because Apple won't put a CF card reader in the laptop.
1:10:03- Wait. - You know how people
1:10:04are like, oh, I'm so angry
1:10:05they don't have the headphone jack?
1:10:07People are like still angry about that.
1:10:09- Like an SD card?
1:10:10- Oh yes, I always think of them as like compact flash.
1:10:13- Yeah, that's a very specific thing you're asking for.
1:10:16- Yeah, no, no, it's yeah, SD card reader is what I mean.
1:10:19I don't know why in my head I always think them as CF cards,
1:10:21but yeah, there's no SD card reader,
1:10:23so I have like that little adapter thing.
1:10:26- No one's asking for a compact flash card reader on this.
1:10:29- Yeah, no, I guess not.
1:10:30But yeah, I think though I might steal your idea
1:10:36and maybe change the technology thing
1:10:38to just all exist in one of those snake charmer bags
1:10:41'cause I have a little bit of space to spare
1:10:43in my main compartment.
1:10:44And I do find the side wings,
1:10:47they're sort of my least favorite part about the backpack
1:10:51because I think on the 20 liter version,
1:10:54a lot of their pockets are too small
1:10:56to actually be useful.
1:10:58- Yeah.
1:10:59- In like old orientations.
1:11:01- Yeah, it's just too small, so I might get rid of that.
1:11:04But then my biology side is basically all of the stuff
1:11:09that you need for being a machine made out of meat.
1:11:15So I have aspirin for headaches,
1:11:19I have earplugs for noise canceling,
1:11:22I've got a couple medications.
1:11:24I always keep with me a spare like sleeve of contact lenses
1:11:27just in case, in case either my glasses break for some reason or if I'm wearing contacts.
1:11:34Every once in a while, like you'll accidentally kind of knock a contact out or just some contact
1:11:39doesn't feel right.
1:11:41So it's very important to always be able to see.
1:11:44So I have some some backup eyes, basically.
1:11:48And then I have I always try to keep like three little food supplements.
1:11:53So there's like a pack of...
1:11:55Do you hear that?
1:11:57There's a pack of my preferred beef jerky that I keep in that side and like a little
1:12:01thing of pistachios or almonds or something like that.
1:12:04So that's the that's the biology side of I always have some food and some like basic
1:12:11stuff to fix being a human and that lives on the other side of my backpack.
1:12:17But so though I think that's just about everything.
1:12:19Yeah that's everything that is in the backpack coming straight off of a trip.
1:12:25That's my backpack setup Myke. There you go.
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1:14:12So I feel like I can't let this episode go by without talking about the Theme System
1:14:15- Oh, well, we have to talk about the theme journal
1:14:19after what happened last time.
1:14:20- Yeah, so, all right, well, look,
1:14:24you never really know how something's gonna go
1:14:27when you're trying something new,
1:14:28and we spoke on our last episode in person,
1:14:31which feels like a very long time ago now,
1:14:33about, you know, I, especially more than you,
1:14:37was very nervous about putting
1:14:39the theme system journal on sale.
1:14:41I was worried we wouldn't sell them.
1:14:44and we sold out in 90 minutes of the episode being posted.
1:14:47I was absolutely blown away.
1:14:49I consider it one of my greatest personal accomplishments
1:14:53because people seemed excited about something
1:14:56that I'd kind of like conceived, designed, and made.
1:14:59Like it was like a dream of mine
1:15:00to be able to make a product like this
1:15:03and people seemed very excited about it.
1:15:05So it sold out incredibly fast.
1:15:07So many people have been asking what the plan is now.
1:15:12The plan is, I'm literally making 10 times more.
1:15:16That's the plan.
1:15:18Which is in and of itself, horrifically nerve-wracking.
1:15:23So basically right now, if you go to quadtexmerch.com,
1:15:27you can find the theme system journal listed there
1:15:30and there is an email sign up thing.
1:15:33You can put your email address in there
1:15:35and as soon as we have the next round
1:15:38of the theme system journal in stock,
1:15:39you'll get an email to tell you it's in stock.
1:15:41I would love to tell you when that's going to be.
1:15:45Soon is the answer. They're being made right now.
