0:00:00(upbeat music)
0:00:02From Relay FM, This is Connected,
0:00:10episode 188 is brought to you this week
0:00:13by Warby Parker, Casper, and Simple Contacts.
0:00:17I'm your host, Stephen Hackett,
0:00:18and I'm joined, as I am most weeks by my co-host,
0:00:21Mr. Michael Hurley, how are you?
0:00:23- Very well, Federico.
0:00:25(laughing)
0:00:27- What?
0:00:28That's what was coming out of my mouth. Hi Steven. Hi
0:00:33Federico's here too. Hey!
0:00:36I just wanted him to know. I felt like Federico was just really intrigued to know how I was feeling
0:00:42So I just thought I would give him that information immediately
0:00:45Do you often get Federico not confused in conversations? I sense man. Can't tell between them
0:00:50They're just fancy to me. They do sound very similar. Yeah
0:00:55So we have a bunch of topics this week in the keeping with how spring of 2018
0:01:01Has has been it's been a very busy week
0:01:04We have lots of stuff to talk about but first we need to talk about some follow-up and we're gonna start
0:01:09With snapchat, which is an app that young people use not just pictures to each other
0:01:14They'll use they use IG now. They don't use snapchat. I don't know. Can you I G that's what I know
0:01:20Exactly, because I wanted to show how young and hip I am. IG, they all use IG for their
0:01:27stories and the like, so you know, they don't use Snapchat anymore, but Snapchat has finally
0:01:34released the TrueDepth related stuff that was shown on stage during the iPhone X.
0:01:42In September.
0:01:43Yeah, in September. So this includes, I think it's three different filters that map to your
0:01:49face. It also does some portrait mode-y type stuff so it blurs out the background behind
0:01:54you. It's pretty impressive stuff. I do wonder why it took so long for them to release it
0:01:58though. But yeah, they're cool. Look at it this way. It took less time to do this than
0:02:04it is for AirPower to ship. That's true. That's true. You heard it here first. Snapchat, more
0:02:10effective company than Apple, according to Stephen Hackett. Don't quote me directly.
0:02:16tweet length quotes right there. But I like them. There's one that's like a wrestling
0:02:27thing, ultimate warrior. Looks cool, you know? I had nothing else to say on it. But you know,
0:02:32there you go. They're there if you want them. There's news in the Amazon Echo universe,
0:02:38a new service or new feature I guess called Intercom. So you can now ask your Echo to
0:02:44to make announcements to all of the other devices
0:02:48around the home, so I could be in my office, for instance,
0:02:51and ask the Amazon assistant to intercom,
0:02:56or I actually don't know what the command is,
0:02:58but then I could basically--
0:02:59- It's either tell everyone or broadcast,
0:03:02you could say one of those two things.
0:03:04- Okay, and then it's like ship-wide communication, right?
0:03:07So I can just be like the voice of God in my house
0:03:10to everyone inside with the other two echoes.
0:03:12- Or you can also say announce, so you can say announce,
0:03:14everyone or broadcast and it doesn't do what you would necessarily think that it would do,
0:03:19like it doesn't send your voice to the other devices. It's the echoes speak. So if you say
0:03:28like, "Hey Echo, announce that dinner is ready," then all of them will say, "Dinner is ready."
0:03:35I want my voice to be booming throughout my house.
0:03:37I don't know if you ever listened to, because I don't know if you could, if you knew, if I don't
0:03:43know if people know you can do this, but in the Amazon Echo app, right, there is a section
0:03:50where you can go through and it tells you what the device thinks that it heard, right?
0:03:55You can actually listen to the audio. You can press play and actually hear yourself.
0:04:02The microphone quality is no good, right? Like for human ears, obviously it's fine for
0:04:07robots, but like it sounds terrible. I actually think this is a better way of doing it.
0:04:13That feature, when you go back and listen to your recordings, it's almost like in
0:04:18video games when you find those old tapes, like those audio recordings from other characters,
0:04:24and you listen back and it's always such a crappy quality.
0:04:27I hate those things.
0:04:28Yeah, I know.
0:04:30Also there is something really weird about listening to the things that you say. It kind
0:04:37And it feels a bit creepy.
0:04:38It's sad, the podcaster.
0:04:39It's what you do for a living.
0:04:41No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, okay, I need to...
0:04:45It sounds terrible to listen to my voice.
0:04:47It's horrible, horrific thing.
0:04:48No, but because it's like, when you're speaking to it, you're never expecting yourself to
0:04:55be like really heard.
0:04:57It kind of sounds weird to me, like when I listen to it, I don't know, it sounds strange.
0:05:01It just sounds very strange.
0:05:02Just, I don't know, try it out.
0:05:04If you think it's not strange, then great.
0:05:05Maybe I just don't like the sound of my own voice.
0:05:08For some reason, this is only rolling out
0:05:10to the US and Canada right now.
0:05:12I don't know what is wrong with Amazon.
0:05:15Like there are still features, like I can't get that.
0:05:18What was that new feature that was announced
0:05:19a couple of weeks ago,
0:05:21where you could do the followup thing, right?
0:05:23Where you can ask multiple things.
0:05:24I still don't have that.
0:05:25Like Amazon are creating this, they own the devices.
0:05:28Why do they not roll out internationally?
0:05:32I don't get it.
0:05:33I really don't understand.
0:05:34I had to wait like six months to get multiple timers.
0:05:37I just don't understand what they're doing over there.
0:05:42Come on Amazon, just sort it out.
0:05:44- I don't know.
0:05:45So we're gonna wrap up follow up talking about Apple Music.
0:05:50The service has officially hit 40 million users.
0:05:54That number had been floated, I think last week,
0:05:57as sort of a rumor, but it is sort of official now.
0:06:00And Apple has announced the promotion of Oliver Shucher.
0:06:05Shucher?
0:06:06Shucher?
0:06:07Shucher sounds fancy.
0:06:09- Shusa.
0:06:10Shusa.
0:06:11I think it's just Shusa.
0:06:12- Is leading Apple Music worldwide, always on.
0:06:15And is the new Vice President of Apple Music
0:06:19and International Content.
0:06:21He's an Apple alum, he's worked on the App Store,
0:06:24iBooks, and podcast teams.
0:06:26And he's from some town called London.
0:06:29I don't know anyone who lives there.
0:06:31I think it's L'Andane, yeah it's French.
0:06:33L'Andane, yeah.
0:06:35They missed, in the copy and paste from this text document, it missed some of the accents.
0:06:39There's an apostrophe after the L, so it's L'Andane.
0:06:44L'Andane is island in French.
0:06:49So it's, yeah it's good, that's what it says.
0:06:51It's the little island is what it means, if you were to translate it.
0:06:56So he's from the little island and he played a key role in the Shazam acquisition, which
0:07:03isn't complete yet because #regulation but that's how he played a role in that.
0:07:0840 million users, there's a lot of users considering they're all paying.
0:07:12There's a lot of people man.
0:07:15That they're doing, I think they're doing a good job of like building that thing.
