0:00:00So every year towards the end of the year, we talk about our favorite apps and services that we use and state of the apps.
0:00:07Well, today we're going to talk about the devices that we're using, the hardware that we're using in the very first state of the hardware.
0:00:14State of the hardware, 2023.
0:00:18Are you happy with 2023? I mean, I did wonder if you would petition for 2024.
0:00:21Oh, god damn it, no, no. Yeah, wait a minute.
0:00:24We can't do that. It's the middle of the... It's not even the middle of the year.
0:00:29It should be state of the hardware 2024.
0:00:32No, no, it really shouldn't be. Maybe in your mind you would like it to be, but like realistically it's 2023.
0:00:39Because there are a bunch of devices that by 2024 we will have upgraded from that we're going to talk about today.
0:00:46You don't know that, Mike. That's just wild speculation. You have no idea that that's true.
0:00:51I'm suddenly having this feeling like, I was tricked. I was tricked with this title and I didn't even realize it.
0:00:57The way that I kind of think of this is, we are professionals.
0:01:00We are professional content creators, professional business people, professional consumers of content.
0:01:05And with apps, we've made a bunch of decisions about the things that we use and the why we choose them or why we work with them.
0:01:12And so I thought it would be nice to maybe move that over to hardware.
0:01:16And there'll be some stuff that people know that we use or will have heard us talk about before.
0:01:20But this, especially this first year, kind of gives the baseline.
0:01:23And then as we go forward through future years, we could talk about how it's changing.
0:01:28Similar to the idea of state of the apps, I've got a bunch of categories.
0:01:33We have the everyday carry. We have work, office, entertainment, travel, and maybe a lightning round?
0:01:42Yes, there may be a lightning round.
0:01:44I also have a last minute addition to this category list, Mike, that you don't know about.
0:01:48Although you will have an item for it, I think.
0:01:51Okay.
0:01:51It is dogs, dog gear.
0:01:54I want to add to state of the hardware.
0:01:56I have some dog recommendations.
0:01:58I'm going to find somewhere else to put that in, you know, like, I don't know if I want to make a specific dog category.
0:02:05Well, look, I'm just telling you, there's a dog category.
0:02:08Surprise.
0:02:08You're going to figure out where it goes.
0:02:10Hey, here's the thing.
0:02:11This is a collaborative process.
0:02:13If you decide you want a dog category, then so be it.
0:02:17There's a dog category.
0:02:17Yeah, no, I did.
0:02:18I already decided it.
0:02:19Well, I mean, like it will be called dogs.
0:02:21Yes.
0:02:22You know, don't necessarily think I'm going to update the artwork for this one, but.
0:02:27Now that you said that I'm going to have to get some custom dog cortex artwork made, of course.
0:02:32Dog techs.
0:02:33You know what?
0:02:34I'm going to leave that one with you.
0:02:35If you want to do that part, you could do that part.
0:02:39Okay, I will.
0:02:40So let's start with our everyday carry.
0:02:43What goes in the pockets?
0:02:44That's kind of what I was thinking about this, right?
0:02:46What phone are you using right now?
0:02:48The iPhone 14 Pro.
0:02:50Not the max version.
0:02:52I believe you've got the max version.
0:02:54I have the max version.
0:02:55I don't think we ever spoke about this.
0:02:57This has been like one of the reasons I actually wanted to do this episode is that,
0:03:02especially towards the end of the year where we might be changing out hardware,
0:03:06our end of the year now is so kind of like focused on the show, the things that we do,
0:03:12that we never really get to talk about these things anymore.
0:03:14Like, I don't think we've had it.
0:03:16We used to have an episode where we would talk about the new phones and watches every year,
0:03:20and we haven't done that for years.
0:03:21Yeah, for years.
0:03:23Yeah, because by the time we would get around to it, it's just like,
0:03:26there's no point doing an entire episode about this anymore.
0:03:29So I thought, you know, this is one of the reasons I wanted to do this state of the hardware,
0:03:33because we can talk about it for a couple of minutes,
0:03:35along with all the other stuff that we're going to talk about.
0:03:37So what made you decide the Pro rather than the Pro Max?
0:03:41I can't remember if it was this year or last year.
0:03:46You know, in life, sometimes you want to make decisions that cut down on your future decisions.
0:03:51You want to decrease the number of decisions you make.
0:03:53And I realized that I keep fluctuating back and forth between like big phone, best phone,
0:04:00right, or like the small phone or the regular size phone.
0:04:03And I just made a decision, like, I'm not going to make decisions about this anymore.
0:04:08I'm just going to buy like the quote normal size phone.
0:04:12I think every time I've bought the big one, it's like, there are things I really like,
0:04:16but there are also frustrations.
0:04:17And it's the same thing with the little phone of like, God, do I really like the little phone,
0:04:22but there are also frustrations.
0:04:24And so I decided, I'm not going to do this agony anymore every year.
0:04:28Like, I'm just going to buy whatever the like normal size phone is and leave it at that.
0:04:34So this was my like, no more decisions, no more anxiety.
0:04:39This is just what I'm going to do.
0:04:40You see, I made that decision too many years ago, and I chose most phone.
0:04:46Right, most phone.
0:04:47And this is where like, I wonder if this decision for you will pay off over the next few years,
0:04:53because it seems very clear that to me and to many people, of course,
0:04:57that Apple is going to adopt this like ultra model like Samsung have,
0:05:02where the biggest phone will have the most stuff.
0:05:06So like the rumors for this year's iPhone will be significant camera improvements,
0:05:11just for the big one.
0:05:13Yeah.
0:05:13So I wonder if we'll see, you may level up to like,
0:05:17I'm going to just do one decision, but maybe I'll go most as well.
0:05:21Yeah, I don't think so.
0:05:23It depends on the difference.
0:05:24It might, you know, because we said this before, right?
0:05:26Like when they put the largest sensor in, I think it was this one.
0:05:29We're like, oh, it's going to be, it's fine.
0:05:32There isn't really, I think a lot that's actually happened with it, like realistically.
0:05:37I think if you're looking at very fine detail, like say for example,
0:05:40you're taking photos of dogs, like, and you zoom in on them, then you can see the difference.
0:05:44And in the times where I have shot raw, like it is great.
0:05:49Yeah, the raw stuff is crazy.
0:05:50Right, but you've got to do it.
0:05:52And I do think that it's going to take a couple of years still of Apple having this sensor
0:05:56to really unlock its full potential for them.
0:05:59But this next one will probably have the periscope lens, right?
0:06:03For the bigger zoom and all that kind of stuff.
0:06:05So who knows if that will be of interest to you, but we'll see.
0:06:08Yeah, I think this again is like the thing that I thought through is in the past,
0:06:13I have done that exact thing of I always want the better camera,
0:06:17better camera on big phone by big phone.
0:06:19Yep.
0:06:20But I have always slightly regretted it or not regretted it,
0:06:23but just found the trade-offs frustrating.
0:06:26And there are trade-offs, right?
0:06:27The phones are big.
0:06:28Now I like that, but I understand why somebody wouldn't,
0:06:32especially if the benefit ends up being small, but the negatives are constant.
0:06:37You maybe get sometimes a better camera improvement,
0:06:41but if you don't like that the phone's bigger,
0:06:43that is every minute of every day that that's going to be getting in your way.
0:06:46Yes, that's exactly right.
0:06:47I can't ever not feel it in my pocket problem.
0:06:52It is there always going, "Hi, I'm a phone in your pocket.
0:06:57You can feel this right now."
0:06:59Whereas with the normal size phone, it's just under that threshold for me.
0:07:04What case is your phone in?
0:07:06Oh God!
0:07:06I just thought of this.
0:07:07I didn't put it in my list.
0:07:10The reason is because I don't use a case on my phone.
0:07:12Right, hold on.
0:07:13I have to turn on the lights in my office so I can try to read with the case.
0:07:17I did move to the MagSafe popsocket rather than just the popsocket stuck on the phone.
0:07:23Oh, wait, wait.
0:07:24So we moved to what?
0:07:25There is a MagSafe popsocket.
0:07:27So it's not a case, it's just connecting to the MagSafe magnet on the back.
0:07:31That's what you're saying.
0:07:31So it's the big oval, but it's got a mount for a popsocket on it.
0:07:36And I did this because I'm trying to prepare for the time when I have to start using wireless charging.
0:07:44And so then I'll be able to just take off the popsocket charge
0:07:48and put the popsocket back on to carry on with my day.
0:07:51Because that time is coming, especially like probably going to go USB-C this year.
0:07:55And so the docks that I have would have to change.
0:07:58And the docks that I have don't have a USB-C version.
0:08:01They're just like Qi charging versions are all the modern ones now.
0:08:05It's like people don't want you to be using docks with cables anymore.
0:08:09You know, like you stick it on top of the cable.
0:08:11I think my options there are going to shrink a lot.
0:08:14So that's one thing.
0:08:15But then also I think in a couple of years time, you know, it still feels feasible
0:08:20that there will be an iPhone with no charging connector.
0:08:24And so then like I can't be having a popsocket stuck to the back of the phone anymore
0:08:29because I would get my phone would become single use.
0:08:31- Right, right, right.
0:08:33- So I moved to the MagSafe popsocket.
0:08:35And I will say I have been pleasantly surprised.
0:08:38I was very dubious of it as to if it would hold.
0:08:41And I have never ever had it fall off ever.
0:08:44- Okay, I'm impressed by that.
0:08:46I would not have expected that.
0:08:47- Yeah, the one I have is like, I think it's like the second generation.
0:08:51Our mutual friend Alex told me that they bought the original one.
0:08:53And it wasn't so secure.
0:08:55But they obviously did something with the magnets for the kind of revised version.
0:09:00And now it's like solid as a rock.
0:09:02- Okay.
0:09:03- But also easy to remove.
0:09:05Like they've found this perfect sweet spot.
0:09:07Like it's very easy to take off, but it also never comes off unexpectedly.
0:09:11- Okay, so the case that I'm using, which I just love.
0:09:16I've never been happier with the case.
0:09:18It's the Peak Design Mobile Everyday Loop Case.
0:09:22- Oh my word, that's a lot of branding in there.
0:09:25- Well, yes, but it's like you're trying to describe every single part of it, right?
0:09:29Peak Design is the company, mobile for your mobile phone, every day?
0:09:34I don't know, every day?
0:09:35- Every day is their branding, right?
0:09:37They call their products every day.
0:09:39It's like a whole line of products, I think, the everyday stuff.
0:09:42- Oh, I just realized.
0:09:43- The everyday backpack, right?
0:09:44- Right, well, yes, I do have the everyday backpack, which will come up later.
0:09:47- They also have Slimlink trademark technology in this one.
0:09:51- Oh, okay, I don't see that as listed, but...
0:09:54Okay, so there's two things about this that I love.
0:09:58First, it's a pretty minimal case.
0:10:00I guess that's why, because of that technology,
0:10:02it feels like it barely adds anything to the phone.
0:10:04It's still really protective.
0:10:05I have really dropped this phone a few times,
0:10:08and they've got just like a nice hard rim right around the cameras,
0:10:11which has completely saved it from getting smashed.
0:10:13Because I don't use the pop socket, they have a little loop on the back
0:10:18that you can just put one finger through.
0:10:21And I love it.
0:10:22It's like just in the right position.
0:10:24I feel like it's actually even in a better spot
0:10:26than some of the pop socket was with just being a little lower.
0:10:29It's like every time I pick up the phone,
0:10:31I can just slide my ring finger through this little loop on the bottom
0:10:34and have the phone really secure.
0:10:36And then also for me, they have this mounting system.
0:10:40- That's Slimlink.
0:10:41- Oh, that's the Slimlink, okay.
0:10:44This mounting system is...
0:10:46It's mag safe, but it's also a physical connector.
0:10:49And I have a mount for my bike that is the opposite end of that.
0:10:54And it is like when a company designs something that works well,
0:10:58it's so satisfying.
0:11:00Like being able to just snap my phone onto this mount on the bike
0:11:05and know that it is physically secured.
0:11:08Like it is physically not coming off
0:11:10unless I press the two little buttons on the back to pop it off
0:11:13and then it comes off so easily.
0:11:14Love it.
0:11:15So like I just, I adore this case.
0:11:17I think it's easily the best phone case I've ever used.
0:11:20- Yeah, this was...
0:11:21I remember they released their Kickstarter campaign for this.
0:11:25- Yes, yes.
0:11:25- Like six months before mag safe was introduced
0:11:28and they ended up making it compatible with mag safe,
0:11:32which I will say I was really nervous for them
0:11:37because it felt like a very bold move at a risky time
0:11:41and that ended up being the case.
0:11:43But they found a way to kind of make it all work together
0:11:46because you can use mag safe accessories of these cases too, right?
0:11:50I think.
0:11:50- Yeah, so that's also the thing that I really like about it is
0:11:54I don't have any physical chargers anymore in my house.
0:11:56I have all of these.
0:11:57I didn't even bother looking up the brand
0:11:58because every time I buy them off of Amazon,
0:12:00it's like some weird different company is always making them.
0:12:03- Yeah.
0:12:03- But they're these like,
0:12:04they're these little stands that are the three in one chargers.
0:12:07So it has like mag safe for the phone.
0:12:09It has a little charger on top for the watch
0:12:11and then behind it, it has a little spot for your AirPods case.
0:12:14I swear I've got like six of them in the house
0:12:17and no two of them are made by the same company
0:12:19because it's just like very strange.
0:12:21- If you don't want your house to catch on fire,
0:12:24a lot of these products are available from companies like Belkin and stuff.
0:12:27Like I, again, I'm well known.
0:12:30I am a wireless charging denier.
0:12:33I don't like it.
0:12:35It makes me nervous.
0:12:36I just want to use a cable.
0:12:38I don't like how hot everything gets.
0:12:41Like I'm just not a fan of it, but...
0:12:42- I think that's so funny because to me, wireless charging,
0:12:47like the mag safe wireless charging thing,
0:12:49once they got that system down,
0:12:50easily one of my like just small delights in life is
0:12:55I just put these chargers everywhere I'm likely to put down the phone
0:12:59and it's functionally completely solved the problem
0:13:04of thinking about my phone charge.
0:13:05- I know I'm the weirdo here.
0:13:07- Yeah.
0:13:07- Because like everyone that I know loves it,
0:13:10including people in my household.
0:13:11- Unnamed other household.
0:13:14- Every YouTuber loves it.
0:13:17You know, every podcast, everyone loves wireless charging except for me.
0:13:21And I don't know why I'm just like something about it.
0:13:25It just doesn't feel right.
0:13:26- Yeah, no, I get it.
0:13:27- Charging via magnets.
0:13:28It just seems strange.
0:13:29- Mike, look, in the universe, we only have two things.
0:13:33We have atoms and we have electromagnetism.
0:13:35So if you think you're getting away from magnets
0:13:38and any kind of charging that you're doing,
0:13:40I have some bad news for you.
0:13:41- I just, I don't like a charging method
0:13:44where the method of charging generates extra heat.
0:13:47That to me feels not good.
0:13:49- I'll sit you down and tell you about electricity one day.
0:13:53There's heat everywhere.
0:13:54You just don't notice it.
0:13:55- I don't want it.
0:13:56- Yeah, so I love it.
0:13:57That was one of the critical things for me on a case is like,
0:14:00if a case doesn't work with MagSafe chargers, it's just dead.
0:14:04I refuse to use it.
0:14:05This is a case that's so good.
0:14:08I would consider not upgrading the phone
0:14:11until the next version of this case is out.
0:14:13That's how much I love this case.
0:14:14It's so good.
0:14:15- The case design is one of these things,
0:14:17which is so terrifying to me as a prospect.
0:14:20Now we are in the world of making products, right?
0:14:23The idea of having a product line
0:14:25that is dependent on a thing,
0:14:27but you have no idea what the specs are
0:14:32until one day when then all of your customers
0:14:36want the product next week.
0:14:38- Yes, I know, I know.
0:14:40- It feels like a horrible business to be in
0:14:43because as well, then you end up getting
0:14:45in the shady business of trying to get the measurements,
0:14:49which is a thing that a lot of companies do,
0:14:52which I totally understand why they do it.
0:14:54But even then, you're still making a best bet.
0:14:57If you've got some kind of measurements
0:15:00from a factory in China somewhere telling you
0:15:02these are the measurements of the new iPhone
0:15:04and you make cases on that, go for it.
0:15:06Companies do it.
0:15:07Some companies get it from Apple, most of them don't.
0:15:09- Right.
0:15:09- But then you have produced however many thousands
0:15:12of units of a product that you don't even really know
0:15:14if it's gonna fit.
0:15:15- Yeah, it's terrifying.
0:15:17And also, especially if you are not getting
0:15:19the measurements from Apple, you realize,
0:15:22oh, those manufacturers may have incentives
0:15:25to not tell you the correct size either,
0:15:28which is a bit like, oh God.
0:15:29- Yeah, yeah.
0:15:30I can't imagine the pressure that Peak Design feel
0:15:34in September every year.
0:15:35- I will say right now, Cortex brand will never make
0:15:39an iPhone case because I couldn't sleep at night.
0:15:43It would just be too much stress.
0:15:45- It's too much.
0:15:46- Yeah.
0:15:46- I mean, also I'm like a bit,
0:15:49and I think you would agree with me here,
0:15:51I'm a little bit hesitant to ever want to be beholden
0:15:54to somebody else in that way.
0:15:57That like, if you make phone cases,
0:15:59you are always beholden to the decisions
0:16:02of the phone manufacturer.
0:16:04- Mm-hmm.
0:16:05- What if one day you make cases for Samsung phones
0:16:08and Samsung's like, gang, we did it.
0:16:10We made a phone you don't need a case for.
0:16:12- Oh yeah, I didn't even think about that.
0:16:14- What are you gonna do?
0:16:15Like if that's your whole business?
0:16:16They're like, the glass is indestructible
0:16:18and we've created this new like silicone back
0:16:22and it's like feels fantastic and it's,
0:16:24you never need a case.
0:16:25Now there'll still be people that want to get cases
0:16:29for like aesthetic reasons, but most people are buying cases
0:16:32'cause they don't wanna break their phone.
0:16:33- Yeah, yeah.
0:16:34- All that kind of stuff is just like that
0:16:35as a terrifying prospect to me of like being completely
0:16:39beholden to the whims of another company
0:16:41and whatever they wanna do.
0:16:42But also I don't feel like we have any particular ideas
0:16:46of phone cases, but what I do like about this Peak Design
0:16:49line, this like Slim Link line or the mobile ecosystem,
0:16:52there's a lot of branding now,
0:16:54is they have all of these little accessories, right?
0:16:57You can get different mounts for different modes
0:16:59of transport.
0:17:00You can get little mounts that you can just stick
0:17:02on the wall, which I think is kind of cool.
0:17:04So like you could put one next to your bathroom mirror
0:17:06and watch YouTube videos where you brush your teeth
0:17:08or whatever.
0:17:09It is a cool system and it's like used in all of the places
0:17:14you would use MagSafe and there are MagSafe mounts
0:17:16for all of these things, but it has a locking system
0:17:20and so it's not gonna come off.
0:17:22So you can lock it to your bike and not worry
0:17:24that if you go over a pothole that your phone's
0:17:26gonna fly off.
0:17:27- That's exactly right.
0:17:29And I don't know if you have noticed,
0:17:30but if you do any of the like food delivery stuff
0:17:33in London, I have noticed that a crazy number
0:17:36of the drivers are using this system.
0:17:38- Oh really?
0:17:39- They make a mount for motorcycles as well
0:17:41and they make a mount for bikes and I just like,
0:17:44I tune into it of like the number of people using
0:17:47these delivery services.