1:15:49I want to talk about a little bit of the frustrations, some new frustrations
1:15:53I have with the manufacturing process, talk about that in a minute. But we have more being made
1:15:57so if you are interested, put your email address into that box
1:16:01which is at cortexmarch.com and Cotton Bureau will send you
1:16:05an email when we have more in stock. This is another example of the
1:16:09the uncertainties of physical products.
1:16:12And you said you were more nervous than I
1:16:16when we put it up for sale.
1:16:18But I think that's because when I saw it in real life,
1:16:22I felt like, oh, this is great.
1:16:25The instantiation of it for the first version
1:16:31came out really well.
1:16:32And I got to see that in person when we spoke last time.
1:16:36But you just don't know.
1:16:38And, you know, like I've dealt with trying to get iterations
1:16:43on physical products made and it's always shocking
1:16:46how long it takes.
1:16:47And even when you think you have the quote final version,
1:16:50like you just never really know
1:16:52until you have a real production line set up.
1:16:55And like my, I expected that we would sell out.
1:17:00I didn't think it was going to be 90 minutes,
1:17:04But this is also a case of just the tremendous difficulty
1:17:09of trying to guess about an unknown demand in advance,
1:17:16which is just fundamentally impossible.
1:17:18And then also knowing that if you guess really wrongly,
1:17:22you could be left with stock that now you have to manage
1:17:25and becomes a sort of problem.
1:17:27- Because now I'm making another really big guess,
1:17:30and I'm trying to make an educated guess.
1:17:32And my plan is that this order that I've made
1:17:34will be for many, many months of stock that we will have.
1:17:39That's my hope.
1:17:41I don't know what's gonna happen.
1:17:42We could put them on sale and they could go again.
1:17:45Or we could put them on sale
1:17:46and we have enough for the next year.
1:17:48I don't know.
1:17:49But I'm betting with it and I'm like, okay,
1:17:52this is, I'm gonna try and make an educated guess about this
1:17:55because I would ideally like to have enough stock
1:17:58to last us the rest of the year.
1:18:00I don't know what the amount is gonna do.
1:18:03So it is literally 10 times is the amount that I'm ordering,
1:18:07which is a lot more, but we're just gonna go with it.
1:18:12- We spend a bunch of time trying to talk about this.
1:18:16When I first saw the actual prototype,
1:18:21I was immediately thinking that we should order more,
1:18:23but it's just a guess, who knows?
1:18:25I could be wrong.
1:18:27It is difficult to describe how nerve-wracking it is
1:18:30when it is your own money on the line of like,
1:18:32we need to buy these things in advance to sell them.
1:18:35But the thing about selling out so quickly,
1:18:39it's not like we underguessed a little,
1:18:41I think we underguessed way too far.
1:18:44- No, we underguessed significantly.
1:18:46- We overshot under by a lot.
1:18:48- Yeah, so again, it's like,
1:18:51one of the reasons I'm ordering 10 times the amount
1:18:53is because within 48 hours,
1:18:5510 times the amount of people that bought the notebook
1:18:58or that we had available, put their information
1:19:00into the tell me when there's more field in the website.
1:19:04Now I know how these types of things work
1:19:06and I know that there's only going to be a percentage
1:19:08of those people when they get that email
1:19:10that actually buy it, but the demand for the book
1:19:15was pretty significant, which I will say right now,
1:19:19I am absolutely flattered by and it is a very wonderful
1:19:24feeling for me that people seem so excited about it
1:19:27and I am genuinely sorry that we did not have enough
1:19:32to meet the requirements of our listeners.
1:19:36Like, I really wish, look, nobody wishes
1:19:39that we have more of these than I do.
1:19:42No one on the planet wishes that we have more of these
1:19:45than I do because I want people to have this thing
1:19:48and I hate that we have to wait
1:19:50because I don't know when it's gonna be.
1:19:52I know it's still many weeks away
1:19:54before we will have these to sell again
1:19:56but I do know that they're being made.
