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553: The Apple Monument

 

00:00:00   from relay this is upgrade episode number 553 for march the 3rd 2025 i of course am your host jason snell this episode is brought to you by squarespace fitbot google gemini and delete me of course as you know we are now firmly in mike hurley paternity leave territory that's right but we

00:00:29   still gotta do an episode and i'm on vacation so it is my great pleasure to introduce my special guest for this episode of upgrade mike hurley it's what a pleasure to be here i've always loved this show jason and i'm just so happy to be a part of the call now that mike's out to bring me in isn't it weird being on a podcast that you listen to so long it's particularly weird uh to be the guest in this environment it's very strange to me uh this is an episode out

00:00:59   time we recorded this episode before my paternity leave um actually on my birthday in case people happy birthday it's january in the past but yes it's march in the future why are we doing this jason why is this happening can you explain i uh i have a vacation scheduled and it would normally and it's and it's wednesday to wednesday so it's really impossible to record upgrade in a not an out of time episode and normally i would have said mike you take that one but you can't take it either and so i

00:01:29   had the thought well if we had the thought well if we're gonna do an episode out of time why don't we do you and i do an episode out of time and then just drop it in so a little bonus mic for everybody you love it if there's the people that are missing me you know although i've really only been gone like two weeks

00:01:45   yeah maybe and again i don't know i don't get used to it there are no extra episodes out of time for you to uh you to get so it's just it's an episode out of time it's nice but because of that we're doing something fun today jason aren't we what are we doing

00:02:00   uh we are doing something called the most important apple products or uh if you would like to call it the

00:02:11   the apple monument sure that's another concept we're still working on it the idea here is we are going to

00:02:18   discuss the creation of i would say a an entirely fictional monument to apple products that have i would say i don't i don't even want to describe

00:02:30   it would have an impact are important in some way some way that that like like the baseball hall of fame which has rules but nobody seems to follow the rules about who gets in everybody's got their own definition for what a hall of famer is and this is what we're going for here and the key here is this is not something where we're inducting uh five things a year or something like that this is an exercise in which we have to propose specific apple products and at the end

00:03:00   only five will be allowed to appear on the monument because there is limited space on the statue or in the painting or whatever this fictional thing is

00:03:12   there's only so much marble that the sculptor can can use you know that exactly right the tree is only that large

00:03:19   anyway that so we're gonna pick five we're gonna we're gonna make something that is kind of like a draft but it's really just our kind of

00:03:26   nominations for what might be on the uh the monument and then we will make a final list of items it's a

00:03:35   the sort of thing you might do for a podcast where you're unaware of news events for the previous five

00:03:41   weeks this has been a uh a topic that i've had in my notes for a long time and was originally thinking it would

00:03:48   be a summer of fun uh but i i i thought when when we were this is happening i was like oh i've been sitting on

00:03:54   this idea so i'm happy that we can do it and the thing that jason mentioned that i like is we haven't

00:04:00   discussed the criteria so the i am expecting that both of us will be bringing products with our own

00:04:08   criteria set which i like uh and that that's like so the first portion of the show is just us talking

00:04:13   about the products um here's a question for you so you know i'm assuming we're probably going to be

00:04:21   bringing products from categories do we want to just go like higgledy-piggledy here with this

00:04:28   all right i want this episode to be as higgledy-piggledy as possible okay and so for me i think what i

00:04:36   want to do is i want to based on our document i'm going to have the first uh pick here yes this list

00:04:42   yes okay it's it's funny it's not a draft it's not a draft in the sense that this is a collaborative

00:04:51   process we're going to nominate we may agree or disagree but it doesn't matter at the end we will

00:04:55   then need to agree on five uh nominated by anybody it doesn't really matter and i'm sure we'll agree on

00:05:01   a bunch of things and then we'll disagree on a bunch of things but it's a good it's a good exercise uh

00:05:06   and and with that mike maybe it's time for you to pick one so for me i think probably my my basic

00:05:16   rubric here is some level of notoriety right is what i'm going for well i mean if we're putting this on

00:05:27   a statue it really ought to have or in a painting or in a museum it really ought to have some notoriety

00:05:32   yeah and i feel like there are the obvious items and i'm sure we will get to those but i have some

00:05:39   that i want to make sure or at least they're at least spoken about right so my first uh important

00:05:48   apple product is the apple watch edition the original one the gold one that cost between 10 to 17

00:05:59   000 000 because i think that this very specific product is actually quite important because i mean

00:06:08   the original apple watch important and will be important to history but i think in the i believe

00:06:15   as we look back in time this this very specific product is going to be seen as an important moment

00:06:24   in apple's history because if you were to believe that book that i like and you don't like what is

00:06:30   it called uh after steve is that the book that's probably the yeah sure this was essentially this

00:06:38   product was like them trying to placate johnny like give him kind of what he wanted um and and i think

00:06:44   that that was maybe a point which some people would say like was a bad time for apple like when they

00:06:50   were just giving johnny what he wanted uh but i see it as a really if you kind of take a bigger view

00:06:56   at that this was kind of when johnny was done like he didn't want to do this anymore and so they were

00:07:01   trying to make him feel better and i think that johnny johnny leaving apple has made an impact and will

00:07:08   continue to make an impact it may be wholly good it may be wholly bad i i think we're too close to it

00:07:15   still to know but i think that this very specific product was something that should never have

00:07:22   happened for multiple reasons and i think was actually very embarrassing for apple in the in the

00:07:28   long run and so i wanted to at least put it up here as like i just want it mentioned and in the

00:07:33   conversation it's not going to make it to the monument but i wanted to speak about it yeah i i again i

00:07:41   there's no way first off we don't have enough gold to to put this on the monument uh isn't that an

00:07:47   apple watch no it's made of gold oh well um it is yeah it it simultaneously um it it was to placate

00:07:56   johnny right i think we could all say there were a lot and i don't know how many of these are actually

00:08:00   true but i suspect many of them are it feels like there were a lot of decisions made by apple in the

00:08:08   era after steve died that were to placate johnny because and i know we talked about this on upgrade

00:08:14   before if you're trying to set set a message of stability to the market

00:08:21   after this perception that the guy responsible for all of apple's success is gone yeah one of the ways

00:08:30   you do that is you bring in the people who are close to him like johnny ive and you hold them close

00:08:35   and if johnny just left after steve died it would be an incredible i think they feared

00:08:42   what a black eye that would do to the perception of apple yeah but ironically the reverse i think is

00:08:49   true which is in order to keep him high profile and keep him engaged and keep him around they gave him

00:08:56   more responsibility and gave him more weight in decision making and as a result in the 2010s you see

00:09:03   apple make a lot of decisions that are kind of not practical and don't make the products better

00:09:09   and and there are lots of examples of those but this is an interesting example where yeah the the like

00:09:15   the vision pro i would argue the apple watch was miscalculated at the beginning because of

00:09:22   uh some influences by designers like johnny ive and then it took years to kind of unravel it from that

00:09:31   and make it more of what it should have been from the beginning and i feel like vision pro is going

00:09:36   down the same path honestly yeah different well i guess this is the thing we can never really truly

00:09:42   know right like johnny's influence on the vision pro we don't know we don't know but it certainly feels

00:09:49   like vision pro is is scarred a little bit by by some of those design those high design decisions

00:09:55   about a product like oh we must have a screen on the outside and we must have it be metallic and all

00:10:01   these things it's like did you really need that but it could be the same thing there because some

00:10:05   reporting says that johnny's johnny guided some of that just some of those early decisions right and so

00:10:11   like yeah i think like the guy was was steve drubbs protégé and you know it said that it needed the

00:10:18   pair of them to truly do good work but like you know i i think i i am and no to johnny i have

00:10:24   apologist uh but yeah i think that this was obviously a strange time in his career like the apple watch

00:10:30   especially um because again like if the reporting is to be believed they did apple was doing the best they

00:10:37   could with a product that could not handle it i mean we saw it though right like apple watch the

00:10:41   apple watch series zero as it became retconned in yes that was a that was a bad product like that was

00:10:48   it had a lot of promise so it was interesting like i would actually i would actually say now

00:10:54   the original apple watch was a worse product than the vision pro

00:10:59   oh yeah because the vision pro actually works like there's just yeah things about it that don't work

00:11:05   but like yeah with the way that the apps were communicated from the watch and like how slow

00:11:11   everything was it was a not good product and i think they were trying their best at that time so

