PodSearch

ATP

600: Everyone Ends Up at Crab

 

00:00:00   This is our 600th episode. Oh

00:00:02   Crap, I didn't even realize I cannot believe Casey didn't know this. I completely forgot

00:00:08   You really didn't know no. Well, I knew like the few days ago and I just hadn't thought about it since then. Oh, man

00:00:13   Mr. Anniversary Geez, I know I have fallen down on the job genuinely

00:00:18   I am gob smacked because I completely forgot that was today. Holy crap 600 episodes

00:00:24   How I mean, it's it's not our 600th

00:00:26   It's our 600 and some things because we have like, you know, we did the special interview episode

00:00:31   Of course

00:00:31   There's all the member specials and so on and so forth even just in the main feed because we did that interview special

00:00:37   Separately, we already passed 600. But anyway, it is the 600th numbered episode of ATP John's gonna John

00:00:43   I'm just saying like it's it what we're celebrating is the roundness of the number that's in front of the title and not necessarily the

00:00:48   number of things that we have made

00:00:50   All right, well I will just say

00:00:54   In my typical fashion, I know I say this a lot

00:00:56   But I really mean it and I think it's worth saying again since we're on 600

00:00:59   We are so very thankful for anyone who is listening to our voices right now

00:01:02   I won't belabor it because it may be too much but

00:01:05   Anyone who is listening to us anyone who's a member anyone who's ever listened to us in the past?

00:01:09   We thank you so very much for being here for

00:01:11   600 episodes because it was something like the 13th of March thereabouts in 2013 that this all officially got started

00:01:17   I forget the date off the top my head and here we are

00:01:19   11 years later and change and we are 600 episodes in and it has genuinely been

00:01:25   And hopefully will continue to be for a very long time

00:01:28   one of the coolest things I've done in my whole life is is

00:01:32   Getting to spend a bunch of time with you too and all of our wonderful listeners and thank you for being here

00:01:37   It really means a lot to all of us. It's a perfect place to start if you're a new listener episode 600 jump right in

00:01:42   Yeah, it's a nice round number. Why not?

00:01:44   Okay, I do it is I don't want to you know, sap on this too long, but it is really remarkable that like we make a living

00:01:52   Talking to our friends about computers. That's that's incredible. Like I never would have guessed that as a young person

00:01:59   You know

00:01:59   I always I always wanted to be a radio DJ when I was like a young teen and preteen like that was like my dream

00:02:05   Job and now you're gonna do it only you just play fish, right?

00:02:08   Yeah, basically which I mean, you know, if you would have told me that in a number of years ago

00:02:13   That would have been pretty hard to believe but but yeah, you know and they get to be a DJ is actually apparently

00:02:19   Not a very good job. It's it's apparently a brutal business and not not a great career to pursue nor a very particularly

00:02:27   achievable one

00:02:28   Especially these days as there's basically no radio left and and I would never have made it as a DJ because I don't have the right

00:02:35   Voice, I don't know enough about music. I'm not cool enough

00:02:37   There's so many reasons I would never have made it as a DJ

00:02:40   I don't speak well enough but to be able to literally make a living talking to my friends in radio form and

00:02:47   BSing about computers

00:02:50   That's really that's very special to me. So thank you everybody. Yep. Couldn't agree more

00:02:54   We are incredibly lucky and incredibly thankful and you know as a part of the relay 10 festivities that were

00:03:00   Last month, you know a lot was said from Mike and Steven about

00:03:05   how it's really impressive to have a creative endeavor that has lasted as long as relay has and we are a touch older than relay actually

00:03:12   a little bit more than a year older than relay and

00:03:14   And it's really incredible that the three of us don't hate each other

00:03:17   So I'm very proud of that fact and I'm very very thankful for both of you

00:03:23   And again for all of our listeners John any sappy moments that you would like to contribute or shall I move right along to follow?

00:03:27   No, I for people who don't know I want to go back if you listen to episode 400

00:03:32   Which was a weird anniversary, but still a round number in front of the title

00:03:35   I gave my pitch of what I thought we were doing here at ATP and I feel like I still feel the same way

00:03:40   So if you want to hear me say what what is ATP? What do you think it is?

00:03:43   What do you think you're doing here?

00:03:45   My description is in episode 400 if you want to go back and check it out standard Syracuse a response to some sentimentality is a

00:03:52   citation and follow-up

00:03:54   It's a reference. Yeah, you know, you know dry don't repeat yourself. It's good programming practice

00:04:00   All

00:04:02   Right enough navel-gazing. Let's do some follow-up. That's what the people are here for. So we have a series of

00:04:08   Several pieces of feedback with regard to the Mac OS permissions alerts to set the stage here it became

00:04:16   public clear whatever in the last week or two that

00:04:21   Starting with what is it Sequoia? I can never keep the version number straight anymore as we learned in a past episode

00:04:27   With Sequoia, it will nag you every single week to let you know. Oh

00:04:31   Something could be recording your screen a week later. Oh something could be recording your screen. We cool we good

00:04:37   So Nathaniel Cohen writes with regard to that

00:04:39   I think by far the bigger problem than the alert rate is the alert UI

00:04:44   The alerts pop up in the rather crappy notification UI there's no history and there's no centralized view over the alerts

00:04:50   over the alert decision-making that's required a

00:04:54   Stream of randomly arriving requirements for user decisions can simply never meet the needed security and privacy objectives of the permission system

00:05:01   Also regarding migration of permission grants to a new system. I personally hope there's an option to turn this off

00:05:06   I want to revisit these prior decisions better still I'd like a nice UI to

00:05:10   Centralize the decision-making with as much information as possible about what the thing is that needs permission

00:05:15   So Apple would probably say well, we've already got a centralized thing

00:05:19   If you go to system settings and you go to like security and privacy or whatever

00:05:22   Look, there's all the permissions and as like many things in system settings

00:05:26   I think that that presentation of this information is inadequate and not particularly well organized, right?

00:05:33   This this is something that always annoys me about notifications

00:05:37   I always wish on on all Apple devices that any notification that ever came in and that I dismissed and did something with

00:05:42   Ended up in a log somewhere where I can go through the history

00:05:45   Oh, you got this notification at this time and then at this time you took this action on it, right?

00:05:49   Not forever. Don't keep a log forever, but keep a log for 24 hours or something

00:05:53   Because it kind of annoys me that there's no one place I can go to see

00:05:56   Show me all the notifications

00:05:58   The ones that are pending and the ones that I've dealt with within the last n hours, right?

00:06:02   Just so I can get an overview permissions is the same deal

00:06:05   What I think and this will be related to the next question

00:06:09   So I'll just say it here instead of waiting till then what I think

00:06:12   Is missing is a essentially something that Google provides in its web interface in some fashion or another

00:06:19   like a security checkup where you go to this place and say tell me what the deal is with security in my system and

00:06:25   It shouldn't be organized by

00:06:27   Permission the way things are now like show me all the things with full disk access some of the things with that

00:06:32   It should be sort of organized

00:06:34   with an acknowledgement of which things are

00:06:37   more troublesome, right so screen recording would be near the top and

00:06:41   Something I don't know

00:06:43   I can't think of another permission after I think but something is less severe would be towards the bottom right things everything wouldn't be exactly

00:06:49   as

00:06:50   You know equal like they wouldn't all be equally important to you. Like I don't know. Let's see

00:06:55   Scrolling scrolling see they're not in the Friday order so I can't find it

00:07:00   That's that's like, you know, not particularly like media and Apple music maybe would be towards the bottom right or motion is fitness

00:07:08   Whereas like camera microphone and screen recording would be near the top right or reminders would be lower than

00:07:13   Contacts may be in calendar. Anyway

00:07:16   Some sort of like centralized report in a nice UI that has organized the information for you and said just so you know

00:07:23   Here are the seven applications that can record your screen or have microphone access or cameras or whatever that have been installed in the last

00:07:30   Whatever months or that permissions have changed in the last like like a report screen like some hey

00:07:36   They can use AI do it some kind of way of organizing the information

00:07:40   Like someone like a human would do to give you a one-page report that says here's what you need to know about your system

00:07:46   Here's what's going on on it and it's not like it would be asking you to do anything at this point

00:07:50   It's just saying I just want you to know here's the summary right and what would show up on the summary is

00:07:53   applications that you just installed that you gave screen permission to

00:07:56   Some kind of time next everything this has had screen recording permission for this amount of time

00:08:00   Three new things have gone into the microphone category

00:08:04   It would be great if you could pick the things that you cared about more like again

00:08:07   It's not just a historical list not just a thing subdivided by app or subdivided by a permission but like a report

00:08:15   and then people could go to that report whenever they felt like I'm

00:08:20   Worried something is off on my system or I just want to check in now

00:08:24   maybe people would never check in and they'd be like I made these decisions once and

00:08:27   I'm fine with all the decisions I made and I'm sure everything's great

00:08:30   But if you're not sure or you can't remember or in this you know in this in sleight and something those people when they set up

00:08:36   A new system they want to wipe all the permissions and do them all over again

00:08:38   Or even if they do migrate them they want to say now's a good time. So next on your computer

00:08:42   I want to go get a security checkup a security report and

00:08:46   Things you can put in that report like Apple has a lot of information

00:08:49   They could leverage in their report something that they're so hesitant to do we've talked about this for years for the App Store is

00:08:54   any kind of acknowledgement of like

00:08:57   Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, I know they're not all Apple Mac App Store or whatever right our

00:09:04   Our applications that have more eyes on them more users and a better reputation

00:09:10   Then some random application that just came out last month from a developer that has never made another application for the Mac

00:09:15   you know what I mean and

00:09:17   As far as systems concern that's never communicated. So any kind of security report could take that into effect

00:09:23   What is the average rating of this thing on the App Store?

00:09:26   How long has it been out?

00:09:27   When's when what version number is it on is this an is this a bundle ID that Apple knows about?

00:09:32   Maybe Apple could have an internal ranking of bundle IDs based on trustworthiness, right? And

00:09:36   I'm sure the security people are flipping out and saying no that's the worst thing you could possibly do everything has to be exactly equally

00:09:41   untrusted everywhere, but that's not a human's work your the goal of this stream would be to say we want a human to look at this and

00:09:47   Have it be like the front page news of their security system with ways to drill down and see all this stuff

00:09:53   Obviously you don't get rid of the full report or whatever and you know, tell them you're not seeing everything here

00:09:58   We're just trying to give you you know at a top level of you

00:10:00   But without that you're left with people saying well that dialogue came and went and I don't remember what I put on it and either

00:10:05   You're gonna nag me every single week or a different interval

00:10:09   so see in a bit about every application that I ever said yes to or you're relying on me to go into system settings and

00:10:14   Click into these 50 categories one after the other and scroll through the list and say yes. No, no

00:10:19   Yes, that's looking over every single item that you've ever approved. Really what you care about are the ones that are you know?

00:10:25   Recent or suspicious or have severe permissions or that you didn't ever say allow this forever and ever right?

00:10:33   That's that's what I think the system needs and I know I'm asking for a lot here

00:10:36   It's like well, we barely just got the new system settings

00:10:38   Now you want this whole new giant thing?

00:10:40   Like we're getting a new separate passwords app, which is presumably a nicer place to look at passwords than system settings

00:10:45   I think we need the same thing for privacy and security. Yeah, I mean it all adds up to me and

00:10:49   Certainly the way it is right now it I can understand how they got there, you know

00:10:55   Oh, let's look at all the things that relate to location

00:10:57   Let's look at all the things that relate to screen recording

00:10:59   But I don't know it's just it's not necessarily what I want or really in a perfect world

00:11:04   You know, you could say give me all the stuff for this app, which actually can't you do that now that I say that out loud

00:11:08   Can't you?

00:11:09   Yeah, they have a bunch of different ways to slice and dice it

00:11:11   But like again what they present to people is one particular view that is totally flat and it is organized by permission

00:11:17   Which is a valid way to organize them

00:11:19   It's not a bad way, right, but there are other ways to organize it

00:11:21   But like stuff where we really need for actually humans to have a fighting chance is something that's organized more like a front page of a newspaper

00:11:27   I can't think of a better analogy. I'm old. Sorry

00:11:29   in any case we got a lot of feedback and I'm

00:11:33   Slightly embarrassed and a little frustrated myself that I didn't think about this

00:11:37   But we got a lot of feedback about well, why why are we getting nagged constantly?

00:11:43   And several people wrote in in this case an anonymous person writes. I have a friend who has survived horrible domestic abuse

00:11:50   Her spouse controlled every aspect of her life including installing software on her computer without her knowledge

00:11:55   Keeping track of her passwords through key loggers and spyware and so forth. She was able to escape and then survived several

00:12:02   attempts at her life

00:12:05   Perhaps these are the scenarios that Apple is trying to bring to light. This is a really great point that again

00:12:11   I wish I had thought of and I'm embarrassed that I didn't I don't have a great answer for this because on the one side I

00:12:18   Feel like we should be able to say no never never talked to me about this ever again

00:12:22   But on the other side then that means other people could and I feel like I had Jason was talking about this somewhere

00:12:28   It might have been the the six colors podcast. I don't recall exactly where it was and you know at some point

00:12:33   His his Jason's point was you know at some point you can't protect everyone from everything but still I mean, I

00:12:40   Don't know what I think about this

00:12:42   You know, I don't I don't know I certainly don't want people in this scenario to be put in harm's way

00:12:47   But I don't know what the right balance is. I mean what you wanted to the situation

00:12:51   So this is kind of like trying to you know use

00:12:53   Copy protection to stop people from copying a DVD that they have to be able to watch the movie on

00:12:58   Like in these domestic abuse scenarios very often the abuser has access as the person, you know what I mean?

00:13:04   So you're basically trying to make it so the person you want to empower is

00:13:09   Not empowered because it's not actually them logged into their account

00:13:13   You know what? I mean, right and that's a very difficult situation and that type of situation

00:13:17   I think what you have to do is I mean what I suggested maybe is insufficient or whatever, but you have to give

00:13:22   The user tools to empower them and you would say well, okay

00:13:27   But if you give them those tools the abuser also has those tools

00:13:30   But you have to make tools that are not useful to the abuser

00:13:33   So that for example that front page sort of summary of what you should know that's significant and recent

00:13:38   About so the security of your account that's not useful to the abuser it like viewing that doesn't help them, right?

00:13:45   But it does help the person the victim or you know what I mean? It does help the person who is being abused

00:13:49   Every time they feel unsafe or unsure about what's going on. They can go I need to go do a security check-in

00:13:55   I need to check what has changed since last time

00:13:58   I did a check-in I need to see what's important that I need to be notified about because even the weekly thing like this is

00:14:02   the problem when someone has control of like your account even like the weekly check-in an

00:14:06   abuser will just turn off that permission turn it back on get the weekly get the immediately get we get get

00:14:12   Reprompted and say allow and know that they have a week before they have to do that dance again, right?

00:14:16   That's it's in the nature of abuse is insidious

00:14:19   Like when you're in a situation where someone has that kind of control over your life your computing life or your life or otherwise

00:14:25   it's very difficult to

00:14:28   Make the system to lock down the system sufficiently because they always find a way in because in the end the person who's being

00:14:34   Abused has to have a way in to use the computer, right?

00:14:36   so you have to give that person tools and I think a check-in type thing is a tool a

00:14:41   Lockdown mode is a tool like the Apple has couple lockdown modes like the iOS where it's like certain features are just essentially disabled

00:14:48   Entirely right and again the abuser could re-enable them and do they have that special password for lockdown mode or whatever

00:14:53   But you have to give tools you have to give tools that are not useful to an abuser. I think

00:14:56   reports or

00:14:59   Surfacing information that's important or reviewing information that has already gone by here are the things you did approve and when?

00:15:05   Right with dates and everything on them that is useful to someone who's worried about an abuse situation

00:15:10   It is not useful to an abuser. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just it's a tough balance to strike and you know

00:15:15   I'm not sure what the right answer is to be honest with you. We hinted at this earlier

00:15:19   Apparently Sequoia will now prompt you monthly not weekly for screen recording permissions

00:15:24   This was reported 9 to 5 9 to 5 Mac among other places in back of us Sequoia beta 6

00:15:29   You can choose to quote allow for one month quote

00:15:32   Yeah, it's kind of hard to tell from the betas because people I guess they could set the date forward or whatever and this is

00:15:37   Not in 15.1 by the way or else I would have tested it because that's the beta that I have installed

00:15:41   Because I wanted to see the Apple intelligence stuff

00:15:43   Even though I still can't because that waitlist thing seems to do nothing. Anyway, if you click allow for one month

00:15:49   After the one month is up what happens?