0:17:48- Oh, this bike mount is really, really well made.
0:17:51Like I can just look at it and be like,
0:17:52oh, that's well made.
0:17:53That is a well made strong thing.
0:17:55- Yeah, it's like, but these guys are taken,
0:17:57their phone on and off the bike a hundred times a day
0:18:01and like they cannot have it be insecure in the slightest.
0:18:05And so it's like, I think they've kind of like cornered
0:18:08the food delivery market phone case.
0:18:10- But also the benefit too is like, you've got to be able
0:18:13to take it off and on easily too, right?
0:18:15It can't just be like you've clamped your phone
0:18:18to the bike and that's the end of it.
0:18:19Like you've also got to be able to pick it up and go.
0:18:23And I'm sure it's helpful for you.
0:18:24Like they make a bunch of like mounts for tripods
0:18:27and all that kind of stuff.
0:18:28So if you're ever shooting something on your phone,
0:18:29it's also helpful for you as a content creator.
0:18:31- Yeah, yeah, I got the little tripod one for travel stuff
0:18:34just to have and it's really nicely built.
0:18:37It's like a perfect little, oh, I can have this here.
0:18:39Even kind of nice just for doing like FaceTime calls
0:18:42while you're traveling to just set it up
0:18:44and not have to use your computer.
0:18:45- Do you see though why I could never use this?
0:18:47Because if I got into this system,
0:18:50I have to upgrade my phone as soon as possible for my job.
0:18:53- Yeah.
0:18:54- That like then I would like my life would be revolving
0:18:57around this system I built and I have to wait for two,
0:19:00I can't use it for two months of every year.
0:19:02- Yeah, no, that would, it would not work for you.
0:19:05But I think as is clear,
0:19:06I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough.
0:19:08- What Apple Watch do you wear?
0:19:10Or what watch do you wear?
0:19:12Please do not allow me to be presumptuous.
0:19:13- Yeah, how dare you, Mike?
0:19:16How dare you assume that I'm wearing an Apple Watch?
0:19:18So I'm wearing an Apple Watch.
0:19:19(laughing)
0:19:23So I actually, I don't remember if I told you this before,
0:19:26but I don't actually know which Apple Watch I'm using
0:19:30because when I was in Hawaii earlier this year,
0:19:34we ended up setting up a couple of family members
0:19:38with Apple Watches and trying to get them
0:19:41to where we were in Hawaii on time,
0:19:44wasn't really gonna work.
0:19:45And so my uncle-in-law took the watch right off my wrist
0:19:50and I was very happy to give it to him.
0:19:52And I set him up with what was my Series 8, I guess,
0:19:56would have been at the time a watch.
0:19:57- I don't think it would have been an 8.
0:19:59- Or maybe it was a 7, whatever it was.
0:19:59- I think it was probably a 7.
0:20:01- Whatever it was at the time.
0:20:02And so then I came home and I just set up
0:20:05one of my older Apple Watches, I guess the 6?
0:20:08I'm not 100% sure.
0:20:09And I was waiting for like the next cycle
0:20:11to come around for the watch.
0:20:13I was extremely tempted by the Ultra
0:20:16when they released that.
0:20:18I was like, "Ooh, can I buy that Ultra?"
0:20:22But I just couldn't stand the silver color at all.
0:20:24So I passed on that.
0:20:25So I'm just waiting for the next cycle.
0:20:28But what I really want is I want like a black Ultra for sure.
0:20:32That's what I'm looking for.
0:20:32- I'm using an Apple Watch Series 7.
0:20:34I'm using the gold one, which I love,
0:20:38the gold stainless steel one.
0:20:39The Series 8 wasn't enough of an upgrade for me.
0:20:42I feel like two years is a pretty good upgrade cycle
0:20:46even for me as a person who talks about
0:20:48this stuff professionally.
0:20:50I don't think that they really,
0:20:52and I understand they don't add enough hardware stuff
0:20:54every year and it tends to be the last few years
0:20:56they've added sensors, like health sensors,
0:20:59where the impact can be smaller.
0:21:02- Yeah, of course.
0:21:02- The sensors in the Series 8 weren't for me anyway, right?
0:21:05They were applicable for like ovulation tracking and stuff.
0:21:08So that wasn't so helpful for me.
0:21:10And the Series 6, whenever they added
0:21:14the blood oxygen sensor, the way that they pitched that
0:21:17was so weak at the time that there really hasn't been
0:21:21anything super useful from the health perspective.
0:21:23But this is a knockout success for me since the ECG.
0:21:27But there is potential of,
0:21:29they're talking of in the next few years,
0:21:30they might have blood glucose monitors in the watches,
0:21:32which would just be like a wild thing to have.
0:21:35- Oh, God.
0:21:36If they ever crack that, I feel like that is gonna be
0:21:39like Apple stock to the moon.
0:21:40- It's gonna be incredible.
0:21:41- If they can ever, ever nail that.
0:21:43- I think they'll do it.
0:21:44I genuinely think they'll do it
0:21:45'cause they've been working on it for so long.
0:21:47There was a report recently that they'd made a breakthrough.
0:21:51Like they're getting closer and it's non-invasive too, right?
0:21:54Like there's nothing pricking you in the skin.
0:21:55So for me, it's every two years.
0:21:59And when the Ultra came out,
0:22:00I wasn't sure if that was the watch for me.
0:22:03Like it seemed super large, you know,
0:22:05like from the imagery and stuff.
0:22:06And I decided I just wasn't gonna look at one.
0:22:08Like just don't go to the store, don't look at it.
0:22:10(laughing)
0:22:11Don't worry about it.
0:22:12- Ah, the classic, if you don't want a dog,
0:22:15don't visit the pound, right?
0:22:16- Yep, I avoided Apple stores for months.
0:22:19And then when I was in LA in January,
0:22:22we was hanging out with our friend,
0:22:23David Sparks from MacPow users.
0:22:25And he just said, "Give me a wrist."
0:22:27And he just put his watch on my wrist.
0:22:29(laughing)
0:22:30And then I knew I wanted an Apple Watch Ultra.
0:22:33- Yeah.
0:22:33- But I just decided that I would wait.
0:22:36'Cause I would also like it
0:22:38if maybe they had some color options.
0:22:40I like the silver, but I would like to maybe make a choice
0:22:44rather than it being the only one.
0:22:46I like the design of the Apple Watch Ultra.
0:22:48That's the biggest thing for me.
0:22:50Because my main problem with the Apple Watch
0:22:52is the Apple Watch has looked essentially the same forever.
0:22:56- It's interesting you mentioned that
0:22:57because I mean, for me with the Ultra,
0:22:59the thing would be, I just want a bigger screen.
0:23:01Like that's my number one feature request.
0:23:03But even for me, a dramatically unfashioned sensitive person
0:23:09who likes things consistent and the same in my life,
0:23:13I have felt like the Apple Watch has gone over
0:23:16some kind of threshold where I could die of boredom looking at it.
0:23:20- Yes.
0:23:20- And like, I am so unsensitive to this.
0:23:23But I think like, if I am feeling this way,
0:23:26there has to be just monstrous pent-up demand
0:23:30for any kind of design change.
0:23:32- Which I think is probably why the Ultra did quite well.
0:23:34I think it's done quite well.
0:23:35I see them quite a lot.
0:23:37And I think it's because it has a new design.
0:23:39I mean, you see this all the time.
0:23:40Every time Apple releases an iPhone with a big new design,
0:23:42it always sells the best, right?
0:23:44Just makes sense.
0:23:44People want new.
0:23:45And like, it's why I wear the gold Apple Watch,
0:23:49because I just think it looks different.
0:23:51Like it's just, at least it's got something to it.
0:23:54But I'm really fed up of the like rounded corner design.
0:23:58The Ultra is interesting to me because it's like boxy.
0:24:01It's got something that it looks visibly different.
0:24:04So that's exciting to me.
0:24:05I'm going to wait for the next upgrade cycle.
0:24:07I'm hoping that they will revise it in some way this year.
0:24:10They probably will because it was such a hit maybe.
0:24:12So they'll do another one.
0:24:13And I would love it if they had some different colors.
0:24:16The rumors are that the next iPhone will have a titanium frame,
0:24:20so they will be coloring that.
0:24:22So my hope is there will be some color options for the Ultra too.
0:24:25Ooh, that'd be nice.
0:24:26What wallet do you use?
0:24:28Logic would dictate that you're using the Peak Design wallet or whatever.
0:24:32Well, so no, I'm using something else that has just as long of a name.
0:24:38The Kaks Gek pop-up card holder wallet with money clip.
0:24:44RFID blocking, six card capacity.
0:24:47So I was looking for a wallet.
0:24:53Does this have an AirTag holder?
0:24:55So this is it, right?
0:24:56Okay, so AirTags are one of these things that have just-
0:25:01As soon as I had a few of them, it's like, I want an AirTag
0:25:05in everything important that I can own, that I can lose.
0:25:09If we were gonna pick a winner for State of the Hardware,
0:25:12you know, like how you have your unofficial app pick in State of the App?
0:25:17I don't do that.
0:25:17Which you don't do, you definitely don't do.
0:25:19I think it would be fair to say that just like,
0:25:21if you take one thing away from this conversation today,
0:25:24it's like AirTags are awesome.
0:25:25If you have an iPhone, you should have AirTags on your luggage, on your keys.
0:25:30Everything.
0:25:31They're excellent.
0:25:31It's an excellent product.
0:25:33The only thing that kind of kills me about them is,
0:25:35it sounds strange for how small they are,
0:25:38they are a little bulky and I think that the shape is awkward.
0:25:42I would just want them to even-
0:25:44Just put in like the tiniest hole so that you don't have to have a case
0:25:49that's always holding the things, but even that aside, they're amazing.
0:25:53Here's what I'll say on the size and the design.
0:25:56I agree with you, they're a little big,
0:25:57but I would take that and have replaceable batteries
0:26:03rather than giving Apple like £29 every time the battery runs out.
0:26:08Which, when they were in design, it's like people were like,
0:26:11"This is going to be the way that it is, right?
0:26:13They're going to have like a battery life and then you'll have to buy a new one."
0:26:16But like, I just replaced the batteries on all of mine
0:26:19and I bought like 20 batteries for £5.
0:26:21So it's like, I wish that they were a bit smaller,
0:26:26but I will take that because I can replace the battery in them.
0:26:29Yeah, I think it's an interesting trade-off.
0:26:32Ideally, I'd love it like a wireless charging, right?
0:26:34Like, use the Apple Watch charger for something else, right?
0:26:38Like, can you have a tiny little wireless charging thing in there?
0:26:41Then it would still need to be as physically large as the charger would allow.
0:26:45But anyway.
0:26:46To be clear, this is the most minor of complaints
0:26:49because the quality of life improvement for putting air tags on as many things as you can
0:26:57is insane.
0:26:58It's like, just completely changes the way I interact with objects.
0:27:02And once I started down this path, I was like,
0:27:04"One of the very high things for me to have an air tag on is my wallet."
0:27:11And I ordered like every wallet on Amazon that had any kind of air tag holder.
0:27:17And this for me was the clearest winner by a huge margin.
0:27:23I love this little wallet.
0:27:24Like, I'm pretty minimal with my wallet.
0:27:25I don't have very many cards.
0:27:28This is just the right size for holding a few cards and holding a few bills.
0:27:33And then you're all set.
0:27:34But somehow the engineering of the way they make the air tag fit into the wallet,
0:27:42it is the most minimal an air tag can possibly feel on a wallet.
0:27:46They put it in backwards so it's the metal side out,
0:27:50and they carved out a little space in the physical wall of the wallet to take most of the bulk.
0:27:55It's fantastic.
0:27:56I love this wallet so much.
0:27:58It's great.
0:27:59I also just love kind of like the sturdiness of it.
0:28:01It just feels good as an object to hold.
0:28:04So highly recommended.
0:28:06I want to make a recommendation.
0:28:07Now this isn't for a wallet,
0:28:09but this is for something where if you don't want an air tag in your wallet.
0:28:13I have not used this product, but the theory of it is sound.
0:28:17It's called the Chipolo card.
0:28:20So this is effectively a card size, like a credit card size,
0:28:25probably like the thickness of two credit cards, but the shape of a credit card.
0:28:28Tracking device that works with the Find My network.
0:28:33So Apple also made the ability for the Find My tracking to be available to third parties.
0:28:41And Chipolo is a company that works with Apple.
0:28:45And this card will do most of what you need, but the basic thing is like
0:28:50can connect to iPhones for Bluetooth tracking, right?
0:28:55Like that's the whole thing.
0:28:56Okay, so it's a pseudo credit card.
0:28:58That is the Find My object.
0:29:00Oh, interesting.
0:29:01Yeah.
0:29:01Just in case you don't want to have a wallet which has an air tag stuck to the side of it.
0:29:05Like, and I don't like the visual of that.
0:29:07Neither would I like that in my back pocket, right?
0:29:09Like, I just think that would be uncomfortable.
0:29:11Oh yeah.
0:29:11If you put the wallet in your back pocket, this is not going to work.
0:29:14Yeah, that makes sense.
0:29:16But this might work, right?
0:29:17And like Chipolo is also one of the companies that makes like air tag competitors.
0:29:21And theirs is about the same price, but is a different physical shape.
0:29:25And they don't have the exact same feature set, but it might be the features that you want.
0:29:29And I think the main one, like, you know, they can have them make sounds and stuff like that.
0:29:34But the main thing for me about the Find My stuff is that it connects to the Find My network,
0:29:40which is basically any iPhone in the world.
0:29:43Yes.
0:29:43It can help you locate your thing.
0:29:45And that's what these products can do too.
0:29:47Okay. But for me also, the critical thing is, does it do the thing where your phone can point
0:29:53in the direction of the object?
0:29:54No.
0:29:55Okay. Well then that's like a deal breaker for me.
0:29:57I understand that, right?
0:29:58It doesn't have the precision finding.
0:30:00And that's like a thing that air tags have.
0:30:02And if you have a modern iPhone can do that part.
0:30:06This part, I don't believe they have opened up to other people.
0:30:09But this is like maybe as good as you can get.
0:30:13A Bluetooth tracker is something that has the Find My network in it.
0:30:17And also Google's doing it now.
0:30:18And actually as we're recording this, like Google and Apple are working together on some
0:30:22of this stuff now too.
0:30:23So it might get a bit better.
0:30:24Interesting. Okay.
0:30:26I need the, it points to where your thing is.
0:30:29Like that is surprisingly to me, the feature that really makes these trackers different.
0:30:35Like I've used a lot of trackers over the years and I've always found them useful.
0:30:39But the ability to point and be like, it's six feet to your left is killer.
0:30:46Like it makes such a difference.
0:30:48I love that they put that into the AirPods Pro 2 as well.
0:30:51The U1 finding.
0:30:52Like that's, I've never used that precision finding for AirTag before, but I've used it
0:30:58a couple of times for my AirPods.
0:30:59Yeah.
0:31:00The AirPods is another one of my everyday carry things.
0:31:02And the moment they had the, it's part of Find My and you can point to it as like sold.
0:31:06I need no other features except from that.
0:31:08Like immediate purchase.
0:31:10Although for me, the big thing is just how much better the noise canceling and transparency
0:31:14became and, but my biggest thing is the volume adjustment.
0:31:17I thought I wouldn't like that, but the ability to adjust volume with the AirPods Pro 2.
0:31:21Fantastic.
0:31:22Yeah.
0:31:23I use it all the time.
0:31:24Really good.
0:31:24My wallet is the Bellroy card sleeve.
0:31:28Oh, right.
0:31:30Classic.
0:31:30Is this, yeah, this is a classic.
0:31:32I think this is the one I used to use or something similar to it.
0:31:35I think a lot of people have had this product across their desk at some point.
0:31:39Like it's just simple.
0:31:40This is a good one.
0:31:41Yeah.
0:31:42I don't carry cash.
0:31:43You can put a little cash in there, but I don't really like cash in general.
0:31:46This is just like put a couple of cards in the middle and a couple of cards on the outside.
0:31:52And so like for me, it's like, I'll put my credit card and like two debit cards in the inside.
0:31:57My driving license on the outside.
0:32:00And if I have like a hotel room key or something, it'll go on the other side.
0:32:03Like nice and simple, very slim for me.
0:32:06I do, you know, I, I know you shouldn't, but I put my wallet in my back pocket.
0:32:10So I like it to be as slim as possible.
0:32:12And this for me is something which is super slim, but also stylish.
0:32:15It has that system where to get to the cards on the inside, you pull this little tab.
0:32:20Yes.
0:32:20And it just pops the cards out.
0:32:21That was always nice.
0:32:22Yeah.
0:32:22Yeah.
0:32:23Very simple.
0:32:24And I've always really liked this.
0:32:26I've I'm onto like my third of these.
0:32:29One I lost and one just got worn down.
0:32:33And so like, this is my wallet.
0:32:34I will buy this wallet for as long as Bellroy make it.
0:32:37Yeah.
0:32:37And when I, when I had that one, I had the, it was like the brown leather one, I think.
0:32:41That's what I have.
0:32:42And I also really liked the way it looked as it aged.
0:32:45Yeah.
0:32:45Like some, like some, some materials just look nice as they pick up little scuffs.
0:32:49And I thought like, Ooh, this, this wallet looks fantastic.
0:32:52The longer I have it.
0:32:53It also gets stretched a little bit in the right way, you know, like stretches to conform
0:32:57to what you have in there.
0:32:58And yeah, I'm a, I'm a big fan of this product.
0:33:00For anyone who's listening to this right now, you're probably picky about products.
0:33:04And one of the, I think one of the things that you realize is that a big part of trying
0:33:13to find products you like is really about trying to find companies that you like because
0:33:19they have designers that are like matching whatever it is you're looking for in stuff.
0:33:24And I feel like, Ooh, Peak Design is one of those companies for me.
0:33:27Like they have a lot of stuff that I like and use.
0:33:29And Bellroy was another one of these companies of like, when I found it, like, Oh, great.
0:33:33Like you make a bunch of stuff that's like hitting my needs of what I'm looking for.
0:33:38So yeah, it's, it's, uh, I feel like product recommendations are often implicitly recommendations
0:33:44of check out the other things that this company makes.
0:33:48If you like this one thing in, in a way that I think I was less aware of this, just like
0:33:53when you're looking for stuff on Amazon, it's like, yeah, but you're also trying to find
0:33:57companies with designers that make things that you like.
0:34:00Yeah. Spoiler alert, I'm going to mention Bellroy about four more times.
0:34:04Okay. Well, there we go.
0:34:06And just to round out like AirTags, I have an AirTag on my keys and I, I actually really
0:34:13like Apple's AirTag, their leather AirTag key ring.
0:34:16I think, I think it's really nice.
0:34:18And I think with a engraved, you know, get like the engraving on AirTags.
0:34:22Like I have an AirTag engraved with my initials and then in the key ring, I think it makes
0:34:28it look just like a nice key ring, like, so could I have AirTag on the keys?
0:34:33We do the same thing in the house of like both my wife and I, we just like picked an
0:34:36emoji and it's like, this is the emoji for all of your things.
0:34:39This is the emoji for all of my things.
0:34:40And again, that's a thing where when Apple first rolled out that engraving, I kind of
0:34:45thought it was like an upsell gimmick and it completely changed my mind on it.
0:34:49It was like, no, this is very important.
0:34:51Like, and we now do that emoji engraving on basically all of the stuff like Apple pencils
0:34:56too, because some unnamed person in the house is constantly losing her pencils and trying
0:35:03to take mine.
0:35:04And so we, we have a record of like officially, but who lost their pencil and who kept their
0:35:10pencil with the little emojis on it?
0:35:12I wish they would do a more emoji, that every emoji should be available in my opinion.