00:11:16   i just a word about being a johnny i have apologist johnny i was a brilliant designer i think that i think

00:11:20   the misunderstanding there and and i as i just said i understand why apple did it but the

00:11:24   misunderstanding there is johnny i was a brilliant designer who was working with a product person

00:11:29   steve jobs who had incredible taste and could take what was great about johnny i and also

00:11:35   sort of stomp on the stuff that didn't make sense and that didn't work for a product and after steve was

00:11:41   gone i feel like what happened is johnny was sort of given more free reign and really that is not the

00:11:48   dynamic that you want and it's not really even his fault also i think he he was burned out and was

00:11:53   bored and was trying stuff but like you need somebody to say no to johnny i've and in that

00:11:57   position in the 2010s uh was anybody willing to say no to johnny i've but you do steve was uh anyway

00:12:05   we've spent a lot of time talking about a product that's not going to make it on the monument i think

00:12:09   that we're going to find that to be the rest of this episode but let's it could be we might end up

00:12:13   with no monument at the end oh no no it's just going to be a couple of ipod socks and that's it

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00:15:35   all right let me make my proposal i am going to put the original ipod

00:15:44   interesting okay original ipod the the it's got the classic click wheel um it so it's got that look

00:15:54   it is it is bulky but it is representative of one of the most important products in apple history it is the

00:16:03   product that made people like apple as a brand again uh you know where they were perceived as a weird

00:16:12   outlying company and kind of like falling away from like their computers were not compatible

00:16:17   all those things and then the ipod came out and people wanted it and they had to have it

00:16:23   and i would argue that it's got an iconic shape

00:16:27   that uh is recognizable as an ipod even you know on our on our monument we could pick different models of ipod

00:16:36   but i'm just going for the original ipod it is that rectangle with the screen and the circle below it

00:16:42   and we can put some earbuds coming out of it we'll see what the sculptor or painter or whatever says

00:16:49   but i feel like a super defining product for a period of apple's existence that also uh changed the company

00:16:56   so the original ipod was the ipod where it had the click wheel i mean it was physically moved if i'm if i remember correctly

00:17:04   but it also had the circular buttons around the outside like this what this one you could not

00:17:10   uh it wasn't until what the ipod photo where the the click wheel actually became a clicking wheel

00:17:16   uh as opposed to became also the the buttons yes that's that's true they well they struggled with that

00:17:22   where they put the horizontal touch buttons that were bad they were so bad um third gen ipod bad ipod

00:17:28   bad bad ipod so i i just yeah you you could pick others this yeah they had the controls around the

00:17:33   outside of the ring and it spun which they in the second gen they made it more like a trackpad but the

00:17:38   first gen it spun but it doesn't i mean i i'm i'm not thinking about like these being functional because

00:17:43   it's going to be in a monument i'm thinking more about like the classic silhouette it's got that it's got a

00:17:47   bunch of iconic aspects to it the circle the the screen um you know it doesn't need a working firewire

00:17:53   port on top either it's fine it's just it's just i i feel like this is one of those iconic apple products

00:17:59   that should be considered for the monument i would like to carry this conversation on by making another

00:18:03   pick okay i cannot argue with the original ipod or like whatever it ends up being and maybe it ends

00:18:09   up being like you know if we were to think the iconic shape like it might be like the ipod photo or the

00:18:15   ipod video right that the really ended up like in its final form but if we're talking about from my

00:18:21   perspective a notable important product i would go with the ipod mini because i think the ipod mini

00:18:29   at least from my recollection of history as the person at the time the ipod mini was the product that i think

00:18:36   really opened the ipod up to the world it was super small bright colors you know and then you know

00:18:45   they were able to get four gigabytes in that tiny little thing you could clip it to your belt and

00:18:52   you had the white earbuds like this was my first ipod it was a pink ipod mini um which i still have

00:18:58   actually um and i i i really think the ipod mini i mean and it was followed by other ipods right like

00:19:05   the nano i think just opened it up even further but i think this was where fun was brought into the ipod line

00:19:11   and i think really kind of helped proliferate out into the world at a bigger degree even than the

00:19:18   original ipod but i would struggle to argue with just ipod classic as being the one on the monument

00:19:25   but i feel like i've got to throw out some love to the ipod mini because i really think that it was

00:19:29   very very influential i think that's fair i think that it's a um i my argument for the original ipod is

00:19:38   mostly that classic shape i think is a really pleasing kind of proportion and the ipod mini is

00:19:44   a little a little taller and a little skinnier um and a little rounder and and while that made it an

00:19:50   interesting and fun product i i i feel like the original ipod maybe just sort of says ipod more

00:19:56   but like we're dealing with details here it is a it is a fun product that yes it did bring it to the

00:20:01   masses and then of course famously was then immediately killed and replaced by the ipod nano

00:20:04   what did they say like it's uh most popular ipod ever or the most popular mp3 player in the world

00:20:09   and so what are we going to do we're going to kill it or we're going to replace it yeah something that's

00:20:13   the line i think so good so good yeah yeah because they replaced it with a flash based nano and and

00:20:19   that made all the difference because the whole point of the ipod mini was that it was smaller

00:20:22   um and so they could make it even smaller by making the flash based nano and the original ipod

00:20:26   you're right it it is um one of those things that happens sometimes where where it's like

00:20:32   the one being uh shown here is actually this very particular model or whatever like that might happen

00:20:38   with the ipod where we go to the designer of the of the statue or the painting or again whatever this

00:20:43   monument is and they say uh which ipod should it be if we decide an ipod is going to go on there maybe

00:20:49   maybe in the end it is the ipod classic or something that's a little more refined version because

00:20:54   that's what they did right they kept refining that silhouette of the ipod and it still always had

00:20:58   the circle at the bottom and the screen at the top and it was a rectangle and that's the most important

00:21:02   thing i think i think if if if this was a color product it would have to be white though i think

00:21:10   you're right it would have to i agree i think that's the iconic again that's the iconic ipod because i

00:21:16   never i never liked that about the classic that they were aluminium on the front i didn't like that i

00:21:22   i liked it right acrylic like there was it was white plastic and so like for me you know one that i have

00:21:28   on my list but i will not pick it now because there is no point doing this uh is the ipod video like

00:21:33   that that was such a for me a really important product but it also again it like it built on

00:21:40   the foundation of the ipod they made the screen a bit bigger you know it's full color you could watch

00:21:45   video on it i did i used to watch video podcasts uh on my ipod video um but that one was like super

00:21:53   great and i feel like something like that or the you know the the kind of the fourth generation

00:21:57   onwards something in that in that realm would be what would go on our monument

00:22:00   all right with my next um nomination i'm going to suggest the original mac okay from 1984

00:22:10   yep uh classic mac silhouette it is you know and it ended up on every mac after that for a long time

00:22:18   when you turned it on you would get the little happy mac and it's that mac it's that shape it's that

00:22:24   little again like an ipod it's an iconic shape and i think that if we're thinking about monuments i keep

00:22:31   coming back to like what is this object shape like and how is it going to so it's got to tell a story

00:22:37   like an important part of of apple but it's also got to be kind of recognizable and relevant and and

00:22:43   hopefully kind of pleasing and i think the original mac is pleasing i mean i could argue about the shape

00:22:51   of some other you know max compact max of that early era um it could be you know this is this is a the mac

00:22:59   the mac user eddie award statue and then ultimately the mac world eddie award statue was originally an

00:23:05   original mac and they updated it to make it an se or maybe it was a classic and it remained that for

00:23:10   the rest of time so there are lots of different uh classic compact max on there it doesn't have to

00:23:16   actually be the original mac but it's got you know it's got the little disc drive slot and a little

00:23:21   screen and it's just that cute little compact shape uh says macintosh to me i'm gonna make a

00:23:28   pick here so we can talk about this uh because i i think the representation if we were to say

00:23:35   we're gonna have a mac on this monument right like if that's the way we end up doing it because who

00:23:41   knows we could end up with just five max you know like we don't i i think picking a mac will actually

00:23:48   be the hardest thing to do could be and i will throw out the macbook air the original oh

00:23:56   now i watched you typing in our document you typed the letter i which i think you thought i was going

00:24:02   to go in a different direction i did i think that the macbook air you know which became you know the

00:24:09   one with a little flippy down door which then just became the macbook air which then became the m1

00:24:12   macbook air like that whole design it was so prevalent and lasted for so long i mean we were

00:24:19   just talking about this a little while ago about how you know people bemoan it when it's gone and we