00:15:52   Does it give you one last chance and then you say allow forever or does it just prompt you for a month again?

00:15:56   right and we don't know the answer to this and I think

00:15:59   The thing that everyone is railing against is repeatedly asking. I don't think makes anybody any safer does induce alert fatigue

00:16:07   right

00:16:08   And it's just plain annoying and insulting to the user that they can never be trusted to say allow forever a better system would be

00:16:14   To ask them a few times to be are you sure you sure you sure and then eventually say allow forever and have the allow for

00:16:21   other apps be extreme allow forever screen recording microphone and camera apps be extremely highlighted in the front page newspaper of like

00:16:27   Security check-in like that never go away and just say like these ones are gonna prompt monthly hourly weekly daily

00:16:34   Right and these ones you've said allow forever and you know like this

00:16:37   But I guess I mean Apple hasn't really documented this yet

00:16:41   And I suppose you could say allow for one month and set your clock for one month

00:16:44   But I'm always wary of doing that because I'm worried that the system is too clever and it knows that I did that and it's not

00:16:49   Going to behave the way it would normally but we'll see one month is definitely better than one week as I said in the last

00:16:53   Episode it's not that I object to even repeated prompting for things that are important because I think that is good but

00:17:00   Repeated too frequently is bad, and I even think repeated on the on a regular interval is also bad

00:17:06   It would be better to

00:17:07   prompt two or three times and space them out a little bit and then give the final allow forever and I think there should be

00:17:14   A power user way to say allow forever immediately for people who don't want to be annoyed

00:17:18   Because that will show up prominently in the security checkup report that does not exist yet. Anyway. These are my suggestions

00:17:25   I'm not a security expert the current version of this dialogue. They're they're trying to

00:17:30   Keep the decision they've made which is these permissions will no longer be available forever, and they're they're trying to say okay

00:17:36   Well a week everyone complained

00:17:37   How about a month and that makes it a little less annoying maybe about 4.3 times less annoying, but it's still

00:17:44   extremely annoying

00:17:46   because what this is saying is no matter what we're not going to give you forever permission and

00:17:52   Everything you've said about you know the possibility for you know for various malware uses for like

00:17:59   Domestic abuse and surveillance uses those are all true

00:18:02   Those are all real risks, but this is Apple kind of being being mealy-mouthed about it

00:18:07   This is them saying well, we don't actually want any apps to be doing that anymore

00:18:11   But we're not gonna have the courage to remove those API's completely

00:18:16   So we're gonna allow apps to do this

00:18:18   But basically create a massive support burden for them that kind of makes it impossible to really get anybody any traction on this

00:18:25   You know any app is gonna rely on these API's to capture the screen. It's now just gonna have a lot of problems

00:18:31   You know getting new customers retaining customers retaining usage over time like they're just creating problems kind of halfway

00:18:38   I say if you're going to actually

00:18:41   Have this strong of an opinion on whether apps should be allowed to capture the full screen

00:18:47   Just remove the API's completely just go all out either do that or have it work for power users like I think if they've decided

00:18:55   These API's are so dangerous and are being abused so much out in the wild that they aren't even aren't even going to allow a

00:19:02   Permanent permission to be granted those API's maybe shouldn't exist anymore

00:19:06   I mean a lot of these things have to exist like being able to use the camera the microphone like they advertise things

00:19:13   They put things their ads that show people with the Mac

00:19:14   You know singing into it and recording stuff in GarageBand, and I know GarageBand is first party app

00:19:18   But I I don't think I can get rid of all these things no

00:19:21   No, I'm not saying all these things I'm saying this particular thing yeah

00:19:23   Well screen recording is like that's what we keep calling the permission

00:19:27   But it basically means can an application see anything on the screen that is not one of its own windows and lots of applications

00:19:33   Need to do that to perform their functionality. I mean screen shotting applications are an obvious one right well

00:19:40   But what is so so you I'm sure you know this John so what is so this this dialogue?

00:19:44   Which is terribly written says app is requesting to bypass the system private window picker and directly access your screen right now

00:19:50   I am a I consider myself a Mac expert

00:19:54   I have no idea what that means is there an API that

00:19:56   Something like zoom or teams could use to say like share this window from this app to my call

00:20:02   Yeah, and I believe zoom actually doesn't use the system one

00:20:05   I mean

00:20:06   So that's this this this particular dialogue is trying to get people to use a new API so this one you if you use the new

00:20:11   API you wouldn't see this particular dialogue, but you'd still see a different one

00:20:15   You'd see the one that says this app is screen recording permission

00:20:17   Do you want to like so there's two different versions of dialogue one is they're using an older API that lets them capture the whole screen

00:20:23   And we wish they would use our new like you know quote-unquote safe system mediated one kind of like the the power box thing that does

00:20:30   The open save dialogue right you invoke it open save dialogue on the Mac

00:20:33   And then there's like an Apple framework that kicks in and that Apple framework is allowed to like see the whole disk even when your

00:20:38   Disk doesn't have full disk access and stuff like that right

00:20:40   There's a system picker for like pick the window that you want to record with your recording application

00:20:47   And then we let you do that and during the picking you can see all the windows

00:20:50   But your app can't see all the windows because you delegated to the picker right and that works for like zoom

00:20:55   Sharing your screen or whatever, but it doesn't work as well for like a

00:20:58   free form sort of like select a region of the screen to do like a screencast like you know I don't forget if a

00:21:04   Screen flow X or whatever can do this lots of screenshotting applications

00:21:08   Work like the Apple one where you can pick any arbitrary region of the screen and record that region of the screen and the system

00:21:14   picker

00:21:15   For Windows won't work that way I think the system picker might also let you pick regions

00:21:18   But anyway there are other applications. Just want to see things that are on the screen like I think

00:21:21   Applications that want to do something graphically I think bartender does this so there's a lot of controversy behind it

00:21:28   But even like a window manager that wants to know where the borders of the windows are and draw things around them and know

00:21:33   What the content of the window is so they can blur over and stuff like that?

00:21:35   There's lots of situations or even like a color picker if you don't use a system color picker

00:21:40   And you just want to you know pick pick a color that's on the screen somewhere

00:21:43   I think Maya the big fancy 3d application doesn't use in the system color picker

00:21:48   And you'd be like well

00:21:48   They should just use this isn't color picker

00:21:50   But Maya is this massive cross-platform application that is not going to convert to app kit or convert to the system color picker, right?

00:21:57   So I think there are legitimate reasons to not use the frameworks

00:22:02   They want you to use and also even if you use those frameworks you just get a different wording in this dialogue box

00:22:08   That's what maybe you get a different icon, but you're still subject to the same

00:22:11   Alerting type thing like as far as again as far as I know and as far as every single story

00:22:15   I have read there was even a story on like 95 Mac says oh

00:22:18   This is just telling people the news you use newer API's, but then there was an update to that thing

00:22:22   They said correction

00:22:22   There is no new set of API's that you can use the only hope we have is what we said in the last show

00:22:26   Which is there is an entitlement that some people think will stop you from getting this if you were ever granted this entitlement by Apple

00:22:33   But we don't know if that's true or not because Apple has not said anything one way or the other so I mean

00:22:38   Maybe this is nothing not a big deal and Apple will come up with a big communication and release notes and say here's the deal

00:22:42   Everybody should switch to new API's and this will motivate them to do so or maybe they'll just say nothing

00:22:47   Developers will just figure it out when the OS ships and when they request that entitlement from Apple and see if they get a response

00:22:52   Oh, I want one more thing on this by the way with the one month like how annoying that is versus one week

00:22:57   This is another situation where centralization would come in handy

00:23:00   How about prompt me once a month one time and saying these eight applications have the ability to screenshot?

00:23:07   And they have like you know toggle switches or checkboxes next to them whatever instead of being prompted eight

00:23:12   Individual times once a month like how many applications do you have on your system that have camera access that have microphone access that have screen?

00:23:18   recording like

00:23:19   If every one of those things had some kind of check-in interval

00:23:23   Some kind of decaying check-in interval with the possibility of giving permanent permission if you do it enough times or whatever

00:23:29   Summary put it all in one window in one dialog box

00:23:33   It doesn't interrupt your other work or maybe on boot or whatever as opposed to every single

00:23:37   Individual application having to ask once per whatever number of days forever and ever because that is even more annoying

00:23:44   Moving along David writes in with regard to what's the story with gas stations anyway?

00:23:50   So David writes I worked for a time on the point-of-sale software for gas stations and the sales data says that they're basically in the business

00:23:56   of selling just three things

00:23:58   alcohol nicotine and soda

00:24:01   Everything else is just there to fill out the store

00:24:03   And it doesn't amount to much of their for their bottom line some of the higher-end stores like Wawa or quick trip make a lot

00:24:09   Of money on their food so there are exceptions

00:24:12   But your typical gas station only cares about those three things next time you're at a gas station take a look at what they're advertising out

00:24:17   Front I guarantee you it's beer cigarettes or soda

00:24:20   I mean this is I have no reason to believe why this wouldn't be true

00:24:23   But this is also true of lots of businesses like for instance most restaurants the margins on food are very low

00:24:31   And the margins on drinks are very high and so this is just this is kind of just true of lots of things

00:24:36   We are brought to you this episode by one password extended access management alright

00:24:43   Here's a quick question do your end users always and I mean always with no exceptions work on company-owned devices and IT

00:24:51   Approved apps yeah, I didn't think so so my next question is how do you keep your company's data safe when it's sitting on all?

00:24:58   Those unmanaged apps and devices one password has an answer to this question

00:25:02   Extended access management one password extended access management helps you secure every sign-in for every app on

00:25:09   Every device because it solves the problems traditional I am an MDM can't touch check it out today at one password

00:25:17   com

00:25:19   Xam for extended access management once again one password

00:25:22   Com slash X am our thanks to one password extended access management for sponsoring our show

00:25:28   All right, we had a bit of a news dump from Mark Gurman

00:25:35   I guess Sunday whatever day was a few days ago, and we're gonna pick it apart a little bit

00:25:41   It starts with the iPhone 16 alleged camera button, so we've heard rumors for a while that there's going to be a physical button

00:25:48   I I guess similar in spirit to the action button but

00:25:52   The way it's been described is that if you hold the phone in landscape such that the lock button is high

00:25:58   You know in up top

00:25:59   Then there'll be a button basically where your right index finger would be where you would expect it to be on a camera

00:26:05   So Mark Gurman writes the new camera control on the right side of the phone on the iPhone 16 Pro models will operate like a button

00:26:12   On a DSLR camera right okay allowing you to press in slightly to trigger autofocus

00:26:16   Oh, okay a harder press will take the picture right okay?

00:26:19   You can also swipe along the button to zoom in and out while shooting photos and videos well now you have my attention mr.

00:26:27   Gurman that sounds super cool

00:26:29   Yeah

00:26:29   This I'm surprised this wasn't in the early reports because all the other reports showed this the capture button that we've discussed on many past

00:26:35   Episodes as being pretty long pretty like wide and like almost kind of like the the old like 5g

00:26:41   millimeter wave like window thing that on the side of thing just kind of

00:26:46   Much longer than a regular button and that length is like huh, I guess it'll be real prominent

00:26:50   It'll be easy to find for you to take your pictures

00:26:52   But this makes perfect sense if it's also like a touch sensitive button you can slide back and forth the zoom that would be cool now

00:26:58   That's a little bit of an interface

00:27:00   Test there to do that well because people's fingers move around and you don't want it

00:27:05   Accidentally zooming like bumping out of exactly 1x to be like 1.1 x or something because your finger moved or whatever so I hope

00:27:12   It's implemented well, but that makes a lot of sense because you know on regular cameras you have

00:27:16   So many physical controls for controlling so many aspects of the camera process and the shutter button usually only performs

00:27:23   You know the half press to

00:27:25   Maybe initiate initiate focus if you don't do back button focusing or whatever and then sometimes if certain cameras

00:27:31   There's a thing the other thing you can do to zoom or obviously you twist the lens to zoom and on the phone

00:27:36   We just don't have the many buttons exciting to get the action button, and I think it will be cool to get this capture button

00:27:42   But we really are populating size pretty quickly here, so you better make sure the button you know earns its keep

00:27:48   And I think taking pictures one of the most important physical things everybody does with their phone is

00:27:53   Exactly the reason you want to have a big button so the zooming sounds cool

00:27:56   I just hope it works without accidental input. I actually have pretty high faith on Apple to do this well

00:28:02   You know so far every time there's been rumors of the iPhone

00:28:06   Either adding a button or changing the way a button works or things like that we always kind of freak out

00:28:11   Mmm. I don't know if that's gonna be alright, and then they always release it and it's always fine and or even good

00:28:16   So I have a feeling this will be this will be probably very nice. I wonder if also if this thing says a

00:28:22   Swiping will do it

00:28:24   I

00:28:25   Wonder if it will be like press on the left and right edge to go plus and minus because I'm thinking about how this button

00:28:30   one direct with cases

00:28:32   Like if it really is a kind of a flat button and you have a big cutout for it

00:28:36   Will you be able to shove your finger into that cutout enough to feel like you're swiping?

00:28:41   It well you know I'm saying it may actually add a prominence to those cases that

00:28:46   they don't cut out a hole in the side for the buttons, but rather have like a

00:28:49   Like the the case doesn't come up to the screen

00:28:53   You know what I mean like they have a cutout that extends all the way to the top of the phone

00:28:57   So there's just a thing on the back

00:28:59   Maybe those cases become more prominent it definitely throws a monkey wrench into all of the case designs

00:29:03   It's kind of like the action button where people were guessing should we double this button?

00:29:07   You know like my case has its own volume buttons that press the real volume buttons, right?

00:29:12   Should we try to do that with this or is that not possible because it's capacitive

00:29:16   Should we make a cutout if we make a cutout how big is big enough?

00:29:19   Can we make it just a hole in the side or do we have to remove the side in that area entirely for the button?

00:29:24   To work and will that you know not protect that part of the phone. It's gonna be tricky

00:29:28   Maybe this will be this is like a part of a grand scheme by Apple to reduce the amount of times people use cases

00:29:36   Thereby increasing the amount of time people break their phones to now boost Apple care services revenue

00:29:41   No my words that was in the design for a longevity thing

00:29:45   Do you do you add the phone to make people not wear cases so they break more often answer? No

00:29:49   That was a joke people. It wasn't in there. Yeah, I just want to make sure some listener says that wasn't a document

00:29:55   They're continuing from our German. There's talk of the Apple watch SC

00:30:01   German writes I'm told that the move to plastic for the Apple watch SC will cut will lower production costs the aluminum case for the SC

00:30:07   Costs Apple about five dollars a unit the plastic shell likely will be about half that I'm told another advantage of plastic

00:30:14   The material allows for bolder colors imagine that than aluminum and is probably more kid-friendly

00:30:19   I'm not sure if it does allow for bolder colors

00:30:21   You can make a little I'm pretty bold as that events by the IMAX the back of the IMAX are incredibly bold

00:30:26   Apple doesn't allow for bold colors. That's true. But like you can do but anyway

00:30:31   I like the numbers on this we talked about the plastic

00:30:34   Watch a while ago. Like how can you remove costs from the watch? What can you do?

00:30:38   How much of those cases cost?