0:35:17Oh, are they not?
0:35:17Is it just a limited selection?
0:35:18I didn't realize that.
0:35:19Limited set of emoji and it is actually free.
0:35:22Oh, is it?
0:35:23I thought it wasn't.
0:35:23Oh, okay.
0:35:24Huh.
0:35:25Am I crazy?
0:35:25Did it used to be an upsell?
0:35:27I don't remember.
0:35:27I mean, what it does do is, you know, if you're buying something when it's like just released,
0:35:32it will take longer to come through.
0:35:34Cause it comes from a different place.
0:35:35Okay.
0:35:36Well, my apologies, Apple.
0:35:37I take it back.
0:35:38You're not trying to upsell.
0:35:39You don't need to apologize to Apple.
0:35:40It's fine.
0:35:40They're going to be okay.
0:35:41I was really going to hurt sales there with people to upsell.
0:35:45It's like, everyone's like, you know, so many people just put air tags in their cart and
0:35:49then remove them.
0:35:49Anything else in EDC?
0:35:53Oh, you know what?
0:35:54Hold on a second.
0:35:55Okay.
0:35:55I've got something, I've got something else that's like EDC adjacent.
0:35:59Let me see if I can just find it.
0:36:00Hold on a second.
0:36:01All right.
0:36:01The product name isn't written on here, but it doesn't matter because it's the concept
0:36:06of the thing.
0:36:07Right?
0:36:08So I was trying to think about like everyday carry stuff.
0:36:10Like we've covered the everyday carry stuff because I try to go real light.
0:36:14But there is sort of another everyday carry item, which is my belt.
0:36:19And at some point I discovered that they make belts that don't have notches.
0:36:25They have a ratchet mechanism.
0:36:27So I'm going to do this in front of the microphone.
0:36:28Okay.
0:36:31So it's a belt that has like little notches on the inside of the belt.
0:36:36And then the buckle is like a one-way ratchet to attach to those.
0:36:43Love it.
0:36:44It's so much nicer than a traditional belt because you can always make it fit
0:36:49exactly right.
0:36:51And I feel like this does count as an everyday carry item because I have it on me every day
0:36:56as the final thing.
0:36:58This is interesting.
0:36:59I'm on Amazon right now and like they make this kind of belt that look like regular belts.
0:37:05Yeah.
0:37:05So no one would ever know that it's not a regular belt.
0:37:08Yes.
0:37:08Here we go.
0:37:09Okay.
0:37:09I found the one that I really like is called Flintronic.
0:37:14Oh, I see it here.
0:37:15Yeah.
0:37:16So that's the one that I've got and you can get it in like any different color.
0:37:19Yeah.
0:37:19With different belt buckle styles.
0:37:21No one would ever know.
0:37:22Like it's not a weird looking belt.
0:37:24I think when I just describe it, people kind of think it's the Velcro shoes of belts.
0:37:29You know, I was thinking it's like putting laces on Velcro shoes.
0:37:33Yeah.
0:37:36So I really like it.
0:37:37It's just a small increase in comfort for, oh, your belt always fits exactly right every day.
0:37:44So I'm going to, I'm going to have that as my last everyday carry recommendation.
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0:40:06Alright, let's move into our work devices.
0:40:09Okay, work stuff.
0:40:11So we should start with computers.
0:40:12Yes.
0:40:13I'm assuming like me, you have what you would consider like a desktop and a laptop.
0:40:20Don't make assumptions about me, Mike.
0:40:22Tell me what you have then.
0:40:23So I have a desktop and I have a laptop.
0:40:25Okay, that makes sense.
0:40:26Yeah, yeah.
0:40:26Well, okay.
0:40:27So look, just like with the phones, I also made the decision a little while ago of like,
0:40:34I'm only buying laptops from here on out.
0:40:37So I am talking to you on a desktop, but this is like a legacy desktop, right?
0:40:42This is my "writing computer" iMac Pro, which is the last desktop computer I have
0:40:50or ever will purchase.
0:40:51And it is now my last Intel computer as well, which is like increasingly annoying every
0:40:56day.
0:40:57But I just made the decision of like, I'm just getting laptops from here on out.
0:41:00Apple has finally solved the external display annoyances, which were always a hesitation
0:41:05for years, like they've fixed that.
0:41:07What a funny coincidence that they did that after they started making displays.
0:41:11I'm sure that's completely unrelated, but yeah, so I'm just sticking with laptops
0:41:15from here on out because I like the modularity of being able to like swap them around or
0:41:19do different things with them.
0:41:20Yeah.
0:41:20Are you still working on that gold iMac that you got or like what's your setup?
0:41:24So the gold iMac is sitting in a box and that is going to go home at some point.
0:41:31I'm going to make that a home computer for me.
0:41:33My quote unquote desktop is a MacBook Pro.
0:41:36Okay.
0:41:38So I have a 14 inch M1 Max MacBook Pro that is in a docked position.
0:41:43It's in one of those 12 South Book Art stands.
0:41:46I've got the same one.
0:41:48Yep.
0:41:48That's great.
0:41:49It's attached to an OWC Thunderbolt dock, which I have just for all of my various IO
0:41:55for all of my audio gear and stuff.
0:41:57And then two monitors that I have.
0:42:00So I have a Dell monitor and an LG monitor.
0:42:03These were both monitors that I had while I was waiting for Apple to produce the studio
0:42:08display.
0:42:09And so one day I will replace these monitors, but now I'm kind of waiting to see if there's
0:42:14a new monitor from Apple.
0:42:16I would like a pro monitor.
0:42:20Like I would like a monitor that has promotion.
0:42:23I would like a monitor that's maybe mini mini led and I think they will make it.
0:42:27And so I'm probably just going to wait until they make something, which is not the pro
0:42:30display XDR.
0:42:31Oh, okay.
0:42:32So you're looking for a monitor that sits in between studio display pro or something,
0:42:36which I'm very convinced they will make, but it might just be a case of me waiting.
0:42:40But like these two are good for me.
0:42:41And I moved to the two display lifestyle at one point.
0:42:44It was like an experiment and for my recording machine, which is what I consider to be my
0:42:48desktop computer.
0:42:49So I record and edit my podcasts on.
0:42:52I have one monitor in landscape and one monitor in portrait and the portrait monitor always
0:42:58has my recording app and my video or audio calling app on it.
0:43:04Right.
0:43:04So I can just look at them and always see that the counters are running and all that
0:43:08kind of stuff.
0:43:09So, and then that's just over there and I can't do anything to it.
0:43:12And then everything else that I'm doing will be on the main display.
0:43:15And so I'm, I'm happy with that set up.
0:43:17And whenever I do change, I would probably always keep a second monitor around.
0:43:23But that 14 inch MacBook pro was my laptop until Apple released the 13 inch M2 MacBook
0:43:31Air, which is my laptop and is my favorite Mac ever made.
0:43:36It is the most perfect blend of power and portability that I've ever experienced.
0:43:42And like, I was very happy with my Mac Pro and I saw the MacBook Air, like Apple sent
0:43:47me one for review and I was like, well, I put this in my backpack and I don't even know
0:43:51it's in there.
0:43:52It's like perfect.
0:43:53Cause I do take a laptop home and to the studio every day.
0:43:57Like I do that.
0:43:57And the MacBook Air is usually docked on the second desk that I use, which is when I'm
0:44:03not recording or editing, I don't sit at the desk that I'm on.
0:44:06It's like surrounded by kind of like you read like a lot of audio stuff.
0:44:10Like I have curtains, acoustic curtains, and I don't like, I feel like I'm shut in this
0:44:14little cave rather than out in the studio.
0:44:17So I sit at a different desk.
0:44:18You've got a cozy recording space.
0:44:20Exactly, which is best for audio, but it's not necessarily conducive to a comfortable
0:44:25all day working environment when I'm like prepping for shows, doing emails, doing Quotx
0:44:30brand work and stuff like that.
0:44:31And I have a bigger desk for that.
0:44:32That MacBook Air when I'm at that desk is plugged into a Apple studio display and I'm
0:44:39very happy with that.
0:44:40So that's kind of like my lineup.
0:44:42And then, you know, that laptop will go with me when I'm at home, any trip that I take,
0:44:47I will just take the MacBook Air and it's perfectly suited for anything I throw at it.
0:44:51Yeah, I have a confession to make, which is that you showed me that MacBook Air.
0:44:57It was the first time I had ever seen one and I was sold on it immediately.
0:45:03I knew you were going to buy one when I saw the way you turned it over in your hands.
0:45:07It's just, uh, it's like, man, sometimes they make just a perfect balance of things.
0:45:13And that was, that was it.
0:45:15I was so impressed with that computer just in person.
0:45:18And I did happen to have this place in my life where I did kind of need a new computer
0:45:24because in my basement writing area, I had a computer.
0:45:29Okay.
0:45:31I don't even know how this computer, uh, this laptop had stuck with me all these years.
0:45:35I was like, Oh, I need, I am.
0:45:36I want to set up my basement office.
0:45:38I need to find a spare laptop and I have like some ones that are just broken.
0:45:42Like they literally don't turn on, but the only laptop I had that still worked was so
0:45:49old, it had the UK style keyboard on it, which meant, Oh, this was around at the point when
0:45:56I was still transitioning out of like working as a teacher because I had to use the UK keyboards
0:46:02and I like readjusted myself to just use them everywhere.
0:46:05So it's like, I don't even know how old that computer was, but I was like, okay, into the
0:46:09basement you go, cause I just need you as a writing computer down there, but it was fine.
0:46:15But even for the task of just typing in a text file while running an external display, that
0:46:20computer was having some problems.
0:46:22And the moment I saw that MacBook Air, I think my very first question to you was about like,
0:46:27does it run external displays well, Mike?
0:46:28And you're like, it does.
0:46:29Mentally sold.
0:46:31So I got one of those things as well.
0:46:33And boy, it has been great for just like a couple of little like overnight trips that
0:46:39we've done, like to be able to take that instead of the regular, like MacBook Pro is so nice.
0:46:46I agree with you.
0:46:46It's basically a perfect laptop.
0:46:48I'm still really happy to have the MacBook Pro as the quote desktop computer to do stuff
0:46:53like video renders, but that MacBook Air is going to be like, okay, you live in the basement.
0:46:59You are most of the time just a writing computer connected to an external display.
0:47:04But if I've ever got to travel anywhere, like that is the laptop that is coming with me.
0:47:08No questions asked.
0:47:09It is so good.
0:47:10I hope they keep that form factor forever.
0:47:13I can't imagine changing it now.
0:47:15Like this feels like the laptop that was born out of Apple Silicon.
0:47:19You know, if you think about it, they tried to do something similar to this, the MacBook,
0:47:25the 12-inch MacBook, and it was compromised.
0:47:27Yeah, that's true.
0:47:28So many ways and in a way that this one just isn't.
0:47:31And I think it's because they can control the whole power consumption piece and the
0:47:36battery life and everything because they have more control over the silicon that's going
0:47:40in it, total control.
0:47:41So I think this is the laptop that was born out of that.
0:47:44Yeah, I think my mental framing of it is more like, this is the platonic ideal of what the
0:47:50MacBook Air was always supposed to be.
0:47:52As someone who purchased and massively regretted that very first MacBook Air, I was like, this
0:47:58is what I always wanted it to be.
0:48:00And they knocked it out of the park with that one.
0:48:02As audio professionals, we have audio gear.
0:48:07We do.
0:48:07I'm not going to run through every single piece that I own, but I think the three most
0:48:13important parts for me are my microphone, my audio interface and my headphones.
0:48:17These three items that I am going to suggest, these are not recommendations for the listener
0:48:24to buy.
0:48:24These are what I use as a professional.
0:48:28My microphone is the Neumann KMS 105.
0:48:32I love this microphone because it does the best job of making me sound like me, which
0:48:39when you edit yourself hours and hours of yourself, I find that to be more acceptable.
0:48:46When I hear myself through his microphone, it sounds like how my voice sounds.
0:48:50Where other microphones I've used may make me sound too bassy.
0:48:53And I don't like that sound.
0:48:55But the Neumann does a good job.
0:48:57It is an XLR microphone.
0:48:59It doesn't plug in via USB-C.
0:49:01So I have to have an interface to turn that analog signal into a digital one.
0:49:05And I use a product called the Sound Devices USB Pre 2.
0:49:08What I like about this is it is a very customizable piece of equipment, but all of the customization
0:49:16is done on the equipment.
0:49:17There's no software.
0:49:18That's really good for me because I've owned this thing now for probably near, I've owned
0:49:25this thing for 10 years.
0:49:26And I don't intend to ever buy another one of them.
0:49:30It will keep working until it breaks and no software is going to outdate it.
0:49:34And my headphones are the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro.
0:49:39For me, it's not about audio quality.
0:49:43Like lots of people talk about the audio quality of these headphones.
0:49:46That's not so important to me.
0:49:47These are very comfortable.
0:49:49Oh, okay.
0:49:50Yeah, I'm looking at them.
0:49:51They look extremely padded.
0:49:55Yes, they're very padded.
0:49:56That's the most important part to me because like on days like today, I will wear these
0:50:01headphones for like four or five hours without a break.
0:50:05So I want something that is really comfortable.
0:50:08It doesn't press on my head too much.
0:50:09They're very soft.
0:50:11They also have a coiled cable, which is helpful for getting out of the way of stuff.
0:50:15Yeah, coiled cables are nice.
0:50:18This is one of those cases where I kind of feel like I have sort of general principles
0:50:23around stuff.
0:50:25I'm generally trying to do like fewer things but better things.
0:50:29But the fewer is more important.
0:50:32And this is one of these cases where I'm just using the Apple Studio headphones.
0:50:37The AirPods Pro Max.
0:50:39Yeah, the AirPods Max.
0:50:41The AirPods Pro Max Studio.
0:50:44Right, ultra overhead headphones.
0:50:47Metal Edition, I think is the full name for them.
0:50:50Because this is just one of these areas of like, I just don't want to have multiple
0:50:54sets of headphones around.
0:50:56Like I already have the little AirPods and I have an overhead set.
0:51:00And this is a case of like, I'd rather have fewer things.
0:51:03So I'll take the headphones that have some compromises like the Apple head over your
0:51:07headphones.
0:51:08They're obviously not amazing for podcasting, but they're fine for podcasting.
0:51:13And I'd rather just have fewer things in this one case.
0:51:17That's what I'm using.
0:51:18I like them.
0:51:18I would never really recommend them for any kind of professional as a podcasting headphones.
0:51:24But I do think they're overall like pretty good over your headphones.
0:51:27But they do lose out on comfort over a long period of time.
0:51:32Like I just can't wear them all day.
0:51:35And it would be my number one request for Apple if and when they ever revise these things.
0:51:40It's like, you've got to make them lighter Apple.
0:51:43I don't know why they have to be so heavy.
0:51:46Yeah, they are really truly excellent airplane headphones.
0:51:51Yes.
0:51:53They are- I do not like them for podcast recording headphones.
0:51:56Yeah.
0:51:57I think you've used them while traveling or have you changed your mind on that?
0:52:01No, I- when I travel and record, I will use them.
0:52:04Because it just means I don't have to bring two pairs of headphones on a trip.
0:52:08Because I will want them in my bag for when I listen to things on planes.
0:52:13I don't really want to have like a second set of headphones in my luggage.
0:52:17So I will use them for that.
0:52:19And so we'll have two of the world's most expensive cable just like hanging around.
0:52:25That's also a thing where one of my other little principles with like stuff in your life is try
0:52:33to pay attention to like things you use frequently or like small little annoyances.
0:52:39I think people really underrate the increase in quality of life of like,
0:52:44can you spend some money to fix in an everyday annoyance or like a high touch annoyance?
0:52:51Like if you have some like light switch that you press every single day and it's not good,
0:52:56like just, you know, go on YouTube and look into like how to change that.
0:53:00It's totally worth doing those kinds of things.
0:53:02I think people underrate how valuable it is to get rid of small annoyances.
0:53:07And I just realized today while we were preparing for this show,
0:53:11oh, I have a frequent annoyance, which is around the world's most expensive cable
0:53:17to connect the Apple headphones to my audio interface, which is it's just a little too short.
0:53:24And so it's always trailing over my keyboard and being slightly in the way.
0:53:29And it's like, ah, right.
0:53:31Pay attention to the things that annoy you in life.
0:53:33For $3, I can buy a coiled extension cable for the headphone to plug that into.
0:53:40And it's like, yes, I will do that.
0:53:42I will fix this like tiny annoyance in my life that is there every time I'm recording a podcast
0:53:47or recording audio for a video.
0:53:50Just try to keep those things in mind.
0:53:51But to round out my own audio equipment, I have the Shure SM58 microphone.
0:53:57Why?
0:53:59I cannot remember at all.
0:54:00I just have this one now.
0:54:02I like it.
0:54:03And I know your favorite is that for my audio interface, I'm using the Zoom F6
0:54:10multi-track field recorder, which I really like and is entirely appropriate to task.
0:54:16Highly recommend it.
0:54:17Super recommended for people that use boom mics in the field to get their 32-bit float recording.
0:54:25Yep.
0:54:25Yep.
0:54:26It's great.
0:54:26As it says on the website for those hard to reach places.
0:54:31Yes, specifically designed for outdoor use and has six XLR inputs, which I only ever use one.
0:54:39It's going to be super good when the apocalypse comes and your
0:54:43sound recorder will still be left behind.
0:54:45Yeah, it has a loop attachment for my belt so I can use it very easily with my ratchet belt.
0:54:51Turns out this is part of the everyday carry.
0:54:59We didn't even know.
0:55:01Didn't even know.
0:55:02What's he doing in this segment?
0:55:03I mean, I know you make fun of me for using this thing.
0:55:05I genuinely really do like it.
0:55:07It has a little knob right on the front front so I can adjust my audio input.
0:55:11I can like, it just, I don't know.
0:55:12It has the buttons, physical buttons for the couple of things that I want to use.
0:55:16No, I agree with all that.
0:55:17Like I feel that way about my USB pre 2.
0:55:20There are many products that exist that are not as extreme as the one that you have that
0:55:26would give you those things, but like of all of the things in your audio environment that
0:55:31calls me problems, that is maybe the fewest now.
0:55:34Yeah.
0:55:34And it's also for the same reason with yours of there's zero software component, right?
0:55:39It's just like a couple of buttons.
0:55:40I'm a big fan of Zoom.
0:55:42Like Zoom now make a product which is more focused around podcasting.
0:55:49Steven has one and I've been meaning to look into getting like I have a, uh, the Zoom H6,
0:55:56which is what I take with me when I'm on the go, right?
0:55:59It is my like field recorder, I suppose like my actual travel recording device.
0:56:05Like I don't take my USB pre, uh, when I, cause that's, I would worry to break that.
0:56:10And I've had a Zoom forever and this is what they're so good at.
0:56:13Like is making products to be taken out into the world.
0:56:16It is called the Podtrack P4. They actually now have a few products in this area and it
0:56:24is just built a little bit more in the mind of podcast recording than what they usually do,
0:56:31which is like music and TV production and that kind of stuff.
0:56:35And just has a few really interesting features that, uh, just look really cool.
0:56:39I think one of the things it does is it will allow you to record to an SD card at the same
0:56:46time as using the USB.
0:56:47Ooh, I could be immediately sold on that if that is a feature.
0:56:51Yeah.
0:56:51Okay.
0:56:52So that was one of the things that I really liked about this product compared to some
0:56:57of the other stuff that exists is that you can do both.
0:57:00My field recorder does do dual recording, but only when it's being used as a field recorder,
0:57:06not when it's being used as a USB interface.
0:57:08So, okay.