00:24:24   heard from a lot of i heard from a lot of listeners anyway who were saying that they love their their

00:24:28   wedge-shaped macbook air sure i think it's it's probably the most staying power a format has had

00:24:40   like off the top of my head like essentially an unchanged design like even the imac as it grew up

00:24:49   from the g4 into what we have now i think changed more than the macbook air did in that time like

00:24:55   that that design it lost the flippy down door and then the screen got a bit bigger other than that i

00:25:00   don't think it changed like really at all throughout its entire life the second gen the second generation

00:25:07   air basically remained the same through the with with basically very little change through the m1

00:25:13   the 11 got dropped didn't it at some point yes they added the they added the 11 and dropped it yeah

00:25:21   and the 11 inch macbook air i mean come on you're kidding me like what an incredible i know i love

00:25:26   that computer i think it would be difficult not impossible but i think that it is difficult to

00:25:35   argue against the importance and the influence of the macbook air apple tried to get rid of it

00:25:42   multiple times but couldn't because their customers disagree it's true it's true when the when the it

00:25:49   went retina there was no 11 and it was sad but like it went retina after it had basically been

00:25:54   discontinued um or remained around but it had not been updated and they finally were like all right

00:26:00   here's your retina macbook air because they just couldn't like people they were still selling them

00:26:05   they're trying to get people to move to the macbook pro retina or to the the the retina the macbook

00:26:09   12 inch and people are like nope i just want that macbook air and then i finally all right okay fine it's

00:26:15   and then today we did it you know we still have the macbook air which doesn't really make any logical

00:26:20   sense right there is nothing else in its class there isn't a regular macbook that this one is thinner or

00:26:26   lighter than yeah and like now pro the air branding is in other areas now and it's true because this

00:26:34   product is so loved that they have an ipad called the air we're expecting an iphone called the air like

00:26:39   it means something to people yeah it does absolutely it's very meaningful i have some

00:26:46   aesthetic questions sure about the macbook air and laptops in general for the monument um maybe i'll

00:26:53   save those for later but there's a question of how would the how would you depict this and would it be

00:26:59   basically would it be open or would it be closed i because i think i feel like an open laptop is kind

00:27:04   of is kind of awkward and a closed laptop is is more an iconic shape but there's also like just a

00:27:10   just a rectangle i think for the purposes of our of allowing us to have this conversation fully

00:27:16   let's set the parameters for the monument i'm gonna say okay it is a statue right it's a statue it's a

00:27:22   statue okay so if it's a statue i think what what i would want is open but with the logo facing you

00:27:30   so you could go around to the back of the statue and see the rest of the laptop but that like it

00:27:35   should be an open laptop so you can see that it's an open laptop but i think that is the iconic

00:27:40   thing yeah in like and that goes back and that represents all macs right up to you know from a

00:27:47   certain point where they actually put the logo up the right way but that it represents a long time

00:27:52   of laptops and apple mac history but yeah for me it would be the macbook air nice okay well then i

00:28:02   will just put on the pile the imac g3 yeah i was struggling so i got my little list here and i actually

00:28:08   did have the g3 imac above the macbook air but then when it came to talking about it it's like oh i think

00:28:14   i've got to throw the air in there but the g3 i mean i got in my notes here i wrote it made apple cool

00:28:20   again and set them on the path that will become the ipod without the imac g3 there's no ipod without

00:28:26   the ipod there's no iphone exactly it's all it's all part of that comeback story it's funny that we've

00:28:32   talked a lot about how the imac g4 is the fundamental like maybe the most beautiful mac ever made yeah and

00:28:40   i agree and i could nominate it too and maybe i will because it is so beautiful the the you know with

00:28:46   the the floating screen on the arm but if we're representing the best of apple

00:28:52   design really as well as the impact the the g3 it you know it looks a little weird now because it's

00:29:00   kind of bulbous because it's got the whole crt in it and all that but it is hearkening back to the

00:29:05   original mac and it is that product that helped save apple and it does have a an unmistakable

00:29:13   silhouette right you see it and you're like oh it's that it's that imac g3 um and so it's an important

00:29:21   product i'm not sure in the long run if it's better than a better choice than a macbook air or an original

00:29:29   imac but it is an important product with a with a powerful recognizable silhouette which is why i

00:29:36   wanted to mention it this episode of upgrade is brought to you by google gemini i used gemini

00:29:44   for the first time the other day and the most impressive thing to me was just talking to it

00:29:48   you go live with it and then it's just like you're having a conversation you can just talk about your day

00:29:53   or have it explain something to you or start brainstorming ideas i'll give you an example i

00:29:59   pretended i had a job interview coming up and i asked for it to help me prep for the interview

00:30:04   it immediately started suggesting common questions i might get asked then i started talking through my

00:30:09   answers out loud and it would give me feedback and it's all happening in real time like i'm talking

00:30:14   to a career coach that's just what i tried first but you can talk to it about anything and that's the

00:30:20   magic of it how you can have this back and forth and it's all seamless if you haven't tried it yet

00:30:24   it's definitely worth checking out you'll see what i mean i thanks to google gemini for the support of

00:30:29   this show and all of relay this is a difficult one um because i it is interesting now i think i think

00:30:39   design has come back around like it where we are today in 2025 i think we're back with the imac g3 again

00:30:48   which you know like from part of it is the fonts that apple were using at that point i don't know

00:30:54   if you know the name of it but like the the serif font that they were using there are versions of

00:30:59   this now everywhere it's apple isn't that apple garamond i think they were using garamond before

00:31:04   that sounds right but like that that style that like the way that garamond looks if you find a startup

00:31:10   today they're using a font that looks like this like they are so prevalent but just also just like

00:31:15   the general color where people want the color the see-through like the clear you know people like

00:31:20   that sure and even i i agree with what you're saying about the bulbousness of the g3 but it still

00:31:27   looks cool still it looks cool and that is not it's an interesting object it really is not just the

00:31:33   retroness of it right we you know like because you look at something like the ibook

00:31:37   that doesn't look cool anymore the the toilet the toilet seat yeah it doesn't and it has a lot of

00:31:43   the same ideas to it or like you know you could like the power mac g3

00:31:47   it's not cool like you're taking all my jokes these are all my jokes it's like what it's a blue and

00:31:55   white power power mac g3 let's get let's get the molar mac in there on the monument boy that's why i

00:32:00   didn't invite stephen hackett to this discussion yeah that's why it would be all it would be all

00:32:03   just like let me tell you about this performer weird max it'd be like a like a human centipede of max it

00:32:09   would be disgusting and you'd have to look away like no no i don't want to see it no performers no

00:32:16   but like i just think that the g3 it is its coolness and its design is kind of never-ending

00:32:23   like we work a cortex brand we work with a couple of uh branding designers um and they're from

00:32:30   australia and they're i don't know probably like 10 years younger than me maybe more they were not

00:32:34   around or really aware of the g3 but we were having a conversation recently and they brought up how cool

00:32:41   it looked so like i don't even think it's like a nostalgia thing yeah it's not just like oh you were

00:32:45   there at the time no people just love the way this thing looks and from an important and again it's

00:32:51   like what is importance this product is really important like it is we don't have apple today

00:32:59   we're at the g3 right it is it's super relevant i think i think all the products that we've mentioned

00:33:05   so far except the apple watch edition could be said i just had to get it in there but i needed it i know

00:33:11   i know you started us off with a bang uh yeah okay this is gonna be a tough decision for this uh

00:33:16   for our monument but you have any other nominees what do you have next

00:33:19   i mean there is a there's an elephant in the room

00:33:24   mm-hmm and it's so complicated like even i know i could just keep going to avoid it

00:33:31   like that's been my strategy i think i'm gonna avoid it a little bit longer um okay

00:33:38   and i'm actually so okay i was gonna pick airpods at this point but i'm changing that

00:33:45   okay to the white earbuds

00:33:49   hmm so like the white earbuds i guess the ipod earbuds i don't even i because this has just popped

00:33:59   into my mind now because like now i'm back in like i'm thinking further back right because the airpods

00:34:05   look the way they do because of earpods right that came before those yes came before those was the white

00:34:15   earbud that that was yes part of the ipod and then also the iphone they are so they again were like

00:34:24   there are elements there are there are products that enabled the apple we have today and they are

00:34:32   the ipod they are the iMac g3 and they are the white earbuds because you were making a statement

00:34:38   whether you liked it or not and people wanted these things if you you could have used any earbuds with