0:07:18Like Apple Music, I mean it's one of those things where it surprises me every time I
0:07:22see the number increasing because I wonder to myself how it's happening. Like why does
0:07:27it continue to increase? I don't really feel like Apple are specifically doing stuff. I
0:07:33guess it's just like maybe new people buying devices or just people opening the music app
0:07:38at a random time and being like "Yeah okay I'll sign up for this." Because it feels like
0:07:42that it's, I don't know maybe I'm missing it but I feel like it's not as heavily marketed
0:07:47as Spotify but maybe I'm in the wrong market for it or something right to not see the ads.
0:07:51I don't know.
0:07:52- Yeah, and to compare Spotify,
0:07:54so they just had their IPO last week,
0:07:58and they're filing paperwork disclosed
0:07:59that they had 71 million paying users at the end of 2017,
0:08:04which was up from 48 million in 2016.
0:08:08But remember, Spotify also has a free tier,
0:08:10and the free tier has 160 million people on it.
0:08:13So for Spotify--
0:08:15- I think that's why it surprises me, right?
0:08:17that Spotify have got 30 million more paying users,
0:08:22but Apple doesn't have a free tier for people to try it.
0:08:27So it's wild that they've gotten to 40 million so quickly.
0:08:30- They do have the trial, which is what,
0:08:31is it 30 days or is it still longer?
0:08:34- Yeah, but I think a lot of people understand
0:08:38that trials mean you're gonna get,
0:08:40you're in the system, right?
0:08:42Free is very different to trial, I think.
0:08:47But I think it's pretty impressive that they've gotten to this point, especially with Taylor
0:08:52Swift going back to Spotify.
0:08:55And Federico.
0:08:56Really, both of them.
0:08:58Did you go back because Taylor Swift left?
0:09:00Yeah, yeah.
0:09:03Our management decided to go back to Spotify.
0:09:06There's some bad blood there, maybe.
0:09:09Is that a Taylor Swift quote from you?
0:09:12I'm as shocked as anyone.
0:09:14Wait!
0:09:15That's a reference.
0:09:16I just thought that was... wow. I mean, look at you!
0:09:21Steven, that's uh... you know music. That's uh...
0:09:28Not made by really sad bands from the early 2000s.
0:09:31I just assumed that you only listened to the Beatles. Because, you know, old Apple.
0:09:37Oh, no.
0:09:38I'm surprised. Congratulations.
0:09:40Thanks.
0:09:41Myke, can we end this?
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0:12:40of this show.
0:12:41So there is a new red iPhone rumored on Sunday. Came out Monday. There's a MKBHD unboxing
0:12:50which you can go and watch which includes just some great sounds of plastic being peeled
0:12:55off of phones which is one of just my favorite sounds in the world. You know that little
0:12:59like sound that it makes. And so here we go, right? So this is, we've had this a few times
0:13:05now, I think once before with the iPhone 7, they did a product red, so you know, money
0:13:11goes for AIDS research from the sale of these products and people get to get a nice new
0:13:16red iPhone, right? It's pretty cool.
0:13:19It is pretty cool, yeah. I just, I just wonder why you don't do this earlier, like in September.
0:13:27if you could choose between a black iPhone, gold iPhone, silver iPhone, and red iPhone.
0:13:33I think a lot more people would buy the red ones.
0:13:35I don't wanna, I almost don't wanna say this, but maybe that's exactly why Apple may not
0:13:43want to do this because there would be a lot of money that goes to research. Which, I mean,
0:13:49it's a noble effort and I applaud Apple for doing this. But if you really care about it,
0:13:55then why not do it in the window of maximum exposure to new customers? And maybe that's
0:14:03exactly the answer I'm looking for.
0:14:05Yeah, I think it could be one of two things. One is the money that they don't want to give
0:14:10away. They want to give away some money, but not all the money. And the other, that maybe
0:14:15from a design perspective, they prefer their colors. Right? And they want people to have
0:14:21the colours that they think are the best, rather than adding in red, which is maybe
0:14:25not the colour Apple would necessarily think was the best for their products.
0:14:29You know, like there's no iPhone X, right?
0:14:32Which, and why is that?
0:14:33Like maybe they think that it doesn't look as good, or maybe they don't, you know,
0:14:37they want the X to remain this like premium thing, which can only be like silver and black
0:14:41because it's fancy and premium and grown up, right?
0:14:44Like I don't know, you know?
0:14:45But there's definitely something weird about the fact that they do this, and they do it
0:14:50Did they do it, is there like a World AIDS Day or something that they do it in conjunction
0:14:58with?
0:14:59It's in December.
0:15:00I looked it up.
0:15:01So yeah, it's not even related to that, right?
0:15:03Like I would get it if that was the reason.
0:15:05I think the answer is as cynical as it seems.
0:15:08They want to prop up mid-cycle iPhone sales.
0:15:10Like I don't know how many people have gotten to buy this.
0:15:12I've only seen one red iPhone 7 out in the wild, but it is mid-cycle.
0:15:18I think actually this week may even start the new quarter for Apple.
0:15:23I'm not positive about that, but it's mid-cycle.
0:15:26And if you can get some people in the door to buy a phone in a cycle that's generally
0:15:30slower then that's not a bad thing from Apple's perspective.
0:15:34I mean, that's cynical, but I kind of think that's what's going on.
0:15:37You know, but that's like little column A, little column B, right?
0:15:40Like it helps you business-wise and also helps the world.
0:15:43Oh sure, yeah.
0:15:44Whilst I agree that it's a cynical take, I know that you're not saying this, but it's
0:15:48still a better thing than a no thing.
0:15:51Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:15:52It's better that they do this and get something out of it than not do it at all.
0:15:55So it's like little column A, little column B, right?
0:16:00They could just give all their money to AIDS research, but that's not how it works, right?
0:16:04That's not how these things work.
0:16:05They partner with this company, they create a thing, it's like a limited edition, people
0:16:09buy it.
0:16:10Product Red has been around for like, wow, pretty much as long as I've been interested
0:16:15in Apple products.
0:16:16Like, all the iPod Nanos and stuff used to come in these colors.
0:16:20So you know, it's a cool thing, but I do agree that I think this just comes down to the fact
0:16:25of like, I would like more colors.
0:16:29Right?
0:16:31Just in general, I think that would be really nice.
0:16:35I haven't, you know, I just don't have any real belief or hope that they're going to
0:16:43branch outside of the colored aluminum that we have right now.
0:16:47Yeah, I mean, if you look at the like that, that video MKBHD did, the red looks incredible.
0:16:52And I'm looking forward to going and seeing it in the store.
0:16:55Like that would be so great to have that level of saturation in a green or a blue, you know,
0:17:01know that I've got the 5c phones here and like they're beautiful but they're
0:17:06sort of they're a little washed out they're not as vibrant as these are I
0:17:09agree with you I wish Apple would do it because I think it would be it would be
0:17:13a lot of fun however at the same time for me I always have a case so the color
0:17:18of the phone doesn't really make a difference in the long run any that's
0:17:21the huge like other side of this that most people by far have have a case on
0:17:27their phone and Apple does keep those colors refreshed I feel like Apple would
0:17:30have to make clear cases if they made colored phones.
0:17:36Or punch holes in them. That would also be kind of cool.
0:17:39Yeah, yeah, that's how you do it. That's how you show off the color. Just put a bunch of
0:17:42holes in a really awkward place. There'll be a link to my 5C video in the
0:17:45show notes. Go watch it. Of course there will. Yeah, we can put that
0:17:49in there too. But yeah, this red one, it's more bright. It's definitely more bright than
0:17:53the last one because it's not the anodized aluminium, which is typically just darker
0:17:57anyway because of the process. But it does it does look pretty nice, I've got to say.
