The Rise and Fall of Skype: A Cautionary Tech Tale

Apple's new gadgets this week were pretty minor updates, so of course we talk about them for a long time. Nilay and David are joined by The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes, and the three hosts discuss the latest iPad, iPad Air, MacBook Air, and Mac Studio. All three have... a lot of thoughts. After that, they run through some more tech news, including the Digg reboot, the end of Skype, VW's cheap new EV, and more. Finally, in the lightning round, they talk about the latest from DOGE and the Trump administration, Brendan Carr's latest assaults on free speech, and a smartphone that is mostly (but not entirely) a camera.

Further reading:

• Apple iPad Air 2025: launch, price, and specs
• Apple refreshes the iPad but doesn’t add Apple Intelligence
• Apple announces MacBook Air with M4 chip and a price cut
• Our first look at Apple’s sky blue MacBook Air
• Apple launches new Mac Studios with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips
• Behold the maxed out Mac Studio.
• Digg is coming back, with founder Kevin Rose and Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian
• Discord is reportedly exploring an IPO.
• Nothing’s Phone 3A and 3A Pro use AI to organize all your stuff
• The Volkswagen ID. EVERY1 is an affordable EV for the masses
• Volkswagen’s cheapest EV ever is the first to use Rivian software
• Microsoft is shutting down Skype in favor of Teams
• The Verge remembers Skype
• Big Tech is now slightly less silent on Trump’s tariffs
• Trump imposes tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China
• Car prices expected to increase by as much as $12,000 thanks to Trump’s tariffs
• Best Buy and Target CEOs say prices are about to go up because of tariffs
• What’s an import?
• Trump to Cabinet: Musk has no authority to fire workers
• FAA staff reportedly ordered to find funding for deal with Musk’s Starlink 
• Trump’s USCIS wants to review all prospective citizens’ social media accounts
• Senate votes to strip the CFPB of its power to regulate X
• MWC: FCC chair says U.S. will defend interests of its tech giants
• FCC’s Carr defends broadcast probes, slams social media ‘threat’
• A camera for your cameraphone: Sony Cyber-shot QX10 and QX100 review
• Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a small update with a big periscope lens



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