00:34:44   most of your products you could use any earbuds but the white earbuds were a fashion statement

00:34:50   for a long time so i'm gonna throw those out there i mean i would also put airpods but i'm i i just

00:34:56   while i'm while i'm thinking retro i'm gonna i'm gonna throw the white earbuds out there as a

00:35:01   important in the history of apple all right well i am going to rip the band-aid off okay

00:35:12   um white earbuds also we're gonna put up we're gonna put a little um pin in that one because

00:35:18   you might be able to depict them with the original ipod that's a good that's a good call yeah we can

00:35:24   get a two for that that's you can slide them in every set of rules needs loopholes and that is the

00:35:29   loophole yeah that's right um i'm gonna pick the iphone 5 okay interesting all right okay

00:35:43   why this one um so the iphone 5 has the flat side brawn razor kind of design language

00:35:57   of the iphone 4 but it's taller and i think i find that shape a little more pleasing

00:36:05   um i had a black iphone 5 and it was the best it was so awesome um and i i feel like if you're

00:36:13   going to depict the iphone maybe you depict an early iphone design where it's got the button on it below

00:36:20   the screen and if you're doing that you could pick the original you could and i could see the argument

00:36:27   for picking the original the original is super important but also the original is a one-off

00:36:33   and they never really go back there they made the plastic version of it which was the 3gs

00:36:38   and the 3g and then they went to the 4 which was this style and that was 4 5 6 7 8 and then they

00:36:47   they shifted to the iphone 10 so you so what was it 6 7 is it 6 7 8 that have the rounded edges

00:36:54   yes that are more like bars of soap yeah well 6 6s 7 7s and yes right right so i think i prefer the

00:37:04   flat-sided design to the bar of soap curved design and that's and that's why i picked the 5 is i think it's

00:37:14   representative like i think the original and the 3g and 3gs are interesting historically i love the

00:37:22   original iphone but it is from a design perspective it's it's what they could ship whereas i think 4

00:37:28   and 5 come the closest to being closest for a while anyway to being sort of what they wanted the iphone to be

00:37:38   i could also maybe argue that like the iphone 10 is is literally what johnny i've wanted to ship

00:37:48   but i really like the flat-sided design so i feel like if it's not the iphone 5 i have to go up to

00:37:54   like the iphone 13 okay and i i you know i another kind of like flat-sided but in that case buttonless and

00:38:02   i don't know i think i think just like with the original ipod having the circular item down at the

00:38:06   bottom is sort of iconic with apple so i'm gonna split the difference and say iphone 5 i'm not i

00:38:11   don't feel super strong about it but if i have to pick one i could go with a classic i could go with

00:38:16   a later model like a 10 or a 14 or something like that but um but why not iphone 5 i want to correct

00:38:24   myself there was no iphone 7s okay which is a funny thing that they did they went from 7 to 8 but

00:38:30   the 8 was why didn't they just call the 8 the 7s anyway so i had in my notes for similar reasons

00:38:39   the iphone 5s but from an so again this is like if we're imagining it as a statue it doesn't make a

00:38:47   difference in the 5 and the 5s but i put the 5s down because i had touch id right um as like a an

00:38:54   important thing but if you've just got something made of marble it doesn't matter what one it is

00:38:57   you have made an interesting there is there is something interesting about what you have chosen

00:39:05   here for like what is the iconic iphone exactly it's the 12 by the way the 12 is when the flat side

00:39:13   design came back so i feel like flat side design is the way to go and that maybe the circle the touch

00:39:19   id button at the bottom the home button is i think it has to be because the that one the six

00:39:25   to the eight bad time for iphone design the only good thing was they made a big one but the rounded

00:39:30   was not that that i don't think that ever truly looked good uh and and i think people got tired of

00:39:37   it very quickly in a way that even though i think we've sat with this flat edge design since the 12 for

00:39:43   longer now um yes it isn't as tired looking like by the time we got to like 7s it was like oh god

00:39:50   please apple change the design of this iphone like i remember that being like a prevalent thing at the

00:39:55   time this is very complicated right because we've mentioned the 5 and the 4 i mean

00:40:02   right i mean the 4 is shorter is all um and the and the 5 is a little bit taller what makes the

00:40:10   why 5s and not 5 i i just i put touch because i had touch id i thought that was interesting

00:40:17   okay it adds the little metallic ring around the circle okay i mean that that might be it depends

00:40:22   on sort of the materials that the sculptor uses yeah in our made-up thing um it could be it could be

00:40:29   the 5s yeah i'm i'm open i my love really is that i that great black um iphone 5 and i loved it

00:40:36   as my darth vader phone that was my favorite that was my favorite for sure i mean all right i'm just

00:40:42   going to put original iphone now so it's on the list like sure i mean realistically it's the most

00:40:50   important product that apple has ever made and will probably ever make i don't think they will ever

00:40:56   and i feel confident saying this i do not believe apple inc will ever make a product as important as

00:41:04   the iphone ever again i might go so far as to say no company currently constituted will ever make a

00:41:10   product as important as the original iphone maybe some new company will i think you're right i mean

00:41:14   in our lifetimes anyway realistically the company before this was apple and the company before that

00:41:21   was also apple right of like the ipod yeah and the mac of like yeah and the smartphone i mean the

00:41:27   smartphone is in many ways at least so far the culmination of the entire computer industry

00:41:32   and is the biggest most impactful um consumer product of our era because we've gone from you

00:41:40   know not having personal computers in the 70s to now 50 years later everybody's got a supercomputer

00:41:47   tied into a global high-speed computer network in their pocket everywhere they go like it's huge

00:41:52   it's transformative here's a question for you is the iphone more important than the pc like if we're

00:41:59   looking at in all of history like we could say the mac or the pc or whatever just in general

00:42:04   like let's say the mac is like the first true personal computer is the iphone more important than the mac

00:42:11   yes yeah i think so it's required by the pc the computer is required to get to the smartphone but the

00:42:17   smartphone is more important because the smartphone smartphone reaches more people more people use a

00:42:22   smartphone than ever used a computer and is used by them yeah you know they use it and they use the data

00:42:30   and they use the they may use the phone but they also use the data i think the smartphone is the it literally

00:42:36   is the culmination of the entire as somebody who came up as a computer person a fan of computers i you know

00:42:42   first got my hands on a computer and like i don't know fourth grade something like that and just was

00:42:48   blown away by it um and it changed my life it was a funny moment when the smartphone is growing and

00:42:54   sometime in the 2010s where i had that realization that oh all of that was just a prelude to this and

00:43:01   maybe there's another thing to come maybe it goes into something that is you wear on your face or

00:43:07   whatever like we will see but thus far this seems to be the definitive product of this entire industry

00:43:14   and that has the biggest global impact you could live your life without a personal computer right you

00:43:21   could have lived your life yeah many parts of the world people don't have computers they just have

00:43:26   phones i think modern society requires a smartphone and boy it does it the iphone everything's got an app

00:43:34   is the smartphone right and there are now there are now many competitors but what we consider the

00:43:39   smartphone or even what we consider a phone today it's the iphone that that's that is the one that

00:43:45   began it and that's why i would put it here even though it might not be the most iconic look it's the

00:43:53   most important product i think i think that's the argument is is is aesthetics here because i the original

00:44:00   iphone it's kind of bodged together it's got it's got uh kind of bulbous kind of curves that i don't

00:44:05   love it's got the two-piece back that is not great it's still metallic like they and when they went to

00:44:11   plastic i i'm sure that really drove johnny i batty because it they they were they were cheaper they felt

00:44:18   cheap and i know why they did it they had to do it but like the plastic backs were not as good and and as

00:44:25   soon as they could they got away from there right they're like they skated away from there

00:44:29   but but um that early era it was not great and i feel like the four and the five is when they really

00:44:35   kind of figured it out and then they kind of went into a hole a little bit so it really comes down to

00:44:39   whether we want a representative whether it matters more that it's the first or whether it matters more

00:44:44   that it's the iphone and here's a beautiful iphone design

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00:47:03   oh well i've i've really talked myself into a corner here haven't i

00:47:10   yeah yeah you can say that what am i gonna pick next

00:47:14   we could leave the iphone for a little bit right because like i i have more iphones

00:47:20   although i actually you know before we move on i'm just gonna throw them out there we're not gonna pick

00:47:27   because i don't think okay but so i had the iphone 10

00:47:31   yes great

00:47:34   maybe the iphone 10 we would include the 6 plus i think is important because it's the first big fun