1:19:59- Yeah, and it's also,
1:20:00again, as people who are making things
1:20:06that we want people to enjoy,
1:20:08it's a weird experience knowing that somebody
1:20:11who listened to Cortex right when it came out
1:20:15and said, "Oh, I just wanna finish the show
1:20:17"and then I'll order that journal,"
1:20:19would have missed it.
1:20:20- Yes. - Right, like,
1:20:21that's an unsatisfying experience for a listener
1:20:25that we have unintentionally created
1:20:27through the way that we did this.
1:20:29It's like, that shouldn't be the case.
1:20:31Like, while it's great that it's sold out,
1:20:33you don't want it to be like someone who listened
1:20:36to the show the minute it came out,
1:20:38and the first thing they did was they went to go order one,
1:20:40and they were too slow.
1:20:40Like, it's a bad experience.
1:20:42- And that was like pretty much everybody's experience,
1:20:45right, was like, as soon as we said,
1:20:47go to cortexmarch.com and buy it, they couldn't,
1:20:50because they weren't there anymore.
1:20:52And like, so, you know, I don't want that to happen,
1:20:54which is why I am ordering so many.
1:20:57Like I really feel like we can't sell out this fast again
1:21:01with the amount that I've ordered.
1:21:02That is like my feeling on this.
1:21:04So, but that's my hope, right?
1:21:07That's my hope.
1:21:08Like that we are like intentionally ordering
1:21:11to the point that I feel like it shouldn't happen.
1:21:14But I will say, if you're on the email list,
1:21:17when you get that email, buy it as soon as you can,
1:21:19because I don't know what's gonna happen, right?
1:21:21Like we don't know because we were clearly
1:21:24so thrown off guard this first time, I don't know what the next time is going to be. So
1:21:30it has been a really interesting experience for me. It has been really nerve-wracking
1:21:35to see them arriving with people. Like people have been taking pictures and we've been getting
1:21:38feedback. Most of the feedback that we've been getting tracks with what I was already
1:21:41thinking which is great. Like the things that people say "I would like to see this, I would
1:21:45like to see this" it's like "yeah I agree with you" so that's good news.
1:21:49Yeah, yeah. It's been very interesting to see the feedback and see how people are using
1:21:52it's like I really do appreciate that people are taking the time to write out and send
1:21:59in detailed feedback.
1:22:00Oh, I've been getting great, just like great feedback.
1:22:03Like people have been sending it on Reddit, they've been emailing it to me, like it's
1:22:05been wonderful.
1:22:06Like it's in, it's, I'm just really pleased to see that people are seeing what I see,
1:22:12which is great.
1:22:13And, but the overall feedback has been excellent and I am so thrilled by it.
1:22:20the way that people talk about the quality of the book which is for me
1:22:23right now the most important thing. Like the inside layout is the thing that's
1:22:27more subject to change than the actual quality of the notebook itself. So now as
1:22:32well like I have been using it myself every day for the last couple of months
1:22:35and I am now a point where I'm gonna stop calling it a beta. That came for me
1:22:42from a place of insecurity with the product and with my cons... I was like I
1:22:48I felt like an imposter, right? Like it's that imposter syndrome again.
1:22:52Oh, I'm so happy, Myke. I'm so happy that you're here.
1:22:56Because again, I have this very different experience of when I saw the thing in real life,
1:23:04I was like, "Oh, this is totally a great product one."
1:23:06And I know that you felt much more uncertain about it at that point in time.
1:23:11But it's also because you were so much closer to the thing,
1:23:15so it's harder to view it in an objective way.
1:23:18And yeah, like I think it is a real version zero for people to try and give feedback on.
1:23:27But it's also like the thing that exists is an actual usable product as well.
1:23:32And I'm really happy to hear that you feel that way about it too.
1:23:35That like you've come around to this.
1:23:37What the book needs the most, and one of the main reasons I was calling it a beta,
1:23:43is it needs instructions.
1:23:45That's what it needs.
1:23:46It needs something to say this is what you use each section for.
1:23:50And I feel like we haven't had a way to explain it really clearly.
1:23:54There are a bunch of people that just get it, but there are people that don't get it as much.
1:23:58So what I'm going to do, by the time
1:24:02that the next set goes on sale, is there will be an
1:24:06online set of instructions. I'm going to build a website
1:24:10that people can go to and the instructions will be there.