0:57:09I could totally be sold on switching out to the Podtrack P4 if that feature works as described.
0:57:14Yeah.
0:57:14Yeah, that would be great.
0:57:16I'm a man who believes in the excessive input devices to computers.
0:57:20Oh, okay.
0:57:21My desk is covered with input devices.
0:57:23Sitting in front of me, I have a mouse, a trackpad, a keyboard, and a drawing tablet.
0:57:28Oh, the full suite.
0:57:29I have the full compliment and I want to make my recommendations for each.
0:57:33You just need a foot switch.
0:57:34I have that now.
0:57:35The stream deck foot switch thing.
0:57:37Have you seen that?
0:57:38No, I was just making a joke, but okay.
0:57:40Yeah, I have one.
0:57:41You know, you know the stream deck, the thing that you press the little buttons?
0:57:44Yeah, I see people use this.
0:57:46It's one of those things I've never quite felt like there's a place for this in my life,
0:57:51but I get the idea of it.
0:57:52But they make a stream deck pedal so you can, I don't know, run some shortcuts.
0:57:58What they have it for is for like streamers to be able to hit the mute or whatever.
0:58:03Okay, so it's a giant mute button.
0:58:05All right, that makes sense.
0:58:06But you can use it for a bunch of different things.
0:58:07But it's like a bunch of switches on the floor that I'm activating with my feet is just,
0:58:13sounds like trouble.
0:58:13Yeah, it's just three.
0:58:14But hey, like maybe to change scene or something, you know, like you're gaming,
0:58:18you're in like a big gaming moment and you want to hit the button.
0:58:21Make sure that you're, I don't know.
0:58:24Don't break flow.
0:58:25Exactly.
0:58:25So my recommendation for drawing tablet is the same as it's been forever,
0:58:31which is the Wacom Intuos Pro trackpad, Magic Trackpad.
0:58:35I mean, of course, like why would I use anything else as the trackpad?
0:58:38And I use this as mostly a secondary input device to my mouse.
0:58:42So I use this for panning, zooming, scrolling.
0:58:45This is really good for audio editing.
0:58:47So like a lot of the time I will be, so this is how I have it.
0:58:50I have my trackpad on the right, my drawing tablet on the left,
0:58:53because I am cross dominant.
0:58:56So I'll be doing like fine edits in Logic with the drawing tablet
0:59:01and then zooming and panning around the trackpad.
0:59:03And so like I'm using both hands.
0:59:05That's really good.
0:59:06I also use keyboard commands too, but like I like to have that kind of complement when
0:59:10I'm editing.
0:59:10So I'm like in it.
0:59:12But for most of my kind of just general usage, I use a Logitech mouse.
0:59:17I use the MX Master 3S.
0:59:20So the MX Master 3 has been around forever.
0:59:23It's my favorite mouse.
0:59:24It's very comfortable.
0:59:25It's got all the features that I like, but they recently added the 3S, which has a silent
0:59:31click.
0:59:32I just want to say you recommended this to me, I think on Mortex or I don't know when.
0:59:36I bought that.
0:59:37I am so happy you recommended that to me.
0:59:40I have the MX Master 3 in my office, which love that mouse so good.
0:59:46I really like the ability to like it has a horizontal scroll wheel next to your thumb.
0:59:51And to me, that is that is the killer feature for doing the kind of stuff that you're talking
0:59:56about doing with the trackpad.
0:59:57Like the ability to horizontally scroll and vertically scroll and do like zoom in and
1:00:01zoom out stuff with modifiers is amazing.
1:00:04But I was so happy that you told me about that silent version because when I'm on the
1:00:09couch, just like, you know, watching TV with my wife halfheartedly as I'm also doing something
1:00:15on the computer.
1:00:15I just hated having something making like click, click, click, click, click noises as
1:00:20we're watching TV.
1:00:21The new like 3S version, the silent version of that mouse.
1:00:25I can't believe how silent it is while also still feeling satisfying to click.
1:00:32That's the important part.
1:00:34Yes, that's that's the killer part that I wasn't expecting is like I've used quiet
1:00:38things before, but they've always felt mushy and terrible to use.
1:00:43But this one is still satisfying to click.
1:00:45I was like, oh, this is great.
1:00:46This is amazing.
1:00:47I use a lot of silent products for my recording environment, right?
1:00:51So like my keyboard has silent switches in and they are good, but they don't feel as
1:00:55good as the louder ones that I use.
1:00:57But this one, it's like I actually prefer the click feel of the S to the regular MX
1:01:03Master 3.
1:01:05Yeah, I could conceivably switch over to that just entirely on my main desk.
1:01:10I still have one of the regular MX Masters, but if I had to buy another one, I think I
1:01:13actually would prefer the silent version.
1:01:15It's like it's very satisfying to use in a way that I just would not have expected
1:01:19at all.
1:01:20Keyboards.
1:01:21All right, so I get the impression, Mike, that you're quite experienced with keyboards.
1:01:26So, you know, for me, I'm just a Keychron guy.
1:01:32I've just like bought the same kind of model keyboard for forever.
1:01:35But so I don't have the vast experience that you do with keyboards.
1:01:41What are your thoughts here, Mike?
1:01:42My favorite brand is a company called Mode.
1:01:45Okay.
1:01:46Their keyboard, the Mode Sonnet, is my favorite keyboard.
1:01:50Absolutely.
1:01:52Bar none.
1:01:52It feels great to use.
1:01:54It was pleasant to build.
1:01:55Oh, you built this one.
1:01:56Okay.
1:01:57Yeah, it's a 75%.
1:01:58And so what I like about that, because I have lots of various fun keycap styles, right?
1:02:04Like different designs.
1:02:05A 75% will allow me to show off the majority of a keycap set.
1:02:09So like I like that.
1:02:11And but it's compact.
1:02:13Like I like the what's called a TKL where it's like bigger.
1:02:16But the 75% is like the nice middle point.
1:02:19So I like that kind of key layout.
1:02:21It's got enough keys on it for me.
1:02:22But they've done a really good job of making it into a small package with some really nice
1:02:27design elements.
1:02:28I really love the Mode Sonnet.
1:02:30They have another product coming later on this year called the Envoy, which is a more
1:02:35affordable keyboard that they also will sell as a full kit, including switches and keycaps.
1:02:40I had the opportunity to try out a pre-production unit of the Envoy and really, really liked
1:02:49it.
1:02:49And I have one coming in a couple of months, I think.
1:02:52I think this one could be just a very good default recommendation to people now because,
1:02:58you know, it's not cheap, but it is not like wildly expensive as some of these keyboards
1:03:04can get to.
1:03:05But you can get from them like a full kit, which includes, you know, the full board,
1:03:12the switches and everything for like around $300.
1:03:16So you still have to assemble it, yeah?
1:03:18But you're getting all of the parts in a package.
1:03:21Yeah, I believe you still have to assemble it.
1:03:24But the assembly for this keyboard is maybe one of the easiest that I have experienced.
1:03:29Like they've done a really good job of doing that.
1:03:32But this keyboard as well is like easily customized too, which I think is very interesting.
1:03:39Like they've built this system of kind of like how bouncy or stiff you want the typing
1:03:45to feel.
1:03:46And the way that you do that customization is very, very simple in a way that I think
1:03:50would encourage people to do even if they weren't very familiar with building keyboards.
1:03:55So I really like, I really, really like what they do.
1:03:58One of my favorite things of Mode stuff is that you can configure them with a bunch of
1:04:02different design stuff and they have a full configurator on their website so you can see
1:04:06how it's all going to look.
1:04:07They are my choice.
1:04:09Like they make my favorite keyboards.
1:04:10Yeah, I was just playing around with the configurator for a bunch of options.
1:04:14I don't know what they are.
1:04:15It looks good.
1:04:17I'm intrigued by this layout just a little bit because I do like having just a tiny bit
1:04:23of space for the arrow keys and for the function keys.
1:04:26Like I really like these Keychron keyboards that I use, which I think it's basically
1:04:30the same layout.
1:04:31It's just a little bit more compressed.
1:04:32But if there could just be like a tiny bit of space to physically distinguish the arrow
1:04:38keys, which I'm using constantly, that would be nice.
1:04:41An exploded layout.
1:04:43Oh, is that the term for it?
1:04:44Okay.
1:04:44Like the Keychron Q1.
1:04:47I like the Keychron Q series of keyboards.
1:04:50They are customizable keyboards, right?
1:04:54They're more akin to the types of things that I make.
1:04:57You can take them apart and do some modding and fun stuff with them.
1:05:00Keychron has done a great job of leaning into it and like becoming a really good starting
1:05:04point.
1:05:05But their 75% has an exploded layout.
1:05:08But I tend not to like the visual of that because it ruins the like lines, I think.
1:05:14Yeah, I was like, I like this layout less because I don't want the arrow keys lower.
1:05:19That's why I like the other one.
1:05:20I like the look of that better.
1:05:21I just need a tiny bit of space.
1:05:24I don't actually, I think I might find that annoying that the, especially if they're
1:05:28half offset like that, the arrow keys are 50% lower to create the space.
1:05:33I think I would not find that pleasant at all.
1:05:35I think that would be irritating.
1:05:36Especially when switching between typing on like the Apple keyboards.
1:05:41I wouldn't.
1:05:42Yeah, I think I would find that no bueno.
1:05:44I think probably worth mentioning, I reckon this is going to become a thing maybe more
1:05:49into the future even than it is now when it comes to work devices, VR headsets.
1:05:54So we both have the, I guess for work focuses, the MetaQuest Pro.
1:05:59Yes, we do.
1:06:01And people know that from this, from the special that we just put out about how amazing they
1:06:06are.
1:06:06Pinning that for the future, really.
1:06:08It's like when we revisit state of the hardware in the future, I wonder if that point is going
1:06:13to change.
1:06:14I would say yes, but I don't know.
1:06:16Yeah, I predict that that's going to change in the future.
1:06:19But yeah, if you, if you want to hear our thoughts on that, we recorded an entire special
1:06:25episode about it.
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1:08:13So we've spoken about the tools that we use for work.
1:08:17We typically use these tools in our offices, but there are a lot of different physical
1:08:22things in an office.
1:08:24Desks, chairs, all that kind of stuff.
1:08:26Spiders, if you're working in the basements.
1:08:28Yeah.
1:08:28Roombas, air purifiers.
1:08:31What desk are you using in your life?
1:08:33I think we're both using the same thing, which is the fully Jarvis model for the standing
1:08:38desk, which it looks like when I was trying to do the links today, it looks like they've
1:08:42been acquired by Herman Miller.
1:08:43Yes.
1:08:43Which is interesting because I'm using the Herman Miller Embody chair as well.
1:08:48So it looks like Herman Miller is trying to corner the market for this kind of stuff.
1:08:53It's no longer fully.
1:08:55It's now just the Jarvis desk from Herman Miller.
1:08:58This happened like a month ago.
1:09:00Okay.
1:09:01So did the fully company get completely absorbed?
1:09:04I believe so.
1:09:05Okay.
1:09:06Right.
1:09:06Because I was wondering, because so standing desks are fantastic.
1:09:11I'm really happy to have the option to use them that way.
1:09:15But there's one thing that I was trying to find that fully made a product that I think
1:09:19must have gotten destroyed in the acquisition.
1:09:21I think they called it like their TikTok, but the generic term for this is a balance
1:09:28board.
1:09:28Yeah.
1:09:29This is a thing where if you're going to have a standing desk, I bought this on a whim,
1:09:35but it turned out to be a critical piece for the standing desk.
1:09:39And it is just this little thing.
1:09:40It's like a seesaw that you're standing on while you're working at the desk.
1:09:44And I don't know why, but it just gives you this little somehow slightly balancing is
1:09:53physically easier to do for a long period of time while you're standing and working
1:09:57than just standing.
1:09:59I was just going on Amazon trying to find one that looks similar.
1:10:02I think the key is you want one that's low profile.
1:10:05So you don't want one that looks like this is actually an exercise in balance.
1:10:11You want something that's like a very low profile legs on a rocking horse kind of thing.
1:10:16Like that's what I have.
1:10:17And it's great.
1:10:18Every time I put the standing desk up, if I'm not actively walking on the treadmill,
1:10:23I want to be standing on that little balance board and it makes all of the difference in
1:10:26the world for using a standing desk in upright mode.
1:10:28Yeah.
1:10:29I think trying to do some googling, it may have been called the float deck.
1:10:34Yeah.
1:10:35Something like that.
1:10:36Yeah.
1:10:36I don't know.
1:10:37The only reason I was trying to find it is it's the lowest profile one of these I've
1:10:41ever seen.
1:10:42And I just think that makes a big difference.
1:10:43It's just like very slight balance.
1:10:46And all of the other balance boards seem much more like, oh, we're trying to give you
1:10:50a core workout while you're at your desk.
1:10:52Yeah, this isn't for yoga.
1:10:54Yes.
1:10:54It's just so your feet don't get tired standing all day.
1:10:56I found it just significantly more effective than mats that they often try to sell you
1:11:01with a standing desk.
1:11:02Like here, stand on a mat.
1:11:03I find that makes no difference at all in terms of tiredness.
1:11:07Whereas the like a low profile balance board is perfect.
1:11:10Okay.
1:11:10Yeah.
1:11:11I use the fully Jarvis desks too.
1:11:14I have a couple here in the studio.
1:11:15I like their bamboo one, which they do still sell.
1:11:18And I use that and have used Herman Miller M body chairs forever.
1:11:23This is one of those things where like, if I could give a piece of advice, it is to,
1:11:31if you're working at home to invest as much as you can into a good chair.
1:11:35Yes.
1:11:37Yeah.
1:11:37Because I did the thing where I went on Amazon and I bought a 200 pound chair.
1:11:43And after a year, the hydraulics went.
1:11:46What I like about Herman Miller is while they are expensive, they have a very good long
1:11:53manufacturer's guarantee.
1:11:55So like I've had Herman Miller chairs for eight or nine years.
1:12:01One of mine, the chair is stuck at my height, which is fine because it's my height, but
1:12:09it means the chair isn't working.
1:12:10And we contacted Herman Miller and we were arranging for them to take it away and fix
1:12:15it.
1:12:15And like, they're just going to fix it.
1:12:16So like it falls within their warranty.
1:12:18The Herman Miller warranty is like one of the great parts about it, but the chairs are
1:12:23just super good.
1:12:24I've used the Embody forever is my huge recommendation.
1:12:29They're nicely customizable.
1:12:30They make them for gamers now.
1:12:31If you need your chair to be a gamer's chair, they make Herman Miller Embody gamers chairs.
1:12:37So, you know.
1:12:37What does that mean?
1:12:40It just looks a little bit different.
1:12:42Okay.
1:12:42Is it just an aesthetic look?
1:12:43They just made it look more gamer-y.
1:12:46It really is just the Herman Miller Embody for gamers.
1:12:50I know you keep saying that, but it's like, when you say for gamers, I just imagine,
1:12:54oh, so it's like pink and black or something.
1:12:56Like that's what it is.
1:12:57Okay.
1:12:57Number one in the FAQ.
1:12:59How is this chair different?
1:13:00We've teamed up with Logitech to make updates.
1:13:04Seat has an additional layer of foam to support your posture while you play.
1:13:08And we developed new technology to keep you cool.
1:13:11There really isn't barely any, there's barely any difference.
1:13:14It's like a little bit smushier, I guess.
1:13:17And that's it.
1:13:17That's because you don't need to change the chair, right?
1:13:22Like that, that's the whole thing.
1:13:23They've just updated the design a little bit to make it look more gamer-y.
1:13:28Oh, okay.
1:13:28I see what you mean.
1:13:29It does look cooler.
1:13:31It does look gamer-y, right?
1:13:32Right.
1:13:32But like, that's the whole point of like, if you're going to make a gamer's version,
1:13:36it's already the perfect chair.
1:13:39So like, you don't need to change it.
1:13:42So I agree with you on this chair.
1:13:44I also agree that this is the home office purchase that you do need to kind of bully
1:13:49people into.
1:13:49And everyone always says, I should have done this sooner.
1:13:53Is like, buy a good chair.
1:13:55If you are working at home, buy a good chair.
1:13:58I think the good chair matters significantly more than a good desk.
1:14:02Like, it's funny, I had family was just visiting recently and my cousin had been
1:14:07traveling in Europe and he was like way behind on work.
1:14:11And while he was here, I was like, Hey man, you can just like use my office.
1:14:15It's like, you know, have an actual place to just like work in the mornings.
1:14:19Cause like I'm downstairs in the basement, like this space is free.
1:14:22And his number one thing is like, he's like, Oh, I could cry sitting in an actual
1:14:27proper chair again, doing work as opposed to try and like work at, you know, at
1:14:32random cafes.
1:14:33He's like, Oh, this is, this is amazing.
1:14:35Like, thank you so much.
1:14:37And the chair was the big deal of like, he works at home and he has a regular chair
1:14:41and like, once you don't have it, you realize like how hard it is on your body
1:14:46working in a chair that's not perfectly designed for you.
1:14:49I used to have the, uh, the Aeron, I think is how they say it.
1:14:53It's their older office chair.
1:14:55And at some point, I can't remember.
1:14:57I think when I left the glass cube, I tried out the Embody and the Embody is a
1:15:01significant improvement.
1:15:03The only thing I do wonder about is I, I do wish it had a headrest.
1:15:09That's the old, that's why when you said gamer chair, I was a bit like, I was
1:15:14hoping for a headrest and I would, I would seriously consider buying it.
1:15:18It's the only thing that I know most of the time you don't actually need a
1:15:23headrest when you're sitting at a chair and it's all set up properly, but I do
1:15:27feel like it's something that's missing.
1:15:30And if they made the Embody with a headrest, I would upgrade instantly.
1:15:34Or it's the only thing that would make me think like, maybe I should just try
1:15:38out some other chairs with a headrest and see how that is.
1:15:41But yeah, so that, that is my only very minor complaint.
1:15:44There is a company called Atlas Headrest who have made an aftermarket headrest.
1:15:51Oh, okay.
1:15:53For the gaming chair.
1:15:55Oh no, for the gaming version.
1:15:57All right.
1:15:57I figure it will probably work on all of them because it's probably the same, but
1:16:03like you got, maybe take a look, but like...
1:16:05Okay, send me that link.
1:16:07I want to check that out.
1:16:08But there's this, I just Googled it and I came across it.
1:16:11So you should, you should look at this.
1:16:13Okay.
1:16:13Because I imagined that there's probably quite a lot of people that feel the way
1:16:17you do, especially now there's the gamers.
1:16:20How does it connect?
1:16:21I can't work it out either.
1:16:23I'm like, hold on, I can't deal with the suspense.
1:16:27Let me look at the back of my chair.
1:16:30Where does this...
1:16:31I don't understand how it fits.
1:16:32Is there a thing that comes...
1:16:34Oh!
1:16:35I think it maybe just clips on to the back piece.
1:16:41Yeah.
1:16:42Okay.
1:16:42The gamer chair might be different.
1:16:44I will have to investigate more than in the middle of our podcast.
1:16:48Yeah.
1:16:48I think the gamer chair has a slightly different connector at the top, but I
1:16:53can't tell if I just pull apart my chair if it has that same piece.
1:16:58It's a little bit unclear to sell.
1:16:59No, it's bolted on to the...
1:17:01Oh, oh, I see.
1:17:02Right?
1:17:02They've done a good job of making it look like it was made by Herman Miller.
1:17:06Oh, okay.
1:17:07Right.
1:17:07Thank you.
1:17:08I would have pulled apart my chair to see where this plugs in.
1:17:11It looks so integrated, I thought I was looking at a different part of it.
1:17:14Okay.
1:17:15Sold immediately.