00:47:41   but i've even noted and i mentioned already this month the design outstayed it's welcome

00:47:48   oh yeah and i don't think the sculpture is going to be actual size so whatever iphone we choose

00:47:53   can probably be really big yeah unless the concept is like it's a person holding all of these devices

00:47:59   but i don't think i don't know i mean it's up to the sculptor i guess up to the sculptor that that's

00:48:03   for their artistic interpretation uh-huh i look forward to the fan art by the way that we're surely

00:48:08   undoubtedly going to get for this episode which i will respect i'm saying it now and i don't know

00:48:14   whether this will come to be but i'm sort of thinking we might want to commission something but

00:48:17   anyway we'll see we'll see we'll see it's actually not a bad idea we have the time maybe there will

00:48:22   be something by the time this episode is done maybe um maybe the iphone 4 is important for so many

00:48:30   reasons in history like it was the iphone that leaked it was the first retina display it had the

00:48:36   first gate sure and it brought in the the the flat side design that i think is the the best design

00:48:43   and then just a random one that i want to throw out there for kind of similar reasons i think to

00:48:47   my gold apple watch is the iphone 7 plus um okay it was the first phone that had a dual camera

00:48:53   but and it also took away the headphone jack ah yes

00:48:59   ah yes if we don't want water ingress in our statue we can pick the 7 plus

00:49:04   all right i'm gonna i don't know how i feel about this one but i'm gonna i'm gonna put it out there

00:49:17   i'm going to propose uh airpods let's say airpods

00:49:27   pro okay in in their case okay so we're even going batistic here well like airpods pro is just

00:49:44   like a thing i mean they could float in space or if you just have the case it's just a rectangle but

00:49:50   i'm thinking like i think i i think i'd like to the idea that apple first off airpods in general

00:49:56   uh what a very successful product that people don't talk about uh a really great example of a

00:50:02   category where there were already existing products that did it and then apple came in and everybody

00:50:06   went oh my god and like apple became wildly successful selling them and other people still

00:50:10   sell them and they're successful but not like apple is successful it really is like apple just

00:50:15   it's classic apple move in all of those ways and i can tell you as somebody who has been wearing

00:50:20   in-ear headphones for a couple of decades now and has turned my nose up at apple headphones and it's

00:50:27   like they're just not good they don't sound good i don't like them the earbuds i just i never liked

00:50:32   them i was so skeptical of the original airpods and they were really good and then they added noise

00:50:40   canceling in the airpods pro and and they're in their canal phones and they are spectacularly good

00:50:47   to the point now where i don't use my in-ear headphones for anything but podcasting everything

00:50:53   else i just use airpods pro and then the fact that they have this charging case which could have been

00:50:58   like super fiddly and weird but instead i think generally is just a very simple way to have that

00:51:06   extra battery life and a place to hold them because you've got to put them somewhere you're going to

00:51:11   lose them and the fact that they kind of like did that as a package and that it that it works as well

00:51:18   as it does i think it's a really great design yeah i think i would probably pick the airpods pro shape

00:51:23   of the case that's a little bit wider but it could be the standard airpods and that would be fine too

00:51:29   but i think airpods in their case of some kind that would be what i i would propose i think an accessory

00:51:35   i think airpods pro is the right pick like because airpods like the original airpods just super awkward

00:51:42   design stems were too long um and you know apple has come to refine the the the airpods that we have

00:51:49   today to look more like the airpods pro i think that that is again it's like we got to the better

00:51:57   version right so i can think back to the ipod well really the ipod photo the ipod video that is or even

00:52:04   like what we're saying about the iphone potentially depending on what we go with like they get to where

00:52:08   they want to be as opposed to the original airpods which were super weird looking i mean but it was

00:52:14   actually quite an achievement of how good a product they were that people wanted to wear those because

00:52:20   they were weird looking they were like with the the stems that came down that was it really did look

00:52:26   like somebody just came around and cut the cables off of your earbuds yeah when now they are much more

00:52:31   sleek and a much better design and that came with the airpods pro i'm gonna go with the ipad the

00:52:38   original ipad all right and the reason i will go with the original ipad is the price 499 which was

00:52:51   half of what everybody thought it was going to be it's maybe the only time in history where apple has

00:52:56   surprised us with a significantly cheaper price than what we expected a product to be i mean everybody

00:53:03   thought there is no way they make a tablet for less than a thousand dollars right that that was the

00:53:11   expectation at the time like you know the ipad is a complicated product and if i'm being completely

00:53:18   honest with myself i think i would struggle to argue its place on this monument just in general as a product

00:53:27   category i think it would be difficult um i mean we haven't gotten to the end yet there are there are

00:53:33   complete other categories we've not given a realistic representation to yeah looking at you apple watch

00:53:40   edition series zero uh but the the original ipad is a good product it was the time when people have been

00:53:49   most excited about the ipad on mass right you know it's hard to i think it's easy to forget

00:53:56   just how successful the ipad was at the beginning they sold so many of them so for a long time

00:54:03   um and you know the the app store was rich and vibrant but the but look the story oldest time now

00:54:10   at this point just the ipad did not live up to its potential and still doesn't uh but at the beginning

00:54:17   i mean there was the hey this is a big iphone thing but while people said that negatively at that point

00:54:23   in 2010 that was actually a good thing like we loved the iphone the iphone was small having a having a

00:54:31   having access to the app store on a big screen on a big screen was really important then yeah i agree

00:54:40   i agree i'm gonna i'm gonna counter here okay and this is i i i like your suggestion of the original ipad

00:54:50   i think my counter is largely about design one of the things okay so here's a funny thing one of the

00:54:57   things that i love about the original ipad is its design it's look it gets bulbous at the back

00:55:05   it it has the flat sides and then they just kind of keep going out so it wants you to think that it's

00:55:11   got flat sides and that's the whole end but it it keeps going because it's just too much hold though

00:55:16   right it did no it did um it's a good design i didn't love the future ipad designs that became

00:55:29   more instead of the as has been made clear already i kind of like the flat side look for a device and

00:55:37   not the kind of tapered design yeah and the ipad did the tapered design for a very very long time

00:55:44   and the button on the ipad is iconic the original ipad and i've said before like touch id uh home

00:55:53   button kind of stuff feels very iconic just like the click wheel and this you know feels iconic on the

00:55:59   ipod but i'm going to put it out there that i think as a representation of the platonic ideal

00:56:07   of an ipad i'm going to say the m4 ipad pro the current ipad pro because it is thin

00:56:17   and uh and a perfect uh flat-sided rectangular slab i would say the that is that's the johnny

00:56:28   i've ipad it's very thin it's featureless i mean it is very johnny uh in that way and and so i think it

00:56:39   could be potentially a good representative of the ipad without feeling uh because the original ipad i mean

00:56:46   it did it did do really well it did it did a lot of people bought that original ipad um but i think the

00:56:52   m4 ipad pro is in some ways kind of a refinement at that same uh design in terms of being you know

00:56:58   flat-sided and and uh it's not bulbous on the back it's super flat and thin

00:57:03   yeah it's complicated right to pick something so current um

00:57:08   i know it really i know but there i am it's what the ipad this is clearly what the ipad should have

00:57:15   always been which is like essentially couldn't be uh it is literally as thin and light as you can make

00:57:20   it right like that's clearly what they're going for with the m4 ipad pro right how thin and how light

00:57:27   can this product be because that gets it closest to what i mean i you know we keep invoking his name

00:57:34   but steve jobs is like you're just holding a piece of glass that's right that's what the m4 ipad pro feels

00:57:41   like and i could make that argument for modern iphones the honestly one of the reasons that i suggested

00:57:46   the iphone 5 instead of a modern iphone is the camera bump the camera sensor in the back is so ugly

00:57:51   and the iphone 5 it was less it was just like a little camera yeah and honestly i think that's the difference

00:57:56   and yes the ipad also has a camera bump so you could go with the original ipad there i just i i like

00:58:01   i i just it is there's something about that m4 ipad pro i think that is um again it's so expensive

00:58:08   all those other things but like from a design standpoint it being like an a perfect ipad you

00:58:14   could say that about honestly the modern ipad air is like that too but something like that okay um

00:58:22   important i don't know but potentially iconic is the vision pro i mean it is what it is right but like

00:58:34   i i don't i think it there are there are few products in apple's modern history that are so