0:18:01It's pretty nice. Steven, do you want to break down some Mac Pro news?
0:18:06I do. So this is at this point now like a week old. So the gist of it, I'm sure everyone's
0:18:12heard is that Matt Pansarino over at TechCrunch got invited out to Apple's campus and sort
0:18:18of like a part two of the Mac roundtable last year kind of got a status update on the Mac
0:18:24Pro and the highlights here are it's a 2019 product that's a direct quote from
0:18:29from Apple it's not going to be this year I think we had even said on this
0:18:33show I kind of thought it would be previewed at WWDC and then at least at the
0:18:37end of this year not true 2019 so that is what it is and I think they wanted to
0:18:43clear that air for two reasons one you don't want people grumbling at WWDC given
0:18:47the bad news now they're over it by June and they even addressed this directly in
0:18:51a quote saying, we have a lot of customers who are debating buying an iMac Pro. And if
0:18:58they should wait for a Mac Pro or not, and that's a clear signal to those users, if you
0:19:02need something now, the iMac Pro is your only option for you know, at least at least until
0:19:08sometime in 2019. So that's fair. I'm glad Apple communicated that because if, if this
0:19:14keynote in June, came and went with no Mac Pro conversation, like lots of people would
0:19:21be talking about that. And now we talk about it in April, and we don't talk about in June,
0:19:26and we can talk about new stuff in June. So it makes lots of sense. The thing I want to talk to
0:19:31you about is the is a like, why is this process takes so long? But be the the creation and then
0:19:40the disclosure of what Apple is calling a pro workflow team. So we'll get to that in a second.
0:19:46But why is this taking so long?
0:19:49There's a lot of feeling on Twitter,
0:19:51and including in our follow-up email,
0:19:54why can't they just put Xeons in a box?
0:19:56Take the iMac Pro, put it in a box, put some PCI slots in it,
0:20:01and ship it.
0:20:02You can build a PC very easily.
0:20:03Why can't Apple just build a box that runs Mac OS?
0:20:07I think that's a fair question, and I'm
0:20:09curious what you all think about that.
0:20:12Design.
0:20:14Gotta be proud of the things you're putting out there and whilst I understand people want
0:20:20Just raw power Apple are never gonna give you that in something that they haven't designed and made special in their own way
0:20:27They're just not gonna do it right like and I understand that people might want it
0:20:31But for now, they'll just tell you and I guess there's part of this is why they are telling if you want power by an I'm a pro
0:20:39Because you got some time.
0:20:40Right.
0:20:41And I think, and I like that they came out and kind of said that, that they were thinking
0:20:45they wanted to protect people that were trying to make purchase decisions.
0:20:48But that's what they'll tell you until they have something that they're proud of to put
0:20:52on a poster.
0:20:54Like Apple is the biggest company in the world, right?
0:20:57If they released a black box that had all the power in it, that'd be creamed in the
0:21:03press, right?
0:21:05For this ugly thing.
0:21:06Like it doesn't matter who it's for.
0:21:07It doesn't matter who it's for. Like everyone would find out about the fact that Apple's
0:21:12not innovating anymore. They can't even make a desktop machine anymore. Like they can't
0:21:16afford to do that because of the wider impact that I think like a really horrifically boring
0:21:22looking product would have on them.
0:21:23Yeah, I think that's fair.
0:21:25Yeah. So I read this story and I was listening to a few podcasts that covered the news of
0:21:32this pro workflow team and I don't have any thoughts I don't I don't have any particular
0:21:40opinion about the Mac Pro itself I did want to talk about the concept of the pro workflow
0:21:47team and the idea that they called a bunch of people to work at Apple and these people
0:21:52all use you know Mac computers too for advanced video editing and
0:22:01you know, all these other tasks that Apple has identified as pro tasks. And in reading this
0:22:07story on TechCrunch I felt this strange sort of dissonance in terms of marketing from the same
0:22:15company that sells an iPad Pro to say our pro workflow team is all about macOS. And I'm gonna
0:22:23be that guy, of course, who says you can also do pro things on iOS. So why is the pro workflow team
0:22:29Mac only or Mac most of the time at least. It seems like it's not really a pro workflow team
0:22:39but almost like a team of consultants that they hired to tell them what they should do for the
0:22:45Mac Pro. But to call it like a pro workflow team, so this umbrella term that should include iOS,
0:22:53should include, you know, the iPad Pro, which has "Pro" in the name, but seem to be mostly
0:22:59focused on MacOS and this new computer. It should be called really the MacPro team at
0:23:05this point, or the MacPro Consultant, you know?
0:23:08A couple things. One, like, I don't... I would hope, and maybe we give them the benefit of
0:23:14the doubt, maybe we don't, that Apple does have a group pushing the boundaries of iOS
0:23:20in the way that this team is helping them with the Mac Pro.
0:23:23But if you look at the type of tasks
0:23:25that this computer is built for,
0:23:28same thing that iMac Pro is built for,
0:23:29audio production, video production,
0:23:31rendering, 3D graphics, AR and VR development,
0:23:36very little of that happens on iOS.
0:23:39I'm not saying that it can't,
0:23:40or I'm not saying that it won't in the future,
0:23:43but if you're talking about people who buy
0:23:46$10,000 computers to make movies on,
0:23:49they're just not gonna use an iPad, at least at this point.
0:23:52And I think that the consumer,
0:23:55like the professional, excuse me,
0:23:58the professional market that does still use Apple products
0:24:02for this stuff, and Apple's lost ground there
0:24:03over the last few years,
0:24:05that the Mac is their tool of choice,
0:24:08because as great as the iPad Pro is,
0:24:11and as great as some apps on it are,
0:24:13there's nothing even close to what you can do
0:24:15in something like Adobe Premiere or Adobe After Effects.
0:24:19That just doesn't exist on iOS.
0:24:21And so if you need those tools,
0:24:23you choose between a Mac and a PC.
0:24:26And Apple only builds one of those.
0:24:28So I think to a degree, you're complaining about something
0:24:32that is sort of a fixed entity, at least now.
0:24:36Now, will the iPad get there in the future?
0:24:38I really think it will.
0:24:39But at this point at least, if you are one of these
0:24:45really high-end professionals, the Mac or PC is your only option because the iPad isn't
0:24:51there yet.
0:24:52It may be there for other types of professional work, and you are the king of that, but in
0:24:58what they are talking about in this article and what this machine is really designed for,
0:25:02the iPad is just not really an option.
0:25:06Just feels strange to me, I suppose, that both platforms are called Pro, Mac Pro, iMac
0:25:13Pro, and iPad Pro.
0:25:14It's right there in the name.
0:25:15I didn't choose the name, Apple did, but only one of them gets the special team.
0:25:20Well I don't think this team would exist if they weren't building this computer, right?
0:25:25It feels...
0:25:26Exactly!
0:25:27So it's a MacPro consultant team.
0:25:30They have said that this team is also working on all lines of professional Macintosh, right?
0:25:35So like the iMacPro and the MacBook Pro will also, like this team will feed into it.
0:25:41I do have two potential counter points for you Federica.