1:17:16I don't know how, but just try and triple check that it's not just for the gaming one.
1:17:23Look, even if it's not for the other one, I'm going to try to make it fit.
1:17:25I got a hammer.
1:17:27I can make it fit.
1:17:28And I'm sure you have a black chair, so they have a black one, so you probably don't even
1:17:33need to worry.
1:17:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:17:35No, that's...
1:17:36Okay, great.
1:17:36Thank you.
1:17:37I'm going to give that a shot.
1:17:38Pro gamer.
1:17:39Yeah, for all my stream.
1:17:40Yeah, I mean, I understand why you would want that.
1:17:42I've never wanted it, but you do that leaning back thing that you do when you think?
1:17:46Oh, I guess that is the difference, yes.
1:17:48I lean back much more.
1:17:50Like I've seen you do it in VR, right?
1:17:52When you're really thinking about something, you take a big lean back.
1:17:57And so I could imagine you would like some headrest support in that moment.
1:18:01Great.
1:18:02I've just sent a message off to get that ordered for me.
1:18:06I mentioned earlier about my charging woes for my devices.
1:18:11I use a variety of products by close friends of the show, Studio Neat.
1:18:16They make the material dock line of products.
1:18:19Now, the products that they have now available are all focused around having a Qi charger,
1:18:25having like MagSafe chargers built into the products.
1:18:28But I used to use their products when it was you would like thread a lightning cable through.
1:18:35Yes, I remember doing that, yep.
1:18:37That's what I have.
1:18:38Okay.
1:18:39So I use those ones and I love them.
1:18:42Eventually, I guess I will have to move to the upright charger that they have now when
1:18:47the USB-C phone comes.
1:18:50Although I am going to try and modify with a dremel or something.
1:18:56No.
1:18:56To see if I can get these things to work because they are perfect the way that they are.
1:19:00But I will try.
1:19:03It won't work, but I will try.
1:19:05I might as well give it a go and see if I can fit a USB-C cable into this thing.
1:19:09But they are what I use there.
1:19:11And I wanted to just give two recommendations around charging solution things.
1:19:16My preferred delivery of power is Anker stuff.
1:19:20And Anker make a selection of the GaN charging products now where you can have like a couple
1:19:30USB-C power delivery and a regular USB.
1:19:34I just have one of those just plugged into a charging port on my desk and I can just
1:19:38swap out cables and I really like them for that.
1:19:41But my main recommendation is the Miros smart power strips.
1:19:47This company, Miros, makes a surge protector, which you can turn on and off with HomeKit,
1:19:53but you can also break out every plug into its own individual HomeKit addressable switch.
1:20:00Oh, wow.
1:20:01So it's like six power outlets and also USB.
1:20:05They come as a group in HomeKit so you can turn it all on and off or you can break it
1:20:09out into seven.
1:20:11So you have six plugs and then the USBs.
1:20:14Oh, wow.
1:20:15That is killer.
1:20:15Right.
1:20:16And so you can have different automations for different things.
1:20:21So like I have like an automation that if I have my there's one that's just called iPad
1:20:26and it will just turn on and off at random parts in the day to keep the iPad charged.
1:20:31I have at home, we have a lava lamp.
1:20:34The lava lamp is plugged into one of these and it will just turn the lava lamp on and
1:20:38off for a few hours in a day at home where I have like a bunch of I have like a basic
1:20:43like the network closet, right?
1:20:45It's just got like all kinds of things in there from the alarm system to the Internet
1:20:50and all that kind of stuff.
1:20:51And I have each of those set individually.
1:20:53So if I need to power cycle one, I could just do it from my phone.
1:20:57Miraost products are great and I'm a big fan of them.
1:21:01I actually don't know if they are available outside the UK.
1:21:06This might be one of the very rare things where it's UK only because I believe I believe
1:21:12this product comes from the Hong Kong market, I think.
1:21:16And we have the same power outlets if they are available outside.
1:21:20Great.
1:21:21But America, you have a ton of things.
1:21:24Yeah, we haven't even gotten into the world of HomeKit stuff.
1:21:26But this is always the great pain of living in the UK is there's so much cool HomeKit
1:21:32stuff.
1:21:32I'm like, oh, wow, I want that.
1:21:34I was like, oh, it's not available in the UK.
1:21:36But this is the one this is a great one that we can get.
1:21:39Miraost, they make loads of HomeKit products as well.
1:21:44Like they have like a whole set of things that they make.
1:21:46Indoor and outdoor power solutions and like really they make some super cool stuff.
1:21:53I've been very happy with my Miraost products.
1:21:55Okay, well, I've got to check them out.
1:21:57I've been HomeKitting up the house ever since that basement office.
1:22:00So I'll see what other stuff they've got in there.
1:22:03I will tease.
1:22:03We are toying around with at some point in the not too distant future doing like a state
1:22:08of the home as well.
1:22:09Yeah.
1:22:10For like home automation because I've done a little bit and I'm about to go much further
1:22:16in a couple of months time.
1:22:17So I wanted to not talk about that stuff today because I have lots of things that I still
1:22:23have yet to implement.
1:22:24Yeah, no, I agree.
1:22:25I'm in the same space of like sort of halfway caught with a bunch of HomeKit stuff.
1:22:30That's why it's like, oh, please like send me all of your companies that you know make
1:22:34good HomeKit stuff that actually works in the UK.
1:22:37This is one of them.
1:22:37Yeah, the one that's still really killing me is like air filters.
1:22:40I'm like, oh, come on, man.
1:22:41Like there's got to be one.
1:22:43Like an air purifier.
1:22:44Yeah, air purifiers.
1:22:45I haven't found one that's good and it's very frustrating.
1:22:48Yeah, I would also like to know that.
1:22:50Yeah.
1:22:51Maybe people could write in and let us know.
1:22:53We can leave this as an exercise to the cortexes.
1:22:55Yeah, I think Mirose make a smart Wi-Fi air purifier works with Apple HomeKit.
1:22:59Oh, okay.
1:23:00Well, I'll check it out.
1:23:01You look at that and let me know.
1:23:02I will.
1:23:03The thing that's been killing me is like the reason I was interested in just like, oh,
1:23:06the sockets work with HomeKit is trying to like find stuff that if there's no UK version
1:23:12of, oh, it's HomeKit, at least I could just control it with a socket.
1:23:15So I have that with like a couple of space heaters.
1:23:17But as far as like it tells, like all of the air purifiers, if you try to turn them on
1:23:22with the socket, they like require some additional confirmation and I hate it.
1:23:26I thought I had solved it with the exact same thing recently.
1:23:30Yeah.
1:23:31Yeah.
1:23:31No, you still need to press the on button.
1:23:33You turn it on.
1:23:34It's like, come on, man.
1:23:36I'm looking at it now.
1:23:37The Mirose smart Wi-Fi air purifier.
1:23:40Okay, great.
1:23:42I will check that out and I will report back.
1:23:43Report back.
1:23:44If we ever do that state of the home show.
1:23:46When it comes to what's on my desk, great.
1:23:49There's always something on my desk.
1:23:50Yeah.
1:23:51Every single day.
1:23:52It's called the Sidekick Notepad.
1:23:53Oh, Sidekick Notepad.
1:23:54Is that on your desk every day?
1:23:55It is available on my desk because it is perfectly made to sit between me and my keyboard on
1:24:00sale at cortexbrand.com.
1:24:02I swear I didn't set this up, but I just realized like, oh yeah, can we say that we're trying
1:24:06to make Cortex Brand one of those companies that's, if you like one of our products, you
1:24:11like lots of our products?
1:24:12Like, I know our lead designer spends a lot of time making sure these things are nice
1:24:19in absolutely every way.
1:24:21I guess it's what we're hoping to achieve, right?
1:24:23That's kind of the goal because it's what we like.
1:24:26That there are certain companies that you can just keep buying any product that they
1:24:31make and know that you're going to get some kind of consistent experience from that.
1:24:36So like Herman Miller is one of them and Bellroy is another one.
1:24:40Peak Design is another one.
1:24:42And so, yeah, my hope would be that in a few years time, people would consider us the same
1:24:47way for the things that we're making of like, oh, I want this kind of product, Cortex Brand
1:24:53make it.
1:24:53Well, I know I'm going to like that.
1:24:55That is a goal for sure.
1:24:57We just, we need to get more products out.
1:25:00You know.
1:25:00Yeah.
1:25:02How hard can it be to painstakingly make a new product?
1:25:06How hard can it be?
1:25:07Can't be hard at all.
1:25:08All right, I'm going to use this as an opportunity to transition from office stuff to exercise
1:25:16stuff because I feel like my office is also half exercise room.
1:25:22I mean, so many office buildings have gyms in them.
1:25:24We'll say this counts.
1:25:26Sure, that counts.
1:25:26I've got my city sports treadmill, which is the treadmill that I use when I'm at my standing
1:25:33desk and walking.
1:25:34I can't wildly recommend it.
1:25:36I can simply say it is the one that has lasted the longest without breaking is maybe the
1:25:42way I would say it.
1:25:44Sort of like this weird market of wireless chargers on Amazon.
1:25:48It's always different companies every time you go to buy one.
1:25:51For whatever reason, the low profile treadmill market feels like it's the exact same thing.
1:25:56A bunch of like weird fly by night companies with suspiciously similar photographs that
1:26:02are all like, "Hey, did you want a treadmill to have on your standing desk?"
1:26:05I just don't understand why there doesn't seem to be a reputable vendor in this market,
1:26:11but I don't know.
1:26:12Maybe some spaces are just that way, but clicking through product photos on Amazon for this
1:26:18kind of stuff is very weird.
1:26:19You're like, "Are all these companies the same company?
1:26:22Are they different companies?"
1:26:23I don't understand what's happening.
1:26:25Our, I will say now, chief revenue officer at Relay FM, Kerry, got promotion recently.
1:26:31Congratulations, Kerry.
1:26:32Congratulations.
1:26:32Uses a company called Walking Pad.
1:26:35Walking Pad, okay.
1:26:36Yeah, and she's very happy with this product.
1:26:39Walking Pad, all right.
1:26:41It's foldable, I think.
1:26:43They do like a foldable one so you can put it away.
1:26:45Oh, weird.
1:26:47Yeah.
1:26:47So I was just getting like derailed because their advertisement on their website feels
1:26:52very TikTok.
1:26:53It's like, "Why is it so fast?
1:26:55Why are the cuts so fast?"
1:26:56Well, I mean, I think you just answered your own question.
1:26:58No, no, I know.
1:26:59I know that's exactly it.
1:27:00Yeah.
1:27:00Oh, they make a foldable rowing machine.
1:27:02What?
1:27:03How does that even work?
1:27:04This is one of the weirdest.
1:27:06This is so strange.
1:27:08It's one of those water ones too.
1:27:10Okay, foldable rowing machine.
1:27:13Okay, I think, you know what?
1:27:16Looking at it, I think the foldable rowing machine actually makes more sense than a foldable
1:27:21walking treadmill.
1:27:21I agree.
1:27:22This seems more sturdy than the foldable walking treadmill.
1:27:27Yeah.
1:27:27Okay, well, that's weird.
1:27:29I had a water treadmill that I was also going to recommend in my exercise area.
1:27:34I use one from a company called WaterRower.
1:27:37This comes with a warning, right?
1:27:39Warning.
1:27:40Warning.
1:27:41This is one of these areas where I followed the rule of fewer but nicer.
1:27:47So this was one of our purchases at the start of COVID time was we're like, "Oh God, we
1:27:54got to get some exercise equipment."
1:27:55So I got myself bikes, I got myself weights, and we got a rowing machine and I decided
1:28:01like, "Okay, if we're going to do this, let's go all out."
1:28:04And I got one of these water ones.
1:28:05The warning is if you like rowing machines, which I do, and I think you do, right?
1:28:10You have a rowing machine, right?
1:28:12Yeah, I have the one that you've seen in every gym everywhere, the Concept 2.
1:28:16Right.
1:28:17I like the Concept 2 a lot.
1:28:19I was very used to it from my gym and I have one in the studio.
1:28:23I think for a certain kind of person, and maybe we're both that kind of person, rowing
1:28:27works as an aerobic exercise in a way that lots of others don't.
1:28:31I hate running.
1:28:34The cross trainer is a nightmare.
1:28:36And I like most rowing machines, mine does.
1:28:38I think yours might too.
1:28:39They have like, you can put a tablet on it.
1:28:41It's got a mounting place.
1:28:42You could just watch a video and just row.
1:28:44It's great.
1:28:45What I really want is I want my VR headset to work with my rowing machine.
1:28:49That is my dream.
1:28:49I want to be able to look around and see a little lake.
1:28:54That is interesting.
1:28:55I like that idea a lot.
1:28:58When I was looking, did you ever come across Hydro?
1:29:02No.
1:29:04It's like Peloton for rowing.
1:29:07You are not selling me on that.
1:29:08No.
1:29:09This is why I ended up not doing it because it was really expensive and also required
1:29:14a subscription.
1:29:15But they have like a screen with instructors who are rowing on open water.
1:29:21Oh, weird.
1:29:21Okay.
1:29:22So they are like doing the class and they're out on open water and you're rowing along
1:29:27with them.
1:29:28And I always thought that was like a really nice idea.
1:29:31So similarly, yes, how great would it be if you could put on a headset and be rowing on
1:29:37open water in VR?
1:29:39Right.
1:29:39That feels like the way to go.
1:29:41I just realized that the name is more clever than Hydro.
1:29:45Like Row.
1:29:45It's a great name.
1:29:46Okay, I get it.
1:29:47But anyway, I don't know if it worked, but that was one of the very first things in like
1:29:52early COVID days.
1:29:53I was like, come on, someone must have made like a VR rowing thing that I can use.
1:29:57But I realized like that was basically when I didn't quite understand how VR really
1:30:02works.
1:30:02I was like, oh no, this is a much harder problem than I first thought it was going to be.
1:30:06But that would be one of my top requests is for someone to solve this problem.
1:30:10But so anyway, my warning is this.
1:30:12If you're a person who likes rowing as aerobic exercise, if you ever use a water rower, you
1:30:21will not be able to go back to the regular rowing machines.
1:30:24I feel like it's such a better experience that it kind of instantly ruins you for using
1:30:30any of the other machines.
1:30:32And I actually told this to my same cousin who was visiting where he's like, oh, hey,
1:30:37you've got that rowing machine.
1:30:38I was like, listen, buddy, I got to warn you about something.
1:30:40Like, do you use rowing machines a lot?
1:30:42He's like, oh yeah, I use them in the gym all the time.
1:30:44I'm like, okay, you might not want to do this because the experience of the water rower
1:30:49just like is much nicer and you will find the gym ones more frustrating.
1:30:54And he took my advice and skipped using the home rowing machine because of that.
1:30:58What's so much better?
1:30:59The only way I can articulate this is with like pens, right?
1:31:05Where if you've never used a nice pen, you kind of think how much nicer can a pen be
1:31:11to use and you just don't have an appreciation for it.
1:31:15There's something about it's the resistance feels very real.
1:31:21Okay.
1:31:22It really feels like you are on the water, which is why I think like I wanted the VR
1:31:27part of it so much is because like, this is a convincing experience.
1:31:31It doesn't feel like pulling on a cord where the tension is adjusted because the water
1:31:39is like circling around.
1:31:41You have the subjective experience of like building up speed because your next pull can
1:31:48be slightly easier because the water is rotating already.
1:31:52It really gives you the feeling of like, oh, I've stopped and now I need to get up to
1:31:57speed and once I'm at speed, it's easy to maintain this pace.
1:32:02That's the best I can try to do to put it in words.
1:32:04It's very convincing and it suddenly makes the traditional rowing machines feel like
1:32:09a completely different experience.
1:32:11So I have been totally ruined.
1:32:13Like it's awful.
1:32:14Like I found the aerobic exercise that I like, but now if I'm ever at a gym that it doesn't
1:32:19have a water rowing machine, it's like, oh, okay, well, I guess I can do this, but it's
1:32:24just not the same anymore.
1:32:25And I kind of wish I never knew.
1:32:27Like I wish I had just gotten your rowing machine.
1:32:30I'm fascinated by this folding rowing machine.
1:32:33Do you think you're going to give it a shot?
1:32:34No, I like my rowing machine, so I don't want to change it.
1:32:37I'm very used to the concept too.
1:32:39I figure I know what you mean though, right?
1:32:41Like the difference between the like fan that you're pulling and the water.
1:32:46Plus I imagine there's just like a, does it sound good?
1:32:49Yes, it does sound good.
1:32:51I'm sure that helps too, like with the overall experience.
1:32:53Okay.
1:32:55So that's on the aerobic side.
1:32:57And then on the strength side, I got these weights, which are made by a company called
1:33:03Powerblock.
1:33:03What, what are you laughing at?
1:33:07In the early days of COVID, you suggested that I do strength training and suggested
1:33:15that I get some kind of weight thing for home.
1:33:17And they were, these kinds of things were so hard to buy.
1:33:21I could only buy one.
1:33:23Oh, okay.
1:33:24Like they, I couldn't get a pair.
1:33:26How did that even, were you like buying it off eBay or something?
1:33:28How does you just get one?
1:33:29Okay.
1:33:30And so I bought one set of these adjustable dumbbells.
1:33:35That just, this is very funny, it's like a funny remnant of the beginning of the pandemic
1:33:39where like now I just have this one heavy adjustable dumbbell.
1:33:44What was your experience with it?
1:33:47I mean, I liked it as like, it made sense to me as a thing, but at the time I didn't
1:33:50really know what I was doing.
1:33:52Like it's more effective for me now.
1:33:53Right, this is so long ago, right?
1:33:55Of course.
1:33:55Now that I'm more experienced with like what, how weight feels and stuff that like, this
1:34:01is a smart way to do it, like rather than having like six different dumbbells or different
1:34:05weights, like the fact that they're adjustable is, I think it's quite clever, but they are
1:34:10a bit clunky and noisy.
1:34:12Yes.
1:34:13So it is, they are noisy.
1:34:15I completely agree with that.
1:34:17I am aware that, so I've moved these down into the basement.
1:34:20So the basement is now also an exercise area as opposed to just being up in our apartment
1:34:25from before.
1:34:25And especially in the concrete box, I'm aware that I always want to have my noise
1:34:30canceling on when I'm using this because it is just a little bit like, there's unpleasant
1:34:35clanking sounds.
1:34:36So I might as well just turn on the noise canceling, but I think these things are great.
1:34:40If you haven't ever tried different adjustable dumbbells, you won't appreciate how many
1:34:45problems this design solves.
1:34:48So there's lots of different versions where people try to do adjustable weight dumbbells.
1:34:52And I just think this design in particular really fixes a lot of annoyances that a lot
1:34:58of these different things have.
1:34:59So I highly recommend them.
1:35:01Although I always think it's funny, I have never seen a company that needs to consolidate
1:35:06its product line more than this company.
1:35:09Every time I go to look, it's like insane to me that they have five different versions
1:35:13of what is basically the same thing.
1:35:15And even as a very motivated consumer, it's confusing to be like, wait, which of these
1:35:21things?
1:35:21Like, I actually need to buy expansions for the ones that I have now.
1:35:25And I have bounced off this website like three times, even trying to figure out which is
1:35:31the one that I own.
1:35:32It's not obvious.
1:35:33Yeah, like these, these all look exactly the same, but we have Elite USA, Pro EXP, Pro
1:35:3950, Pro 32.
1:35:41Yeah, it's, it's, you know, if you're listening Powerblock company, you need to have two at
1:35:48most versions of these things.
1:35:51And really, I think you can get away with just one version of these.
1:35:54There doesn't need to be four different versions of what looks like the exact same product.