00:58:41   clearly the thing they want to make for good or ill from a kind of a visual perspective like it's so clearly

00:58:50   an apple product it is it is almost

00:58:56   it's almost like someone was walking around and picking up pieces you know like it has a crown

00:59:06   on it right like it's got it's kind of got like a apple watch band kind of thing around the back of it

00:59:13   like looks like a bunch of bands that they make it's like oh we're going to use the glass and the

00:59:18   aluminium from the iphone and it's really got like so many component pieces to what put this thing

00:59:26   together is just stuff apple makes even on the inside like it has essentially a mac chip on the

00:59:35   inside of the thing right and then obviously another it has every possible camera you could put on

00:59:40   something i mean it is if this thing is ever considered if the original vision pro in the future

00:59:47   is ever considered important i think it is important for maybe the wrong reasons and you know it's like

00:59:55   there is a possibility where vision pro 4 is like it's taken over the world but people would look back

01:00:02   at the vision pro the original one and be like you could see where they were going but it needed this

01:00:07   it needed that and then it eventually gets to to where they want it to be you know like in the same way that like

01:00:14   like the original ipod right i keep coming back to this but like i do think that there is a good analog

01:00:20   there of like you can see what they were going for and it was really cool i mean it did have a bigger impact

01:00:26   but it needed much more refinement to get it to the point where this thing works the way exactly as it should

01:00:32   right like it made so much sense to not have these extra buttons on the thing it made so much sense for

01:00:39   it to not be an actual spinning disc inside right like it kind of gets to that point and i think

01:00:46   there is a path where the vision pro takes its own thing you don't need that screen on the front

01:00:51   it doesn't need to be so heavy right like there are many things just from a physical perspective

01:00:58   where we get to like oh it could do with support and controllers so you can do different things with it

01:01:03   you know like sure it gets to a point right like oh it needs to have apple intelligence so you can

01:01:09   just talk to it and it will do things for you so you haven't got to be tapping and pinching all the

01:01:13   time but there are a lot of things that this product could have so i wanted to throw out there because

01:01:17   it is what it is yeah the danger is we put it on the statue when in five years they're like what is

01:01:24   this a monument to apple's hubris that they put the vision pro on it that's the danger but again like

01:01:29   i feel it's it's similar to why i picked the gold apple watch right it's like that yeah it says

01:01:35   something about the company it does say something about apple it is then this is going to be jason

01:01:41   and mike's controversial apple monument we're gonna be picked the gold apple watch uh the vision pro

01:01:48   what like the iphone 8 and yeah and and some ipod socks um well just wait because i'm gonna pick

01:01:58   the original mac mouse now maybe like with air but like earbuds we can we can sneak it in with the ipod

01:02:13   maybe we can sneak this in with the original mac if we use it but i want to mention an accessory

01:02:17   the original mac mouse is representative of the fact that this is the original graphical interface

01:02:29   this is when the mouse was introduced to the world really i know it existed a long time before that but

01:02:36   this is when everybody suddenly understood what a mouse was i think that it's an interesting

01:02:41   product ergonomically uh it's got a recognizable shape and what's also fun about it is that it's

01:02:48   the one button mouse because that was a choice apple made to simplify uh mouse concepts that had

01:02:56   multiple buttons and of course then everybody that followed apple also decided to complicate it by adding

01:03:01   more buttons and apple has sort of steadfastly refused to do a multi-button mouse they have sort of like

01:03:10   they do but it doesn't it's hidden and it's not really and so anyway that's my historical pitch for putting

01:03:17   a mouse on a monument and that's a classic kids book if you give a mouse a monument yeah as i say i think if

01:03:25   if this was to make it on it would be with the mac like if we put the original mac on there we'd put this

01:03:30   on there too i mean if we're in peripheral land i'm going to throw in the apple pencil

01:03:34   sure and and i'm going to put the original one in you know it the apple pencil is that is that a

01:03:43   official nomination for you should i put that down let's put it on there why not okay it legitimized

01:03:49   the tool people really wanted the ipad to to have right like there were so many styluses and they were

01:03:56   essentially just finger replacements right they did not do yes yes refined work and like they couldn't

01:04:05   really it it did open up a new field a legit and legitimized a use of the ipad as a drawing tablet

01:04:15   and i think that is a significant portion of professional ipad use is artists and illustrators

01:04:24   who use this device to do their work and it is for many the best device that you could use

01:04:31   for this kind of work for this kind of illustrative work and so i i think that they

01:04:38   they they have definitely made this a smart like a valid like use of the ipad and the apple pencil i

01:04:48   mean it the original one uh is also a little bit notorious for its charging method you know and i

01:04:54   feel like you kind of kind of i feel like if it was this on the statue the cap would be lost it would

01:04:59   be on the ground somewhere you know like a little stone little marble cap somewhere that's like fixed to

01:05:05   the ground and the little lightning port sticking out on the top all right i'm gonna close it out

01:05:10   gonna close the nominations out oh we're closing the nominations i think so are you have more i mean

01:05:17   we just got to the end of the list but it's fine we can we'll we'll i'm i'm this is gonna be my last

01:05:21   one this is gonna be my last one i think i'll be okay to move on and that may be yeah i want to make

01:05:27   one more after you if you don't pick something that if you don't pick the thing i'm thinking about

01:05:33   i pick the power mac g4 cube that's what i pick i think it's like it's already like a sculpture okay

01:05:38   it's already a sculpture it's already like a statue it is a problematic computer but a beautiful piece of art

01:05:44   and uh i think that you could take it you could build a giant power mac g4 cube somewhere and it would

01:05:50   be a great art piece all on its own and so i i put it here it could be the base of the statue even

01:05:56   uh i just want to put the apple watch series 4 in here uh i think okay the apple watch is an

01:06:02   important enough product that it deserves to at least be in the consideration seriously um all right

01:06:08   and i think the series 4 is where the apple watch kind of got out of its ugly duckling phase i still

01:06:15   think that it needs significant work the apple watch is like a full redesign i i i'd still believe that

01:06:22   that is something that i would like to see them do one day but the apple watch series 4 where the

01:06:26   screen kind of really took over the shape of the watch i think was was a pretty important step in

01:06:32   in its product i think i have others on my list but i think we can maybe keep those for upgrade plus

01:06:37   because then i don't believe that there is any product on here that i think is important enough

01:06:42   to knock off what could be our five okay sounds good

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01:08:29   so it's deliberation time so we're gonna pick a list of five from the list that we have

01:08:38   why don't you go first for like making we're not picking it's not drafting this we have to come to

01:08:45   this agreement together but do you want to go first to elevating we'd like try and pick one to elevate

01:08:51   and again we can we can do a re-ranking like if we put something on this list it doesn't have to

01:08:56   stay on this list right like we can we can shift them off but we've got to start trying to make uh

01:09:00   uh some some some we've got to try and pick some of these short lists to put them on the the five i think

01:09:07   okay um i think the ipod has to be on yeah yeah um i think i think the ipod has to be on

01:09:18   i think i don't know let's let's do it this way i think an iphone has to be on absolutely

01:09:24   and i think a mac needs to be on yeah and then beyond that we actually have two slots yeah for

01:09:32   other things whether it's an ipad apple watch other macs other iphone's whatever i my argument is going

01:09:42   to be that we only need one ipod and then i think we only need one iphone because all they're just

01:09:47   you know they're so similar yeah whereas at least with mac industrial design it's not only as a much

01:09:54   older product i also by the way uh because people are going to say this i didn't nominate the apple 2

01:09:58   or the apple 2e or the apple 2c they are interesting um but i don't think that they're that attractive

01:10:06   you can't argue that that is more important than the mac right i don't think you yeah but i don't

01:10:12   think you can make that we're talking about apple design like okay i'll i'll just it's not going on

01:10:19   the monument probably but i'm just going to say i'll put the apple to retroactively i just nominated the

01:10:23   apple 2e there it is good i just did it we're also now equal because i i threw an actual one at the

01:10:28   but i really i don't to me right i don't think you can say the apple 2e and then just immediately

01:10:36   replace it with the original macintosh like yeah i i know that there'll be people that disagree with

01:10:43   that but i think that would be a wild thing to disagree with um all right here's what i'll say

01:10:48   i want to get i do want to get specific right so for the ipod we'll start with the ipod i would

01:10:53   down suggest what it was essentially the ipod video which became the ipod classic fifth gen at a

01:11:02   certain point but that is it's got the larger screen so it's easier to see just a pure click wheel

