Solid State Podcast

Episode 87 - We review the Apple iPad M4 Pro and M2 Air

It’s no secret, we’ve talked a lot about iPads lately… first it was what did we want Apple to announce… then it was what did Apple actually announce… and now, today, we’ve spent the last two weeks hands-on with those very devices and guess what… we still don’t feel we’ve got the whole story… 
I’ll cut to the chase… these devices are great. They’re thin, light, fast, rock incredible displays and in every measurable (physical) way… they’re the best iPads ever made. But then something funny happens… you actually start using the device. Apps might load just a little bit quicker. My favorite streaming shows might be just a little more vibrant. The battery life… is still “fine”. But it is, at the end of the day, still an iPad. I still can’t load the applications I want, drag windows where I want them, or come up with a single thing to actually make this M4 processor break a sweat. Because… it’s still an iPad. 
It’s entirely possible that’s exactly how Apple wants it, too. For us to keep strolling through the walled garden, downloading apps and paying for more iCloud storage until the end of time. But if that’s the story, then why do some of these models exist in the first place? Do you need an M4 processor to play Candy Crush? Or an aluminum-decked keyboard with haptic touchpad to scroll through Facebook? 
There remains a contention here, between what we know full-well these devices seemingly can do and what they’re actually (and artificially), able to do…
WWDC looms just a few short weeks in the distance, and with it hopefully some answers. In the meantime though, the products have shipped, they’re in our hands, and the only question we can actually pose now is, was it worth it? 

Episode 86 - We recap Google I/O 2024 and Microsoft's Surface / Copilot+ Event

I will admit, some weeks I struggle more than others to come up with this intro… occasionally though, the struggle is still real, but very different… how do I keep it shorter than the podcast itself?
This is absolutely one of those weeks, because with Event-season in full swing and announcements coming in left and right, to say we’ve got plenty to talk about is beyond an understatement. OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft have all had major events in the last week, and the implications of those announcements will be felt for the next year or more. Throw in the impending collapse of Humane and its AI pin, a slew of new laptops dropping in just a few short weeks, and Google has a very unique suggestion for my next pizza recipe… what more could I ask for? 
Well, see… that’s where things continue to get interesting. As exciting as time as it is, there also seems to be a cloud hanging just in sight over it. Major companies are simultaneously announcing the products that will usher them into their next era… at the same time they’re quietly performing massive layoffs. Tentpoles of our daily technology life are re-inventing their core products… possibly at the cost of the very user experience that made them a gold-standard in the first place. And to top it all off, AI in general continues to be the only measure anyone wants to apply to a products viability in the market while those same products continue to stumble on the most basic of tasks while having little-to-no remorse for the half-baked errors…
What we have here, is a good-old-fashioned market shift… the bets are all down, the hands are dealt, and the biggest question remaining is… does anyone have the guts to raise, or is it time to show our hand? Let’s find out…

Episode 85 - Apple's "Let Loose" iPad Event with the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air

This week on the Solid State Podcast, we engage in a bit it of loose “deja vu”… You might remember last time we were together it was all-things-iPad, but more specifically what we felt the future of the iPad should look like. No true predictions, certainly nothing based on facts or even strong rumors, just if Cupertino were foolish enough to turn their iPad factory over to three gadget nerds for a year, what would come out the other end? 
Fast forward just a few short days, and the world watched as Apple… published a pre-recorded video to tell us what they see as the future of the iPad. 
Fancy new displays that are supposed to be the new gold standard in content consumption? Check. 
Fill out the middle of your lineup with bigger, cheaper models that still have enough horsepower to run a small datacenter… so you can play Candy Crush a bit faster? Oh yeah. 
A top-end price point that literally made my wallet shriek in fear? Sadly… can confirm. 
See from Apple’s point of view, it seems the iPad lineup is “right where they want it”… a shape, size, and price point for nearly everyone. But looking back to our episode just a couple weeks ago, we can’t help but ponder the question “why?” as we consider the most capable of these new offerings. Do you really need an OLED display to watch the next season of House of the Dragon? Is an AI-focused M4 processor the missing ingredient to faster scrolling on Instagram? 
We just keep coming back to one conclusion… this announcement, well its Part 1…
The other side of this cliffhanger seems to be looming in June’s WWDC, but in the meantime, there’s new iPad hardware to play with and for better or worse, let me go find my wallet…

Episode 84 - What if the 2024 Apple iPad was good?