1:36:00So that's all my indoor exercise stuff.
1:36:02And then for the last one, people always ask because it's a really unusual looking bike
1:36:07that I got.
1:36:08It's featured in one of my YouTube videos.
1:36:11I got this bike from GoCycle, which is an electronic bike company here in the UK.
1:36:16I really like it.
1:36:19But the thing about this bike is the primary feature of it is that it is a folding bike.
1:36:26So if you want to hit the bullet points of an electric bike, and you also don't have
1:36:34a ton of space, so it has to fold.
1:36:36This is like the only company that does this well.
1:36:39So I really like this bike, but I'm finding myself in this funny position now that since
1:36:45we have the basement space available of like, "Oh, I would not have purchased this if I
1:36:52were buying a bike now because the folding ability of it is not the main thing anymore."
1:36:59It used to be like, there was just no place in our apartment for a bike.
1:37:03So I had to have something that was just tiny.
1:37:06I'd love right now, if I was going to buy a bike today that's an electric bike, I'd
1:37:11love to try one of the VanMoof bikes.
1:37:13I know it works with that Find My integration thing, which is like weirdly high on a feature
1:37:20for something that I want.
1:37:22But I think this is another, as far as I could tell, this is another like Brexit casualty.
1:37:27Like you just cannot get these in the UK.
1:37:29Like I swear they used to be sold here.
1:37:31Like I remember looking at them and now it's like completely impossible to find them.
1:37:35I would still say like for anyone listening, if you want an electric bike and you want
1:37:39something that folds, Go Cycle is like the only game in town.
1:37:42That's good.
1:37:43I'd love to try a VanMoof, but I just can't get my hands on one.
1:37:46Well, I just got on their website and they got the VanMoof S4 available in June.
1:37:51Oh, in the UK?
1:37:53Yes.
1:37:53Okay.
1:37:54All right.
1:37:54Oh, great.
1:37:56Well, now I'll be tempted for it.
1:37:57These are something special, these bikes, right?
1:38:00Like I can see it.
1:38:01I don't know if it's 3000 pounds worth of bike.
1:38:05Oh, I know.
1:38:06I know.
1:38:06They look so stylish.
1:38:09Like they, it's one of those things where it's like, I feel like you would feel value
1:38:16when using it, but it's a lot of money.
1:38:19Yeah, no, it is a lot of money.
1:38:21I mean, you want it to have Find My built into it if you spend that money on it.
1:38:25Cause yeah, I mean, even with my Go Cycle, it's like, I will never leave that thing locked
1:38:30anywhere that is entirely for like, I'm enjoying riding around and then I come back home.
1:38:35Great. I have just found what might be potentially the greatest add-on purchase I've ever heard
1:38:41of in its description.
1:38:43Okay.
1:38:43All right.
1:38:43This is 328 pounds, one off payment for three year coverage.
1:38:47If the unthinkable happens, our bike hunters will hunt your bike down.
1:38:53They call them bike hunters.
1:38:54That is the best name.
1:38:57We will find your bike if it's stolen.
1:39:01Yeah, this is why VanMoof is just a very interesting company.
1:39:05And this is one of those things that they, they have this insurance feature, which is
1:39:10like, we will find that bike.
1:39:12And that's actually how they came to my attention in the first place was I'm sure they were
1:39:17doing it as promo, but just some unbelievable stories of how far they've gone to recover
1:39:21their bikes.
1:39:22And it seems like they know that this is the main concern of people who are going to buy
1:39:29like a top of the line, super expensive bike.
1:39:32Okay.
1:39:32This is incredible.
1:39:33So we will recover your bike in two weeks.
1:39:36If we can't, we'll replace your bike with one of the same.
1:39:39That is awesome, but it is the only way you can sell a 3000 pound bike.
1:39:45And I know you have to pay more to add this on, which like a 3000 pounds, could you not
1:39:50include it?
1:39:51Like, I don't know, but like that is a great thing.
1:39:54I think that's fair as an add-on.
1:39:56Like I don't mind companies adding that as an add-on.
1:39:58Again, like in a situation like mine where I would just be using a bike recreationally
1:40:03and it is always going back in a like locked, secure place.
1:40:07I'd be like, no, I don't, I don't need that because I'm just never going to use it.
1:40:10So, and it also allows the company to get a sense of how much do people value this as
1:40:16an add-on or like how much is this actually costing us?
1:40:19But they're a very interesting company and that, and now I will find myself tempted again.
1:40:23But this again is, is like one of these things where it is super expensive, but I am very
1:40:33hard pressed to think of purchases that I have made that do better in terms of overall increase
1:40:42in quality of life than getting a nice bike.
1:40:45These moose don't even look like e-bikes either.
1:40:48They don't have the like telltale, like this isn't an e-bike.
1:40:52Like it's got some big thing on it, you know, like some big motor or whatever.
1:40:56Yeah.
1:40:56Yeah, that's true.
1:40:57I am very willing to spend money on a nice experience here because just the like the
1:41:06pure mood lift from every time I've ever gone on a bike ride around London is just huge.
1:41:12Yeah.
1:41:12I mean, I've said it before.
1:41:13I think London is a weirdly good city for cycling around.
1:41:18Like the infrastructure has gotten much better, but also for me, just the interestingness
1:41:23density is very high.
1:41:25Like I can pick any direction and there's interesting things to look at.
1:41:28I've specifically encouraged my wife.
1:41:30I've told her sometimes I'm like, you know, if it's after in the morning and I just seem
1:41:34like in a slightly down mood, just tell me to go for a bike ride.
1:41:38And a hundred percent of the time I always come back feeling great.
1:41:42So it's like you pick areas in your life where you're willing to spend a bunch of money
1:41:47and this is one of these areas of like, yeah, it's totally worth it.
1:41:52Like quality of life increase very high.
1:41:56And again, I really sort of found this because of the pandemic and kind of thinking about
1:42:01things to do, but I'm really glad that I kind of rediscovered cycling again in the past
1:42:07few years.
1:42:07Like I did this a ton when I first moved to London and then it got completely lost in
1:42:12my life when I worked as a teacher and I just never came back to it.
1:42:15And I'm like, I'm so happy to have come back to it and like the e-bike era, which also
1:42:20makes things so nice.
1:42:22Like I love the ability to put the bike on a kind of low power mode, cycle a whole bunch,
1:42:29and then for the return journey, put it on like max assistance mode.
1:42:33It's like, it's so nice to feel like you don't have to hold back how far you want to
1:42:38go because you have to like preserve that same amount of energy for the return trip.
1:42:43Anyway, two quick additional things for anyone who does cycling at all.
1:42:47I'll mention this because people don't think about it, but if you are going to be on a
1:42:51bike, everyone always thinks about like, "Ooh, I need to wear a helmet."
1:42:54Like helmet is the top safety piece of equipment.
1:42:57No, you're wrong.
1:42:58The number one thing you should wear when you're on a bike, which almost no one does,
1:43:03is gloves.
1:43:04Gloves are the actual thing you need to wear.
1:43:08The most frequent injury, which is really bad, is your hands.
1:43:14So you can have very small bike accidents or just like fall off a bike because you lose
1:43:19your balance and you will tear your hands to shreds when they hit the ground.
1:43:25So it's shocking.
1:43:26Like basically no one ever thinks about wearing gloves, but get yourself a good pair of padded
1:43:32gloves.
1:43:33And I honestly think if you have to pick one piece of safety equipment, that should be
1:43:39the thing that you wear.
1:43:40Your probability of an accident here is much higher for like minor accident that is extremely
1:43:48inconveniencing and very painful is hand injuries when you're on a bike.
1:43:53- But you should also wear a helmet.
1:43:54- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:43:54I'm like, I'm not saying don't, I'm just saying like no one thinks of it.
1:43:58And it's the thing that is...
1:44:00- That's a good PSA.
1:44:01Everyone knows you should be wearing a helmet.
1:44:03Everybody knows this.
1:44:04Whether they do or they don't, that's their own decision, which isn't necessarily a great
1:44:08one.
1:44:08I see so many people in London without helmets on and I don't get it.
1:44:11Like I really don't understand these like pick up a bike for the afternoon kind of things.
1:44:16Because nobody has any safety equipment at all, you know?
1:44:21Like that doesn't make sense to me.
1:44:22- I guess what I'm trying to express here is like there are plenty of circumstances where
1:44:26I can completely understand why people don't wear a helmet and a lot of recreational cycling
1:44:31can fall into this category of like, I'm only on protected bike lanes or like I'm out in
1:44:36the country and I've just brought a bike, right?
1:44:38So like there's literally no traffic.
1:44:40I'm just doing whatever.
1:44:41And I just think in any of those circumstances, you should still be wearing gloves, right?
1:44:47Even if you think like, I don't need to wear a helmet for, you know, reasons that you've
1:44:51decided on, that's fine. You're insane to not wear padded gloves if you're on a bike.
1:44:57That's my take on this.
1:44:58Public service announcement over.
1:45:00And then final thing I'll mention for bike stuff.
1:45:02A thing that I thought was a total gimmick, but is also massive quality of life improvement
1:45:08is companies make these automatic electric tire pumps.
1:45:13And I bought one just on a whim to see if it worked from a company called Psych Plus,
1:45:19CYC Plus. It's amazing.
1:45:22It's just like a big Tic Tac shaped thing that does the air pumping of the tires for me.
1:45:28But like I, you know, it's a bit like the water rower.
1:45:32I never knew how much it mattered to really hit the maximum pressure on the tires in your
1:45:38bike because I would just get tired from doing the manual one.
1:45:41And I was like, impatient getting ready to go.
1:45:43It's like, no, no, no.
1:45:44Just use this thing to like put the tire pressure back to max before you ride.
1:45:50And it makes the whole ride so much nicer.
1:45:53And to achieve that with a manual pump would take a lot of effort and a lot of hindrance
1:45:59before you were going to go do the thing.
1:46:01So if you have a bike, get an automatic tire pump thing.
1:46:05I just thought it was a gimmick, but it's not.
1:46:07It's great.
1:46:08In poking around the VanMoof website, you can actually order their new one for delivery
1:46:13in July.
1:46:14Mike, would you stop, would you stop, stop tempting me.
1:46:16You can just go to their website and get a VanMoof S3.
1:46:20You could just like order it right now and it will be delivered in July.
1:46:24And as it says on the website, Gray, the sooner you order, the sooner you ride.
1:46:28Quiet you.
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1:47:12than you did before.
1:47:13Well, with Fitbod, you can put all of that in so it can help tailor your exercise plan
1:47:17to include this stuff if you have it.
1:47:19But you don't need to because and this is where I got started with Fitbod.
1:47:22Fitbod has tons of body weight only workouts, which is a fantastic place to get started.
1:47:28And getting started with Fitbod is so simple because they have over 1400 HD video tutorials
1:47:35in the app with exercises shot from multiple angles to make sure that learning every exercise
1:47:41is incredibly simple.
1:47:42Personal fitness shouldn't be about competing with other people.
1:47:45What you want is something that's going to work just for you.
1:47:48That's when it sticks and you'll see the results that you're looking for.
1:47:51And Fitbod knows that everybody has their own path to fitness, which is why they customize
1:47:56things so deeply.
1:47:57They understand your strength training ability, studies your past workouts and adapts to the
1:48:02equipment you have on hand to create a training plan that is maximized for you to get the
1:48:07gains you're looking for by intelligently varying intensity and volume between sessions
1:48:12without overworking muscles or underworking muscles because that can impact results negatively.
1:48:18So they balance all of this into a fantastically well suited workout routine.
1:48:24One of the biggest things for me with the body weight exercises and building more strength
1:48:28in my body is that I find it easier to play video games.
1:48:30Like a lot of the pains in my wrists and arms that I used to get, just not a thing anymore.
1:48:34So Fitbod, thank you for setting me on a path so where I can play as much Zelda Tears of
1:48:41the Kingdom as I like and I get no pain in my wrists anymore.
1:48:45Personalized training of this quality can be expensive.
1:48:48Fitbod is just $12.99 a month or $79.99 a year, but you can get 25% off your membership by
1:48:55signing up at fitbod.me/cortex.
1:48:57So go now and get your customized fitness plan at fitbod.me/cortex.
1:49:03That is 25% off at fitbod.me/cortex.
1:49:07Our thanks to Fitbod for their support of this show and Relay FM.
1:49:10Should we talk about entertainment?
1:49:13- Uh, sure.
1:49:14What do you want to talk about in entertainment?
1:49:15- I have like three categories inside of entertainment.
1:49:19- Okay.
1:49:19- Tablet, game consoles, e-reader.
1:49:22- Oh, oh, I do have something to talk about here.
1:49:24Okay, yeah, yeah, let's do this.
1:49:25- iPad is the tablet.
1:49:27For me, it's the iPad mini.
1:49:29That is my go-to.
1:49:32It is the computer I use at home.
1:49:33Like over my iPhone, over my laptop or anything, like my iPad mini is just the best.
1:49:40I love it so much.
1:49:41I think that Apple really nailed it.
1:49:44Like it's for me, the product which feels the most true to the original idea of the iPad,
1:49:50of just like the content consumption part.
1:49:53Reading, watching video, like that screen size is just right for me for what I want
1:49:58out of all of those kinds of use cases.
1:50:01I'll just run through all of mine real quick because gaming console for me,
1:50:03the Steam Deck is my primary game console.
1:50:06- Yeah.
1:50:07- If a game is available on Steam, that's where I will get it because the Steam Deck
1:50:13has changed how I play video games.
1:50:15It has made so many games become drop in, drop out in a way that they weren't before.
1:50:21A really simple one for me is PGA 2K, like the golfing game.
1:50:25I've been playing that recently on my Steam Deck where I can just turn on the Steam Deck,
1:50:30play around and turn it off.
1:50:32It's like super simple and it's like a 20 minute game experience or whatever.
1:50:35With my PlayStation, it's like turn on the PlayStation, the PlayStation boots up,
1:50:40got to choose the game and now I'm like taking over the whole television.
1:50:44It's just like a bigger hole to do for a game which doesn't require that from me.
1:50:49A game like God of War, I would want to play that on my PlayStation because it is this big,
1:50:55beautiful thing.
1:50:57It's like an event game.
1:50:59It is not play around in PGA 2K, right?
1:51:02Which is like, it just doesn't feel like to me it needs the television.
1:51:05And so the Steam Deck for me makes so many games easy to jump in and out of,
1:51:12but I do play any game I can, I will play it on the Steam Deck because I just think it's fantastic.
1:51:17But then I also have my Nintendo Switch and my PlayStation 5 for games that are exclusive
1:51:23for those.
1:51:23And like when it comes to exclusives, that's at the moment where the big exclusives are.
1:51:28They're on the Switch on the PlayStation.
1:51:30So you've got like Zelda and you've got Spider-Man, for example.
1:51:33Those games for me that I'm excited for this year that are available on those platforms.
1:51:37So that's where I'll be playing them.
1:51:38- Yeah, my gaming life, I can live without exclusives.
1:51:41Like there's basically no exclusive that's really gonna get me to care enough,
1:51:44but that's why your recommendation of the Steam Deck, was it this year, I guess?
1:51:50It was just like recommendation of the year from you.
1:51:52Like I cannot believe how good that thing is.
1:51:55It's everything I wanted the Nintendo Switch to be, but actually is.
1:51:58Love it, love it, love it.
1:52:00Like can't rate it highly enough.
1:52:02Just so good and is like the perfect couch gaming thing.
1:52:07It's like if I am not playing Magic on my big iPad, it's like I am probably on the Steam Deck.
1:52:13And yeah, it's such a great form factor.
1:52:17I was worried about the weight.
1:52:18It's just not an issue.
1:52:19- It's just ergonomically comfortable.
1:52:22Like that's how they balance the weight.
1:52:23Like it just feels good to hold and use.
1:52:26Yeah, I've been very happy with the Steam Deck.
1:52:28It's changed the way I interact with games.
1:52:30It was in my review of my last year's theme,
1:52:33that the Steam Deck made a huge difference to the way that I am able to relax,
1:52:38because I'm able to just have so many more games available to me at any point.
1:52:43And it's also just a very comfortable device to play video games of any kind on.
1:52:47Going from like, I played Cyberpunk to Truck Simulator.
1:52:52And all of those experiences felt great on the Steam Deck.
1:52:55- Yeah, I never really thought about it until you mentioned it now.
1:52:58But however they make it work of to like instant on, instant off is incredible.
1:53:04There's no like booting up into the gaming environment.
1:53:07It's just like no, as soon as you're done,
1:53:08you just like put it down and then it's right there when you come back.
1:53:11- Yeah, I just turn it off like any other device.
1:53:13Like my Switch, like my iPhone, like my iPad.
1:53:15Like I don't close the game, shut down the system.
1:53:19Like it's none of that.
1:53:19Simple.
1:53:21- What are you doing for e-readers?
1:53:22- No, I don't do for e-readers.
1:53:24- Oh, so you don't do for e-readers at all?
1:53:25Is this category just here for me?
1:53:27- It's just for you.
1:53:28- I was wondering like, oh, what does Mike do for e-readers?
1:53:32- He doesn't.
1:53:32- I should have remembered because Mike doesn't read.
1:53:34- No, Mike doesn't like that at all.
1:53:36- Mike is literate.
1:53:37He can read.
1:53:37He just doesn't.
1:53:38- I choose not to.
1:53:39- Yeah.
1:53:40- I listen.
1:53:41I like to listen.
1:53:41I don't like to read.
1:53:42- I think I never told you, but I got the new Amazon e-reader, the big one.
1:53:47The Scribe, I think is the name for it.
1:53:49- Oh, the Remarkable Killer.
1:53:51- Yeah, the Remarkable Killer.
1:53:53I think it just never came up on the show, but whenever Amazon announced that,
1:53:56that was like instant purchase for me.
1:53:59I'll say it's interesting.
1:54:01All of their features as far as writing on it goes with the pencil,
1:54:06I would describe all of this as proof of concept.
1:54:10It works.
1:54:12It doesn't work great.
1:54:14They're saying that they're going to be improving it in software
1:54:18and rolling out features over time.
1:54:20Amazon is extremely slow and always has been on the software development side.
1:54:25So as far as I can tell, nothing has changed about it since the day that I bought it.
1:54:30I'm not using any of the handwriting stuff that they kind of pitch in the marketing,
1:54:35but I still love it because I have always wanted just a bigger physical screen for reading books.
1:54:44And that was one of a short list of frustrations for me on the Kindle.
1:54:49It's like, "These Kindles are great, but they're just too small."
1:54:51I always really like to bump up the text huge anyway.
1:54:54So like on a small screen when I'm dealing with like giant text,
1:54:58it's way too much flipping.
1:54:59- And this is 10 inches, right?
1:55:01- Yeah.
1:55:01- So it's kind of iPad screen size, like regular iPad screen size.
1:55:05- Yeah, it's like a little smaller than a regular iPad,
1:55:08which is I think just about perfect for book size.
1:55:11It feels like it's a little bigger than a normal book would be closed,
1:55:17but a little smaller than a book would be open.
1:55:19So I think they really nailed it with the size.
1:55:21Yeah, I like it a lot.
1:55:23I'm just very happy to have a bigger screen for reading and having it around has genuinely
1:55:29has encouraged me to read more because it's just a more comfortable reading experience
1:55:34than having this little small screen.
1:55:36So I can't really highly recommend it or rate it as a notebook to write with
1:55:42because the feature set is just too limited now, but I could see that if they,
1:55:46you know, like if you're thinking about something like a Remarkable,
1:55:49it does not come even close to touching the feature set that the Remarkable has.
1:55:55Even in terms of like moving things that you've already written,
1:55:58it's like, "No, no, no, you can erase stuff, but you can't circle something and move it."