01:11:11   and it's flat on the front white acrylic i think that is like the absolute sweet spot for iconic ipod

01:11:22   in my opinion the fifth gen is also known as okay ipod fifth gen white yeah got it i'm i'm fine with

01:11:30   that let's do it that's that is still the iconic shape let's put the earbuds in there too we've got

01:11:35   to get the white with white earbuds yeah got it okay now do we want to try and do iphone

01:11:44   sure sure i feel like the iphone 5 but um i don't like the original iphone mostly because i i don't

01:11:53   think it's as good as important as a product if we're talking about design so we're really in the

01:11:58   like what goes which one do we want our artists to depict in the statue right which is not the same as

01:12:03   what's the most iconic but it's like how do we want to depict the iphone which iphone do we choose

01:12:11   to depict the importance of the iphone right that's sort of what we're saying here so iphone 5 i pick

01:12:19   from a purely uh aesthetic argument yeah so all right so i think realistically we have three phones to pick

01:12:30   from right we have the original iphone we have the iphone 5 we have the iphone 10 they are our iphones to

01:12:36   pick from and and i think we're picking three different things here right we've got

01:12:42   recognizability i think today is probably the iphone 10 like realistically i don't agree because the iphone

01:12:52   five design but the iphone 5 design comes back with the iphone 12 yeah but the iphone 10 is that is the

01:12:59   is the is the bar of soap design yeah but i'm thinking about the the home button no right now like

01:13:06   physical shape yeah they're they're you know the iphone 5 but like if if you're depicting

01:13:12   the actual phone with some level of detail the home button while iconic it's probably not the most

01:13:20   recognizable thing today well yeah but it's iconic i mean that's that's my argument otherwise otherwise

01:13:26   i would make the argument because i i do not i mean i don't want the curvy sides at that point i would

01:13:31   say why not why isn't it the iphone 12 pro yeah but so here's the thing i know except for the except

01:13:36   for the camera blob on the back or the iphone 15 i would say non-pro iconic perspective the iphone 5

01:13:43   takes it but what's the most important iphone that's what we're talking about here right like

01:13:51   we're building importance in some way and like can you argue against the original yeah but

01:13:57   i think it's a combination of importance and also sort of like iconic design and the iphone and also

01:14:05   i mean i could also make the point that the original iphone didn't until you got to the iphone 4 you

01:14:11   couldn't even buy it on anything but at&t in the u.s so like the ipod it actually had a a big trajectory

01:14:19   most important ipod was the original ipod 2 or was the ipod mini maybe but we picked the ipod

01:14:25   fifth gen i think what we have to do is say okay we're honoring the iphone and then it's sort of

01:14:28   like which of the designs do we feel is like the best to be represented here and that's why i wouldn't

01:14:33   pick the original iphone as much as i love it too because i don't think it's a representative i think it

01:14:38   was a you know i think i think there were better iphones later um and i i'd be fine depicting a modern

01:14:45   iphone here because i do i i do like the flat-sided era better than i like the curved era yeah i think

01:14:54   all right so we have five spots on this list why don't we put two iphones on this for now and we

01:14:59   can come back and revise this i don't i don't want you don't want to put two iphones i don't wow okay

01:15:06   and so you you're you're you would say the iphone 5 that's the one that you would

01:15:12   if you don't like the home button as an iconic representation of the iphone then we could

01:15:17   then i would propose a modern flat-sided iphone of some sort no i think i think the iphone 5 is the

01:15:23   best possible representation of the history of the iphone it has enough elements of classic and modern

01:15:34   design that it would work as a if we're if we want to pick an iphone to represent all iphones

01:15:41   my and i would be happy to compromise on this but but my pick would be the original iphone

01:15:47   that would be my just from like a historical perspective i i think i think the ipod and

01:15:56   even to some extent even the max whichever we end up choosing i think you're fine to pick like

01:16:03   what is the what is the overall best representation of this product but i just think as we were talking

01:16:08   earlier like the original iphone was like the most important thing that has ever happened in

01:16:15   technology yeah but it was in some ways it was but it really was the original iphone and the iphone 3g

01:16:22   and the iphone 3gs and the iphone 4 and the iphone 5 and that's my really it was probably the app store

01:16:27   right which is not a thing we're documenting yeah well i just i you can't put the original iphone on here

01:16:32   in the fifth gen ipod i'll put it that way like it's either they're both either either then we're going

01:16:37   all original it's the original ipod the original iphone the original mac and the original ipad and

01:16:44   then i don't even know what then we'll get your apple watch edition in there or something i like

01:16:47   or or we say the premise here is that we're going to pick a representative of the product that we like

01:16:53   aesthetically um because the iphone 5 is better aesthetically

01:16:58   what's with the 5s too fifth generation ipod too let's keep going let's let's keep with these two

01:17:07   for now okay and let's keep going because we're still trying to work out what what the list list

01:17:14   even is even supposed to show yeah so i uh i was gonna say the original mac and the macbook air should

01:17:20   go on i agree with the macbook air for sure well sure that was me putting your thing on the list

01:17:29   yeah i agree with them okay for sure but here's here's my counter right would you uh just obviously

01:17:35   you've already put on this so i feel like i know the answer but original mac over imac g3

01:17:40   yeah why yeah i i feel like okay to use your ipod and iphone argument especially the iphone argument

01:17:52   it changed everything it changed everything for apple it changed everything for the entire computer

01:17:59   industry the graphical interface and that shape is iconic it is the kind of computer that belongs in a

01:18:06   museum so does the g3 it's true but the original mac and and it's got personality it was the boot up

01:18:14   icon forever it represents the mac in a way that i would say even now it that shape that classic shape

01:18:24   whether it's the original mac or the se 30 or you know what are the classic that shape represents the mac

01:18:30   in a way that the imac g3 doesn't even though the imac g3 is also an iconic and important product

01:18:40   you feel this is separate to the iphone debate

01:18:46   i think so my feeling is that the mac has so many varied shapes that it deserves more place in the

01:18:55   monument because there are so many different representations of the mac i you know that i'm

01:19:02   but then again i'm a mac person and i remember how important those classic macs were and my first mac was

01:19:07   a classic shaped mac it was an se so for me i think that that that whole all-in-one i think it goes

01:19:15   fundamentally the computer for the rest of us the the imac g3 is a 90s take on the 80s

01:19:23   classic original mac design right the iphone 5 one of your things was its design wise the closest to

01:19:32   what we have today right which one out of the mac and the g3 is closest to what we have today do you

01:19:39   think that's that is not my argument though closest to what we have today is not my argument okay so

01:19:44   what is my argument is that i like the flat design better and they brought it back if they hadn't brought

01:19:47   it back and we were still using the curvy bars of soap i would still say the iphone 5 okay so

01:19:53   because i think it's a better design do you prefer the original mac to the g3 as a piece of iconic

01:20:00   design i do absolutely okay absolutely it's it's more compact it's less bulbous and and and deep and all

01:20:08   of those things and it's kind of adorable uh and it's meant to be picked up with a handle the there's a

01:20:14   handle on the g3 imac don't pick it up like it's it's very heavy and all that but but this is what

01:20:19   i'm saying is the other difference here is all ipods look the same other than the ipod touch which

01:20:24   looks like an iphone all iphones look the same macs don't look the same they're very different and

01:20:32   that's why when i'm thinking about depictions i kind of want to depict some different macs because

01:20:36   they're they they are very different shapes the imac g3 does not look like a modern mac nor does

01:20:43   the original imac neither of them looks like a modern mac the macbook air has to carry that the

01:20:48   macbook air is the representative of that i mean it's the mac um really right the laptop from 20 from 2010

01:20:55   on yeah yeah the mac the mac was the original mac from 84 until 97 and then the imac was the mac from

01:21:05   97 until you know the early 2000s if not mid-2000s and then the the the eventually the macbook air

01:21:13   became the definitive mac and has been for the last 15 years for sure and i'm not arguing i'm just

01:21:19   see from your perspective the original mac passes the same test for the mac as the iphone 5 does for the

01:21:25   iphone like for for the way you're thinking about this like what is the best representation of this

01:21:30   product i feel like i feel like there are the most iconic designs but i think that the problem with the

01:21:37   mac is that there are so many different shapes of mac the mac how many shapes of iphone have there been

01:21:43   you could argue one right and then it's all about like the sides being curved or not but they're all

01:21:50   just rectangular slabs the five is a little taller than the four how many shapes of mac have there been