0:25:45I think point one is a problem that I can see and I know a lot of people have felt depending
0:25:51on what type of work they do.
0:25:53It is who Apple considers to be a creative professional and the type of work a creative
0:25:58professional does is very constrained to the Mac.
0:26:03So 3D animation, like all the things that you mentioned, like 3D animation, audio creation
0:26:09like music, film editing and stuff like that. All of that stuff is better suited to the
0:26:14Mac. There are a lot of creative professionals that Apple have not chosen to reference and/or
0:26:24potentially hire to work with to get their opinions on this. You know, like, I know especially
0:26:29in our community, a lot of developers are like, "Well, okay, like, I am a professional
0:26:33who uses Macintosh. Do we not look at what my concerns are? Like, is it just people that
0:26:38use Final Cut and not people that use Xcode. Right? So like, I think that one of the reasons
0:26:44that this team seems to only be publicly working on stuff that's going to go for the Mac is
0:26:49that the use cases Apple have chosen to focus on are typically Mac-focused use cases. My
0:26:55other thought is Apple hired these people, I think, because they had to agree that they
0:27:03they didn't know what they were doing. Right? Like they needed to hire these people because
0:27:08they clearly felt like they had been doing wrong to the people using those machines because
0:27:13everything they did was not making them happy. My thought is maybe they don't feel that way
0:27:20with iOS. Like Apple feel like they've got that under control. Because like if you look,
0:27:27everything that they've done for professional iPad users by and large over the last couple
0:27:32of years has made that community more happy. So that would be my feeling is like they maybe
0:27:40Apple felt like they'd lost their way for Mac professionals in a way that they haven't
0:27:43for iOS professionals or at least they feel like they have a better roadmap for iOS professionals
0:27:48on their own without needing external assistance. So they brought in the pro workflow team for
0:27:53the Mac because they're just potentially a more complex area anyway trying to understand
0:27:59how these people work and that maybe they just didn't have a clear enough roadmap
0:28:04because everything they have been doing has been upsetting the professional community of the Mac.
0:28:09Yeah, so it's either that they think they're doing okay in terms of addressing the pro
0:28:15customer on iOS and so they need the extra help for the Mac or they call it an iPad Pro
0:28:24but they don't really think it's a pro machine in the same way that the Mac can be, which
0:28:30is true, but...
0:28:31It's a different kind of professional, and I think that the type of professional on the
0:28:37Mac is a more complex, have more complex needs.
0:28:41You know, a professional iPad user, by and large, means someone who uses iOS to do work,
0:28:49And that work is typically like email and spreadsheets and documents and that kind of
0:28:55stuff, which is, I think by and large, pretty much taken care of and is getting stronger
0:29:03in a way that maybe the Mac has not been recently.
0:29:08You can see that difference in Apple's own tools, right?
0:29:11So something like iMovie on the iPad is, it has a set of tools and if what you need to
0:29:18build fits in those tools, that's great. But if you need something like Final Cut or Adobe Premiere,
0:29:24you know, Apple hasn't brought Final Cut to the iPad yet. They still see a distinction between
0:29:31what the devices are sort of geared toward what their strengths are, you know, something like
0:29:36Final Cut benefits from having a big 27 inch display and a keyboard and a trackpad. And maybe
0:29:42they haven't worked out a way to make that really work on the iPad. I don't know the specifics. But
0:29:47I think even in the way Apple treats the pro products, they see a distinction in the type
0:29:52of pro users that gravitate toward each one.
0:29:55I don't think that means that you know, one is up and one is down in their view.
0:30:00But I think Myke does have a point that I think they are fully aware at this point.
0:30:04I think that's what led them to this roundtable a year ago, that their Mac, pro Mac professional
0:30:11especially in the creative industries, were hurting.
0:30:15And I have some frustration this machine is taking so long,
0:30:20but in seeing that they have put this team together,
0:30:23and that they're working on actual projects,
0:30:27and producing actual content,
0:30:29and seeing how it all fits together,
0:30:31that I find encouraging, because Apple at least
0:30:34is finally listening to what those users need.
0:30:39- So we have no idea what teams exist inside of Apple.
0:30:42Like, Matt Panzorino makes reference to the fact,
0:30:45this fact in the article, right,
0:30:46that this team has existed for quite a while now,
0:30:49but now they're choosing to share it.
0:30:51So this is just an example of like,
0:30:53who knows what type of teams
0:30:56are working on different platforms, right?
0:30:57Like, there literally could be an iPad Pro workflow team
0:31:01for all we know, but they just don't feel the need
0:31:03to share it because it's not required.
0:31:05- And they're trying to build a case right now
0:31:07of, we are listening, they are trying to make it right, which is the whole reason they disclosed
0:31:11it. So I don't think they're...
0:31:13And honestly, like, if they do have some kind of professional iPad advancement team, now
0:31:18is the wrong time to share that. Right? You share that information right now, and it's
0:31:23like more fuel to the fire that they're just going to kill the bank. Which I think right
0:31:27now is not, is not what Apple want to put out into the world, right? Like, I think that
0:31:33right now they are laying the groundwork for everything we were talking about last week and
0:31:37we'll continue talking about for the next couple of months right transitions and one of the best
0:31:42ways to start this transition is to try and make sure that Mac customers are comfortable right like
0:31:50because as soon as you start doing something where you're making the Mac more iOS-y it's gonna it's
0:31:57gonna make a lot of people uncomfortable so laying the groundwork now to show that the Mac is being
0:32:03is in good hands and being taken care of is a very important thing that Apple need to do.
0:32:07So, you know, if I'm working there, it's like how much stuff can we do right now to make sure that
0:32:13our Mac customers feel like they're being taken care of? And that's where stuff like this happens.
0:32:18Because in a few months time, there might be some kind of software platform which,
0:32:23in some people's minds, might like devalue Mac development a little bit,
0:32:29right? And so I think that it is important right now to show that you're being taken care of,
0:32:38right? And I think that they are, like I think that they can show what they're actually doing
0:32:43and I think that Apple clearly is recommitted to the Macintosh in a way that they haven't been in
0:32:49multiple years. So that's why they're proving it, right? They're bringing people in and walking
0:32:56them around and proving it unless you're a Mac Mini customer. Oh man. That doesn't exist.
0:33:03They have no pro team caring about those people. No, no. They have a mini team. Just a really tiny
0:33:11team of people. One in turn. Yeah, this mini, mini, mini team. All right, should we take a
0:33:16break? Yeah. Do you feel okay, Federico? I do. Yeah, you feel okay now? Yeah. If we helped make
0:33:24you feel more comfortable. Yeah I mean I'm totally comfortable with my iPad Pro.
0:33:28I just want to make sure, I just want to make sure that you know it gets some
0:33:34love. That the pro efforts are not going to be exclusive to the Mac going forward. Maybe me and you should be the pro workflow team.
0:33:43Yeah I mean do you want to work at Apple? No but like we could just send them a bunch of email about it. Or we can make our own team.
0:33:53We're the pro workflow team but we don't work at Apple.
0:33:57Who cares?
0:33:58Yeah, we're independent and we just...
0:34:00You know what?
0:34:01I actually think we've been doing that for the last couple of years.
0:34:03I think we've already been doing that.
0:34:04It's like when you hear the news of random people establishing countries.
0:34:08It's like, "Now I'm the king of..."