1:56:03It's like, "Oh, come on Amazon, that's like the most basic of all features."
1:56:06But it has the, you know, the possibility, which is like why what we were talking about
1:56:10is the issue with the Remarkable is, well, you can make notes on your Kindle books,
1:56:15which is a thing you can't do with the Remarkable.
1:56:17So that's the problem.
1:56:18Yeah, so I'm very happy with it.
1:56:21Even if they take a long time to add what I consider to be very basic features,
1:56:24I'm still really happy with it as a product because it's a bigger screen Kindle
1:56:29and that is something I have wanted for years.
1:56:32Did you say that Remarkable made a keyboard case?
1:56:36Oh, did they?
1:56:37Yeah, in the ongoing arms race that we've got now in these types of devices.
1:56:42It's called the Type Folio.
1:56:43So you can now turn the Remarkable into a laptop, essentially.
1:56:50Everything becomes everything else.
1:56:51And they have an app on the iPhone that the notes that you type and draw will now go to.
1:56:57I've got to hand it to Remarkable.
1:56:59They have continued their development in such a way that
1:57:03I would have thought the Kindle scribe was the end of their business.
1:57:06Yeah, they're still holding on.
1:57:08But the Type Folio came at just the right time for them, I think.
1:57:12And I was like, that's smart.
1:57:13Because now you've turned your reading ideation tablet into a small laptop,
1:57:18like a really minimal laptop.
1:57:20Again, I know this product isn't for me, just in general.
1:57:25But again, I was like, they did it to me again.
1:57:29The way that I have felt for years, where every time I look at Remarkable,
1:57:32I'm like, huh, could I be that person?
1:57:35And now they've added the keyboard to it.
1:57:37I'm like, huh, could I be that person?
1:57:39You know, they continue to get me.
1:57:42So like, hats off to them.
1:57:43Yeah, it is really intriguing as a product.
1:57:46There's something about the idea of an e-ink computing device tablets
1:57:52that is just very attractive.
1:57:53It is maybe like the most aspirational technology product I've encountered, the Remarkable.
1:57:59Like for years, I have been like, can I be that guy?
1:58:04Right.
1:58:04And the answer is always no.
1:58:06But I keep asking the question.
1:58:09Let's talk bags.
1:58:11Okay, well, we're talking travel here is what we're actually talking, right, Mike?
1:58:16Yeah, I mean, bags, travel.
1:58:18We'll talk travel, but we'll talk about bags in the travel category.
1:58:21Okay, I just think my life, Mike, especially in year of work,
1:58:25very small circle that I exist inside of.
1:58:29Like travel as a topic.
1:58:31I'll have to hear from Mike about this.
1:58:33So what bags are you using for travel?
1:58:35This is where Bellroy comes back into the mix.
1:58:37Big Bellroy.
1:58:39I have been using the Bellroy Tokyo tote pack for a couple of years, I think.
1:58:44This is my daily bag.
1:58:45It is part backpack, part tote bag.
1:58:48And that's what I like about it.
1:58:49I like that flexibility.
1:58:51I don't put a lot in this bag.
1:58:53It's where my laptop goes, you know, taking back and forth from home to the studio.
1:58:57And also anything I might need in that day, you know, so like if I'm bringing something
1:59:03from home or to the studio, you know, it would be transported here.
1:59:07And I have some basic essentials in here too, like an umbrella, you know, like little bits
1:59:11and bobs like that.
1:59:13So this is just like my daily bag.
1:59:14I like that it's small, it's lightweight, and I like the flexibility of backpack and
1:59:19tote bag.
1:59:19Like in one.
1:59:21What does that mean to you when you say that it's a tote bag as well?
1:59:24I don't quite understand what you're getting at with that.
1:59:26I can also just carry it in one hand.
1:59:28Oh, okay.
1:59:28All right.
1:59:29I know that's not necessarily how people think of tote bags.
1:59:32They think of them as over the shoulder.
1:59:33Okay.
1:59:34This is just like I can just hold this in one hand kind of briefcase style, I would
1:59:38say.
1:59:38Okay.
1:59:39All right.
1:59:39I get it.
1:59:39Right.
1:59:40As well as as a backpack.
1:59:42And so I like that flexibility.
1:59:44I find that to be comfortable.
1:59:45This bag is really easy to pick up and put down.
1:59:48Like, for example, if I was changing trains, right, I'm on the underground and down from
1:59:54one chain to another, I would just hold it by the handles and not put it on my back.
1:59:58Mm hmm.
1:59:59Because I've like I've already taken it off.
2:00:01I sat down and I'll just pick it up, walked in the next train, put it back down again,
2:00:04that kind of thing.
2:00:05So I like it for that.
2:00:06It's flexible and it's carrying as well as what I can put in it.
2:00:11Did you go with the the big version or the little version?
2:00:13Oh, when I bought it, there was only one version.
2:00:16Okay.
2:00:1720 liters or 14 liters.
2:00:18That's interesting.
2:00:19I'm going to look into that.
2:00:20I don't know what mine is.
2:00:23How's the weight of it?
2:00:24Oh, it's very light.
2:00:25Hmm.
2:00:27This is like a genuinely very nice just like daily bag.
2:00:30It's very flexible.
2:00:31It's got not too much, but just enough pockets.
2:00:34And like the size, it being small and not having a ton of pockets is good because I
2:00:39can't fill it with crap.
2:00:40Right.
2:00:41Yeah.
2:00:41It really is constrained to just like what I'm carrying with me on that day.
2:00:45I find myself intrigued because, as we mentioned earlier, like my everyday bag is the peak
2:00:50design everyday bag.
2:00:52Which I still really like.
2:00:53I've used for years, but my biggest complaint with it has always been like, it's very heavy
2:00:59because it's designed to protect camera equipment.
2:01:03And it's like, I love that bag.
2:01:04That bag is very clever.
2:01:05There's a ton of features that I find hard to move away from, but it just kills me the
2:01:10weight of it.
2:01:11Always kind of in the market for something that could replace it.
2:01:14And, uh, I don't know.
2:01:16Maybe, maybe this is something worth trying.
2:01:17Well, I bought another bag.
2:01:19Oh, okay.
2:01:20There's another one.
2:01:21Another Bellroy bag.
2:01:22Because what the Tokyo tote pack isn't is my travel bag.
2:01:25It's not the bag that I'm going to take when I'm going on a trip.
2:01:28It's just my daily bag.
2:01:30I have and have used the peak design everyday backpack like you for years as my traveling
2:01:38bag.
2:01:39And my issue with the peak design backpack is its inflexibility.
2:01:46I can see that.
2:01:47I feel like this bag has a way it wants to be used and it doesn't like to be used in
2:01:52any other way.
2:01:53It has like a maximum amount of stuff in it, which is that you can put in it, which is
2:01:58very obvious.
2:01:58Like it's very rigid as a bag.
2:02:01I was looking around at bags, which meant that I got every Instagram ad that I got was
2:02:06a bag ad.
2:02:07But that was genuinely helpful because I was looking for bags.
2:02:11Right, right.
2:02:11Yeah.
2:02:12But Instagram knows.
2:02:13And then Bellroy found me and advertised to me the Venture Ready pack.
2:02:18And I bought one of these.
2:02:21I have yet to use it on a trip.
2:02:23I'm actually going on a trip next week, so I will be using it for the first time.
2:02:28But this bag spoke to me in just the ways I like one.
2:02:31Again, brand that I know and I like their stuff.
2:02:33I like their thinking.
2:02:34It is a new bag from them.
2:02:36It's 26 liters.
2:02:38So the capacity is actually a bit bigger than my everyday backpack.
2:02:43That's big.
2:02:44But the dimensions very similar because the everyday, like the Peak Design, is just a
2:02:50big bag.
2:02:51Right?
2:02:52Like it's just very large where this one, I think dimension wise, is just like a little
2:02:58bit taller, but every other dimension is like mostly the same.
2:03:02Also, the bag doesn't look very big.
2:03:04The Peak Design bag just looks big all the time.
2:03:06This bag has like a lot of pockets, a lot of organization.
2:03:10I like that it's just kind of like a big open bag.
2:03:13That's kind of what I want.
2:03:14Just like a big open pocket and I can just put stuff in it.
2:03:17It sits flat, has a specified pocket for an air tag.
2:03:21Perfect.
2:03:22So yeah, I'm going to try it out.
2:03:23But this is the bag that drew me in recently, and it's the one that I'm thinking is I'm
2:03:28pretty confident is going to replace the Peak for me because I think I've kind of reached
2:03:31my end with that bag.
2:03:32It's interesting.
2:03:34I wish there were more photos of like the different packings for the interior because
2:03:40it looks like it has a bunch of like pockets on the side, but you're saying it's sort
2:03:45of like a big hole.
2:03:46It has like some pockets inside and it has a pocket on the top.
2:03:50It has a couple of pockets on the top of the bag.
2:03:52It doesn't have external side pockets like the Peak Design does, but it also has one
2:03:57of those like privacy pockets that you could put like a passport in the back or whatever.
2:04:03But I never really got on very well with the side pockets with the Peak Design.
2:04:06I was always looking in the wrong side.
2:04:09I didn't like those.
2:04:10So I want all my pockets on the main compartment so it's easier for me to get to everything
2:04:14because I would be like, open one side.
2:04:17Oh, it's not in here.
2:04:18Close it up.
2:04:18Open the other side.
2:04:19Oh, it's in here.
2:04:20Like whatever it is I was looking for.
2:04:22So just like the system of the bag is very good, but it didn't ultimately.
2:04:27I don't think it really worked for me.
2:04:29So yeah, I'm looking for something else.
2:04:31This is where I have landed for now.
2:04:33Hopefully it will be where I stay.
2:04:34Yeah, backpacks are tricky because I think the thing for me that like, why do I still
2:04:40use the everyday backpack is because like my problem with backpacks is sort of what
2:04:44you just said that you wanted.
2:04:46I find that they can just be a hole, right?
2:04:49Like it's a big hole that you're carrying and the verticality of it feels like it's
2:04:54easy to have stuff just get like lost in these bottom to top layers of like you've just
2:04:59thrown all this stuff in.
2:05:00And that to me was like the killer design feature of the everyday backpack is the ability
2:05:05to open it up sideways.
2:05:07So like I never use that backpack in portrait mode in a sense.
2:05:11I was always throwing it on the table, opening up the side pockets and I felt like this is
2:05:16how I want to experience the backpack.
2:05:18I want the least depth and the most spread so everything is accessible to me.
2:05:23And that's like, that's what I really love about that bag.
2:05:26And I just, I haven't seen anyone else do that.
2:05:29I think this is intriguing because of how deep the top opens so like you can, it seems
2:05:34like you can really pull it apart.
2:05:36That's what I like, yeah.
2:05:37Yeah, which might be part of it, but it does still look like it's functionally a hole
2:05:43that you're carrying, which has always been my frustration with backpacks.
2:05:47Yep, it's hard.
2:05:49Backpack stuff is really, really hard.
2:05:51Backpacks are one of these things we've said before, like some markets are functionally
2:05:55infinite in size because everybody wants different things and backpacks feel like one of
2:05:59those markets.
2:06:00Like there can never be enough backpack companies for the things that people want out of their
2:06:05backpacks.
2:06:05It's just like a market that can never be associated.
2:06:09I know we've been recording for a long time, but I am not letting this episode end unless
2:06:14I can mention dog stuff.
2:06:16Who would try and stop you?
2:06:17I feel like you might try to stop me for mentioning dog stuff.
2:06:20You didn't seem very warm to it at the beginning.
2:06:22I don't have a ton to add when it comes to dog stuff.
2:06:25Do you not have a lot of dog hardware recommendations, Mike?
2:06:29Not yet.
2:06:29Who knows?
2:06:30If we're doing this as a tradition for long enough, maybe I will have dog stuff, but right
2:06:34now no dog stuff.
2:06:35Okay, I will look forward to that day.
2:06:37But yes, so as a household that has a rotating crew of visiting dogs, we've had the opportunity
2:06:44to try out a bunch of dog stuff.
2:06:47So number one thing, if you have a dog, a thing that you probably have not thought very much
2:06:52about is the dog collar.
2:06:54It just seems like, "Oh, the dog collar."
2:06:56It's just like how dogs are.
2:06:58I'm here to tell you, no.
2:07:00If you have a dog, you must get a dog harness.
2:07:04Don't have a collar around the neck?
2:07:07Have one of these like harnesses that goes across the chest anytime you take them out
2:07:13for a walk.
2:07:14The key thing here is like harnesses are so important for dogs.
2:07:18If they try to go like chase after something, right, you don't have that horrible moment
2:07:23where like your dog runs for a squirrel and it chokes itself.
2:07:26If you have an actual harness on the dog, you can like control them much better and
2:07:31in like a way more safe range.
2:07:33I don't want to get into the whole thing, but there are so many negative knock-on effects
2:07:39from having a collar on a dog that you can just avoid with a harness.
2:07:44They can get all kinds of like nerve damage from the collars.
2:07:47It's no good.
2:07:48So I don't know like globally a company to recommend, but here in the UK, my wife and
2:07:55I, we use a company called Fleece Dog Harnesses.
2:07:58They have a bunch of great harnesses and there's another one called Cozy Dogs.
2:08:02Both of these are companies that make like really nice, really soft harnesses that are
2:08:07comfortable for the dog and also better for you as the person who is actually walking
2:08:13the dog around.
2:08:14I feel like I see Julius Canine everywhere.
2:08:18Uh, which one is that?
2:08:20And it's just like one of the weirdest like brand names that-
2:08:24Oh, yes, I know this one.
2:08:26Yeah, the Julius Canine branding is very funny.
2:08:30I don't understand it.
2:08:31Who's Julius?
2:08:32I don't know.
2:08:32Don't get me wrong.
2:08:33If you have a Julius Canine harness, I think that's like a million times better than
2:08:37a collar like anything is.
2:08:38Looking into it, we're generally like in favor of V-shaped harnesses.
2:08:43So they're harnesses that like come down sort of over the shoulders and then go under
2:08:48the chest.
2:08:49The key thing if like if you're looking at a harness on your dog is when you pull, you
2:08:54just want to make sure that the pressure is not near the neck.
2:08:59The pressure is actually like on the chest bone, right?
2:09:02On like the hard part of the dog.
2:09:04And I think the Julius Collars can ride a little high depending on how you've actually fit
2:09:09them because they have a strap that goes across and it's like if that strap is perfectly
2:09:13aligned, it's no problem, but it can often like ride up.
2:09:17I still say like any harness is basically better than any collar for taking a dog out
2:09:21for a walk.
2:09:22Yeah, it also just seems like I don't know enough so like I ain't judging, but collars
2:09:28seems so barbaric in a way that like if the dog was to run and you had to pull the dog
2:09:34back and it's pulled back by the neck.
2:09:36There's just something about that that doesn't look right to me.
2:09:39Like many things in life, you come up with the first solution.
2:09:43Yeah.
2:09:43Right?
2:09:43So like you're domesticating dogs.
2:09:45What are you going to do?
2:09:46Well, you have to put a rope around its neck.
2:09:48That's literally like that's the only thing that you can do and then you evolve that over
2:09:51time.
2:09:52And I also understand the convenience, right?
2:09:53The dog has already got the collar on and you just clip the lead on the collar and you're
2:09:56good to go.
2:09:57Well, like with the harness, you've got to like dress the dog every single time.
2:10:01Yes, there is a little bit of like dog dressing with the harness for sure.
2:10:04Yeah, because like the dog isn't wearing the harness around the house, right?
2:10:08Big fashion dog.
2:10:09It's a bit of formal wear for just being around the home.
2:10:12With our visiting dogs, what we often do is we just if they come with a collar, we just
2:10:15take the collar off and put all of their identifying information on the harness.
2:10:20And so it's like the harness is actually the only thing that they wear when they go outside.
2:10:23Yeah.
2:10:23Again, I just like I mentioned it because I think it's a thing a lot of dog owners sort
2:10:26of just don't really think about and that like that totally makes sense.
2:10:30There's a million things in the world.
2:10:32You don't really think about it, but if like I have to if I could like make a single change
2:10:37for all dog owners, this would be the change is walk them on a harness.
2:10:41The second big change that I would make is I have a I have a dog food brand recommendation.
2:10:48So there's a company in the-
2:10:49You are stretching this now.
2:10:51I will tell you.
2:10:53You are stretching.
2:10:56Okay, I'm gonna skip that one actually.
2:10:57No, you can make it.
2:10:58You can make it.
2:10:59I'll just say I'll just say it really quick.
2:11:00You know, you should give your dog some nice food.
2:11:03Don't just feed your dog kibble for their whole life.
2:11:06So there's a company that we really like called Different Dog.
2:11:09They make like fancy dog food. There's going to be something like this in the US.
2:11:13You should give dogs food you could at least conceivably eat.
2:11:19That's my recommendation there.
2:11:21You don't want to have something that you wouldn't want to be the only thing that you eat for your whole life.
2:11:25Question.
2:11:26Yeah.
2:11:26Have you eaten the food?
2:11:28So I haven't eaten the food.
2:11:29Okay.
2:11:30But my wife has a suspicious number of times said to me, "You know, you could eat this."
2:11:37I'm going away this weekend.
2:11:39By the way, you could eat the dog food.
2:11:42It's always been like the tone that I get from this is a little bit of like, my life would be a lot easier.
2:11:56Just try it.
2:12:01You never know.
2:12:03You can't just eat it.
2:12:04You never know.
2:12:07I think the next sentence is usually something like, she goes, "It's human grade."
2:12:11Which is also like, if you go into a restaurant and they're like, "This food is human grade."
2:12:15It's a bit like, "Yeah, I'd hope so."
2:12:17I'm looking at the pictures, Gray, and someone could give me this and I don't know if I'd be mad.
2:12:26I'll let you try it the next time you come over.
2:12:27No, I'm good.
2:12:28That's incredible.
2:12:30Oh my God.
2:12:35So here is a human/dog recommendation.
2:12:39Hardware wise, I guess this is kind of health wise.
2:12:42I recommend that everyone should try a electric toothbrush.
2:12:46I've got a Sonicare electric toothbrush for myself.
2:12:50This again is one of these things.
2:12:51It's like the water rower.
2:12:53You get an electric toothbrush, you think it's a gimmick, you try it, and then you can never go back to a manual toothbrush.
2:13:00Do you have an electric toothbrush?
2:13:01Yes, I have the Sonicare as well.
2:13:03Do you have the USB-C charging one?
2:13:05Is that the one?
2:13:06I don't have the USB-C one.
2:13:09I have the one that has the cable in the case.
2:13:12Oh, okay.
2:13:14Yeah, one of the case charging ones.
2:13:17I was horrified at the price of the USB-C one when it's basically the same toothbrush.
2:13:23They just put a USB-C port in the case.
2:13:27So I just got the one that had the USB-A port.
2:13:30I think there was another feature as well that the USB-C one had that I didn't want.
2:13:35And so I went with the one that has the USB-A built into the case.
2:13:39Right, okay.
2:13:41Yeah, yeah.
2:13:42Sonicare was totally taking advantage of people like me who are like one device away from a pure USB-C travel life.
2:13:50And I was like, you know what?
2:13:51No, I'm totally going to do that.
2:13:53Like I'll buy this just to get all of this done.
2:13:55Everyone should brush their teeth, including dogs.
2:13:58So you can get electric dog toothbrushes.
2:14:01This is a thing that exists and it is a thing that we use because you want to keep dog's teeth clean.
2:14:08So there's a company called Emi-Pet which makes a basic dog tooth care set and includes an electric toothbrush.
2:14:16You use an electric toothbrush, let your dog use an electric toothbrush.