01:21:56   dozens dozens of shapes because computers fundamentally take up more space don't have to fit in a pocket

01:22:03   all of those things and so i think the original mac is an iconic original design just like

01:22:09   yes the original ipod kind of ushered that era in but i'm you know i'm willing to go but but that's

01:22:16   with the if you talk about the mac being more refined later like the ipod was refined in the

01:22:20   fifth generation i'll take i'll agree with that but only so far like they made compact all-in-one macs

01:22:27   like the original mac for a while and some of them are really awful and ugly like the color classic

01:22:32   but sorry color classic fans it's it's it's awful and ugly off times um the the

01:22:40   but you could put the classic in here it's just a little slightly curvier and slightly flattery you

01:22:46   can put the se in here that's got that kind of i don't like the my color classic i don't like what

01:22:51   it looks pinstripe design the color classic is bad the the regular classic looks looks fine the first

01:22:56   classic um the se is a great look se se 30 and then there's the original i i i just kind of feel like

01:23:04   there needs to be an original style compact mac on on the list what model it is actually doesn't

01:23:08   matter to me at all that it's the original is mostly kind of a default because it's a little bit simpler

01:23:14   but it could be a later model too but i i just feel like that shape no no no if we're doing this is the

01:23:20   original like i just think that's the one okay um i just had a thought i'm so happy that i am on leave

01:23:26   for the follow-up for this episode oh yeah it's gonna be great yeah i'm happy i don't have to deal

01:23:32   with the fallout of this i'll send i'll send it i'll send it all to you and i'll just immediately

01:23:39   archive it uh because my baby will care more about uh i care more about my baby than the original i'll

01:23:44   save it for your first episode back and then we'll do the fall that might actually be pretty funny if

01:23:48   you did that um all right let's look at where we are right now right we have a list of five products

01:23:56   we have the ipod fifth gen the iphone 5 the original mac and the macbook air all right so let's

01:24:03   uh to me i don't even really feel like i need to argue the macbook air at all i don't think that there

01:24:09   is i just think that that computer is obvious like that is an obvious thing to have um

01:24:14   what else would we put on here

01:24:20   well the ipad yeah and you could be taking apple's oldest continuous product the mac and

01:24:31   sort of bisecting its eras into kind of original era and modern era and then you'd have an ipod an

01:24:37   iphone and an ipad and i i do okay i don't think the apple watch is important enough

01:24:46   i agree i agree i my only my so here's the thing i think the goal here is we're going to showcase

01:24:53   these products if the brief was that it's going to be a person who is using apple products that's a

01:25:02   different that's a different sculpture right yeah and that that one might have a vision pro

01:25:08   and an apple watch and you know we'd have to argue about which earbuds go in and all that but that's

01:25:12   not what it is it's about the products and i think the apple watch is not because at its core you know

01:25:20   it's just that round direct watch and like the ultra is a little more interesting but i just i

01:25:27   wouldn't i wouldn't do it i think i would put the ipad on before that yeah it is an accessory

01:25:31   probably it's an accessory but still and sorry sorry services you can't be depicted as

01:25:37   an art it's the chart that just keeps going on breaks through the statue and continues into the

01:25:42   yeah yeah services can't you can't be in the monument that's not your place you yeah yeah maybe

01:25:49   we could make the monument a service maybe you have to become a member to see the monument

01:25:52   that's fair that's matt it's called moss monument as a service it i know you don't like the original

01:26:00   argument but i i i think i i think i would want the original ipad on this list i'm fine with that

01:26:09   over the m4 ipad pro the m4 ipad pro is like the perfection but like

01:26:15   the original ipad i think would would maybe look better look better here um

01:26:24   sure i'm i'm okay with that so things that we're leaving out stuff like the vision pro the apple

01:26:32   pencil airpods are not on here which i'm fine with um the ipod mini didn't make it and no apple watch

01:26:42   made it i think i feel pretty good about this list yeah i should specify because we've been arguing

01:26:50   the point i would depict the unibody uh tapered 2010 macbook air yes not the one with the fold down door

01:27:04   correct which is not tapered and weird and one of its cores shut down when it was slight when it was

01:27:12   room temperature and not you weren't in a meat locker my brother got a skin burn from that

01:27:16   macbook air mm-hmm on his leg it's not great i think he was playing a video game uh-huh that would do it

01:27:24   that he had that bugged him something like that replaced out twice on apple care because it just

01:27:30   kept it was a mess yeah i was a wrong computer i've i've told you my story before i had west facing

01:27:35   windows at mac world at that point and uh in the afternoon the sun would shine in my office and it

01:27:41   would get warmer and the mac would just macbook air would just stop working because it would shut down

01:27:46   one of its two cores and it would get all janky and jerky and all that i literally couldn't use it

01:27:51   because it was too hot in my office but work great in a meat locker what's kind of incredible is like

01:27:56   the original macbook air wedge shape terrible first version then became the macbook well no the first

01:28:02   version wasn't a wedge the first version wasn't a wedge it was the second version that was the the

01:28:07   one i remember going to the event it was a town hall yes and they came out with the 11 and the 13

01:28:12   and it was the it was the unibody wedge and i was like oh they took the macbook air which was i loved

01:28:18   the original macbook air design because it was so light but it was just not a good computer and i

01:28:23   remember walking out of that town hall briefing and thinking oh they got it now yeah it wasn't a wedge

01:28:28   but it but it was kind of roundy and silver like it looked they look similar sure but the point i was

01:28:34   going to make is like the original macbook air became the macbook air and then the 12 inch macbook

01:28:40   became the new macbook air like it it took another go and they like could could make these computers that

01:28:46   were flawed in some way they needed something to happen to make them work

01:28:51   um yeah i think i feel pretty good about this this is the ipod fifth gen the iphone 5 the original mac

01:29:02   and we'll mention the accessories ipod fifth gen with earbuds yep the iphone 5 the original mac with

01:29:09   the mouse and you put the keyboard in there too but you know it's all part of it but i want that mouse

01:29:14   in there the 2010 macbook air and the original ipad as our monument of the most so this will say

01:29:23   underneath that on a little plaque the most important apple products and maybe say like mixed media

01:29:30   or something you know this is the way that the sculpture is being put together maybe maybe i

01:29:36   don't even know about most important it might just be like we may just let let the audience decide what

01:29:42   the meaning of this is now that we've this has to be called something you know like the the the chapter

01:29:47   for example it needs a name and we have been calling it most important for this entire episode

01:29:53   jason we gotta live or die by the sword you know what i mean like we have to call it something and

01:29:58   and we're calling it this and then we'll just have to deal with we'll just have to deal with it you

01:30:02   know i feel good calling this the the most important apple products honestly like i feel i feel good

01:30:10   about it i feel good it'll get a colloquial name anyway and they won't call it that they'll call it

01:30:14   whatever they call it my my let the people decide i think we both maybe would have an asterisk on this

01:30:20   list and maybe yours would be the ipod and mine would be the iphone where i think maybe without the

01:30:26   other one we probably would have put a different product on here right like i think i would put the

01:30:31   original iphone i think you maybe put the original ipod yep yeah but i think that's a good these are

01:30:38   good compromises for good reasons as to why we went with the fifth gen for both yeah incredible i think

01:30:46   so take us home jason snow you're the host of the show we did it i've really enjoyed being a guest no

01:30:51   you you you gotta do it you gotta you gotta do it all right take us home because you can promise

01:30:56   things that i'll have to deliver that's a great point if you would like to send us in your feedback

01:31:01   your follow-up your questions your suggestions the places that we got this wrong if you would like to

01:31:07   make this out of clay and send us an image impossible go to upgradefeedback.com and you can do all of

01:31:13   that i want to thank our members to support us every week of upgrade plus i'd like to give an

01:31:17   additional thank you to our members because you continue to support me while i'm on paternity leave

01:31:21   so thank you so much uh i want i have a couple of other products that i want to mention and we're

01:31:26   going to do that in upgrade plus today you can go to getupgradeplus.com you get longer ad-free

01:31:30   episodes each and every week you can find us on youtube by searching for upgrade podcast you can watch

01:31:36   us with our hands on our faces for this entire episode as we try and make the the the decisions that

01:31:42   we're making i want to thank our sponsors for helping make this episode possible but most of

01:31:46   all thank you for listening and jason thank you for holding the show uh while i'm away caring for my

01:31:52   child all right thanks say goodbye mike hurley goodbye mike hurley what