0:34:10Ooh.
0:34:11We are the independent pro workflow team of iPad.
0:34:16Good luck with that, guys.
0:34:17We have our own passports and everything.
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0:36:59So we were speaking earlier about the fact that Apple were doing great things, you know
0:37:06have a phone and it goes out and can help improve the world. But they're doing other
0:37:11things to improve the world. In recycling, Apple has announced, well not recycling, clean
0:37:17energy is what I'm thinking of. Apple have announced, just you do it. I don't want to
0:37:22do it anymore. You do it.
0:37:23Okay. Apple has announced that all of its facilities are now powered by 100% clean energy.
0:37:30This came out in a press release and then it really, I found at least a very fascinating
0:37:34article in fast company that kind of walks through like how it actually works is like,
0:37:39it's not that every Apple store has a solar panel on like the roof of the local mall,
0:37:44right? It's it's they are purchasing clean energy, they're putting energy back in the
0:37:48grid and it it bounces out. So every store office data center, everything they said they
0:37:54have like these little remote offices with like one team in them, even those like they're,
0:37:59you know, in some other building, they are all accounted for with clean energy. And then
0:38:04But in that Fast Company article, they talked to Lisa Jackson, who is the executive in charge
0:38:09of all this at Apple.
0:38:10And she says, you know, other companies like try to buy credit and like try to like fudge
0:38:15the numbers and make this work.
0:38:16And she actually said, you know, Apple, we have been at 96% for a while now.
0:38:21And some companies would just round that up.
0:38:23But Apple wants to say no, we are truly 100%.
0:38:28But what I think is even more impressive, and that is impressive on its own, they're
0:38:31building solar farms all over the place, all sorts of crazy stuff. But they are working
0:38:36with their manufacturing partners to have them committed to going 100% clean as well.
0:38:42So they have nine additional partners they've announced bringing up to a total of 23. So
0:38:48these are companies that, for instance, you know, make components that go into an iPhone
0:38:54or an iPad or, you know, the company that, you know, produces this one part of this one
0:38:59chip or this one type of connector or something. So all these, you know, Apple's manufacturing
0:39:04this huge web, right, of all these different companies all over the world, and they are
0:39:07pushing further into that web to say, "Hey, you know, we do this from a corporate standpoint,
0:39:11we want you to do it as well." And Apple's big enough, right, to say that to somebody,
0:39:15like, "Hey, you know, it'd be a real shame if something happened to your factory here,
0:39:19you should hook it up to some clean energy." That's basically, I think, what's happening.
0:39:22You've hit a strong line with people making them offers they can't refuse.
0:39:25- Yeah, so this is, like I said,
0:39:27it's not a solar panel on the roof of every mall
0:39:30that has an Apple store.
0:39:31It's more complicated than that.
0:39:33But it's very clear to me, reading this article,
0:39:35that Apple takes it very, very seriously,
0:39:38and that they are, like,
0:39:40Apple's kind of an energy company, right?
0:39:41They say that they're not, but they kind of are.
0:39:44You know, like, you're dealing with all these things
0:39:46on a massive scale.
0:39:47We talk about Apple's employee numbers
0:39:49and how those ranks have just swelled.
0:39:52Thousands of people are working on this stuff, right?
0:39:53they're going out into these communities
0:39:55and talking with local energy companies
0:39:58and building solar farms and managing wind farms
0:40:01and all this stuff.
0:40:02It's a massive effort and it's a real milestone
0:40:04to hit 100%.
0:40:06- Yeah, I think any, I mean this is a typical example
0:40:09of like the weird problems that Apple faces
0:40:12being the size that they are.
0:40:14Like they're so large and they have so many customers
0:40:17and so many employees that they find themselves
0:40:20walking into all of these weird things.
0:40:22Like they're also kind of a bank.
0:40:23- Yeah.
0:40:24- Right, because they have Apple Pay
0:40:26and then Apple Pay Cash where they have people's money
0:40:28and that money can be spent inside of the Apple system.
0:40:31But because they have so many people,
0:40:32it kind of makes them like a bank.
0:40:34And sometimes they have to make sure
0:40:36that their buildings are powered,
0:40:39so they have to create huge solar farms
0:40:42and huge wind farms, as you say,
0:40:44making them kind of like an electricity company.
0:40:46'Cause they do buy a lot of this stuff,
0:40:48but in some instances, they are building it themselves.
0:40:51They are building their own energy plants or whatever, which is just this really wild
0:40:57idea to think of the fact that they're doing this.
0:41:02This is one of those things where you're a company of Apple's size and money, you can
0:41:08focus on stuff that you care about because you have the ability to do so.
0:41:12You have the clout to do so.
0:41:13And with the manufacturing partners, I'm sure it's one of these situations coming to contract
0:41:18negotiation time and these companies really want to stick with Apple and they're like
0:41:22"great, I'll tell you what you can do. We want 100% clean energy from you." And it's
0:41:27like what are you going to do? You need that contract so you do it. So this is like Apple
0:41:31using their power to do something that is good. You know like in this, so we're saying
0:41:38there can be a cynical take on the red iPhone right? I feel like there's less of a cynical
0:41:43take available here. They're not able to sell anything because of the fact that they're
0:41:47on 100% renewable energy. This just really feels like a thing that you do that makes
0:41:54this corporate good. That maybe makes some people think better about you, but you can
0:42:00get away with saying you're 90% and most people will feel pretty much the same. But like they
0:42:05push it to the final mark because they care about it and because they have the facility
0:42:09to do it. This is something that they can afford to do. So they just do it.
0:42:13- They're not done, right?
0:42:14They are expanding and building more data centers in there.
0:42:18They talk about their capacity at their data centers.
0:42:21They expect it to go up, up and up and up
0:42:24over the next few years as their services business
0:42:26becomes more important.
0:42:27So this isn't like, oh, we did it.
0:42:29Now all these people have something else to do.
0:42:31It is very much something that will be ongoing
0:42:35as they build a new data center.
0:42:36They want to be there on day one
0:42:38or they lose that 100% mark.
0:42:39- And additional campuses, additional offices, right?
0:42:43Like they're building a huge presence here in London
0:42:45in the converted Battersea power station.
0:42:48They're apparently building a new big campus,
0:42:50whatever that actually means, somewhere in the US, right?
0:42:53So every time they do something like this,
0:42:56they have to make sure they have the power for it.
0:42:57Even just a big new stores, right?
0:42:59Like everything, it becomes a big part.
0:43:01I expect in the same way that like the device recyclability
0:43:06became a thing for them, right?
0:43:08Like when Greenpeace was on their back about the damage
0:43:12that their devices do into the world,
0:43:13and then Apple sought to fix it.
0:43:16Now, like every device that they make,
0:43:17they have to make considerations
0:43:19about how recyclable the parts that we're putting into this.
0:43:21And I expect that that's very similar
0:43:22when it comes to building new offices.
0:43:24- And there's still stuff to do there, right?
0:43:25Like, I mean, I'm just gonna hold off the email
0:43:28about repairability and that sort of thing,
0:43:29'cause that is an issue too,
0:43:31but it's clear that Apple cares about this,
0:43:33and there's still work to be done.
0:43:35Like, the iPads are all still glued together.