This week on the Solid State Podcast, we grab our crystal ball and do our best to tune in to the future… a future of one device to rule them all, a single metal and glass slab that pops into a keyboard case, runs every app imaginable, and seamlessly transitions into a productivity workhorse at the literal push of a button… 
See, Apple would happily have us believe that this exact device already exists on store shelves across the world… if you’re willing to buy an iPad Pro, snap it into their “magical” case, attach an Apple Pencil, take out a second mortgage on hour hose to afford all the above… and use Stage Manager to do some semblance of multi-windowed work… yeah, we’ll pass on that last one too...
All kidding and crystal balls aside, there really is an Apple event coming up in just a few short days and we found ourselves dreaming endlessly this week about, if it were up to us how would this event go? Not based on predictions, supply chain rumors, and hard research… just… what if? 
What if the iPad had a case that allowed your tablet to sometimes… be a tablet? What if the camera wasn’t seemingly positioned to deliver the single least-flattering angle in consumer tech? What if the operating system could actually run this amazing, world changing application called a real browser? We realize some of this is bordering on science fiction… but dare to dream, right?! 
Truly, the iPad feels at a crossroads… with no new devices in 2023 at all and mounting competition for “what is a computer” across the technology landscape… is Cupertino going to trot out a slimmed down chassis with a fancy new screen and call it a day? Or is there potentially more at play here? It seems we’ll know for sure week after next, but in the meantime, let the dreaming commence…

Episode 83 - The Humane AI Pin reviews and What's Next for 2024?

This week on the Solid State Podcast, we play a little game of “What if” versus “What’s next”… See, we’re at an interesting time of the year where most of the big announcements are still to come… sure CES has come and gone, some phones have hit the market, and freshly Copilot-emblazoned laptops are among us… but really, the majority of what 2024 does (or doesn’t) have in store for us is still to come…
AI has obviously been at the core of the conversation for some time now, but as we’ve touched on in the past, the reality of it is so much more than a chatbot and some generative AI “artwork”… we’ll soon reach a point where tangible products on physical warehouse and store shelves will usher these emerging technologies onto our desks, into our pockets, and if at least one company has anything to say about it… onto our chests…
You’ve likely heard by now that a new player in the space named “Humane” has launched is AI pin, and if nothing else it’s caused quite a stir… sadly it’s just for all the wrong reasons. Reviews are, to be kind, universally negative and considering its price point, ongoing expense to operate, and seemingly half-baked feature set, one could be forgiven for asking what are we even doing here…
But, as we’ve talked about so many times on this show, the story of so many products and entire categories that we know and enjoy every day started with crash and burn reviews, disastrous “first generation” launches, and sometimes years of iterative updates and tweaks… anyone remember the first generation Galaxy Fold? 
Now, we’re also not saying this will necessarily be the story of Humane… they’re still a startup burning a finite pile of investment capital that, some day will need to make a product capable of moving units and generating profits… Maybe it will, maybe this will be one more entry into the long line of false-start launches. But what is all but guaranteed is what they’re working towards, this AI enabled device future, is here to stay…
So with the reviews rolling in, we couldn’t help but ask ourselves what else is still ahead in 2024? One quarter in the answer is, simply, a lot! We touch on just a few here today, but suffice to say, this is going to be a busy one…
Now, the real news of that day, actually, is that it’s my dear wife’s birthday… and shocker to no one I have playlists to craft, food to order, and an event to create out of thin air… if only AI could help me with that? 