1:24:14and then when we make a revision to the notebook,
1:24:17which will happen at some point,
1:24:18hopefully for the third printing,
1:24:22there will be like a basic instructions page,
1:24:25which says, here's what you can roughly use the book for,
1:24:29go to the website, because the website will have actual,
1:24:33I'm gonna take scans of some of the pages in my notebooks
1:24:36and people can see how I use it.
1:24:38And I wanna really go into more detail
1:24:41and also adapt it over time,
1:24:44because my feeling is as the book changes,
1:24:47and if it changes, it will become more and more difficult
1:24:50to make those changes in the notebook itself
1:24:53from an instructions perspective.
1:24:55So we may as well have a website for it
1:24:56because then the website can become a home
1:24:58for more information about the theme system in its entirety.
1:25:01So that's my plan now, and I'm pretty happy with that.
1:25:05I still need to complete the website.
1:25:08It's not even nearly at a point yet,
1:25:11but I'm working on that.
1:25:12And that's how I want to kind of bridge the gap.
1:25:15And what that also does for me is the first edition,
1:25:18it's just a reprint of what we made before.
1:25:21And I don't want this notebook to be more widely available
1:25:24without there being a home for more instructions.
1:25:27I've realized it is very difficult
1:25:28to explain this system over audio.
1:25:31It needs a visual component.
1:25:33So I'm gonna do that and I'm gonna build that
1:25:36and we're gonna make it a place for people.
1:25:38So nothing exists yet, but it will.
1:25:40So that's the thing that I'm working on.
1:25:42but I am at a place now where I feel much more confident calling this,
1:25:46like this is the first edition. There are tweaks to be made, but honestly,
1:25:50now having used it for the amount of time that I've been using it,
1:25:54I feel that the tweaks are iterative, not transformative.
1:25:57And I was always concerned that they would be transformative,
1:26:00like that we would need to like basically rip out and start again some parts,
1:26:04but I don't think that's the case.
1:26:05Like there's some stuff that could be sized better.
1:26:08we could put more days or less days
1:26:11on the daily theme section.
1:26:13Like I just haven't worked out what it is yet, right?
1:26:16'Cause there's some stuff like many people ask,
1:26:18why are there 12 days?
1:26:19Well, the reason there's 12 days
1:26:20is because like 12 like columns for days
1:26:22is because that's what fit.
1:26:24And I can maybe make it fit a bit differently.
1:26:26- Yeah, and that's a totally reasonable point
1:26:28that had never really crossed my mind.
1:26:30And then I saw that in some of the feedback.
1:26:31I was like, oh yeah, that is confusing if you just,
1:26:34yeah, it makes more sense to, 12 is the wrong number.
1:26:37- Right, but here's the thing.
1:26:39What's the right number?
1:26:40I don't know yet, right?
1:26:41So like, we put 12 on there because 12 fit.
1:26:44And because I didn't know what would I do, seven?
1:26:46But that's gonna make it too big.
1:26:47So 14, but that doesn't make sense.
1:26:49'Cause what about people that don't track on the weekend?
1:26:51So I just picked a number, right?
1:26:53Because I don't do it on the weekend.
1:26:55So 14 would mean I always have extra days, right?
1:26:59So it's gonna be like two and two thirds of a week.
1:27:02Like it doesn't make,
1:27:03so I just don't know the answers to that yet.
1:27:05So there are some stuff about it,
1:27:07which is like, why is it that way?
1:27:08Well, because we designed it without ever having one.
1:27:11So I needed to be able to have one and use one
1:27:15to understand how to do it myself.
1:27:17And there's some other little bits that I wanna change,
1:27:19but I still think that this notebook that we've made
1:27:22not only is a good product,
1:27:23I feel like it lives up to the system
1:27:25that I've tried to build.
1:27:26So that's why it's like now, I feel like, great,
1:27:30I am comfortable selling this to more people
1:27:32because I think that what we have is a very good product
1:27:37that from a quality perspective is better than other stuff
1:27:40that I've tried from more established companies.
1:27:42And I believe in the system.
1:27:44I use it every day.