0:43:36It's still difficult to take 'em apart
0:43:39unless you know what you're doing,
0:43:40but clearly it's something that they are working toward in those other areas as well.
0:43:45What was the name of the recycling robot?
0:43:47Liam.
0:43:48Liam.
0:43:49I haven't heard about him for a while.
0:43:51I want to know how he's doing.
0:43:53All the great lenses.
0:43:55Okay.
0:43:56How many of them?
0:43:5817.
0:43:5917 lenses on the next iPhone.
0:44:01Okay.
0:44:02That's where we're going.
0:44:03So what's this rumor from?
0:44:05There was a rumor from the Taiwan Economic Daily News via MacRumors that the next iPhone,
0:44:11the 2019 iPhone, is going to add a third lens to the camera.
0:44:16A third 12 megapixel lens.
0:44:19And this will add to the current two lenses that we have.
0:44:23What could this do?
0:44:25Why would you want to add another lens?
0:44:27Well, something that could be done with another lens is five times zoom.
0:44:31this would assumedly be from the rumor optical zoom because the iPhones can already do five
0:44:36times digital zoom even the ten can do ten times. So you would want five times optical
0:44:43zoom and that would be kind of incredible right? And you think to yourself why would
0:44:49somebody put three lenses on a phone? Well Huawei just did it with the P20 which if you've
0:44:55not seen the Huawei P20. That is a good looking cell phone in my opinion. It's got all the
0:45:02tenants of a current you know like cell phone you'd expect right big screen, thin bezels,
0:45:07all that kind of stuff. It's got a notch on it right which you can turn on and off which
0:45:13is kind of hilarious. I love Android man. I freaking love Android because like that
0:45:19is like maybe the most Android thing that has ever happened. They can turn off the notch
0:45:24like freaking love that that is incredible like more power to you but
0:45:30the the real design feature of the Huawei p20 is it has like a need for
0:45:35speed paint job what is that called when it can yeah you can get two colors and
0:45:40depending on the light it shows a different color like iridescent yeah
0:45:44yeah it's like what they put on Fast and Furious cars yes you know yeah that's
0:45:49what I'm talking about right it's that kind of paying job. This Huawei P20 it has a three
0:45:55lens system all right. It has a 40 megapixel f1.8 primary lens, a 20 megapixel f1.6 monochrome
0:46:04lens which I think is to help do a lot of the depth stuff so like they map them together
0:46:09and then an 8 megapixel f2.4 telephoto lens of a three times optical zoom and I'm going
0:46:14to put a link in the show notes to a review from The Verge. The photos from this phone
0:46:19look incredible and it is reviewing very well, right? Like Vlad Savov, who is a great reviewer,
0:46:27like I really trust the stuff that he's saying, is like, this is a iPhone 10/Samsung Galaxy
0:46:35S9 competitor, right? Like this is up there. I mean, there are issues with Huawei right
0:46:41now, Stephen. Am I correct? I've learned this from Subnet.
0:46:43Yeah, parts of the US government basically want to ban them from the US. We'll see how
0:46:48that goes.
0:46:49Yeah, because they are a Chinese company, right? And there's some concern about that.
0:46:56They're in tight with the Chinese government in ways that make some American politicians
0:47:00uncomfortable.
0:47:01No carriers were carrying the previous Huawei phone, so who knows if you can get it, but
0:47:07does look really great. So I mean now that it exists in a phone you can see why you would
0:47:15want it right like why it might exist. Like if I could get three or five times optical
0:47:21zoom on my phone like I think I would very much like that feature even if it meant adding
0:47:27a third camera to the phone. Especially if they tried to find a way to put it all in
0:47:31one unit. I do think that the Huawei P20 looks really weird that it has the two camera unit
0:47:36and then a third like solo lens.
0:47:39- That's called, we want to look like the iPhone 10,
0:47:41but we also want a third camera.
0:47:43Solved it.
0:47:44- Yeah.
0:47:45But like I don't know why they can't just put it all in one
0:47:48three long line. - Yeah, they should have.
0:47:50- 'Cause like it's not like the bump is still the same.
0:47:53Like it's the same effect 'cause it's still the same like
0:47:56row and I would expect that Apple would do that, right?
0:47:59Like they would put it all in one line.
0:48:02But like I always want my camera to get better
0:48:05Even if it means doing weird stuff.
0:48:07Like the band-aid was ripped off when they turned it into a bump.
0:48:11At that point you can do whatever you want.
0:48:15At what point is the entire back of the phone a lens?
0:48:18Like the entire back is just the...
0:48:21There's a product out there called the Light L16.
0:48:25It is a camera.
0:48:27It's one of the ugliest, just one of the very ugliest consumer products that exist in the
0:48:32world.
0:48:33$2,000 but it's about it's like a plus-size phone and it has basically 16 smartphone sensors
0:48:44in it. The best part is they're all labeled on the back so like this one here is 70 millimeter
0:48:48mid-range. It's pointless like why? Are you guys familiar with the term "tripophobia"?
0:48:55Yes, and it triggers me. I don't like that. Yeah, it's basically fear of regular small
0:49:04holes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It makes me very uncomfortable. The L16 camera does that to me. Yeah. Yeah.
0:49:12I don't like it. I don't like it a lot. I'm pleased that we share this. This weird. Yeah.
0:49:20Yeah, it's, oh God, oh God, I'm Googling
0:49:23to put it in the show notes to show any images.
0:49:25- No, no.
0:49:26- Ah!
0:49:27(laughing)
0:49:28- Don't do it, Myke.
0:49:30- The camera is like, it's always a safe bet
0:49:34to count on an improved camera in the new iPhone, right?
0:49:37Like that's the safest draft pick of them all
0:49:40when it comes to an iPhone event.
0:49:41The thing that I have really been surprised by
0:49:44is that I do use that 2X optical zoom kind of a lot.
0:49:49Like especially on the 10.
0:49:49- I use a lot.
0:49:50- Where it's so good, like, I use it if my kids
0:49:53are doing something or like, you know, something outside,
0:49:55I wanna punch in a little bit.
0:49:56So having some more range, I would be all for that.
0:50:00I think that would really make it
0:50:01an even more flexible platform.
0:50:04One thing I think Apple should work on though
0:50:05is making the trade-offs that come with those,
0:50:08you know, those lenses a little better.
0:50:11So, you know, if the f-stops could be the same,
0:50:15that would be great.
0:50:16If, you know, they're both optically image,
0:50:19They're both optically stabilized in the iPhone X.
0:50:22Having that on this third one would be great.
0:50:24But I think it, you know, I don't think it's out
0:50:27of the realm of possibility at all.
0:50:29- I mean, it's one of those things where like,
0:50:32if somebody else does it and the benefits are good,
0:50:37it probably means Apple will do it, right?
0:50:39So like, I'm thinking like, the notch, right?
0:50:41Somebody did it before Apple, but for good reason.
0:50:46So they did it too, right?
0:50:47So like, I think even multiple lenses somebody did first,
0:50:51I think, right?
0:50:52Like having two cameras on a phone.
0:50:55- I do want to be careful in the way that we phrase that,
0:50:56because it's not like,
0:50:58who put the first notch in the phone?
0:51:00What's-- - Ascension.
0:51:02- Yeah, they sold like eight of them.
0:51:03It's not like Apple saw Andy Rubin's new phone,
0:51:06like, we got it.