00:30:39   Well, apparently it doesn't cost Apple that much five dollars a unit and now granted that's their their cost or whatever after spending bazillion dollars

00:30:46   on those machining things that machine the aluminum but still and I guess that doesn't also involve like the the finishing steps or whatever but

00:30:52   Half that so you've saved two dollars and fifty cents

00:30:56   Which probably translates into like ten dollars of price or whatever depending on how they but the margins are on each individual piece

00:31:02   That's not a lot of money. I have to think that the advantages of plastic are yes

00:31:06   I guess it costs a little bit less and every little bit counts if you're trying to made a low price phone

00:31:10   But I just think it's more sort of lightweight

00:31:13   Being the main thing and maybe more durable and resilient to damage for a phone

00:31:19   that might be used for a watch that might be used by a kid, but I don't think this is necessarily a

00:31:26   Kid focused device. I think adults who want a lightweight watch will also find this appealing especially if it that uh comes in both colors

00:31:33   It might end up being kind of a segmentation strategy also though

00:31:37   like I think maybe maybe Apple is selling too many SEs and they want to sell more of the higher models to like

00:31:43   Adults who actually want something that looks nice and maybe this is a way to say this is this is the the kind of you

00:31:49   Know kid or less mature version of the watch. I don't know

00:31:52   I think it I think plastic in general has a lot of advantages like John mentioned like weight is a huge advantage of plastic

00:32:00   You know certainly be able to bang it around without too much damage is also a pretty good advantage

00:32:05   So there are lots of other reasons why I would actually like to see more

00:32:09   plastic options in general for you know for just like devices being

00:32:13   Lighter and you know more durable and nicer in certain ways, but I think this is probably gonna make this

00:32:21   Look like a lower end product than it actually is which might be an intentional segmentation move

00:32:25   We'll see the iPhone 17 slim will not fold

00:32:31   German writes that the slimmer entry will be just a step towards something better

00:32:36   Eventually Apple will want to squeeze the power of a pro model into the smaller design that feet will likely take until at least

00:32:41   2027 to achieve I also expect Apple to produce a foldable iPhone

00:32:46   But all signs internally point to a foldable iPad being just as big of a priority

00:32:51   That means we may still see a tablet version come sooner

00:32:55   So if we didn't make this as clear last time we talked about the iPhone slim and the fold and everything that the idea that

00:32:59   The slim is the fold was a combination of rumors by a bunch of people essentially speculating

00:33:05   There was no rumor behind that what we have rumors for is Apple's working on a folding phone

00:33:09   Apple's working on a slim phone vague timelines and increasing details about both of them

00:33:14   And so combining them is a fun thing to do

00:33:16   But it wasn't based on someone saying

00:33:17   We know this for a fact the slim is the fold and as Marco said when we talked about this the most likely thing is

00:33:22   It's just a slim iPhone, which is fine, right?

00:33:24   This is German not flat-out saying the slim is not foldable

00:33:28   But he basically says this is the slim and by the way

00:33:31   There's also a foldable phone and by saying there's also a foldable phone and after telling us about the slim

00:33:35   It's basically saying to me the slim is not folding which was the most likely scenario anyway

00:33:39   So if you hate folding phones and didn't want slim to be folding. I think you're good

00:33:42   Good deal and then the foldable iPad type thing is you know?

00:33:46   Apple rumors about working on foldable things has been

00:33:50   Multiple years long right and even the foldable iPad one. It's the type of thing where you're like okay

00:33:56   It's foldable and it's iPad size, but is it an iPad or is it a foldable MacBook?

00:34:01   Or is it neither one of those things?

00:34:02   That's the type of thing you can't find out from like leaks in you know the screen manufacturers

00:34:07   You know supply chain or is that just the foldable iPhone that when unfolded is?

00:34:13   You know kind of iPad like in its capabilities that I think is probably more likely because you know if you look at like what?

00:34:20   Folding phones are you know we talked about a little bit before?

00:34:22   There's the flip up kind that looks like an old flip phone that I don't think is

00:34:26   Super compelling long term or here to stay for very long then there's the kind of book opening kind

00:34:32   And I think that kind you know Google just released a new one you know and then there in their event that

00:34:36   Every other tech thing we'll talk about this week, and we almost certainly will not

00:34:41   That seems to have some legs in that

00:34:44   Those are still pretty specialized very high-end very high priced phones

00:34:49   but the people who have them love them and

00:34:53   We were kind of saying similar things about like big phones

00:34:58   You know quote fablets back before iPhones got bigger that like the people who bought really big phones back before all phones were really big

00:35:05   You know we thought they look kind of ridiculous, and they were big and expensive

00:35:09   But the people who bought them loved them, and I'm kind of getting similar feelings from people now who actually use

00:35:15   Folding but you know book style folding Android phones

00:35:18   They like them a lot, and that's some real capability there

00:35:22   So I think there is some traction behind that idea enough that Apple

00:35:27   Should probably be looking very seriously at it, and it's good to hear that by all accounts

00:35:31   They are you know we'll see where it goes

00:35:33   There's still a lot of challenges to be solved

00:35:35   But it seems like the market is buying them anyway, and you know even if things don't have perfect solutions

00:35:40   It seems like the market doesn't care because the utility is so high well the prices are also so high

00:35:45   It's kind of like if you want the super expensive like some of these phones go for like $2,400

00:35:49   I think there was one that was looking at today

00:35:51   Because the most expensive thing on the phone is the screen and this has the fancy ones have

00:35:56   Two screens one that you can see when it's folded and one that you can see when it's unfolded and the one you see the ones

00:36:01   All is twice as big

00:36:02   When you see when it's folded and so if you're gonna increase if we're talking about using plastic to decrease the cost of the Apple

00:36:08   Watch SE well if you want to increase the cost of a phone add more screens and add more bigger screens

00:36:13   That's an easy way to do it and remember it because these things fold they tried to be as thin as possible

00:36:19   And so you're losing some battery space because you have case you know you have like case battery case case battery case instead of case

00:36:28   Battery case I don't know. That's I know it doesn't work audio wise visualize it in your head

00:36:31   It's you're losing space with for a battery with a foldable phone

00:36:35   I definitely think feel like if you fast forward many years as screen technology and battery technology advance

00:36:41   Especially if there's a battery technology breakthrough like solid-state batteries become affordable or whatever

00:36:45   And as screens presumably become less expensive when we sort of start maxing out human perception with screen technology

00:36:52   And you just start making it cheaper, which we haven't quite done yet, but we're getting there

00:36:54   Then at that point you could get a phone that's like a 15 Pro

00:37:01   But also folds so it's the exact same thing same size same weight same battery life

00:37:05   Maybe even better battery life with solid-state batteries

00:37:08   You know better quality screen that you're looking at oh, but by the way if you pry it open inside is twice as big

00:37:14   Technology will eventually exist to do that economically doesn't just today today

00:37:18   They're thicker and they have worse battery life and they cost $2,400 or $2,000 or whatever

00:37:23   But yeah if Apple wants to get there eventually they should start experimenting with folding bones and figuring out which form factor do people like

00:37:29   You know they have they have all the market research of all the folding Android phones that have been out for years and years to

00:37:34   Look at and to decide which one they think has shown that there is a form factor that

00:37:38   Makes the most sense for Apple

00:37:41   And I'm sure that's what they're experimenting with and all the stories

00:37:43   We keep reading about it like Apple's obsessed with making the crease not noticeable because when you do have a folding screen

00:37:48   You know OLEDs are flexible

00:37:50   But the substrate they're on can crease and even when it's open you can kind of both see and kind of feel where the creases

00:37:57   And Apple doesn't like that so they're working on that problem. How can we minimize or eliminate the crease?

00:38:02   Good luck Apple. It's a tough problem

00:38:04   But yeah, they're they are definitely late to the game of folding phones

00:38:07   And it sounds like they're not going to have anything for a few years yet

00:38:11   But I look forward to seeing what they have to offer because I think like I said

00:38:15   I think eventually not in two or three years

00:38:17   but in 10 15 20 years the tech will advance to the point where

00:38:21   Foldable phones don't have most of the downsides that they have today

00:38:25   honestly, I hope Apple gets to that game sooner rather than later because again like the market is

00:38:31   It's not that everyone's going to convert to folding phones

00:38:35   But if Apple doesn't offer one in the next few years

00:38:38   They will start to lose power users because like again like talk to people who actually use these things not gadget reviewers

00:38:45   Talk to actual people who actually own foldable phones if you can find one. They're not that common, but they love them

00:38:51   They will never go back

00:38:53   That's how good they are when you have that kind of product

00:38:57   I really do think Apple really should be taking it very seriously and again by all accounts. It sounds rumor-wise

00:39:02   It sounds like they are taking it seriously, but I hope they don't wait until

00:39:05   You know they can do the perfect thing

00:39:08   if it means waiting too long and well in the meantime everyone else is shipping things that are

00:39:13   decent enough and getting tons and tons of

00:39:16   You know user goodwill and building habits and you know losing power users to a different operating system

00:39:22   That's what they did with the vision Pro though, so maybe we'll get to that in a little bit is it

00:39:25   Yeah, because they use like don't wait until you got the perfect thing everyone else has headsets

00:39:30   You should ship one too, and they did and yeah well anyway

00:39:32   Anyway, we have some vision Pro updates first of all there's apparently I didn't even realize this until I showed in the saw it in

00:39:40   The show notes there's a lake Vrangla environment

00:39:43   This is reading off of record Mac rumors Apple's released a new environment for Apple vision Pro called lake Vrangla

00:39:49   Which is close to Oslo in Norway this release follows Apple's announcement that the Bora Bora environment will be included in vision OS 2 later this

00:39:56   Year its arrival will complete the current environments menu making all 13 listed options fulfilled and usable

00:40:02   I have downloaded both or I'm on the vision OS beta, and I have downloaded the Vrangla

00:40:08   Environment as well as the Bora Bora one. They're both really great. I like them a lot

00:40:12   moving along

00:40:14   There is there will slash our slash are going to be new Apple immersive videos series films concerts and more

00:40:22   So reading from Apple newsroom

00:40:24   Apple's releasing all new series and films captured an Apple immersive video that will debut exclusively in the Apple vision Pro surprise surprise

00:40:31   Apple immersive video is a remarkable storytelling format that leverages 3d video

00:40:36   Recorded in 8k with 180 degree field of view and spatial audio to transport viewers to the center of the action

00:40:42   Boundless a new series that invites viewers to experience once-in-a-lifetime trips from wherever they are premieres July 18 with hot air balloons

00:40:48   I have watched that it was good. It's like 10 minutes. I was good

00:40:51   It was interesting and it's cool to see you know the perspective of hot air balloon

00:40:55   I've never ridden in one now. I sort of kind of have it's only 10 minutes

00:40:58   I think I think that's right. I watched that one a couple of weeks ago and my memory is garbage

00:41:02   So I might have that wrong, but anything I've seen is about 10 minutes

00:41:05   The next installment of wildlife the nature documentary series that brings viewers up close to some of the most

00:41:12   Charismatic creatures creatures on the planet premieres in August. I actually just about an hour or two ago watched episode number two, which was about elephants

00:41:19   Elephants are adorable man. They're so cute and there's some baby elephants. They're so we see it's so cute. Oh my word

00:41:25   I'd like to come back to that in a couple minutes. Let me go through the rest of this list

00:41:30   Elevated an aerial travel series that whisks viewers around iconic vistas from staggering heights will launch in September

00:41:36   this sounds a lot to me like almost a frozen goodness like Soren from Disney World and

00:41:42   Disney's California Adventure, I think or maybe it's Disneyland

00:41:44   Anyways, it's a ride where you kind of fly around through various landmarks and if it's like that

00:41:50   I'm here for it because I love frozen. I said frozen again. I love someone

00:41:53   And then later this year special performances featuring the world's biggest artists starting with an immersive experience from the weekend

00:41:59   That sounds very cool

00:42:00   the first scripted Apple immersive short film submerged a

00:42:04   Behind the scenes and on the court view of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend and big waves big wave surfing

00:42:11   The first installment of a new sports series with Red Bull sports series with Red Bull you say even though Max Verstappen is evil

00:42:18   I would love to see some f1 stuff. So I'd like to briefly go back to the wildlife thing

00:42:22   So, like I said, I watched the elephant thing which was you know our video which is about ten minutes

00:42:27   Give or take a little bit watch it a couple hours ago

00:42:29   the vision Pro

00:42:33   It's still something that doesn't have a strong place in my life

00:42:37   I find that more often than not when I pick it up the battery's dead

00:42:41   Because I haven't used it in a while and it's eventually discharged itself

00:42:44   But over the last week or so

00:42:47   I've had a few occasions to use it and this wildlife video is one of them and I got to tell you I don't know

00:42:52   If I could justify thirty five hundred dollars to just watch these ten minute videos

00:42:56   but if you happen to have one or if you got one second hand on eBay because I saw a report like a week or

00:43:01   Two ago where they're selling for like half price on eBay right now, you know something like a thousand fifteen hundred bucks

00:43:06   Which is still a staggering amounts of money, but more

00:43:09   Understandable for the sorts of things that you probably would do with the vision Pro, but these immersive videos

00:43:15   They are unlike anything I have seen before and I know that John you and I particularly went around and around the axle trying to

00:43:22   Discuss the difference between an immersive video and just a 3d video

00:43:26   To briefly recap a 3d video is when you're looking at something that doesn't move but it has depth to or by that

00:43:32   I mean if you move your head, you're still looking at a rectangle right that the rectangle is where the motion is

00:43:37   But there's depth within that rectangle

00:43:39   An immersive video is where as you pan you pan your head left and right or tilt it up and down

00:43:45   Your perspective changes because it's like watching an IMAX movie or something like that

00:43:50   So you're looking around and changing the things that you can see and this elephant video is one of the many examples that we just

00:43:58   Talked about but it is really really good and what makes part of what makes it so great

00:44:02   Is that they let you linger on each shot?

00:44:05   You know, if you recall we complained about the soccer highlight reel because it was like new new new new

00:44:10   It was constantly cameras constantly moving

00:44:12   So you're always trying to get yourself situated where you are on the pitch field, whatever it was very frustrating

00:44:18   Well, these are not like that. These are very well done and the immersive or the spatial audio was also very well done

00:44:23   so, you know if one of the

00:44:25   They're not zookeepers, but one of the wildlife people is you know, say directly in front of you and talking

00:44:31   but if you tilt your head to the left then you you hear the audio move to be

00:44:37   Entirely in your right ear because that's the ear that's closest to the person talking. It's really really well done and I had such an eerie

00:44:46   Funny moment when I was watching the elephant thing. It was roughly halfway through the video. So it's like five minutes in and

00:44:53   We were in a field or you know, you know elephant habitat, you know where they're trying to you know

00:44:59   Like care for baby elephants and whatnot. And of course, this is in somewhere in Africa

00:45:04   I think if I'm not mistaken and and at one point a

00:45:08   Bug like a mosquito or fly or something like that

00:45:12   flew at the camera such that it was just above the camera and

00:45:17   it was one of those things where it would if it was real it would have like hit you right in the forehead and

00:45:23   So it flies at the camera and I think it might have like pinged off, you know

00:45:27   just above the camera so you can see that kind of like bounces and

00:45:30   I noticed that I shook my head left and right a little bit to flick it off my skin

00:45:35   The fly that was in the video

00:45:38   I just naturally didn't even think twice about it and kind of shook my head a little bit

00:45:42   So it would fly away and get off of me and that's such a silly kind of dumb thing

00:45:48   But that's how real this stuff can feel in just in the span of a few minutes

00:45:54   And as much as it's kind of funny and silly to just slag on on the vision Pro

00:46:00   that

00:46:02   Is such a good illustration of how real it can feel and I've been I'd like to briefly bring up one other thing

00:46:08   I know I haven't given you guys a chance to talk about any of this but

00:46:11   earlier this week

00:46:13   Just on a lark

00:46:15   Myself James Thompson Jason Snell and Mike Hurley all got on an immersive or one, you know, the spatial FaceTime call

00:46:21   That's what it is

00:46:22   So what there was four of us and we were basically arranged such that I was sitting across from Jason

00:46:27   Mike was to my right and then James was to my left and we had like a half an hour 45 minute or something like

00:46:33   That FaceTime call and it is not the same as hanging out with your friends

00:46:36   I mean

00:46:37   I still

00:46:38   Smile from ear to ear when I think about when the three of us were back together

00:46:41   In San Jose and got to see each other for the first time in five years

00:46:45   It's not the same as that but golly if it didn't feel pretty close like it is in it really does elevate the

00:46:54   Experience and make you feel not like you're with your friends

00:46:59   But it feels really close and I think also part of that is because the personas have gotten way better in the beta

00:47:04   They're not perfect, but they're way better

00:47:06   And so all of that is to say the vision Pro is still kind of goofy and it's still just hilariously expensive

00:47:13   And it's still not something that I reach for all the time

00:47:16   But I do feel like the locomotive is starting to you know, pick up some speed

00:47:21   It's slowly picking up speed but it's picking up speed and we're starting to see Apple

00:47:25   Really start to care and I'm starting to get excited about where where this platform is going in the future

00:47:31   I hope you're right. I really really do

00:47:34   I don't think this is enough evidence yet that Apple really is like, you know

00:47:39   putting them like getting the machine going like what what this is is more promises and samples of

00:47:46   Future things that might be good but here we are like almost seven months into this product and we have so little

00:47:53   Content for it still if Apple wants to make this take off

00:47:57   They have to step on the gas in a substantially bigger way than what we've seen so far

00:48:02   What we have from them now from this from these new promises is is just that

00:48:07   Promises and teasers and things that might be good. I don't think this is evidence of enough yet

00:48:14   When next January rolls around and the vision Pro will have been out for one whole year

00:48:19   We're gonna look back and say what did Apple do in this entire year of this new platform?