1:27:45I'm very happy with it.
1:27:47I just think I need to be able to better communicate it.
1:27:49So that's the biggest change that I'm gonna make.
1:27:51- But Myke, could you add a ribbon?
1:27:55- Oh God, you know what I wanna do, Gray?
1:27:57I really wanna add a ribbon.
1:27:59So here's the thing.
1:28:01The notebook is split into sections that you refer to every day. So what it really ideally
1:28:07needs is a bookmark. I have learned this through using it. Bookmarks would be great, ribbon
1:28:12bookmarks would be awesome, so we spoke to the manufacturer. Can we add ribbon bookmarks?
1:28:18Seems easy enough, right? So you'd have two ribbons, you'd put one on where your daily
1:28:21journal page is, one on where your daily themes page is for that time, and you just open them
1:28:25where you need them. Great. Not great. The type of notebook that we make cannot easily
1:28:34have a ribbon added to it. And the reason is, if you put the ribbon in when the book
1:28:39is being made, it gets cut off when they trim the pages. So when they're done binding the
1:28:45book, they trim the edges so they're uniform, right? That cuts the ribbon off. So then we
1:28:55we were like, is there a different way to glue it in?
1:28:57We have tried every way we can.
1:28:59I've been working with,
1:29:01this is the upper part of the problem, right?
1:29:04Is like, there are so, there's like,
1:29:06I'm a bit lost in this process.
1:29:08I don't understand this process.
1:29:09So I talk to Tom and Dan at Studio Neat,
1:29:11who then talk to our manufacturers
1:29:13and then they go out and try and make it
1:29:15and then it goes backwards and forwards.
1:29:16Like right now, this is not a world
1:29:18that we have experience in.
1:29:20So the process can be slow
1:29:21and it is filled with things that I need to learn.
1:29:24I will learn how to communicate better and deal with these issues, but it's going to take time.
1:29:32Right now we're going to have to go back to the drawing board about adding bookmarks into this thing.
1:29:36It is not going to be a part of the first edition notebook because the way that we have the process set up, I can't do it.
1:29:42And we could explore other options, but it is going to delay the printing of this notebook
1:29:48because it may require significant changes to need to be made to the design
1:29:53if we can do it at all.
1:29:55Because ribbons are usually in books with hard covers on them
1:29:59because what you can do is glue the ribbon between the two hard cover sections
1:30:03because the trimming is done before the cover is added.
1:30:06But that's not the way that our notebook can be made
1:30:09because the cover is added at a different point of the process.
1:30:12It's like a whole thing.
1:30:14So we would have to completely change the manufacturing design of the notebook
1:30:17To add it, I think it's important, I don't think it's that important.
1:30:21You can just get a bookmark of your own, right?
1:30:24Yes, well this is also another example of, everybody has this experience where you sort of say,
1:30:29"Oh, why doesn't product X also do Y?" It's an obvious thing.
1:30:33And you look at it and you go, "Oh, why isn't there a ribbon?"
1:30:36And it's like, "Oh, well, if we were going to add a ribbon, it might add a year's delay to when the next version comes out."
1:30:44because then like the whole process has to start over
1:30:46of like checking the quality and you'd end up
1:30:50with different binding to the page sizes could be different.
1:30:53And it always, again, for people who have not been involved
1:30:56in physically manufacturing something,
1:30:57it sounds insane to say that a reasonable estimate might be,
1:31:02it would take a year to add a ribbon, right?
1:31:05But it's having done this now,
1:31:08I can see that it could easily be a situation like that
1:31:11like that of like you just end up with these knock-on effects.
1:31:15So this is a case of having to make design decisions.
1:31:21And I agree, ribbons would be cool,
1:31:24but not worth a year's delay in a project
1:31:29that already took us way longer
1:31:30than we ever imagined it was going to take.
1:31:31- 'Cause I'm not using a bookmark in mine.
1:31:33It takes me a couple of extra seconds to find the page, right?
1:31:36And so I would like it, but it is not imperative.
1:31:39And for people that it is imperative for,
1:31:41you can very easily add a bookmark to this.