0:51:07There's this idea of parallel development, right?
0:51:11And people like to defend Apple with this
0:51:14and not point at Samsung.
0:51:16All companies do this, right?
0:51:17we're not drawing lines in the sand.
0:51:19- Simultaneous creation.
0:51:20Like if an idea is good enough,
0:51:22like the industry is all eventually moving towards it.
0:51:25So like they'll get there together.
0:51:28Right, like there is no way that like Samsung
0:51:31can come out with the Infinity Display
0:51:33and then Apple can come out with the iPhone 10
0:51:35based upon them working across each other or doing.
0:51:38Like everyone's moving towards that anyway
0:51:41because they are the logical movements
0:51:43of hardware development.
0:51:44- I just wanted to get that out there.
0:51:45Yeah, but you know, Huawei did it first probably,
0:51:50I mean who knows, there's probably some phone somewhere
0:51:52that might have done this as well,
0:51:53but they've done it first effectively,
0:51:55which means that if this is the best way
0:51:58to do what is trying to be done,
0:51:59most smartphones will probably do it.
0:52:01Right, and you can think about the,
0:52:02one of the things in the Galaxy S9 was the,
0:52:06what does the lens do, what is it called?
0:52:08Like where it physically moves?
0:52:10- The...
0:52:11- Like the aperture?
0:52:14it has two apertures. Right, but it seems like all of the reviews people are going like it doesn't
0:52:22really seem to make a difference. Like it like so probably nobody else would do that for now until
0:52:27there can be significant difference to it. Like Samsung did it and it makes some difference but
0:52:33it's really not very much like on a day-to-day basis so that might not be something we see catch
0:52:40on to everybody else. But like adding more lenses is always going to make, well in theory,
0:52:45can make things better.
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0:55:10- So we're gonna wrap up this week talking about
0:55:13this rumor about Spotify.
0:55:15So like we said, they had their IPO and they're busy,
0:55:19they have lots of people listening,
0:55:21but they want even more people listening
0:55:23'cause that's what you have to do after an IPO.
0:55:25And so they have an event coming up on April 24th
0:55:27and it is rumored and it's actually backed up
0:55:30by like some people like on Reddit and Twitter
0:55:33saying they've actually like seen marketing materials with this it maybe
0:55:35it leaked a little bit from Spotify but it seems that Spotify may be developing
0:55:41an in-car streaming device so it kind of looks like a like a Chromecast you know
0:55:47it's pretty small and you leave it you know in your car via Bluetooth and it
0:55:53has voice control which Spotify has been working on where you could just talk to
0:55:57the app or talk to this device and it would basically kind of more or less
0:56:02less like hardwire or Bluetooth Spotify to your car stereo.
0:56:06So you don't have to fiddle with your phone
0:56:08while you're driving.
0:56:09You just have this thing that's dedicated,
0:56:10you know, just kind of lives somewhere
0:56:11like clipped on the air vent or something.
0:56:13And obviously uses LTE, so you're looking at,
0:56:16you know, some sort of subscription,
0:56:18maybe like $12.99 a month to cover the data.
0:56:20But it's kind of cool.
0:56:24I kind of really like this idea.
0:56:25It's like a, it's kind of like a modern iPod in a way,
0:56:28if you use Spotify.
0:56:29So Federico, what do you think about this?
0:56:32your Spotify user you have a car this makes sense to you?
0:56:34No I stopped using Spotify like a few months ago but I think it's an awesome idea.
0:56:42I can't keep up!
0:56:43I think it's an awesome idea and I kind of wish that Apple made one of these.
0:56:48If I'm getting the details right so this is an independent device that you can set up
0:56:53in your car it connects via Bluetooth it's got its own microphone so it does not connect
0:56:58the microphone via the phone, but it's got its own audio input, and it's got its own cellular
0:57:05connection, so again, that does not depend on the phone. I think it's an awesome idea,
0:57:10especially because I have this problem in my car. It does not... I have two problems, actually.
0:57:17It does not support CarPlay, so it's a Kia car that came out like the year before that Kia
0:57:27started supporting CarPlay, so I need to use my phone via standard Bluetooth and I get no special
0:57:33interface in my car's dashboard. And when I try to play music using Siri, there's this delay between
0:57:41saying the trigger word or pressing the side button and the microphone sound indicating that
0:57:51Siri input is active, playing on the stereo.
0:57:56So it's like I gotta press or invoke Siri and then wait like 3 seconds before I can
0:58:01start talking.
0:58:02Which is a Bluetooth bug that was never fixed for me and it basically makes voice activation
0:58:08unusable.
0:58:09And so I would love to have this kind of device that is independent from the phone, it uses
0:58:17its own microphone instead of rerouting the input to the car and adding that delay.
0:58:24There's probably some kind of setting that I can change but I don't know how this stuff works.
0:58:29I would love to have like an Apple Music puck that I can put in my car and it works.
0:58:35I think it's an awesome idea. I think if it's done right and if I were a Spotify user,
0:58:42I would be totally over this and get one immediately.
0:58:46And again, I'm not sure if I mentioned this on the show before, but I think what, for
0:58:51example, Google is doing with what's it called?
0:58:54Android Auto?
0:58:55Yes.
0:58:56The CarPlay version of Google.
0:58:58The fact that it runs on phones, that you can kind of emulate Android Auto on compatible
0:59:04phones, I think that's a feature that they kind of announced last year.
0:59:08I think it should be available on iOS too.
0:59:11Apple should, for people like me who own an iPhone and want to have iOS features in the
0:59:17car but cannot get a CarPlay car just because Apple, you know, just because of Apple.
0:59:24I'm not changing the car that I drive because of Apple.
0:59:29But also I would love to have CarPlay.
0:59:31So why not enable like a special CarPlay UI mode on my phone?
0:59:35Like...
0:59:36Yeah, I mean it could be part of Do Not Disturb While Driving.
0:59:38Exactly.
0:59:39Apple clearly feel that CarPlay is safe enough when you're driving.
0:59:43I feel like these big companies, instead of...
0:59:49It's awesome that they're working directly with car manufacturers to bring these new
0:59:54services and software into new models and some select old models.
1:00:01I think there should be more ways to retroactively bring these features into older cars so that
1:00:08you're still helping everyone not be distracted or listen to music or bring up navigation.
1:00:15So whether it's a separate device like Spotify for music playback or what Google is doing
1:00:20with Android Auto, I welcome all of these initiatives because I think everything you
1:00:24can do to make me look at my phone less, that gets a big thumbs up from me.
1:00:32As soon as I saw this Spotify thing, it made me think, are they building their own Kindle?
1:00:38is like the kettle, right?
1:00:41'Cause I'm assuming you're not gonna pay
1:00:43for the cell service in this thing.
1:00:46Like it's all wrapped up in your monthly fee
1:00:49because they give you a year commitment, right,
1:00:52with these things.
1:00:53And there was like, as you said,
1:00:55there's multiple models depending on the price.
1:00:57It seemed to be leaked, one that had echo support,
1:00:59one that didn't, and the price change
1:01:01is different for those.
1:01:02And I would expect it has like some storage on it,
1:01:05so it's loading music in there,
1:01:06and then anything else is pulling from 4G.
1:01:10And I just saw this and was like,
1:01:12"Huh, this really reminds me of how the Kindle started."