00:48:24   And I think it's still gonna be a pretty short list and then we're gonna be able to look back and say oh

00:48:29   What about other people? What are other people do with the vision Pro?

00:48:31   What what apps exist for it what streaming services for it who else has made content for it?

00:48:36   And I think that's gonna be an even shorter list

00:48:38   I know you're gonna talk about apps in a second

00:48:39   But we're just not seeing like if you if you extrapolate out the lines of like

00:48:45   Here's how much is available for this. Here's how much traction this is getting

00:48:48   Here's how many customers are buying it those lines even if you extrapolate them out, you know a year or two down the road

00:48:54   They're still very very low. We need to see this. This is great. We need to see a lot more than this

00:49:01   Yeah, and it's funny you bring all this up because the other thing we wanted to talk about with regard to vision Pro

00:49:06   Is that apparently according to 9 to 5 Mac there are more than two thousand five hundred native apps for the Apple vision Pro

00:49:12   let's not focus on the fact that there's probably millions for the iOS, but

00:49:17   There's it's certainly many many many many many thousands

00:49:20   But but hey, there's at least twenty five hundred for vision Pro and that's better than none

00:49:25   You should like what the the app store curve was for a number of apps over time

00:49:28   obviously, I think the the app store went better than this but

00:49:32   2500 is more than I would have guessed right and obviously every app is not created equal be better if they had a Netflix app

00:49:38   or whatever but uh

00:49:39   You know like there's since this is a chicken egg situation and Apple controls both the chickens and the eggs

00:49:45   Because they make the vision Pro and also they are making content. They can kind of decide how to resolve that

00:49:50   You could argue that it might be better for them to plan for

00:49:54   content

00:49:56   release first-party content release for the vision Pro to accelerate around the time they release the lower cost one because that's

00:50:02   Solving one side of this equation Oh people, you know third parties

00:50:06   Don't want to make content till we sell a lot of vision pros and obviously we're not able to sell a lot of these

00:50:10   $3,500 ones so let's release the cheaper one. Hope that sells better

00:50:14   Hope that will spur third parties from going like if Apple went all in and spent gobs

00:50:19   You spent like Apple TV plus kind of money to make content for the relatively tiny number of people who bought

00:50:25   $3,500 headset that may not be the best use of their time unless all that content is evergreen, right?

00:50:30   So no live sports or no, you know

00:50:33   Olympics coverage or anything like that because it's just not a big enough audience for that

00:50:36   So they may be holding back and say if we're gonna be spending money for vision Pro stuff

00:50:40   Let's let's plan to spend it so that the content comes out after the low-cost headset

00:50:45   Which who knows when that could be but anyway

00:50:46   if we if the vision Pro had launched in the US and

00:50:49   All the things that we just read had launched at the same time as the vision probably like, okay

00:50:54   You know a good start for a new platform, but given it's been in a seven-month wait

00:50:57   It's a problem and as people point out in the chat room

00:50:59   It's been seven months for us, but it just came out in other places in the world

00:51:03   So it's a little bit of a sort of staggered launch here

00:51:06   I continue to think that the if Apple is committed as platform

00:51:08   That the slow and steady approach is a reasonable one

00:51:12   Even though it is as I keep repeating very frustrating for the people who spent thirty one hundred dollars on this thing

00:51:16   And also like Apple is not like intentionally slow playing this they're pushing it hard

00:51:24   Like I I have gotten three different calls from App Store from Apple Store business reps

00:51:29   Trying to sell me a vision Pro by the way

00:51:32   I already own a vision Pro which I bought from the Apple Store, but hey

00:51:35   I I have I like their the business reps are pushing it hard the developer relations

00:51:41   Staff is pushing it very very hard

00:51:44   Like they are pushing hard for people to adopt it with their apps and for customers to buy it. They're pushing very hard

00:51:51   So they're not intentionally holding back. This is what they have. This is all they have

00:51:56   There's not gonna be I don't think some you know future where all of a sudden a flood of a bunch of stuff comes out

00:52:03   They were just holding back artificially. No

00:52:05   Holding it back, but they didn't budget for it, right?

00:52:08   Like so you they're trying to sell you a thirty five hundred dollar headset that you already bought, right?

00:52:11   But that's different than essentially putting money, you know, like like an Apple TV+ content, right?

00:52:16   Putting money to produce video content paying someone to produce these, you know

00:52:21   Record the weekend singing paying the NBA to do the all-star things, you know, like that's production budget, right?

00:52:28   And you can choose how much of that you want to make when they launch Apple TV+

00:52:30   they spent millions and millions of dollars to make TV shows and movies and all that stuff and get Tom Hanks to be in a

00:52:35   Movie and get Jennifer Aniston to be in the TV show and and you know right now

00:52:39   They're cutting those budgets on all those things because a lot of people are right

00:52:41   But they can choose when and how to spend money on content for this thing and they are spending money for content

00:52:47   But they're not spending, you know, Tom Hanks movie money, right which by the way that movie didn't do it

00:52:51   Well, you never know quite what's gonna hit especially with the creative content

00:52:55   But that's what they could be not holding back

00:52:57   But saying when we have our schedule over how much money we're gonna spend on content and when that content will be available

00:53:02   Let's plan for the best biggest amount of content to come

00:53:05   At a point after we think we have a chance of selling more of these now

00:53:09   Maybe in the beginning like I said before maybe they thought they would sell way more than this than they have

00:53:12   But they couldn't have thought they were gonna sell more than the screens they could get and that was capped at like a million

00:53:16   And so that's like a half a million vision pros worldwide and it seems like they might not even reach that

00:53:21   So the plan for year one of this thing couldn't possibly have been for content

00:53:26   That would not make sense when the total possible viewership is half a million people, right?

00:53:30   And what you're seeing I think is content that makes sense for a maximum possible viewership of half a million people

00:53:35   That's what everything we read off here that makes sense to me, right?

00:53:38   And again if they wanted to they could have done something evergreen

00:53:40   You know an immersive movie with Tom Hanks in it because that movie, you know

00:53:45   You can watch it next year and it'll still be good. It's it's it doesn't age out right but live sports ages out

00:53:50   concerts debatable

00:53:52   Little demo reels probably age out because they'll be more impressive stuff. I don't know like we're not inside Apple

00:53:57   I don't know what the strategies are, but I look at this from the outside

00:53:59   I think well, this is not great for people who bought one and it's not great that Apple couldn't sell them at thirty five hundred dollars

00:54:03   But the strategy makes sense to me given what we know about what they released how it sold and the rumors of what's in the pipeline

00:54:12   Again frustrating but it makes sense to me

00:54:14   Yeah, I guess that's true. I just I feel like

00:54:17   For a company with effectively infinite money

00:54:20   You would think that they would want to just throw a big old pile of money at this problem and fix it and have people

00:54:26   Say oh my gosh

00:54:27   You would not believe how cool it is to see I don't know say the weekends concert or you know

00:54:32   Whatever the case may be and I'm just a little disappointed that they haven't done more, but you're right

00:54:36   I mean the numbers do

00:54:37   Bear that maybe this is the right amount of content and I both hope they I bet they do think maybe one of these

00:54:43   Hits and will give us a hint about where to really put that money for like the one that you know

00:54:47   The content is gonna come out timed with the cheaper one, right? Is it gonna be concerts? Is it gonna be sports?

00:54:51   Is it gonna be that short film like the things you let off that they're covering a lot of different bases

00:54:56   They're not all just let's take you in a hot air balloon. They've got music. They've got sports

00:55:00   They've got the narrative movie, which is the first thing I've seen, you know announced right like and of course

00:55:05   They have the whole app story, right? I don't think they know which of those things is going to be

00:55:10   The most compelling to people what's gonna make them spend fifteen hundred dollars on the next headset

00:55:15   Which one of these things will appeal to them and where should we put our money?

00:55:19   Should we just do tons and tons of concerts and ignore everything else?

00:55:22   So should we do all live sports? Like I I think this will help them figure it out

00:55:26   Presuming they have you know viewership numbers on these things. Well, but again

00:55:29   Timing is important here. You said they have music. Yes work

00:55:32   No

00:55:33   They don't they are promising to maybe sometime in the future have like one music concert have one sports weekend like

00:55:39   We need

00:55:41   the this all makes sense for them if they didn't need to convince people to buy this and

00:55:46   If they didn't need to keep people happy who did buy it

00:55:49   Well, I mean they don't need to keep you happy if you did buy because they already got your money

00:55:53   But yeah, like this is stuff that's you know, I mean first of all this announcement

00:55:57   This announcement was from July and already some of the things that they announced did come out on the dates

00:56:02   They said they would so I believe that they're actually going to release all this stuff when they say they will because it's not that much

00:56:07   Stuff it's it's a small amount of stuff, but I think what you are basically a test audience

00:56:11   Anyone who has these things and is still actually using it in any way you are the test audience to see

00:56:16   How engaged are you with these things that they release and even though it's a tiny test audience

00:56:21   They should be able to tell from that

00:56:24   Which of these things is more appealing and you know?

00:56:27   Which of these things do they do people tell their friends about when their friends go?

00:56:31   I don't suggest you buy the $3,500 thing but man, you should check out this concert

00:56:35   It was really cool or whatever. Yeah, check out the sporting events, right?

00:56:37   We'll see like it's I still think this is a slow burn here and in terms of like OB grade

00:56:43   They just spent tons of money

00:56:44   Well, you know a company's not going to spend tons of money on a thing that it's not even sure

00:56:48   It's worth spending a ton of money on like like

00:56:51   It's up to the hardware

00:56:53   To sell and then to motivate them to make the content and it's up for the content to you know

00:56:58   Like it's a give-and-take right? You can't just say okay

00:57:01   Well when I'm budgeting all the money we have yes granted Apple has you know effectively infinite money

00:57:05   What you can do with that money you do a lot of different things, right?

00:57:09   For example getting out of China takes a huge amount of money in time and maybe a better use of your time than spending

00:57:15   300 million dollars on content for

00:57:18   150,000 people who use their vision pros every day. All right, so, you know baby steps

00:57:24   We'll see again frustrating to the people who own them. But so far it makes me think Apple is just

00:57:30   Being patient with this now the fear is always the home pod thing

00:57:33   Are they being patient with the home pod or they just not care about it several years and we're like, okay

00:57:37   Well, they don't really care about it, right? Well, yeah, it works out revision Pro right now

00:57:41   I think they're just being patient

00:57:42   How many people right now do you think use vision pro regularly total in the entire market?

00:57:46   My 150,000 was my guess 100 you think 150,000 people use a vision pro regularly

00:57:51   Yeah, that's my guess out of out of like maybe 300,000 sold so half of them, right? I would estimate more like maybe

00:57:58   120,000 only Apple knows I'm just guessing like I don't even know myself so I could not tell you I

00:58:04   Don't know. I the thing is for me. I

00:58:08   Do turn to it from time to time and there are very specific times that I think it's extremely useful to have

00:58:16   Because I have no self-respect. I'm happy to use it on a plane or a train. We've talked about that many times

00:58:21   and it is phenomenal it is utterly phenomenal to just be immersed in a movie and

00:58:28   The plane or the train that you're on

00:58:30   Effectively doesn't exist like it is amazing this spatial FaceTime. I was talking about was super cool

00:58:36   I do really enjoy watching the immersive video

00:58:39   Unfortunately, you know once you see it

00:58:41   You've mostly seen it and there's a sum total of what like an hour of immersive video on the entire platform, but it's cool

00:58:47   So and then what what if the Marvel apps slash?

00:58:53   Interactive storytelling thing. I actually have only done the first like 10 or 20 minutes of it because then I got busy and then forgot about

00:58:59   It but the 10 or 20 minutes despite me sounding blase about it was actually extremely cool

00:59:04   So there are times when I turn to the vision Pro in and there are times when I'm glad I have one

00:59:11   I wouldn't say I'm always glad I have one though, and that's the tough thing

00:59:16   But I don't I don't want to count it out quite yet, even though it's definitely

00:59:22   It's definitely I was gonna say an ailing platform. I think that's a little dramatic. It's it's not a platform. That's really you know

00:59:28   That's really hit its stride yet

00:59:31   But I can squint and I can see several different ways in which it could so I hope it does honestly

00:59:39   I really hope it does because they do have some great engineering in it. There are some really cool ideas

00:59:45   There's a lot of potential

00:59:47   It's also a huge number of big mistakes they made and I think they have

00:59:52   Botched the launch in in really sad and impressive fashion and so there is something to save here

00:59:59   But they have to save it

01:00:01   to in order to save it like this we need to see action and and

01:00:06   You know potential changes here and there and in both the product and in the ecosystem that they need to jumpstart

01:00:12   and so until we start seeing like

01:00:16   Significant moves in those areas

01:00:18   It's hard to see it as anything other than a flop and honestly really I honestly genuinely think like John said

01:00:23   150,000 people he thinks regular the user I honestly think that might be off by a factor of 10 like that's how

01:00:27   It seems like like I mean granted

01:00:30   This is not like a platform that you see people using you know outside very much because it's not made for that

01:00:35   But like I've seen more Cybertrucks in real life than I've seen vision pros like that's saying something

01:00:42   Cybertrucks you do use outdoors so true and by the way you said you said they were pushing this thing hard if they're really pushing

01:00:48   This thing hard. They'd be giving it to developers that they want to make apps. They'd be giving it no strings attached

01:00:53   They'd be saying you don't have to make an app, but here. We'll just give you one and think about it

01:00:57   That's how you actually push things hard the fact that they're not doing that

01:01:00   Shows that a they're Apple because they don't ever give things away and be that they're still kind of like

01:01:05   We'll just take it slow and steady because I mean honestly they should have been giving them away

01:01:10   That's one good way like give it away to the good developers again using Apple's knowledge of which developers

01:01:16   you think make quality applications and

01:01:18   You know entrust them with free essentially dev kits right, but that's hasn't been the Apple way for a variety of

01:01:26   Cultural reasons that don't make a lot of sense and so if you ever see Apple doing that for Apple

01:01:31   I would say as a sign of desperation for any other company. I'd say it's just good business, but Apple is so

01:01:35   Culturally against that type of thing that's like. We'll make it so good. You'll pay you'll pay for it yourself

01:01:41   You'll want to make out sort of like okay?