2:14:19Incredible.
2:14:20Okay, and then the very last thing that I'll mention.
2:14:22Oh my god, there's more dog stuff?
2:14:23There's one last one. This is the last one, I promise, right?
2:14:25You have more dog stuff than you had for like entertainment stuff.
2:14:29Last one I'll mention is again, a thing that I thought was kind of ridiculous at first,
2:14:34but I've totally changed my mind on it, is what are called like slow feeder bowls.
2:14:41So these are bowls that are designed to slow down the dog while eating.
2:14:48And so it comes in this hexagonal pattern.
2:14:52And so the idea is like, as you are dishing out your human grade dog food,
2:14:57which you may or may not have warmed up in the microwave ahead of time,
2:15:01you can spread it out in these little like hexagon pockets in the dog bowl.
2:15:05And this basically helps prevent the thing that many dogs do,
2:15:09which is when you put the food in front of them,
2:15:11they just wolf it down in a single bite in seconds.
2:15:15This like slows them down a little bit while they're eating.
2:15:17I genuinely think it is better for them.
2:15:20It's like a better experience for them.
2:15:22I was like not very sold on this originally,
2:15:24but I've completely changed my mind on this.
2:15:26Like slow feeder bowls, it's totally the way to go.
2:15:29- I have to ask what came first for you?
2:15:31The need for the bowl or the fact that this is a hexagon bowl?
2:15:35Which for you, which one came first?
2:15:39- Mike, it's a hexagon because hexagons are a perfect pattern
2:15:44for this exact kind of problem.
2:15:46Circles wouldn't work very well.
2:15:48Squares wouldn't work very well.
2:15:50Triangles obviously would be terrible, they're too small.
2:15:53There's very few things which you can uniformly use to tile a surface
2:15:56and hexagons are the best of guns for that.
2:15:59- And for everything else.
2:16:00- Well, I mean, not everything.
2:16:02- Let's not be crazy.
2:16:04- Right.
2:16:05Okay.
2:16:05And that's why I promise that's it for dog stuff for today.
2:16:09- Lightning round?
2:16:11- Lightning round.
2:16:11- Lightning round.
2:16:12What would it be if a state of the something about a lightning round?
2:16:15- You need a lightning round for random extra things.
2:16:18- Yeah.
2:16:18- Including the Folsom knife by James Brand.
2:16:22I love this knife.
2:16:24I use it for packages, which is maybe a little more than is needed for a package.
2:16:30- Oh, come on.
2:16:30You just want to feel cool when you're opening a package with this knife.
2:16:34- Good looking, good feeling knife.
2:16:36Comes in a bunch of finishes and colors.
2:16:38I love this knife.
2:16:40I have two of them.
2:16:42- What do you...
2:16:43- Because I bought one because that was the one that I had.
2:16:46And then, do you know Aaron Draplin?
2:16:48- No.
2:16:49- The designer.
2:16:49He is very famous designer.
2:16:52He's one of the people behind Field Notes.
2:16:54I love his design style.
2:16:57He makes just really great stuff.
2:16:58He did a collaboration with them and made an orange and black one.
2:17:01And I got that because it was just so freaking cool.
2:17:04So I have one at home, one at the studio.
2:17:06This company, James Brand, make really nice products in general.
2:17:09And I am a big fan of this knife.
2:17:12It's one of those things that like I've had it for a number of years now.
2:17:16And it's just like a product that is very well made.
2:17:19It works very well and it brings me joy to use.
2:17:21- Do you keep it as a pocket knife or just have it around the house?
2:17:24- It stays on my desk.
2:17:26- The hole, is that for just grabbing it when you open it up?
2:17:29Or does that serve a different function?
2:17:30- The hole in the blade.
2:17:32- Yeah.
2:17:32- Yes, that is to help you open it.
2:17:34- Ah, okay.
2:17:34So that's just for grabbing it.
2:17:35- Yeah.
2:17:35- It looks great.
2:17:37It's a really good looking knife.
2:17:38- Yeah.
2:17:38They make really good stuff.
2:17:39If you are looking for a nice knife, James Brand make really, really good products.
2:17:45- I think as a nice mirror for that, I'm going to have a Hawaii holdover product.
2:17:50When I was in Hawaii and terrified of the dark, I asked the internet to help me with flashlights.
2:17:56And I found just a fantastic little flashlight.
2:18:01It's called the Nightcore TM-10K flashlight.
2:18:06I brought it back.
2:18:06I keep it in my closet.
2:18:07It's one of those things where like, yes, you have a flashlight on your phone,
2:18:11but every once in a while you need a flashlight that can really do the job.
2:18:15- Oh, it's big.
2:18:16- It's not as big as you think it is.
2:18:17It's like, it fits in your hand.
2:18:18- Oh no, I looked at the pictures and thought it was a size.
2:18:21And then they had a picture of it in someone's hand.
2:18:23And that's when I thought it looked big.
2:18:24- Right.
2:18:24Okay.
2:18:25Yeah, yeah.
2:18:25It's not like a keychain flashlight.
2:18:27It's a flashlight you would leave somewhere.
2:18:29Every once in a while, it's just very useful.
2:18:32And it is insane.
2:18:34Like how it can turn the night to day.
2:18:37It's amazing.
2:18:38- As it very helpful has written on it, 10,000 lumens.
2:18:43- Yeah, yeah.
2:18:44- With two exclamation marks.
2:18:46Why would you do that?
2:18:50That's so strange.
2:18:51- Well, because 10,000 lumens is a lot of lumens.
2:18:53- But why do they need to put it on the thing with two exclamation marks?
2:18:57- Because it's a lot of lumens.
2:18:59I don't understand what your problem is with these two exclamation marks.
2:19:01- That is so funny.
2:19:02- The thing that to me is the funniest about it is it is insanely bright under normal operation,
2:19:08but it has an- it basically has a like- it feels like it's out of a movie.
2:19:11There's like an overheat mode, so you can press and hold a button and it will go as bright as it can
2:19:19until the moment it's about to burn itself out from the heat that it generates.
2:19:23- Jeez.
2:19:24- But when you do that, it is incredible.
2:19:26So yeah, it is the most amount of light in the smallest amount of package.
2:19:32Love it.
2:19:32- I want to recommend my favorite slippers.
2:19:34- Oh, okay.
2:19:36- Mahabis.
2:19:37- You know, I was just in the market for some like house shoes.
2:19:41- Yeah, I use these as house shoes.
2:19:44I specifically wear the curve brand.
2:19:47- Okay.
2:19:48- Mahabis, it's kind of like a- they have rubber on the sole.
2:19:51They have like a rubber sole so you could wear them outside and inside.
2:19:55Like if you had to leave the house to get something and come back in or whatever.
2:19:58- Yeah, that's what I'm looking for.
2:19:59- I owned the classic for a while, but I found that I was wearing the outside toe down.
2:20:05And I think it's because when I'm here at the studio, the way I kind of sit,
2:20:09I sometimes will like kind of kick the ground a little bit.
2:20:11I don't know why I do this.
2:20:12It's just a thing that I do.
2:20:14And so I was wearing the fronts away, but the curve have the rubber go over the toe as well.
2:20:19I find it to be very comfortable and you can- what I like about them specifically is they
2:20:25have this kind of like elasticy part on the back.
2:20:28So you can choose to either step into it like a slip-on and wear them like slip-ons.
2:20:33And that kind of rubber area goes down or you can then pull it up over the back.
2:20:38If you were say walking outside and you didn't want your shoes to fly off.
2:20:41- Oh nice.
2:20:42That's a nice little feature.
2:20:43Yeah.
2:20:43- Yeah.
2:20:44I've had- I have these at home.
2:20:46When something is- this is how I can tell that I love something.
2:20:50I've just realized it now.
2:20:51When I have it at home and at the studio.
2:20:55- Yeah, that's a good metric for it.
2:20:57- And I have a pair of these here and there.
2:20:59So that's like- that's how I know that like something has become important enough in my life
2:21:03that I need it in the two places that I'm in.
2:21:05- Nice.
2:21:06All right.
2:21:07I'm totally gonna pick up a pair and give them a try.
2:21:09Next I'm gonna recommend the Theragun.
2:21:12Have you tried a Theragun, Mike?
2:21:15- Yeah, I have the Theragun Mini.
2:21:16I want the proper one.
2:21:18We just haven't done it yet, but we've been meaning to get one for a while.
2:21:21- Yeah, this is- for anyone who doesn't know, I think this falls into the category of like-
2:21:26I'm gonna say it is a massager, but that's not exactly right.
2:21:30I would sell the Theragun as it is a jackhammer for your muscles is what it really is.
2:21:35- And also here's what I'll say about the Theragun.
2:21:38You may have seen it online.
2:21:39I saw it on Instagram ads for a while and I'm like, "That is BS.
2:21:42That thing is- doesn't work."
2:21:44That's what was my first thought.
2:21:46It's like there's no way that I believe that this actually does any difference.
2:21:50Huge difference.
2:21:51And also feels great.
2:21:53- Yeah.
2:21:54This was a piece of equipment that also became critically important when I started exercising more.
2:22:00It's really like, "Oh, this is actually a thing I need to try to help like smooth-
2:22:04not to smooth out, but like you need to jackhammer your muscles sometimes,
2:22:07like when you've exerted them."
2:22:09So like on like quadriceps in particular, I find like, "Ooh, if I've had a hard leg exercise,
2:22:14like using this really minimizes soreness the next day."
2:22:19But in particular, like I've kind of mentioned a couple times over the years,
2:22:23like I have a problem where I have some of my back muscles will spasm and lock
2:22:29in what I can only describe as in my ability to remember.
2:22:33I can't remember anything more painful than when this happens on occasion.
2:22:37And the Theragun as a jackhammer for muscles is the- is like a thing that can really take that
2:22:46from impossibly painful down to like tolerable and I can move again.
2:22:51So this is a thing that has become an absolutely critical piece of like travel kit for me,
2:22:58is I got the mini version that you have and it's like,
2:23:01I will not go anywhere without that thing.
2:23:04So yeah, I mentioned here again, because like, just like you said,
2:23:07I think a lot of people can see it and it looks like a kind of weird gimmick,
2:23:11but it's really good if you have any kind of muscle problems or if you exercise,
2:23:15you should totally look into one.
2:23:17- And I've tried the like the big one, the Elite, and that thing is amazing.
2:23:22- Yeah, that one is a real jackhammer.
2:23:24- Sonos Era 100.
2:23:26- Okay.
2:23:27- I am a big Sonos fan.
2:23:29It's one of the things that I've been adding to my home as I'm like kind of changing what I want
2:23:35in the new home and how it operates and we have more music playing in the house than we had before.
2:23:39And I originally bought the Sonos One speakers and they are like, they were very good.
2:23:45I liked them a lot.
2:23:46One thing I didn't really know, and it didn't bother me,
2:23:48but I just didn't know that the Sonos One is a mono speaker and the Sonos Era 100 is a stereo speaker.
2:23:56And I was interested in the Era 100 because I wanted to get more speakers than we had.
2:24:03I ideally wanted to have one in every room in the house.
2:24:06And we had a couple of rooms that were free and I was like, oh, I'll deal with this later on.
2:24:10And when the Era 100 came out, I bought a pair of these to go where we play music the most,
2:24:15which is one in the kitchen and one in Adina's office at home.
2:24:19And the Era 100 is a very well thought out product because as well as it being just a Sonos speaker,
2:24:25it also has Bluetooth and the line in.
2:24:27So it can be used in so many environments.
2:24:31You can use it as a Bluetooth speaker.
2:24:33You can use it with the Sonos app.
2:24:34You can use AirPlay on it.
2:24:36You could also plug in a record player straight into this thing and music from it if you wanted to.
2:24:40Have you done that, Mike?
2:24:41I bought a Sonos Play 5 for our record player before the Era 100 came out.
2:24:46And it's one of their bigger ones.
2:24:48But what's really great about Sonos with a record player is you can put the music on the record
2:24:54player and play it everywhere in your home where there's a Sonos.
2:24:57Oh.
2:24:57And that's the same for any line in.
2:25:00Like you are lining it into the Sonos system.
2:25:04System, right.
2:25:05Not that particular speaker.
2:25:06Oh, interesting.
2:25:07I hadn't heard of it that way.
2:25:07Very clever.
2:25:08I really love Sonos.
2:25:10Like I'm very happy with this kind of product in general.
2:25:14But the Era 100 gave me something I have truly never experienced in technology before,
2:25:19where I did a side by side comparison and was blown away by the results.
2:25:24Like I had the Sonos 1 and the Era 100 next to each other.
2:25:28And I was playing the same piece of music.
2:25:30I played it on one and then carried it on on the other one.
2:25:33And the difference was obscene in how much better it sounded.
2:25:38And so, yeah, I really love Sonos products.
2:25:41And I think the Era 100 is like a great starting point if you want to consider a better home
2:25:49audio system.
2:25:50In the UK, it's £249.
2:25:51And I think for a speaker of this quality, that is very fairly priced.
2:25:56OK, my last lightning round recommendation, the Ember Mug and Cup.
2:26:04So Ember is a company that makes cups that will heat your beverage to a desired temperature.
2:26:13And they also make a travel thermos, which does the same thing.
2:26:18So both the cup and the mug, they have a little battery in them and you put your beverage
2:26:23in.
2:26:24Once on your phone, you can like set the temperature that you want things to be at.
2:26:29And then the battery will do its best to keep the temperature of your beverage at your desired
2:26:35temperature.
2:26:35And it has a little coaster that it uses to charge.
2:26:38Oh, man, I just went to their website.
2:26:40And it's so smart.
2:26:41And I didn't know about this.
2:26:43I think it might be in America only at the moment.
2:26:44They make a baby bottle.
2:26:46Oh, wow.
2:26:47That's great.
2:26:48I didn't know that.
2:26:49That's such a good idea.
2:26:50That's very clever.
2:26:52Yeah, anyway.
2:26:55Yeah, I think that's a new one.
2:26:56Yeah.
2:26:57The thing about this is, in some sense, it's like the opposite of what I was saying before
2:27:02with the bike where it's like, oh, I have a big quality of life improvement from this
2:27:05really expensive product.
2:27:07Now, an Ember Cup is more expensive than a cup, right?
2:27:12But I think for single products, in terms of quality of life improvement per dollar,
2:27:23per use, the Ember Mug has to be one of the best expenditures of money I've ever made.
2:27:29It's like, I am drinking coffee all the time.
2:27:32And having it just always be nice and hot is such a luxury.
2:27:40So I am surprised at how much I like this.
2:27:43I had tried before some of these little like heating pads for coffee cups.
2:27:49And it's like, and it worked fine.
2:27:50But the difference with the mug is like the ability to keep it at a precise temperature
2:27:56is really great.
2:27:57I know you would also appreciate not feeling like a constant fire hazard on my desk, like
2:28:03a hot little plate is.
2:28:05Yeah.
2:28:05It's very nice.
2:28:07This is better than that for sure.
2:28:09Yes.
2:28:10That was part of the reason I got the mug in the first place.
2:28:13That can like scorch the liquid too, right?
2:28:16Like if it's just like constant heat, like what the Ember is doing is it's taking it
2:28:19to a temperature level.
2:28:21Yes.
2:28:22It's not just constantly heating it, which is a thing that depending on how picky you
2:28:27are about your coffee, the constant heat can make it go bitter faster.
2:28:30Whereas like the Ember trying to maintain a temperature is different from just, I have
2:28:35set it on a tiny stove, which is on my desk to keep it warm.
2:28:39And the real killer thing for me has been the mug version, because now that I'm spending
2:28:44most of my mornings in the basement to write, it's like, well, I don't have coffee making
2:28:51equipment down there.
2:28:52And so I just like fill up the mug, bring it downstairs.
2:28:56I've got one of the little charging discs for it there.
2:28:59And so this way it's like all morning while I'm working in the basement, I have nice and
2:29:05warm coffee in a way that like the thing that's really nice about it, as opposed to like,
2:29:10why don't you just get a thermos is a thermos can keep the coffee too hot, right?
2:29:14Like I make the coffee right in the morning and then put it in a regular thermos and then
2:29:18it's too hot most of the time.
2:29:19So it's like that perfect temperature.
2:29:21So nice.
2:29:22I really love it.
2:29:23It's again, it's a thing that seems like a frivolous purchase, but it hits like high
2:29:29frequency in my life.
2:29:30Nice like quality of life increase, divide that by the dollar spent and it's a complete
2:29:35no brainer purchase.
2:29:37Love it.
2:29:37I will finish off with another liquid focused purchase.
2:29:41Oh, good.
2:29:42The Lark picture, L A R Q.
2:29:44So I had a Brita filter picture and was unhappy with it for two reasons.
2:29:54One was the, like you said, it's like filtered water, right?
2:29:58And I mean, one thing is I'd seen that they can get moldy, the filter area, which isn't
2:30:05great, but also it frustrated me that when you would put the filter into the picture,
2:30:11you'd press the little button on the LCD screen and it just ticks down on a timer.
2:30:15But that timer doesn't mean anything except time.
2:30:20And then it's like the time's up replace the water.
2:30:23And it's like, you've got no concept of how much water I've put through the system.
2:30:28Hmm.
2:30:29Like if I go away for two weeks, that's two weeks off of the timer, even though I've
2:30:37not actually used the filter for filtering the water.
2:30:41So I was looking around and found Lark and I was aware of Lark because they made a, they
2:30:48make a bottle, like a water bottle that has a UV light inside of it for killing bacteria.
2:30:54And they make a picture that has that.
2:30:58So that was part one.
2:30:59So like the idea of there being the potential for less bacteria buildup inside of the picture.
2:31:06And so it filters the water with a UV light as it passes through.
2:31:10And then also does a self-cleaning with the UV light, which is great.
2:31:14So obviously you have to clean the picture, but I like the idea of the UV light there
2:31:21to kill off bacteria.
2:31:22But my main reason for this is it has an app, which you can connect with Bluetooth to the
2:31:28picture is very simple, but it tracks the amount of water that passes through the filter
2:31:33and tells you to replace the filter once the amount of water has passed rather than it
2:31:37being on a fixed timer.
2:31:38That's, that's, I've got one of those Brita filters as well.
2:31:41And I think you've, you've kind of nailed my vague unease with them.
2:31:50This is one of those areas where I just thought like, oh, this is just what it is.
2:31:53This is better than nothing, but I don't really like it.
2:31:55And I don't have very specific complaints, but yeah, I feel like you've just addressed
2:32:00some of my, like, I don't like this about the Brita filter thing, like pressing this
2:32:04button on top.
2:32:05It's never felt good.
2:32:06Like I know you're just a timer counting down.
2:32:08I don't like that at all.
2:32:09So yeah, this, this looks really good.
2:32:11I think I'm going to give this a try.
2:32:12Yeah.
2:32:12I like the filter too.
2:32:13Like it does a good job.
2:32:15The battery in the, in the UV thing lasts a while.
2:32:18Like I think it's good.
2:32:19And you know, and if you want to, it gives you stats about how much water you've drunk.
2:32:24You know, like you can, you can see that in the app.
2:32:26It's like, it knows how much has passed through and also been poured out.
2:32:29So, and the picture is good.
2:32:31Like overall, I'm very happy with it.
2:32:33You know, like with all of these things, you then buying the filters from them, but they
2:32:39do them on a subscription and you know, it's easy enough.
2:32:42So I've been happy.
2:32:43I've been very happy actually with this, with this product.
2:32:45It's a good one.
2:32:46It's a good addition.
2:32:47Yeah, this is great.
2:32:48I'll give it a try.
2:32:49Oh, and before we end, I forgot to mention when you get that dog harness, get it with
2:32:53a spot for an air tag.