1:01:15- Yeah.
1:01:16Yeah.
1:01:17- I mean, it definitely seems like a smart thing,
1:01:21but obviously we have no real details about it.
1:01:24I mean, it may as well be a real product
1:01:26considering how people have seen it, right?
1:01:29Like, I don't really look at this as a rumor.
1:01:31This just looks like something that accidentally leaked.
1:01:33But there are so many things,
1:01:34how does this thing actually play music?
1:01:36Like, does it have a speaker built into it?
1:01:38How does it connect to your like stereo?
1:01:40Like, I'm not sure about all of that.
1:01:43- Because you gotta use the,
1:01:44I suppose you gotta use the phone to set it up initially.
1:01:47I guess if it's got, it doesn't have a speaker,
1:01:51so it connects to the car via Bluetooth.
1:01:54So it implements the Bluetooth standard,
1:01:57the what's it called,
1:01:59it's got a specific name that I don't remember.
1:02:02and it's got a microphone so you can talk to it and it's like a phone but it's got a
1:02:09- I don't know - you talk to the small Spotify device which then streams audio via Bluetooth
1:02:16to the car but then does the car think it's a phone or some other kind of device?
1:02:23Yeah, that's a good question.
1:02:24Does it have like a - yeah, because it's not really a phone but if I can connect directly
1:02:29to the car, it's pretending to be a phone. Which, what happens if you then have an actual
1:02:35phone that you also want to connect to the car? Like, if I'm supposed to, like, if you
1:02:39connect this Spotify thing, do you stop receiving phone calls on your phone while driving?
1:02:46Do you think this is a good idea for Spotify, or do you think it's like a distraction?
1:02:53I mean, music while driving, it's extremely common. And it's that kind of feature that,
1:03:05because Spotify does not own the devices that we use, it does not make Android phones, it
1:03:12does not make iPhones, they are an application. So maybe they have realized that to entice
1:03:21people to listen more and more and as much as possible, especially when you consider
1:03:25the things they're doing with podcasting. So like, for example, imagine if you have
1:03:30this Spotify device and you get in your car in the morning and you ask Spotify to play
1:03:37the news, and you get this special programming from Spotify. So they need to make sure that
1:03:42you're always listening no matter where you are. And on the smartphone, they can do that
1:03:47with the app on your home screen.
1:03:49But when you're driving, they are at a disadvantage
1:03:52because both iOS and Android have more integrated systems,
1:03:57starting from the voice assistant,
1:03:59which plugs directly into the built-in music service,
1:04:03especially on iOS.
1:04:05So I think they want to do this because they need to make sure
1:04:08that when people are driving, they still listen to Spotify.
1:04:12Otherwise, they end up like me,
1:04:15where it's more convenient for me to, despite my Siri problems with the car microphone,
1:04:22it's still more convenient to use Apple Music because it's integrated with the phone, and
1:04:27when I'm driving it works better than Spotify.
1:04:30I get the controls on the watch.
1:04:33What I started doing is I asked the Siri on the watch to play stuff because the microphone,
1:04:39it does not redirect to the car's microphone.
1:04:42It just uses the microphone on the watch.
1:04:44So I think the problem here is that Spotify wants to make sure that people, exactly like
1:04:51Google with YouTube, they need to make sure that people stay within Spotify and that they
1:04:56keep listening multiple times a day.
1:04:58So how do you do that?
1:05:00You make a device for the car because otherwise you're still an app and you're subject to limitations
1:05:07that maybe keep people from listening to Spotify all the time.
1:05:13My thing is I just I struggle to like conceptualize how Spotify will attempt to sell this to people.
1:05:24Like what benefits do you actually get as a customer?
1:05:28Federica basically summed them all up that it's better in the car.
1:05:30But what it doesn't do, I don't think it draws like new people to Spotify, right?
1:05:36Because the reality is most people are just going to look at their phones, right?
1:05:39Like we can just be honest about that.
1:05:41We shouldn't, but people do.
1:05:43So I don't think it's gonna be a big growth push for them,
1:05:48but I think if you're really in the Spotify camp,
1:05:52it maybe reduces friction and keeps you there
1:05:55as a defense against Apple Music and Siri,
1:05:59which I think is enough.
1:05:59I think it's enough reason for this to exist.
1:06:02- Yeah, yeah, I mean, I don't have a car,
1:06:05so maybe I don't resonate with the use case as much,
1:06:08but it just seems super strange.
1:06:10It's just interesting that you can say to people,
1:06:12like here is this device that you connect to Bluetooth
1:06:15and play music on.
1:06:16So well I can do it on my phone.
1:06:17- Right.
1:06:18- Right, so you know what I mean?
1:06:19It's just like the real benefits that you're trying
1:06:22to get people to sign up for it.
1:06:24I mean, you know, one of them is like, hey, it's free
1:06:27if you sign up for it, yeah.
1:06:29- Yeah.
1:06:30- That might be enough of a reason.
1:06:32But I'm keen to see what happens with this.
1:06:35Like clearly this is what happens when you have an IPO.
1:06:40Right?
1:06:41You gotta keep doing stuff.
1:06:42You gotta try and advance.
1:06:43Keep working.
1:06:44You gotta keep doing stuff.
1:06:45I saw a rumor today about Snapchat Spectacles too.
1:06:49You know like this is what you have to do I think when you put yourself on the stock
1:06:54market.
1:06:55But Spotify are in...
1:06:59I wouldn't...
1:07:00I don't want to say danger because they're not.
1:07:02But they are in... they are I think an at risk company going into the future.
1:07:08Even though they are the dominant company in this space right now, you know, we spoke
1:07:13about this many times, this is all they do is music.
1:07:18And if that industry continues to get trickier for them, if it's harder for them to make
1:07:22money, they have nothing to undercut it with.
1:07:25And I guess locking people in to longer term contracts by sweetening them with devices
1:07:30could be a good way to continue your, like, to like solidify your future success, I guess.
1:07:37their company that is competing with first-party services. Apple Music's baked into the
1:07:42OS. That's a big uphill battle.
1:07:48And putting yourself on the stock market opens you up to this stuff in a more risky way.
1:07:52Yeah, I think so.
1:07:53Apple announced something and then Spotify's stock can plummet. That wouldn't have been
1:07:58something that happened pre-IPO.
1:07:59Right.
1:08:00Yeah, it's interesting. It is interesting. What is this, two weeks away maybe, this event
1:08:04that they're having, which they might announce this?
1:08:06Yeah, two weeks from yesterday.
1:08:07couple of weeks yeah all right so keep an eye out for it I think that does it I
1:08:11think we've done it if you want to find show notes this week for all the stuff
1:08:15we've talked about head over to relay.fm/connected/188 if you're
1:08:21there you can get in touch you can send us an email or of course you can find
1:08:25us on Twitter you can find Myke as I M Y K E and Myke hosts a bunch of shows here
1:08:30at Relay FM. You can find Federico at V-I-T-I-C-C-I and he writes and is the editor-in-chief,
1:08:38you know, the steady hand on the wheel at maxstories.net and you can find me on Twitter
1:08:43as ismh and I write 512pixels.net. Big thanks to our sponsors this week, Warby Parker, Casper
1:08:50and Simple Contacts and until next week guys, say goodbye. Adios.