01:01:42   Well if you can pull it off great thumbs up, but if you can't pull that off think about giving them away

01:01:46   Well like it wouldn't even have to be for free

01:01:49   Just if even if they just had like a developer purchase program

01:01:52   which they've done before like in very small ways that they if they had a developer purchase program where like a

01:01:56   developer of like a

01:01:58   Reasonably established app could buy one for like half price

01:02:02   Or you know something like that like get them in the hands of developers who would appreciate the discount and therefore overlook

01:02:10   Some of the math behind the market and actually get apps out there, but ultimately even that I think that would help a lot

01:02:16   but what would help even more is

01:02:19   content and not only making a ton of content themselves for it, but also

01:02:24   Maybe making moves to repair relationships with third-party content providers

01:02:29   That would be important for it like the like the big streaming services like you know YouTube Netflix

01:02:34   I get those apps on there, but doing that is going to require

01:02:37   relationship work that I think Apple is

01:02:40   allergic to even trying to do

01:02:44   This week we are sponsored by tail scale so you might have heard of tail scale before it seems like it's a VPN

01:02:52   Kind of but actually that's not really what it's all about so hear me out imagine this imagine you are

01:02:58   a person who likes to tinker and maybe listens to a show like the accidental tech podcast and

01:03:03   You have a server on a linode instance on the East Coast you have a digital ocean droplet on the West Coast

01:03:10   You have a home lab where you have a bunch of different servers in the Midwest

01:03:14   And you have a phone and an iPad and you want all of these devices to talk to each other privately and securely and quickly

01:03:21   Well you could stand up your own VPN

01:03:24   Which is kind of pain in the butt and I've done that in the past and it's unreliable and it's not fun

01:03:28   Enter tail scale tail scale is a mesh network that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure

01:03:35   They go through extraordinary lengths to make sure all of your devices can talk to each other and talk to each other directly

01:03:42   It is a mesh network just for you

01:03:45   And here's the thing their personal plan will always be free and you get up to a hundred devices and three users

01:03:53   For free no credit card no nothing

01:03:56   So last month I was in London, and I had my Mac there

01:04:00   I had my iPad my iPhone and even though the internet in London was very sus

01:04:05   Despite that I was still able to contact my Synology at home

01:04:10   I was able to talk to all my other servers as though I was still sitting in my house

01:04:15   And that means among other things that I had my pie hole with me wherever I went which was critical

01:04:21   Because the networking was so crummy when I was over there

01:04:24   I didn't need to be downloading all sorts of superfluous stuff. So go try tail scale again

01:04:30   It genuinely gets my official okie-dokie. It's really so very good go to tail scale.com

01:04:36   Slash ATP. That's t a I L SC a le.com slash ATP and do yourself a favor

01:04:44   Do me a favor, but do yourself a favor and give tail scale shot you get a hundred devices and three users for free

01:04:51   They will not ask you for a credit card. It's so good, and it's free. Why not give it a shot

01:04:56   Thanks to tail scale for sponsoring ATP

01:04:59   Let's do some topics and first thing we have to talk about is that apparently the Mac for many will be really many

01:05:08   So this is from Bloomberg Apple's planning a new version of the Mac mini that will be its smallest desktop computer yet

01:05:14   This is the first major change in the Mac minis form factor in

01:05:18   14 years so a mere three years before we started this program. That's when it was changed last

01:05:24   Device will be far smaller than its presence a predecessor approaching the size of an Apple TV set-top box

01:05:29   Despite the smaller overall design the new Mac mini will may be taller than the current version today's model is about 1.4 inches high the updated

01:05:36   Edition will still feature an aluminum shell though

01:05:39   Apple assessed models with at least three

01:05:41   USB C ports on the back of the mini in addition to an area for plugging in the power cable and an HDMI port for

01:05:46   Connecting the device to TV sets monitors people involved in the development of the new Mac mini say it's essentially an iPad Pro in a small

01:05:51   Box that's cool

01:05:52   So I wish we had a little bit more information about this my first question is obviously

01:05:55   Internal power supply or not because you can make it real small if you put the power supply in a brick

01:06:00   But that hasn't been Apple's way the Apple TV is really small and it has an internal power supply, and it's pretty cool

01:06:05   I think there's no reason they can't keep it with an internal power supply

01:06:09   And I like the idea of the mini being redone

01:06:13   But my question for this is for a desktop computer

01:06:17   This is not a portable as far as I know there's no rumors of this having a battery or anything

01:06:20   I got for a desktop computer

01:06:22   What is the smaller size by you I agree that the current mini is too big like we've all made fun of it when the

01:06:28   M1 Mac mini came out and people cracked it open and half the box was empty because they just use the same box from the

01:06:33   Intel one and this giant monster overpowered like

01:06:35   Ridiculous power supply there was like two or three times as much power as I needed, but you know

01:06:40   They're just saving money you have the existing case, but they did it with all the M ones

01:06:43   You know devices they just use the existing cases make sense and it makes sense that they would shrink it

01:06:48   But Apple TV size it's getting to the point now where I feel like the cords are gonna pull it off the desk because they weigh

01:06:54   Too much, you know what I mean?

01:06:55   With like I'm all for a smaller Mac mini, but I hope I don't think the size of Apple TV is

01:07:00   Necessary right just you know half the size of the current one

01:07:03   I guess that sounds about right, but when I picture an Apple TV size thing and that's my Mac mini

01:07:08   I know it seems weird at that point like maybe make it magnetically attached to the back of the studio display or something like a little

01:07:13   More a whatever like the little sucker fish things. I don't know what they're called, but hey you know

01:07:19   Once every decade and a half it's time to change the Mac mini

01:07:23   I think it's on the same schedule as the Mac Pro in that regard I

01:07:26   Hope they don't lose too many of the ports like you know the rumor is you know possibly three USB C's

01:07:32   I hope it's at least that because the Mac mini is really good for ports for its size

01:07:37   So I hope they don't lose too many ports because again like you know what so

01:07:41   to make it smaller

01:07:44   That I think it serves multiple angles one is

01:07:49   Smaller will have less stuff in it. It will have fewer ports

01:07:53   It will be a cost savings for them like to just making it smaller will probably be a lot cheaper

01:07:58   And they will make a higher margin on it, so you know good for them. They need more money

01:08:04   More of them on a shipping shipping container you know to me like all the shipping cost the packaging cost like everything

01:08:09   That's that's in and it's called the Mac mini like it's in the name. This is the one they make small

01:08:14   I'm you know don't be grudge them making smaller

01:08:16   They should of course right so you know number one reason to make it smaller

01:08:19   They will save money whether they will pass it along to us well. They won't but they will save money okay, but also

01:08:25   When you look at the Apple Silicon Series iMacs you know the the new slim colorful ones

01:08:33   Those were desktops that got people excited about a desktop for the first time in a pretty long time

01:08:39   because they were

01:08:42   interesting and cool, and they they took it in a different direction that like the kind of got people's attention again and

01:08:48   It didn't revolutionize the world desktops

01:08:51   But it took this one desktop that had already existed and made it cooler and made people like it again

01:08:57   And made it get into the news and kind of capture people's attention again

01:09:01   That will happen if they make a very tiny Mac mini that will happen to a smaller degree

01:09:05   But that will happen for the Mac mini, so that's a reason as well, and then I think finally I

01:09:10   Think a lot of Mac minis end up being used in places where space is at a premium things like data centers

01:09:18   Like if you have like a server rack where you have a bunch of Mac minis and some kind of custom mount or something like that

01:09:23   That will actually be you know a substantial upgrade for it for you to be able to fit more of them in a rack

01:09:29   Especially it presumably as they're continuing to be very power efficient and everything like that

01:09:33   That also would be a lot better with an internal power supply as John said so I hope it does keep that and I think it

01:09:39   probably will so

01:09:41   when you look at how the Mac mini is used like it's used in a bunch of different ways and

01:09:44   most of those ways

01:09:47   Would either benefit or be neutral if it got smaller the only way that would really kill it. I think would be if it

01:09:56   Starts needing dongles for everything that it wouldn't I mean it's not gonna kill the product, but that would start reducing the

01:10:02   The utility of it in certain ways and if a thermal throttle a lot too. Yeah

01:10:07   Oh, yeah, if a thermal throttle is it that will do so what I'm hoping they don't compromise on is

01:10:12   Thermal throttling good one. I hope it's still internal power supply and again looking at how many of them are being used in like kind of

01:10:20   Utility or data center roles. I hope it still has an Ethernet port

01:10:24   That's that would be a big one and the Apple TV does offer that

01:10:28   Apple TV has got got an HDMI port internal power supply Ethernet port like there's no reason it couldn't have all these things not

01:10:35   Well before we get a bunch of feedback not all of them have an HD or excuse me an Ethernet

01:10:38   Not the cheap one at the cheap Apple TV. Yeah, right exactly

01:10:41   yeah, anyway, so if they can retain as many ports as they can an

01:10:47   Ethernet and internal power then it is then it still retains its utility for most of the ways that they are actually

01:10:53   Used so I hope that's what this is. And if they can make it smaller while retaining that utility

01:10:59   That's great. If they cut too much from it to make it smaller

01:11:04   I think that's the wrong move, but we'll see so far again so far there the recent history of the Mac Mini has been

01:11:11   You know, it doesn't get frequent updates

01:11:13   It never has it never will but when they have updated it recently it has been pretty good

01:11:18   So I hope they continue that that pattern

01:11:22   yeah, I don't think that there's a

01:11:24   Need for the Mac Mini to get particularly smaller

01:11:28   But I love the idea of it again as both of you said

01:11:32   Assuming we don't lose Ethernet assuming we don't lose at least a decent number of ports like for me

01:11:38   I could totally lose the USB a ports. I know not everyone would agree, but for me, I'd be fine

01:11:43   I would also not want an external power supply

01:11:47   I concur with both of you that I think an internal power supply is part of what makes it so wonderful

01:11:51   But I that would be great

01:11:52   I wouldn't necessarily upgrade specifically because it's so small but I would at least be enticed to do it because

01:11:59   Why wouldn't you oh in thermal throttling? I agree with you John that if it has to aggressively thermal throttle

01:12:05   That would not be great either. But you know the Mac Mini I

01:12:08   Would never want that to be my only computer for various reasons about the way I work with computers, but I

01:12:16   Really love the Mac Mini because it is so darn flexible. It can be like a little server

01:12:21   It can be it could be your only computer if you want it to be it could be a server that's co-located somewhere

01:12:26   You know, there's any number of things that can do it can kind of be all things to all people

01:12:29   And if it can get physically smaller, sure man, why not? I I think that sounds really great. So I'm here for this

01:12:36   I don't know if I would buy one, but I certainly love the idea assuming it's not compromised city. It's by the way

01:12:41   The Apple TV also has gigabit ethernet. Anyway, I feel like there's a

01:12:45   Interesting convergence happening between the Mac Mini hardware and the Apple TV hardware

01:12:51   Right like at a certain point, especially if the Mac Mini is Apple TV sized

01:12:55   the Mac Mini is like an Apple TV with a better SOC essentially and

01:13:01   Ethernet port and USB ports rather like two rounded rectangles one's aluminum ones plastic

01:13:09   with the power plug

01:13:12   Ethernet HDMI and then some USB C's on the mini like they both have Apple silicon in them

01:13:20   like is it just is the Mac Mini of that size just like the world's most powerful Apple TV that doesn't run tvOS and

01:13:26   Is the Apple TV 4k slowly becoming kind of like the DTK was like a a slow Mac Mini

01:13:34   That doesn't have expansion other than HDMI and Ethernet

01:13:38   Remember the days when the Apple TV was a thing that ran Mac OS right before it ran tvOS or whatever

01:13:44   There is like we talk about the platform convergence and or lack thereof between iPad and Mac

01:13:49   but

01:13:51   What is it about tvOS that couldn't just be an app that ran on a Mac Mini because once it gets to be that small

01:13:56   I was saying like people put their Mac Minis in weird places

01:13:58   It used to be that people would put their Mac Minis on their next to their TVs before streaming boxes existed before the Apple TV

01:14:04   Is it because you could you know run a Plex server on it connected to your TV so on and so forth and you want to?

01:14:08   Be small because it have to be with your TV junk right that's why the Apple TV is very small and unobtrusive and like

01:14:14   I'm not saying these things are going to converge like the Apple TV has a thread radio

01:14:19   And you know the presumably the Mac Mini won't or will it we'll see but at a certain point Apple making two

01:14:25   puck sized things with Apple silicon SOCs in them at two different prices just starts to look like a

01:14:30   Wider range of Apple TV powers if it wasn't for the OS difference well

01:14:35   I mean for me first of all the of us difference is substantial

01:14:38   What's it?

01:14:40   What part of the us couldn't just be an app like you've launched the TV OS app

01:14:44   And it just runs everything you see there. It's a full-screen app it takes over everything it

01:14:48   Answers to the remote you know you know I mean like there's I don't think there's any maybe I'm wrong

01:14:52   Maybe there's some part of tvOS that's specifically tailored to have some sort of like real-time feeding of but I feel like everything

01:14:58   That's doing is so within the power of the SOC like it's so not a big deal to the SOC this call

01:15:03   Just be an app. I mean it's not it's not that different in terms of you know technical grunt

01:15:08   It's more about like massive differences in

01:15:11   The kind of you know like the the realities of hooking it up managing it the capabilities it has so like you know for instance

01:15:18   Try to try to configure a Mac never connecting a keyboard to it. It's it can be difficult

01:15:23   There's all sorts of like just little details like if it was a Mac it would have

01:15:28   Complexities X Y & Z and and anybody who's ever tried to use a Mac as a TV computer

01:15:34   You've run into these complexities before you know this like you you know that it's fairly different also

01:15:38   I would say like you know the Apple TV costs

01:15:41   150 bucks the Mac Mini costs like six to eight hundred for a basic one

01:15:48   And has way more RAM and way more SSD space yet

01:15:50   I'm like it's just it's it's a super super high end, but I'm saying is they're both Apple

01:15:55   So then they both have RAM they both run the same boat base OS right you could have a Mac OS

01:15:59   You know boot into essentially like at ease or whatever you know the thing that works the remotes anyway

01:16:04   I'm just the the hardware at the very least is converging if not the software and the software is close enough to each other that

01:16:10   They could really have one thing that did both of them. I'm not saying they should combine them

01:16:13   I think they should probably remain separate, but it's very interesting that they're there. What is it a?

01:16:20   Congenation I probably pronounced it wrong where so many different animals on earth have essentially evolved into crab shapes

01:16:26   Independently along different lines like they're not actually related to each other evolutionarily, but everyone's ends up at crab well

01:16:32   Maybe everyone ends up at Apple TV

01:16:34   or Mac Mini whichever one you decide is the standard bearer for the

01:16:39   Rounded rectangle puck shape well, we'll see what happens, but like I said, I'm excited for this

01:16:44   So there's been some big news this week

01:16:49   I'm in a good mood. I really don't want to be in a bad mood, but we got to talk

01:16:52   We don't we don't have to listen

01:16:53   We don't have to actually talk about this that much if we don't want to because I'm also in a good mood

01:16:58   We talk about the Mac Mini

01:16:59   It's fun

01:17:00   We like do we really have to talk about Apple being a jerk again like it

01:17:03   I say this as somebody who I love you know

01:17:06   My career that I've made in part by calling on Apple when they've been jerks Apple's being a jerk to patreon again more app store

01:17:13   Bs again Apple is doing horrible things again with the app store commissions again like do we actually

01:17:21   Have to really drill in again

01:17:23   How just terrible this whole thing is and how much they're ruining the reputation especially among creators like my god

01:17:29   What a terrible move like you know Apple's Apple's modern business model is to

01:17:34   Shake everyone down as much as possible

01:17:37   They make half their profit is coming from making great products and the other half of their profit is

01:17:43   About to come from shaking everyone down

01:17:45   I hope we can continue to celebrate the former and I hope the latter is not forever

01:17:51   well, it sounds like you already did talk about it, but

01:17:54   Slightly different take on this like well, let's just say what the story is first. I was gonna say let's let's set the stage here

01:18:02   All right, so patreon put up a blog post. I think was yesterday as we record it was early in the week

01:18:07   but anyways

01:18:08   Reading bits and pieces from the blog post as we first announced last year and will link to their original blog post about this

01:18:14   Apple's requiring that patreon use their in-app purchasing system and remove all other billing systems from the patreon iOS app by November 2024

01:18:21   Again, this is patreon patreon zone blog post. This has two major consequences for creators number one

01:18:27   Apple will be applying their 30% app store fee to all new memberships purchased in the patreon iOS app in addition to anything bought in

01:18:34   your patreon shop

01:18:36   Number two any creator currently on first of the month or per creation billing plans

01:18:40   We'll have to switch over to subscription billing to continue to earning in the iOS app

01:18:44   Because that's the only billing type apples in-app purchase system supports. So patreon just in case you're not aware

01:18:49   I presume all of you are but just in case

01:18:51   Patreon is a way that you can say hey, you're like, let's say ATP was on patreon. We're not let's say we were we could say

01:18:58   You know, hey every time we release an episode you can pledge to give us a dollar ten dollars a hundred dollars

01:19:05   Whatever the case may be or you could say

01:19:07   every month on the first of the month you're going to give us, you know, eight bucks or whatever the case may be and

01:19:12   You can do all this to the patrons website and that isn't a possible in iOS in the iOS app store

01:19:20   So now going back to the blog post

01:19:22   Apple's fee will not impact your existing members who only affect new memberships purchased in the iOS app from November onward

01:19:29   We've been working closely with creators to figure out the best way to help you avoid earnings disruption

01:19:33   Stemming from Apple's 30% App Store fee based on creator feedback

01:19:37   We've built an optional tool that can automatically increase your prices only in the iOS app to offset the cost of Apple's fee

01:19:44   This way you'll continue to earn at least the same amount per membership as you do on all other platforms

01:19:49   Apple's in-app purchase system on the other hand only supports patreon subscription billing model

01:19:54   So there's a thread about this on

01:19:57   Mass on which I'd like to come back to if that's okay

01:20:01   But we'll continue on with the blog post

01:20:03   Apple's also made it clear that if creators on patreon continue to use unsupported billing methods or disabled transactions in their iOS app

01:20:09   We will be at risk of having the entire app removed from their App Store. Are you kidding?

01:20:16   Alright, are we surprised is any part of the surprising?