Episode 82 - The United States sues Apple

This week on the Solid State Podcast, we go a little bit… wide….. You should be used to it by now, but especially on what many consider a “slower” time of year for tech news in general we saw it as a good opportunity to slow down and have an earnest conversation about a company that we normally have on the show in the context of a new device, gadget, or service that we can’t wait to hand over our money in exchange for… 
Except this time, that same company is in hot water with none other than the United States Department of Justice for, objectively, that very same reason… see Apple has built an empire of a business out of delivering a product that quote-un-quote “just works” except that it frankly “just works” with other products and services from none other than Apple itself… 
Want this most seamless audio pairing? Buy some AirPods… Don’t like AirPods? Buy some Beats… and ignore that they too, are from Apple. Take more than 2 and a half photos with your shiny new iPhone and therefore have “run out of storage”… iCloud will happily solve that for you. Oh, and all those apps that make the phone great in the first place, our store is the one-and-only place to get those…
See, when you start boiling it down to the ridiculous, the case here suddenly feels pretty cut-and-dry… If you want blue bubbles, backups that work, games to play, and a watch that does more than tell the time… have we got a bundle for you...
And that is where things don’t just get interesting, they get familiar… because another tech behemoth once decided that playing in their walled-garden was a sure path to preserving their market dominance… until the DOJ showed up, locked them in a court room for three years, and changed theirs (and many others) business forever… The case simply said the United States versus Microsoft, the year was 1998, and, other than that… well, we’ll just let history speak for itself… 
Now, excuse me while I got look for a lightning cable to charge my keyboard because… that just makes sense...

Episode 81 - The "Fad" or "Future" Scale: AI

“Any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic”… it’s a quote we’ve all heard countless times and these days is dangerously close to becoming overused if not outright tired… but even so, it remains one of my favorites because its founded in so much truth…I remember the first time I put on an Oculus Rift developer kit and was suddenly transported to a far off world, it was nothing less than magic…
I also remember the first time I dialed into a local telephone number with a modem and was suddenly connected to a global network of computers, servers, and data just waiting to be absorbed… one very slowly loading page at a time… 
Those two examples were separated by a mere fifteen or so years, but they were both pivotal in my personal technological development as well as steps down a road that had led us to where we are today… a rapidly growing market of chat bots, “smart” assistants, and quote-unquote photographs containing ever-fewer glimpses of a scene “as it really was”… 
It’s certainly no question that the concept of AI is here to stay, that it is only going to continue developing, and for many, here-and-now, it’s nothing less than magical…
Type a prompt or two into a box, and get back sometimes awe-inspiring artwork… provide mountains of data, and generate reports, summaries, and presentation-grade material… ask for the perfect scrambled egg recipe and, well sadly, still get 7 conflicting recipes for ever-more-runny eggs…
So the question we’re here to ask today is, are we there yet? Has our AI-laced future truly arrived or are we barely in its infancy? Are we just two or three GPT iterations away from a post-scarcity paradise, or two or three steps down a road with miles still to go ahead? 
We’re launching what we think will be a tool we use more and more frequently, a measure or sorts to answer the question (for now) where exactly are we on the “Fad or Future” scale for AI? 

Episode 80 - We return to the Metaverse!

Several aspects of the “human condition” will forever remain funny to me… one of which is our never ending desire for “the next best thing”… when I was a kid I distinctly remember dreaming of a future promised to me by the Science Fiction tv shows, movies, and books of the day… communicators, video calls, holodecks… I wanted it all! 
So now, in 2024, I sit here with my smartphone beside me that can place me in contact with anyone I’ve ever met, complete with a built-in camera that places them in front of my eyes at the push of a button, and just beside it is a white and black contraption of plastic and glass that, when pulled over my face, has the ability to transport me to far off worlds, impossible realms, or even a 3D rendered conference room in a virtual high rise overlooking a city that doesn’t exist… 
With all of that near-magical technology at my fingertips, is it bad (or even wrong) that my first inclination is to stare at that headset and ask the question… why isn’t this better? Why aren’t people clamoring to spend every spare moment exploring a digital frontier that is limited only by the imagination and creativity of the developers on the other end…
That same kid in the 90’s that craved “the future” would have picked up my headset, turned it on, and never wanted to come back! The “me” of 2024 though, can hope on a good day to make it an hour before the headaches set it, the edges of vision start to get far too blurry, and the “off” button starts calling my name. But this is the promise of the technology, right? The next one is going to crack it, the displays will improve, the latency edging close to zero… we’re so close!
The questions that remain, though, is what is close? Does camera tech need to evolve? Is placing an 8K display millimeters from my eyes the answer? Or is there something just beyond the horizon that stands to disrupt everything we think we know about Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality? 
They call it the metaverse, I call it a fun way to spend exactly one hour at a time, but that kid will never stop dreaming of it being “the future”…