1:31:44Like there are companies like Muji that sell ribbons
1:31:47that you can stick into books for this exact purpose,
1:31:50books that don't have bookmarks, right?
1:31:51So like it is easy to do.
1:31:54It is not an impossible thing that we would make them
1:31:57and sell them to, right?
1:31:58Like we just make our own.
1:32:00Like is that how do you get over it?
1:32:01We sell our own bookmarks.
1:32:03I've thought about this, but I'm not committing to it.
1:32:05- Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean, this, yeah,
1:32:07this is obviously the next logical extension.
1:32:09- I even have a name.
1:32:10I even have a name for it, which is Two Is One, One Is None, because you'd have to sell
1:32:15two of them.
1:32:16That's right.
1:32:17That's kind of my idea.
1:32:18We riff on that somehow, because really you need two ribbons for this notebook, which
1:32:22is what I was going to do, because there's two sections you come back to.
1:32:24Right.
1:32:25So we actually need to sell three ribbons then.
1:32:27Yes, because you need two.
1:32:28Three is two, two is one, and one is none.
1:32:30Yeah.
1:32:31It's like we're selling hot dogs and hot dog buns in different numbers.
1:32:34You can buy one journal, but you have to buy three bookmarks.
1:32:38(laughing)
1:32:40But this is an example of,
1:32:42people were saying,
1:32:44they wanted to hear more about the process, right?
1:32:47'Cause we spoke about it very briefly in the last episode.
1:32:49But this is part of what is going on here.
1:32:54It's like, we're having to make these decisions
1:32:57and we're making gambles every time.
1:33:00- Yeah, it is always a gamble.
1:33:02I think our first gamble
1:33:07paid off, but also was...
1:33:10Yeah, but this is what I mean, like it's a funny kind of payoff.
1:33:14Yes.
1:33:14Like it paid off, but in a way that we actually felt like,
1:33:17"Oh, we also completely missed the mark at the same time."
1:33:21Yeah, we both paid off and screwed up.
1:33:23Like that's...
1:33:24Yes!
1:33:25It was...
1:33:26This is this weird thing where like, it succeeded too hard.
1:33:30That's the problem.
1:33:31And like, again, very happy that it happened,
1:33:34but very frustrated that we didn't have more faith in ourselves, I guess.
1:33:39But, like, so I will disagree with you there, though, because, again, we didn't know until the final one showed up.
1:33:48It's one of those hindsight things. We never could have known until we did it.
1:33:52Yes.
1:33:52But I really wish we'd done it differently.
1:33:55- Yeah, but I take us off the hook in the sense that
1:33:59we purchased the correct number
1:34:02given that we didn't know what it was going to be like.
1:34:05- Yes, yes.
1:34:06- And as we said last time, particularly for you,
1:34:10you had the veto on this product
1:34:12that if it wasn't up to the quality that you wanted,
1:34:15we were just gonna pulp the whole thing.
1:34:18And at that point, if we had said,
1:34:20"Oh, let's order 10,000 of them.
1:34:22I'm sure this first one will turn out amazing."
1:34:24And if it hadn't, then we would have really been screwed.
1:34:28- Yeah, 'cause we would have had way too many of them.
1:34:31Right, like we ordered kind of the smallest amount
1:34:33that we could conceivably order.
1:34:35There's a funny thing, you know,
1:34:36like in the, because of the size of the order,
1:34:38like there's a bunch of stuff that has to change.
1:34:40So now I need to do and have random spot checked books
1:34:44sent to me.
1:34:45- Right, right.
1:34:47- Because we're ordering so many,
1:34:49there can be production line variations.
1:34:51So now before they're sent out to Kotburo,
1:34:55a random selection of the books has to be picked
1:34:57and sent to me so I can check the quality of them.
1:35:00This is, we're entering into a new phase here, my friend.
1:35:04- Yes, well, join that email list.
1:35:09- Yes.
1:35:10- And hopefully we will have some more journals
1:35:13for you very soon.
1:35:14And please keep sending in that feedback
1:35:16about how you're using it and what you think about it.
1:35:19It's very interesting to read
1:35:21and very helpful for thinking about future iterations
1:35:25on what we're doing here.