01:20:19   Like the surprising thing is that it lasted this long Apple's entire business model is again selling products and then

01:20:30   Secondarily which is soon to be matching them in revenue or in profit rather

01:20:33   Shaking down as many people as possible. They Apple makes a lot of money from hardware and a lot of money from rents

01:20:41   That's what this is. And so they are going like this is a pattern they've been doing for a long time

01:20:45   They're basically scrounging around the couch cushions of every possible app that's in the App Store

01:20:50   Apple has made a consistent effort to go and see

01:20:53   Where can we squeeze more money that we haven't been able to squeeze or that we haven't squeezed before they haven't tried to speak before

01:20:58   And they are basically hunting around the App Store looking around saying hey looks like you're making some money

01:21:03   We we need a piece of that and you know, they will a big stick like so that's this is a pattern

01:21:10   They've been doing for a long time and it's not necessarily like that. Somebody was breaking the rules and they go catch them

01:21:17   Usually it's in which is I think the case here

01:21:20   Usually it's like kind of a vague edge of the rules where like something has been okay for a while and Apple suddenly decides

01:21:27   That's not okay anymore and you have some money and we need the money. So therefore

01:21:32   We're gonna reinterpret or change this rule to now include you

01:21:37   So please business that we hadn't really no, you know role in creating

01:21:42   You need to now give us your money because we we need it more than you do obviously

01:21:45   Alright, so there's this thread on master mastodon from cid rhea and cid rhea writes. It's not clear to me

01:21:53   Why would allow patreon to take 5% above and beyond payment processing when I can just get subscription service from PayPal for the price of payment

01:22:00   Processing Oh God, let me tell you you do not want to use PayPal for subscriptions. Trust me

01:22:07   I did that before let it look. I'm not a huge fan of patreon

01:22:11   It's fine, but like I would I wouldn't use it myself

01:22:13   But my god, you do not want to use PayPal for this if those are your two choices pick patreon. Trust me

01:22:20   So continuing from cid rhea what I am here for is the by creation model

01:22:24   If you don't offer me that then I can get what you're selling for much cheaper elsewhere. So

01:22:29   my take on this marco's already covered a little bit is that like

01:22:33   the rules in the App Store for what Apple

01:22:36   wants a percentage of

01:22:39   our arbitrary kind of

01:22:41   Apple has changed them over the years if there has ever been any kind of

01:22:47   Thing that they've stated to try to tell you what they're going to charge for

01:22:51   They've said we want to charge for digital things. We don't charge for physical things

01:22:55   There's lots of edge cases in gray areas during the pandemic people are given like yoga sessions

01:23:00   And they were doing them over the computer instead of in person and apples like is that a digital good?

01:23:06   Is that a physical one? Maybe we need money from those yoga people, right?

01:23:09   patreon

01:23:11   Is kind of I mean it's not so much in a gray area except that like Apple didn't charge them originally

01:23:17   And they're really big and important and apples like I just let him be because it's kind of a physical thing like oh people are

01:23:24   Trying to fund a cooler and the cooler gets made well as Kickstarter a patreon is like you're gonna

01:23:29   You're gonna make a new painting every month

01:23:31   And they're gonna pay you to do it because they're like your patrons patron of the arts or whatever like patreon you get happy

01:23:37   You'll pay for anything literally anything right some of that stuff happens in the physical world some of it happens

01:23:41   In digital some of it's like neither is that a digital thing

01:23:44   I don't know, but if you squint you could say okay. I can see how apples

01:23:49   Somewhat

01:23:52   consistent rule of digital things we want to cut off

01:23:54   Would eventually come for patreon and say well you're kind of like a digital thing or you're more towards a little thing so you want

01:24:00   To cut of your stuff right, but that's just how Apple frames it

01:24:03   And I really think that's kind of like a back-solving oh like well

01:24:05   What are we already getting money from and that we care about let's just say that's our rule right?

01:24:09   What actually makes sense and what a lot of the feedback about patreon has been discussing is?

01:24:14   And link it for the 17th time in the show my art of the possible pose on hypercritical where it's like

01:24:20   Apple acts as if

01:24:23   Applying business terms to people will make them reshape their businesses to fit the cut that Apple wants

01:24:31   So if Apple says we want 30% of this business and the business says

01:24:37   There's not a 30% for you like this is a low margin business that every cent is already accounted for by various people in

01:24:43   The value chain there's not another 30 cents for a 30% for you or 15% or 5% or any percent right like

01:24:49   We pay these percentages and everyone gets these percentages for doing the jobs

01:24:54   They're doing and there's just no money left for you and apples like we'll just change the shape of your entire industry and/or business

01:24:59   to make it so that this percentage is available to us because that's the way it should be and

01:25:04   What I wrote in this blog post is like look Apple you can try that but if it turns out that those businesses

01:25:08   Cannot or will not reshape themselves to provide your fee

01:25:11   Then you just miss out on those and the example that I've seen coming up during this whole kerfuffle is the one that has been

01:25:18   Coming in for years and came up when it was actually relevant was ebooks right you've got authors publishers

01:25:24   resellers like Amazon

01:25:26   Establish royalty and fee structure from publishers to resellers and retailers and everything I was in that business

01:25:33   I know where all the percentages go they're all accounted for right and yes the author kind of gets screwed

01:25:38   They don't get as much money as you think they should there's a lot of businesses

01:25:40   They're like that like the music industry, but anyway setting that aside

01:25:42   There's not another 30 or 15 percent hanging around

01:25:46   For the maker of the phone that you bought the song right that's not part of the value chain and apples like we think we should

01:25:53   Be and Amazon was like okay

01:25:55   well

01:25:55   And you just can't buy ebooks on the Kindle app on iOS

01:25:57   Because there's not like if you let us do it without giving you a cut

01:26:01   We'll put it in the app. It'll be great for users everyone love what I was like no

01:26:03   you can't put it in the app unless you give us X percent right and

01:26:06   That percent is not available and how many decades or years has it been?

01:26:10   That percentage is not becoming available that business has not reshaped itself to fit Apple's desire to get that fee

01:26:16   Patreon is a similar model patreon

01:26:19   You know connects people who want to pay for a thing with someone who wants to get paid for doing it

01:26:24   Whatever that thing is you know whether they want it you want to pay them per painting they make or on a monthly basis or?

01:26:30   Whatever it is and whatever they're gonna

01:26:31   Do that's between you that's between the the patrons and the person who has the patreon and page

01:26:36   Patreon is the platform that enables that to happen and patreon takes a cut for being the platform that makes that happen

01:26:42   And if you look at we'll put a link into patreon like fees

01:26:44   Their fees have a range like if you if you got into patreon like really early like you know when patreon first launched

01:26:50   patreon would take 5%

01:26:53   And then the current ones anywhere already from 8 to 12 percent

01:26:56   And there's other fees and they charge for payment processing and currency conversion, and you know there's fees fees fees right?

01:27:02   But the point is if you add up all of patreon fees in the worst case scenario like you know for the privilege of me

01:27:08   Doing this thing for letting people sign up to give you money for collecting the money from them for them paying you out from the money

01:27:13   That they gave you for me doing all that patreon takes this percent and that percent

01:27:18   I think universally is less than 30 so Apple wants a

01:27:24   bigger cut of patreon's business than patreon takes

01:27:27   Patreon is the business that connects people and people who do things and people who want to pay them for it right?

01:27:33   Apple says yeah, but we make the phone and the OS

01:27:38   Where the app is that people use your service through and so we want a bigger cut sometimes

01:27:44   substantially like three times bigger cut than you get because

01:27:49   We think we provide three times the value that you the actual platform does I can understand patreon saying

01:27:56   There's not really room in our business for someone to make three times as much as we do on every transaction, right?

01:28:04   A lot of people are mad at patreon right now because you know some people are like well patreon rather than saying okay

01:28:11   We're gonna give Apple its 30% and by the way

01:28:12   It's 30% because patreon is a huge company each individual person who has a thing on patreon

01:28:18   They may be making pennies right they're making a lot not a lot of money

01:28:21   Don't they qualify for the small business blah blah blah well patreon does not qualify for the small business blah blah blah

01:28:27   But they make more than whatever million dollars or whatever so patreon has to pay the big amount not the small business program amount

01:28:33   Which kind of sucks whatever anyway?

01:28:35   A lot of people are saying patreon how about you just get your app out of the App Store?

01:28:39   You have a website

01:28:41   That's how a lot of people use patreon is the app so important that you're going to give Apple 30%

01:28:46   And then basically give an automated way to pass that 30% cost on to

01:28:50   The customers who pay on patreon right?

01:28:54   That's what they're saying like hey people who are on patreon

01:28:57   You can just basically raise the rates of all of your subscribers by 30%

01:29:01   If they use the iOS app and then you'll get the same amount

01:29:04   It's like yeah

01:29:05   But every single person who plays for a patreon is gonna be paying 30% more and that 30% is gonna be going to Apple and

01:29:10   If you told them hey, we're going to you know you subscribe to this patreon for this person

01:29:14   We're gonna raise your prices 30%

01:29:16   But if you don't want that to happen don't use the iOS app. I bet they would go fine

01:29:20   I'll use the iOS app I can go to patreon.com

01:29:22   I know where the website is this website does not require the phone to exist it works fine on the web

01:29:28   The web is the platform nobody owns

01:29:30   I don't think I want to give 30% of my money to Apple like if you told someone I'm paying $5 a month

01:29:35   And it's okay. You know 8% is going to patreon and the whole rest is going to no

01:29:40   Sorry 30% is going to Apple wait what 8% goes to patreon 30% goes to Apple and the rest goes to the person

01:29:46   I'm paying why is 30% going to Apple's like well if you do it through the web

01:29:49   They don't get anything which by the way you probably can't even tell them unless you're in the EU, but anyway

01:29:53   People are mad at patreon saying patreon

01:29:55   Why are you doing this especially the people like that thing you read from the thread of mass on it's like the reason I use

01:29:59   Patreon is because I can let people pay me for every sculpture that I make if I don't make a sculpture

01:30:03   I don't get paid every sculpture. I make this person pledged to pay me $1 right so I put out a new sculpture

01:30:08   I say here's the new sculpture and I get $1 right

01:30:11   In that purchase doesn't support that all right or paying even something as simple as paying on the first of the month

01:30:17   You're like oh month these descriptions exist, but they don't all start in the first of the month

01:30:20   So some people have patrons who say on the first of every month

01:30:23   I will collect $1 from you because that's what you pledge for whatever it is that I do

01:30:26   But Apple doesn't support that within that purchase so patreon saying not only will we pass along the 30% cost if you want us

01:30:32   To or not if you and then you can just pay the 30% we don't care who pays it or whatever

01:30:36   But we're eliminating those other two things where you get paid for every sculpture you make and you get paid on the first of the month

01:30:41   Because iOS and that person doesn't support that we're just going to eliminate that for anyone who uses the iOS app only people who use

01:30:47   The web can do that and then furthermore we won't even provide an option in the app that says I

01:30:52   Don't want to use the app to do this stuff. I'll do it all on the web

01:30:55   I still want to have the app so I can look at stuff

01:30:57   But I don't want to use it to pay because if we did that Apple said apparently they'll take the app off the App Store

01:31:03   So I think there's plenty of blame to go around

01:31:06   But this is I think just another example of a business that Apple wants to insert themselves into that

01:31:11   Just doesn't have that much of money laying around for them. The users don't want to supply it

01:31:15   Patreon doesn't want to supply it. It's not as if they're taking 30% of patreon's cut

01:31:20   They're taking 30% of the whole price if you pledge $1 a month 30 cents of that goes to Apple

01:31:25   Right and whatever percent goes to patreon and then the rest, you know goes to the person you're actually trying to pay

01:31:32   Apple simply can insert itself into certain businesses because they're already established and the cut is already, you know

01:31:38   everyone has decided that the distribution of money on that is

01:31:41   Acceptable to all involved and when Apple power shoots in and say we want a fairly large percentage

01:31:47   sometimes we want the second largest percentage because the person who's who owns the patreon is getting the largest amount still and

01:31:52   Then Apple second and then patreon a distant third that just doesn't make sense to people

01:31:57   It doesn't make sense to the people who have business on patreon

01:31:59   it doesn't make sense to people paying for it and

01:32:01   Honestly, I don't even know how it makes sense to Apple because I don't feel like patreon is gonna be make them as much money as like

01:32:07   In-app purchases on subway surfers or whatever. So

01:32:09   It's yet another, you know, it's kind of like wish casting wouldn't it be great if 30% of this existing business could go to us

01:32:17   Yeah, we all have that feeling about lots of business

01:32:19   I can look at all sorts of businesses and say wouldn't it be great if like how much of a percentage of

01:32:23   Patreons business should the internet service providers have how much should the cellular companies have all those facilitate the transactions that are taking place?

01:32:31   Arguably the internet service providers patreon couldn't exist without them

01:32:33   shouldn't they get like 15% and when you if you start doing that and saying everybody along the chain is going to get some big percent that

01:32:40   They're gonna, you know boost their stock price and their earnings reports or whatever. It doesn't work. It's not sustainable

01:32:46   There's not enough money to go around to have like okay

01:32:50   We're connecting connecting people who make things and people who want to pay for it

01:32:53   Unfortunately, I'll kind of like the music business

01:32:57   You pay one dollar and three cents of that dollar gets to the person you wanted to pay and the rest goes to

01:33:03   millions of different middle parties that have somehow found their way to into this business and that you have to pay because they're

01:33:08   monopolies you do op Lise and that I think is the real story here is

01:33:12   How much room is there in a given?

01:33:16   Especially established business for new parties to come in even if they're part of the value chain and Apple is part of the value chain

01:33:23   Even if they're part of the value chain

01:33:24   How much place is there for them to come in and to demand money for the things that take place there?

01:33:29   It's I mean, I'm at this point

01:33:31   I'm kind of surprised that Apple doesn't say well if you use Safari when you go to patreon.com we get 30%

01:33:35   If you use Chrome, we don't get it

01:33:37   but if you use Safari we get 30% because we're facilitating that transaction by having a web browser that we make and they are

01:33:42   facilitating it but

01:33:44   Most people have decided that the web browser maker doesn't deserve 30%

01:33:48   but I guess the phone maker does because of in-app purchase it's

01:33:52   It's frustrating. It's frustrating on all sides here. People are mad at patreon

01:33:57   People are mad at Apple people who are on patreon are mad that they have to figure out some other alternative a lot of these shenanigans

01:34:04   This is not the reason we do this but because we're just a bunch of programming nerds

01:34:08   But people were asking the chat room don't you guys use patreon? Don't you use memberful?

01:34:11   We are in the privileged position not to have to do that because we're software developers

01:34:16   So Marco wrote the system that we use we do use a third-party thing

01:34:20   We use stripe which is a payment processor, which is an extremely difficult thing to do

01:34:23   But guess what stripe doesn't charge 30% yet

01:34:25   3% yeah, they charge what payment processors charge, you know and patreon probably uses stripe behind the scenes and patreon

01:34:34   Charges for payment processing and I get they'd probably have make a little profit and the rest of that money goes to their actual payment

01:34:39   Processor which honestly is probably stripe, right?

01:34:41   But not everyone is gonna write their own

01:34:44   Membership program I would not recommend it. In fact, I don't think Marco recommended

01:34:48   No

01:34:48   we can do it because we're a bunch of nerd programmers in a nerd podcast and no we're not gonna start a competing business with

01:34:53   patreon because it's not what we want to do, but

01:34:55   it's

01:34:59   when businesses like patreon

01:35:01   End up taking more and more of the money and this point at this point like not taking more of it

01:35:06   But like, you know Apple takes more of the money and patreon allows you to pass it on to your customers or to pay it yourself

01:35:10   It just makes the people who are stranded there people who can't and don't want to write their own membership systems

01:35:15   Like that's that's why I use patreon. I can't write my own membership system

01:35:19   That's why patreon exists and all of a sudden prices are going up 30% and I'm getting none of that

01:35:23   That's not a good feeling for anybody and honestly, I really you know, Guru wrote about this today

01:35:28   Like people are saying hey patreon just pull yourself out of the App Store

01:35:31   That's the what it's come to right now is that people are so against Apple in this that they're saying

01:35:35   look

01:35:37   These companies should just not be in the App Store. It's not worth it the vet like that's what people always say

01:35:41   well

01:35:41   if you just think if you don't think Apple's cut is worth it take your app out of the App Store and now finally we're

01:35:45   Getting a concrete scenario in an app that people are familiar with the saying. Yeah, pull the patreon app

01:35:50   It is not an essential part of the patreon process and maybe patreon knows something that we don't maybe they know that that is their

01:35:55   Biggest sales funnel if they pulled the app they would go out of business, right?