Episode 79 - What's in the box with the Apple M3 MacBook Air

Several years ago, we had a fire in our garage that claimed several of our cars… I am (if you haven’t figured it out yet) something of a creature of habit… So, seeing as a very much liked the truck I drove at the time, I promptly went down to the dealership, worked with Insurance, and purchased effectively the same truck I had sadly lost. It had, for all intents and purposes, the same engine, the same tires, the same… everything. But, for some reason, to this day I can remember that first drive home from the dealership and thinking to myself that no matter how hard I tried, I knew this was a new vehicle, a different truck…
The engine, while identically spec’ed, picked up off the line just a little bit different. The first few turns on the way home, and I felt the suspension sway in subtly different ways. Even the electronics seemed to respond… differently. Not necessarily better, certainly not worse, but in the end not the same. 
Now, if this feels even more off the rails, you’re not wrong but I promise to bring it full circle… because this week I had such a similar experience I couldn’t help but go back to that drive home…
See, sitting on my desk were two MacBooks… both identical in design, build quality, and materials. The screen was the same resolution, the keyboard switches unchanged… the only difference between these two devices was, in all fairness, their heart. With Apple upgrading their smash-hit Air line of MacBooks this week, even they knew it wasn’t the most “event worthy” affair… instead we got a pretty forgettable press release, and a smattering updates to the Apple Store website promising the best MacBook Air yet. 
And you know what, I think they’re right… these laptops look identical, feel identical, but don’t perform identically… and that could be a big deal to a lot of people. Is it a game changing “revolution of the laptop space?” Absolutely not, not even close… but when you already make the oft-described “laptop for everyone”, every refinement should put the broader market on notice, there’s a new MacBook Air in town…

Episode 78 - The thing about Encryption... and why you should use it

There are a lot of tired cliches in the world… everything from “bring an umbrella and it won’t rain” to “a watched pot never boils”… but the funny apart about them is often times they feel like an inescapable truth of reality! I know full well keeping an umbrella in my car is not going to keep the sun shining, but I swear to you my tea kettle only heats up if I leave the room…
So when we start talking about “layers of security”, it sometimes feels like we’re doing nothing more than parroting back old, tired clichés... constantly advising people to “slow down to speed up” or the classic “you can’t help those that won’t help themselves”… but really these reminders to stay vigilant, to be mindful about the threats that surround us in the hyper-connected world we live in are as valuable today than ever before… 
So what then, does all this have to do with today’s episode? Well we’re here to talk about a topic that is both near-and-dear to my heart and also comes off as about as dry and boring as something can be… Encryption…
It’s a word that, like so many others in tech, has nearly lost all meaning to the average person… they know it exists, it sounds kind of important, and they’re pretty sure they’re using it… right? 
And there, in the end, is the problem… the techno-babble of it all has reduced a very important piece of day-to-day protection to a seemingly table steaks security function that many could be forgiven for assuming is just “there all the time”, requires zero setup or upkeep, and “just works”… 
Sadly, this couldn’t be less true, and the conversations about where, when, and how to encrypt your data and messaging has never been more crucial, or more at risk… 
I swear we keep this more-or-less light and on the rails, but the lesson at the core of it all is one too important to gloss over… slow down, be safe, and take an active role in securing your digital self… 
Now, I did just wash the car yesterday, so let me go find an umbrella to throw in the car before heading out…