01:35:58   In which case maybe Apple does deserve some percentage over or whatever, but honestly, we're never gonna find out until someone

01:36:05   Tests that theory because I feel like the web is a perfectly reasonable. We don't have an app

01:36:10   We don't have an iOS app with an app purchase

01:36:12   We just have a website ATP at FM slash join every single one of our members went through that at website to join

01:36:16   None of them went through an iOS app

01:36:18   There is no iOS app you can use to join our membership program. It's only on the web and yet somehow

01:36:23   People find it and join. It's a miracle. I

01:36:26   Hope the government steps in and breaks Apple of its addiction to extortion

01:36:32   like that's what this is Apple's business model is hardware and extortion and

01:36:37   It's it's a terrible place to be they are

01:36:41   clearly

01:36:43   Incredibly shameless about it and incredibly addicted to this revenue

01:36:47   they this is exactly the role that government regulation plays when a

01:36:52   when when a large

01:36:55   monopolist which Apple, you know

01:36:57   I know we can argue about the definition of that

01:36:58   But the the role they take here is the role of a monopolist and when a monopolist starts having

01:37:05   Undo influence over large areas of commerce that become damaging to an entire market

01:37:11   that's when government regulation steps in to to regulate that monopolist and to

01:37:16   You know force them to behave differently in certain ways to protect the health of the entire market

01:37:22   There is no question that Apple has reached that status that Apple is abusing that monopoly power to extract things

01:37:29   Via extortion to extract more money from lots of businesses out there

01:37:32   It is incredibly damaging to everyone including Apple's long-term strategy again. I

01:37:38   Question Tim Cook's long-term strategy here. I I do not think he is a good CEO anymore

01:37:44   I think his his role in the company has

01:37:47   Has has run its course

01:37:49   I think he has done all the good he's going to do and it's time for it's time for a different strategy

01:37:54   It really is. There we go. Aaron mark your bingo cards. I know yes

01:37:57   I need my own sound effect for this. Yeah we need a sound effect for when a market calls for Apple executives to be fired

01:38:03   But but where where does this end? What is the strategy here? Exactly that the strategy here is begging for regulation

01:38:09   I don't think it's extortion

01:38:10   But like if you want to see what Apple's model was like I mentioned the music labels the music labels have established

01:38:16   Established a business where essentially this is the case that the middle party gets most of the money and the artist

01:38:22   Gets like the smallest amount and to some degree the the movie industry has done that a little bit

01:38:27   At least they have some unions there to push back against or whatever

01:38:30   There are existing businesses that are shaped like that and I bet Apple looks at the music industry and says wow

01:38:36   this is amazing music usually takes most of the money and

01:38:38   Whatever pennies are left go to the artist and the most successful artists are still millionaires

01:38:43   But the but the the you know the music labels are billionaires and obviously digital music and streaming and all other stuff is sort of

01:38:50   Put a dent in that business, but that's a business model that a business person could look at and say wow, that's great

01:38:54   We should have that for us, but I don't think you can retroactively make that happen. Like patreon is not a new website or concept

01:39:01   It's been around for a long time and the percentages are what they are and they have competition in this area

01:39:06   and

01:39:07   The money is distributed the way it's distributed and part of the way these

01:39:11   Services work as they try to tell creators come to us to our site

01:39:15   We have the best features people like to use our site and we won't take as much of your money as the competitor

01:39:21   But Apple's not competing on that ground. They're just saying there's an existing business and

01:39:25   If you squint it looks like a digital thing and we say we get a part of all digital stuff that goes through our phone

01:39:31   And we've been able to do that because a lot of the things on our phone

01:39:33   Started from zero and they arrived on our phone and then that purchase made them tons of money or whatever, right?

01:39:39   but existing businesses aren't already shaped like that and they're coming in saying make room for us make room for us and

01:39:45   Even though there are businesses that are worse like the record labels

01:39:49   Apple can't but their way into that either and say by the way

01:39:53   We want 30% of every single thing that we're like

01:39:55   Obviously, they already sell digital music and do streaming and do all this stuff or whatever

01:39:58   But like so maybe it's not a great. I think they've already butted their way into that

01:40:02   Well, but but they did that they they innovated their way into that by saying we'll find a way to sell your music in a

01:40:06   Way that people will buy it and they did it with the iTunes store and then streaming in most cases streaming

01:40:11   The labels are still getting most of the money. It's not Apple taking the large chunk of the money there, right?

01:40:14   Although I think Spotify would have some dispute with the term competing their way into that

01:40:18   because there was also a little bit of unfair competition with that but

01:40:22   Admittedly like yes, they did largely

01:40:25   Get into that via

01:40:27   Competition that was partially fair and and also the artists were already getting screwed there, right?

01:40:33   Seriously getting screwed right and so they continue to get screwed. It's terrible, right?

01:40:36   But here arguably the people who use patreon and we're like, they're okay with this deal

01:40:40   They're like I give patreon 8% and it's well worth it because I can't I'm not a programmer

01:40:44   I can't write my own patreon website, right?

01:40:46   I want the people who give me money to have the least friction possible and people know how to use patreon or whatever

01:40:52   Similar I was that you're using and for that I give them 8% and it's well worth it to me

01:40:57   38% going and not going to me

01:41:01   Starts to be a different deal, right? And again you say well, that's just through the house up

01:41:07   They can continue doing it through the web, right? I don't know what the funnels look like

01:41:10   Maybe Apple is calculating that they are such an important funnel and I keep using that term

01:41:15   But it's like basically where do users come from to pay you money?

01:41:18   Do most of them come through the iOS app do most of them come through the website?

01:41:22   What is the split right if iOS is such an important platform for making patreon money that they feel like they can't leave

01:41:28   Then maybe Apple is calculating that they can take this cut and apparently

01:41:32   Patreon is is not pulling their app and they're gonna they're saying yes

01:41:35   We are gonna do this and price is just gonna go up from everybody and what this should make people think is getting back to

01:41:41   What Margaret was saying?

01:41:42   Do we want to live in a world where the you know Android iOS duopoly?

01:41:48   has a stranglehold on the distribution of any service that uses your phone and

01:41:54   Is and they are able to take that percentage because they are the funnel because they are a duopoly, right?

01:42:01   It's like well Apple is the funnel the Apple gives you all your customers. You should pay them percentage

01:42:05   Yeah

01:42:05   Apple gives us all our customers because there is no other way

01:42:08   To get your app on the iPhone in front of people's faces other than progressive web apps

01:42:12   Which Apple continues to fight against a little bit?

01:42:15   And that's why like it's not like they're they're the funnel because they do such a great job there except for in the EU

01:42:22   they are the exclusive way to

01:42:24   Put apps on people's phones right and Android than the Google Play Store. They're not exclusive, but they are the vast majority, right?

01:42:31   that's that's the the root of this is that they have you know, they can command those prices because they are the funnel because they are

01:42:37   essentially a duopoly and

01:42:39   Striking at the heart of that is not saying Apple can't charge patreon money. It's saying

01:42:43   Why should Apple be the exclusive distributor of apps and it gets back to the whole EU DMA thing or whatever

01:42:49   So that's this is the period of turmoil that we are in right in the EU anyway

01:42:54   Governments are trying to

01:42:56   Break the exclusivity of distribution that it is the root of all this stuff over here in the u.s. We're mostly just

01:43:02   Being sad that patreon is going to be charging a lot more money and none of that money is gonna be going to occur to the

01:43:08   creators but you know patreon pulling the app or

01:43:11   Making patreon competitors that don't use the App Store or whatever. All of those are just kind of like hacking away at the leaves

01:43:20   The root of this whole problem is the Android iOS duopoly and maybe the Department of Justice is gonna help with that

01:43:26   But we'll see I mean honestly like what I mean why stop a patreon like, you know

01:43:30   How about what if a church has an app you want to take one to take 30% of a church's donations?

01:43:35   What about different charities and nonprofits? Can you take 30% of all their income too if they happen to have apps?

01:43:42   I mean again, why why stop here? Well, you're talking about like, you know, the Apple does make judgments about you know

01:43:48   We choose not to take this money

01:43:50   Even though we technically could we choose not to because it's a nice thing to do

01:43:54   Like with nonprofits and stuff like that kind of them but that is still the root of that problem. There is still

01:43:59   Apple gets to decide

01:44:02   No, no, there's no there are no other influences on that

01:44:04   No, no competitor that can make different decisions to put pressure on Apple other than Android

01:44:08   So Apple and Android kind of do the similar things

01:44:10   Which we'll talk about probably next week

01:44:12   There's some another fun example of Apple and Android doing very similar things because they're essentially do op lee

01:44:18   and they there's no other way to get on phones and phones are used by everybody and it's

01:44:22   You know, I mean every time this happens people bring up the web and just go, you know

01:44:27   just

01:44:29   So throw salt over their shoulder whatever and say like thank God the web exists because if it didn't exist Apple would never allow it

01:44:36   to exist

01:44:37   You know web the web the platform. Nobody owns not even Google even most times. It seems like they do is

01:44:42   The one sort of side door to this whole process

01:44:46   For now, right, but the do op lee is so strong that they could say hey anything you buy using Safari we get 30%

01:44:53   They haven't tried that yet because you buy so many things through there

01:44:56   But Apple likes to pretend you live in a world where it's only possible to ever give anyone money using a native app

01:45:00   It's not true

01:45:01   You can go to a PTFM on your phone

01:45:04   And buy a membership from us and Apple does not get a cut of that even though you use your phone to do it

01:45:09   Isn't that wild it's not wild

01:45:11   You used to be able to do it with computers that Apple would make and you could buy things through them

01:45:14   Apple got no cut of it and somehow the world didn't collapse and Apple didn't go out of business

01:45:18   Let's suppose we're in an alternate universe

01:45:21   where

01:45:24   Steering the anti-steering rule doesn't exist. And yes, I know the EU is basically that alternate universe, but just bear with me here

01:45:31   Let's say that patreon could worldwide just say hey

01:45:35   These are the prices if you would like to use apples in a purchase system

01:45:40   But if you'd like to see other pricing go to the web, here's a link

01:45:44   What's the other pricing you'd tell them the other price or you know, we'll get it for 30% less by clicking on this web link

01:45:49   Yeah, this this is the price on our website. Here's a link to get there

01:45:54   No argument, but my point is even if you weren't allowed to show the price

01:45:59   I still feel like we would say man

01:46:02   This is kind of dumb, but whatever if people want to save a little money

01:46:06   They'll go to the web the links right there and even better, you know, if Apple actually had to hmm

01:46:11   What's the word I'm looking for?

01:46:13   Compete there it is if Apple had to compete for the business and then in that case you could say, you know

01:46:19   Oh, you can pay a 30% premium to use an app purchase or you can you know not pay that and go to the web

01:46:24   Here's the link. I

01:46:26   Feel like if that escape hatch was there I would be a tenth as grumpy as I am right now

01:46:32   but because there the

01:46:34   Patreon isn't allowed that escape hatch because of Apple's bullshit rules that are

01:46:40   one of their many

01:46:42   Then there's no escape hatch

01:46:45   And so now patreon screwed in in patreon being screwed like that sucks because you know, I feel for them

01:46:51   But the the people I really feel far before which is what you two have also been saying is the creators

01:46:56   These are people who are just trying to eke out a living not different than us, you know

01:47:00   They're just trying to get a little eke out a living doing something creative and they're trying to get rewarded for their efforts

01:47:05   Which again is not unreasonable and yet because of Apple there all these creators are

01:47:12   potentially gonna get screwed and that's just that's not fair and I don't

01:47:17   Grasp what Apple's going for here like?

01:47:21   intellectually

01:47:23   And and maybe I guess this is probably where it stops

01:47:25   I just need to shut up but intellectually I get they just want more money

01:47:28   they're a corporation that just wants more money and it's as simple as that and I get that but I

01:47:34   Can't help but feel like especially in the last year or so

01:47:39   Apple has been

01:47:42   You know trying to do a get as many own goals as they did during the aforementioned butterfly keyboard era

01:47:48   And actually it I would say it's worse now because if you didn't want a butterfly keyboard, you just don't buy a laptop

01:47:52   But here what are you gonna do not use an iPhone like yes, I guess you could go to Android but

01:47:58   So many people are not gonna do that and honestly in Android land is basically the same thing. Yeah, so I just why why?

01:48:04   What is is it worth it to you for everyone to hate you?

01:48:08   Is this money from patreon worth it to you for all these creators to say?

01:48:12   You know what Apple because they're a bunch of assholes anyway, like

01:48:15   is this really worth it Apple is this worth it and

01:48:20   It's easy for me to say but I don't think it is

01:48:24   I don't think it's worth it. And I think what Apple isn't realizing is they're doing damage

01:48:30   Possibly irreparable damage to their brand and as much as I hate you brand

01:48:35   I I hate kind of referring to them that way but it's true people are looking at Apple and

01:48:41   unequivocally saying

01:48:43   they're the baddies now and

01:48:45   that's just too bad and I

01:48:49   Don't know I don't want to be that person that's wishing for the glory days of the years of you know years past

01:48:55   But I can't help but wonder if that's how who I've become when it comes to Apple and I think Marco

01:49:01   It was you that said earlier this very episode, you know, their hardware is incredible and you know what a lot of their software is too

01:49:07   But their policies are just awful and getting worse with every day and I don't really care whose fault it is to be honest

01:49:15   I don't care if it's Phil's I don't care if it's Tim's I don't care if it's Eddie's

01:49:18   I don't care whose it is. It's just gross and it's unnecessary and I hate it and I

01:49:26   Guess I should do a little introspection about why I'm so worked up about what a corporation does

01:49:31   It's just stinks and I really wish they would choose different options. But anyway now that my rant is over again

01:49:38   I come back to you if the if the anti-steering rule

01:49:41   Wasn't there if patreon was allowed to say

01:49:45   Go look at the website or you know or again if Apple will had to compete if the App Store had to compete with the web

01:49:51   Then I feel like this would be a not a nothing burger, but it would be much less of a big deal

01:49:56   But because of Apple's absolutely absurd rules here we are and it just sucks

01:50:02   That's part of like it's part of a sort of really think like what is Apple thinking?

01:50:06   Like do they have a different view on the inside part of what lets you know?

01:50:09   What you can charge for the things that you make is competition, right?

01:50:15   So like if you make a thing and you think it's worth X and you set the price way too high

01:50:19   You'll find that out because people will buy competing products instead of yours

01:50:22   You know what?

01:50:23   I mean or if you have an array of services and boy this one isn't selling well

01:50:26   But this one's selling like gangbusters

01:50:28   And in fact, we raise the price on the popular one and people are still buying it

01:50:30   But people must really want that right there has to be competition for you to learn

01:50:34   What part of the value that I'm providing do people want to pay for?

01:50:38   Right and what part do they think is not worth paying for and I think Apple for whatever reason

01:50:44   Inside the company doesn't like they don't not for whatever reason but because they don't have that feedback

01:50:49   They don't realize what part of the things they're providing are valuable and what aren't they just think like we make the platform

01:50:55   And because they can make any rules they want

01:50:58   The only feedback they get is like the most extreme of like someone pulls patreon pulls their app from the store

01:51:03   Like that's literally like the grumbling they get or whatever like a little pay

01:51:07   It obviously the the the you know

01:51:09   The IP that we're providing is worth the percent we're getting and they grumble or whatever they keep paying in

01:51:13   It's like your feedback mechanism can't be if they don't literally stop doing business with us entirely. It must be fine

01:51:20   And so they think like our role in that patreon transaction is worth 30% and no one from from the customers to patreon says

01:51:28   Apple are you kidding me? Patreons percent isn't even 30% from using patreon, right?

01:51:33   There's no way yours is right and again, you can argue how much of that is the ISP?

01:51:37   How much of that is the the you know?

01:51:39   The company that assembled the phone how much of that is the cellular network and like they don't get cuts of all that stuff, right?

01:51:45   But Apple says well we charge this amount and people pay it so we must be worth it

01:51:50   It's like no you're not in it

01:51:52   You're not in a market that lets you know

01:51:53   If what you're doing is worth it because you don't actually have competition

01:51:57   Partially because the rules that you made that says people can't even show that hey you could get you could get this for 30% less

01:52:02   On the web suddenly if the people saw that option like wow

01:52:05   People are choosing in-app partners way less than they used to when they see they can get it for 30% off somewhere else

01:52:10   Because people buy things on the web all the time. I swear to you on your own phone

01:52:14   It happens and so in the absence of that of competition

01:52:18   It makes it so they can't tell they can't like I find hard to believe it's like surely they know right but it's increasingly become

01:52:25   My theory that they're they're able to maintain the fiction that these percentages are appropriate

01:52:31   Because they think that's how much value they're providing and they don't realize that

01:52:35   Or they don't have an internalized that it's because you know

01:52:39   They have captives that it's not a competitive market that it's duopoly and that they set these incredibly anti-competitive rules

01:52:45   And you know, maybe they'll figure that out from the EU but in our long discussion of EU stuff and there'll be more of it

01:52:50   I'm sorry everyone not on this episode, but in the future because it continues to roll on

01:52:53   Even then they're like we will comply in a way

01:52:56   To make sure that we get all the money that we were getting before and it's just more complicated and that also

01:53:00   Prevents true competition and that also prevents them from realizing

01:53:04   What part of how valuable is what we're providing?

01:53:07   I bet tons of people would pay more than payment processing fees to use in-app purchase

01:53:11   But more than payment processing fees and 30% or even 15% there's still a gap there. What is the gap?

01:53:18   We'll never know unless Apple exposes its services to competition and you can see

01:53:23   This company is offering these terms

01:53:25   Apple is offering these terms and they're all on the same phone and they all have the same access and let's see which business

01:53:30   you know compete have some competition then the water will find its level and

01:53:34   Everyone will figure out how much we can sure charge for which services and which services people want it which services people don't want

01:53:41   Do you think people would be including me would be so worked up if there were no steering anti steering clause like it

01:53:48   If they could just link out to the patreon.com do you think people would be so upset?

01:53:51   No

01:53:51   because they're like a

01:53:52   patreon probably wouldn't have used in that purchase to begin with because their business is so sensitive to the cut that anyone takes to be clear

01:53:58   Patreon doesn't use in-app purchase. They literally like patreon already has their own

01:54:03   userbase they've already gotten from their own efforts and the and the efforts of the creators that use it mostly they use the native app

01:54:11   Yeah, but like so they already aren't using in-app purchase

01:54:15   Apple is saying you have to start using in-app purchase and of course then pay us by using it

01:54:21   But when we chose stripe for our payment processing for our membership system

01:54:25   the reason why stripe only charges 3% is because there is competition in that market and we could have chosen any payment processor and in the

01:54:32   Future if stripe says you know what we're gonna actually start charging you

01:54:35   30% instead of 3% we can say okay

01:54:38   See you later

01:54:39   And we would switch because it's a competitive market we can do that and you that you the ATP member

01:54:44   Hopefully would not notice that because you don't care what a payment processor is

01:54:47   Yeah, well they would notice that's a like reenter their credit card details, but like anyway

01:54:51   The whole point is you'd still you'd still go to ATP FM slash join you wouldn't go to a different place

01:54:55   You'd still have the same membership account. You would have to make a new membership account like yeah

01:54:59   You wouldn't have start listen to a different podcast entirely like

01:55:01   Android phone like right

01:55:05   There'd be many many differences

01:55:06   But but you know that because that's a competitive market and and ultimately again like this is this is the role of government

01:55:12   I know why Apple is not going to do this because Apple does not show concern for long-term strategy right now

01:55:16   Whether you agree with me that that's Tim Cook's problem, and he should maybe go that's up to you

01:55:20   But right now look at look at where the company is they currently make their biggest revenue driver from deals that are very

01:55:26   Likely to and probably very easy to strike down by government regulation

01:55:30   So that you know there's there's significant risk there plus you know risk in China

01:55:35   Hello, like there's there's a lot of risk in Apple's current financial situation

01:55:39   You know whether you think that's good or not for from their point of view

01:55:43   It is the role of government to protect markets and and the health of markets and in this case Apple is

01:55:50   literally

01:55:51   extorting an entire market that they keep expanding the extortion into

01:55:55   And it is it has grown to a size now that a government that governments should and are

01:56:01   you know stepping in to regulate and it's just a matter of time, and I can't wait for that time and

01:56:07   Again, and I say this as an Apple developer who will continue to use in-app purchase and pay the percent in my app because it

01:56:15   Is worth it to me to continue paying that percentage for my app?

01:56:19   But that should not be the only option and I certainly would not

01:56:22   Suggest that every business out there that happens to be used on a phone sometimes

01:56:27   You know needs to give Apple 30% and how to be the only option like that's that's nuts if you were patreon

01:56:32   And you launched your app with your own and payment processing and Apple just let you do it

01:56:36   And you have that established for a number of years

01:56:39   Then they offered you in-app purchase you probably like now

01:56:43   I'm good because you because you already implemented, and it's a much lower percentage, right?

01:56:47   That's that kind of the situation patreon is in where like well Apple finally came for patreon

01:56:52   It seems like they should have come from them earlier

01:56:53   It makes perfect sense, but they didn't and so they've had years of doing this all themselves

01:56:56   They already wrote that code there, and maybe their code isn't as good as in-app purchase. Maybe it isn't as smooth

01:57:00   Maybe they don't get to use like I mean hell they could use Apple pay if they wanted

01:57:03   I don't know if they do but either way if you had already done that in your app you like you're saying okay?

01:57:09   I'll just keep using a purchase because it's worth it to me because without it

01:57:11   You'd have to write your own version of that and that would be a pain

01:57:13   But what if you already wrote that what if you already use stripe on your back end and wrote your own in-app purchase?

01:57:17   Loan you've been using it for 10 years

01:57:19   Then Apple comes how about paying us 30% for a better version of what you wrote yourself

01:57:23   You'd be like is it better though, and I've already written it myself and 30%

01:57:27   No, thanks, and then Apple would say how about if we don't give you an option?

01:57:30   Or we kick you off the store now. Do you like it?

01:57:34   You'd be like okay well well

01:57:35   And we actually have there actually is a parallel to this Apple podcasts and premium podcast support so Apple podcast in you know

01:57:43   A couple years ago long support for paid podcasts that you could like you could you could you could have people you could as a podcast

01:57:49   Or you could have your listeners buy your premium podcast

01:57:52   Directly an Apple podcast Apple of course takes 30% and as a podcaster you couldn't you could choose to do that however

01:57:58   You are not currently required to do that now. What if Apple made a new policy to say hey

01:58:04   Now that since we have such a large percentage of the podcast player market if your podcast

01:58:10   Offers a paid membership program you now have to offer it through our service, or you will kick your podcast off of Apple podcasts

01:58:18   That's where this is going like if you follow the company and it's ridiculous

01:58:23   you know entitlements and extortion pattern you know to its next conclusion like that's the kind of thing they will keep doing and

01:58:29   again like it and they have

01:58:32   Very strong power in the podcast market they have you know by most measurements well over 50% of the of the client base

01:58:38   and so they could do stuff like that's that is what monopolies can do and

01:58:42   It is not in the interests of the market overall

01:58:46   That monopolies be allowed to do that and that's why we have regulation, so I hope our regulation begins to work

01:58:52   Thank you to our sponsors this week tail scale and one password extended access management

01:58:57   Thanks to our members who support us directly you can join us at pj FM slash join where you can use our payment processor and

01:59:02   And we only get charged something like 3% and you can join and you can hear our exclusive content

01:59:08   And our other membership perks one of the member perks is ATP overtime

01:59:12   This is a bonus topic that we do every week and it's exclusive for members

01:59:18   It'd be over from this week is going to be about the breakdown of max sales by family that was recently published by

01:59:25   CRP research

01:59:27   We're gonna see kind of talk about the you know what percentage of max are you know different product lines and what that means that's gonna

01:59:34   Be in ATP overtime this week join at a TPM slash join. Thank you very much very much. We'll talk to you next week

01:59:42   Now the show is over they didn't even mean to begin because it was accidental

01:59:51   was accidental

01:59:54   John

01:59:57   Marco and Casey wouldn't let him because it was accidental

02:00:03   Was accidental

02:00:05   And you can find the show notes at ATP

02:00:09   And if you're into

02:00:13   You can follow them

02:00:15   Cas EYL

02:00:18   ISS so that's Casey lists and a RC o a RM

02:00:24   anti Marco Arman

02:00:26   SIR AC

02:00:30   SAC recuse it's accidental

02:00:33   We were talking about

02:00:46   headsets and VR stuff and even though I did the 30-minute Apple a

02:00:50   vision pro demo that is basically the extent of my VR headset experience until now I'm my

02:00:57   Summer vacation this year my brother brought along the headset that he and his kids use it was

02:01:02   Quests what is the three plus? I think it was the quest three

02:01:05   I don't know it was one of the one of the meta quest headsets, right?

02:01:08   And I got to use it for a little while and it was honestly a much more

02:01:15   It was exactly what I expected. I mean, maybe it's because I use vision Pro right and you know

02:01:20   It's not like I don't know what VR headsets are but I felt like vision Pro

02:01:25   I had all the Wow factor I go back to that episode where I was talking about my experience

02:01:28   It was extremely impressive and really affecting in a way that the quest wasn't

02:01:33   again, maybe because I've already used the vision Pro but

02:01:35   What was I doing on the quest? Well, honestly, I was mostly playing games. I was playing beat-saver

02:01:40   It's what everybody does with these things. I was playing whatever those other demo type things are

02:01:44   and it really just

02:01:47   Reinforced things that it would have told you

02:01:49   Intellectually with the actual experience and controllers. Guess what? They're really good for games. Everybody knew this

02:01:54   I've said this many times now. I've used one. Yep. Hang controllers. They're really good for games beat saber

02:01:59   pretty fun motion sickness is a thing like

02:02:02   Much profound to tell you obviously I'm personally very susceptible to motion sickness and honestly, I'm surprised

02:02:09   I did as well as I did in the quest. I

02:02:11   didn't feel like the

02:02:14   lower resolution and lesser frame rate in the quest compared to the vision Pro

02:02:19   Affected my motion sickness. I think it would get justice motion sick if I was playing beat saber in vision Pro

02:02:24   I don't know if it's super available for vision Pro without the hand controllers

02:02:28   No, there is there's a there's like a different rhythm game. That is I forgot the name of it, but it's not beat saber

02:02:33   Anyway, beat saber is cool game. There's a reason people like it. I thought it was cool. I thought it was fun

02:02:37   I enjoyed how responsive the hand controllers were they've got buttons on them

02:02:42   It seems to know where my hands are I could do really fast motions

02:02:44   I felt like it was mostly fair on the other hand. I played I

02:02:47   Forgive me. I don't remember the names of all these things

02:02:49   But there was table tennis essentially in there some kind of table tennis type game and that was not good. I

02:02:54   Felt like the table that Jason likes I like it the 11 table tennis where you're like in like a like a loft

02:03:01   It's like somebody's bedroom playing. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure all table tennis seems like the same

02:03:05   But I'm sure it was that one because I'm sure it's like comes with some game pack or comes with the headset or something

02:03:09   Right, I felt so I do have some experience playing motion control table tennis, right?

02:03:13   And I have experience playing real table tennis and I felt like the quest table tennis

02:03:19   Did not accurately represent how I was swimming like I was swinging it

02:03:24   Like I would I would miss the ball entirely and I'm like, there's just no way I was that ball entirely

02:03:27   It was only for certain motions at certain higher speed the controller John that was totally controllers fall. I didn't miss

02:03:34   The computers cheating it was motion. It was losing motion tracking essentially, right?

02:03:39   The best experience that I've had playing table tennis with motion controllers is the I remember was called the

02:03:48   PlayStation what was it called motion? Maybe you know the PlayStation controllers that have like a pink light-up ping-pong ball on top of them

02:03:53   They're like a black stick with a light-up ping-pong ball, whatever that was called for. I believe the PlayStation 3

02:03:59   anyway, they had like a I think Rockstar or maybe or maybe I think of Xbox when anyway someone made a

02:04:06   Table tennis game with those motion controllers and those motion drawers are very primitive

02:04:11   They were essentially gyros accelerometers and a light-up ball that a camera that was sitting on your TV

02:04:17   The camera would see the light-up ball and that was way more fair in terms of look if you missed the ball

02:04:22   You missed the ball, but if you hit it, it will register the hit and the quest one

02:04:25   It got flummoxed too easily

02:04:28   It got flummoxed in a way that I thought beat saber we get flummoxed but beat saber never did and I don't know what the difference

02:04:34   Is maybe some beat saber?

02:04:35   Like they're more like larger motions and less like less space critical because the blocks are so big and beat saber or whatever

02:04:41   or maybe beat saber just like

02:04:42   Has a sort of client-side prediction thing where it'll be like, I'll just say you hit it. It's fine

02:04:47   But yeah, I was missing stuff and table tennis that I was like, there's no way that I missed that

02:04:52   It felt disconnected

02:04:53   Whereas the only comparison I have for vision Pro is people have said that they have successfully played

02:04:58   Real table tennis with pass-through on and they were impressed at that work as a demo like look how good pass-through is I can play

02:05:04   Real physical table tennis with someone who's across from me and I'm wearing vision Pro and I'm using pass-through to do it

02:05:09   That was a great demo of how good how low latency how non distorted pass-through is that they wouldn't miss the ball because it was all

02:05:15   Warped or whatever, but I have to say table tennis really did show the limitations of the quest but

02:05:21   Beat saber on the quest it's like Apple you could have this you've got the technology for this what you don't have are

02:05:28   What can't be too expensive, you know hand controller things?

02:05:32   And you know just get the beat saber send the beat table people a bunch of free dev kits and pay them

02:05:38   100 million dollars now the beat saber and vision Pro is ridiculous. Anyway, I

02:05:42   Enjoyed it. It was it was not the same as the vision Pro

02:05:45   But it definitely showed me something again that we all already knew people buy these things

02:05:49   They play games on them because they don't cost $3,500

02:05:52   Marco Sun has one not a lot of people have them the

02:05:57   PSVR - has not caught on that great either on a gaming platform

02:06:01   but that is a

02:06:04   Use case that is proven in the market for

02:06:08   Some amount of people and I came away from it saying quest pretty good way to play beat saber

02:06:13   I don't know. I thought it's not profound. I just want to say like I

02:06:18   This is I'm dipping my toe more into the VR waters and it just reinforced everything

02:06:24   I already thought about what VR headsets can be good for and the money that Apple's leaving on the table by stubbornly refusing to

02:06:30   Do certain things?

02:06:32   yeah, like when you when you use the quest 3 like you really see like wow this thing like

02:06:37   For a for, you know quote only

02:06:39   500 bucks that's a really good product compared to the vision Pro like it doesn't do everything the same way

02:06:46   Of course, it doesn't have as high resolution screens. It doesn't have you know, certain specs don't match but

02:06:51   For like a seventh the price. It's a surprisingly good product overall another great compromise is setting aside

02:06:59   Obviously that it's plastic instead of aluminum and it felt fairly lightweight or whatever. I wore my glasses inside it

02:07:04   Oh why because it's not mine. It's not this is not fitted to me. I didn't have the right headset size

02:07:09   This is the one that like my nephews and my brother use a very wide range from like, you know, six years old to

02:07:16   Essentially my age right different head sizes or whatever. It doesn't have special lenses. I'd have to get everything measured

02:07:22   I put my glasses on and I put it over my head and was it comfortable and awesome. No, but it was fine

02:07:27   You know, I mean like this is the kind of sort of utilitarian

02:07:32   You just like just do what it takes to get the job done make the thing big enough for people to wear their glasses inside

02:07:37   It's not as good as the vision Pro. It doesn't look as good as not as comfortable

02:07:40   But boy is it so much easier for me to just pick up put my glasses on put the thing on my head and then

02:07:45   Go to town. Yeah, and it worked right like it was fine. Yeah

02:07:49   I mean you could see how low resolution screen was

02:07:52   But anyway, I'm just saying like it's just it was so much lower friction than if he had brought a vision Pro with him

02:07:56   Which he doesn't have by the way

02:07:58   And I'm pretty good at beat saber

02:07:59   I get but everyone thinks they're gonna beat say because I think the game is tuned to make you feel like you're good at it

02:08:03   Because it's actually pretty easy. Yeah, when you wrap up the difficulty you're like, oh, no, I'm not gonna be there

02:08:07   Yeah, it's like rock band. But no, I like I was never good at rock band. I'm pretty good

02:08:11   It's like once you start adding in with the different motions where okay, you can poke it and twist it and pop it

02:08:16   It's like it gets really complicated very quickly and you're like, oh no this I thought I was good at this

02:08:22   I was just playing on easy mode

02:08:24   Beep, beep, beep.