The Talk Show With John Gruber

Special guest Rene Ritchie returns to the show. Topics includes Jony Ive’s promotion to Chief Design Officer and the implications for Apple; the differences in Apple’s internal design culture now that industrial and user interface design are under one roof; Google’s announcements at their I/O developer conference last week in San Francisco, including Google Photos; “machine learning”; Apple replacing the much-maligned discoveryd with good old mDNSResponder in the latest Yosemite developer beta; our thoughts on the space black Apple Watch with link bracelet; and more. Sponsored by: MailRoute: Hosted spam and virus protection for email. Use this link for a 10 percent discount for the life of your account. Harry's: An exceptional shave at a fraction of the price. Use code TALKSHOW for $5 off your first purchase. Warby Parker: Boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point. Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Photo, frame, and mount, all in one. Save with code DARINGFIREBALL. Links: Stories on Greg Christie’s departure from Apple last year, from TechCrunch and 9to5Mac. “Skankphone” — the purposefully ugly prototype OS that was seen by most of the industrial design team for the original iPhone. Rene’s photographs of the actual shipping space black Apple Watch with link bracelet, which really does look black. Apple’s promotional photos for the space black Apple Watch from back in September 2014, when it was more like a medium-dark gray. News from Google I/O last week: Google Photos, Marques Brownlee on the top new features in Android M, and everything else in one handy list. Mark Gurman’s roundup of iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 rumors leading up to WWDC next week.

Special guest Dan Frommer returns to the show. Topics include David Letterman, iPhone docks, the space black steel Apple Watch, whatever happened to the Edition collection, San Francisco as the new system font for iOS and Mac OS X, and more. Sponsored by: Squarespace: Build it beautiful. Use code “jg” and save 10 percent. Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Igloo: The intranet you’ll actually like. Sign up today and get started absolutely free of charge. Automatic: The cool, clever connected-car dingus. Save $20 with this link. Links: Letterman profiles in Rolling Stone and The New York Times. Apple’s new iPhone dock, and the third-party docks I use. Mark Bramhill’s excellent Welcome to Macintosh podcast. Marco Arment on the new one-port MacBook. Dan’s amazing iPhone stand. Philip Elmer-DeWitt on getting his Apple Watch review unit.

Special guest David Sparks joins the show for the first time. Topics include “power users”, Markdown, Apple Watch, the new MacBook, iCloud Photo Syncing and the new Photos for Mac, WWDC, and wearing slippers as “work” shoes. Sponsored by: Last Bottle Wines: Get the new app for free. Enjoy curated fine wine daily. 30-75% off. The Best Caesar: Get the app for free. Learn the recipe. Enjoy it for a lifetime. Hover: The best way to buy and manage domain names. Use promo code: “missinglinks” for 10 percent off. Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Links: Photos for Mac Field Guide. Mac Power Users, David's podcast co-hosted with Katie Floyd. MacSparky, David’s weblog. David’s Markdown book. Sparks Law. Stephen Orth’s suggestions for Apple Watch. My Instagram photo of mattresses being removed from the Parker-Spruce Hotel. TripAdvisor reviews for the Parker-Spruce.

Special guest and longtime friend Adam Lisagor returns to the show. I don’t know anyone who’s more excited about Apple Watch than Adam, except, maybe, my son. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Apple just released a brand-new thing, and they don’t do that very often. This episode, we just had fun. Some keen observations about the future of the platform, too. Sponsored by: Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl: Learn web development With Rails. Save 15 percent with code “gruber”. Hullo: Your new favorite pillow. Guaranteed. Hover: The best way to buy and manage domain names. Use promo code: “comebackkid” for 10 percent off. Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Links: Sandwich Video and their new domain name. The beloved Transformers watch of Adam’s youth. The GoBots. Adam’s dad on TV after returning from a humanitarian aid mission to Nepal.

John Moltz returns to the show. Topics include Gruber’s retina, Apple Watch backorders and the watch itself, news from Microsoft’s Build conference, how to introduce yourself to people you’ve publicly branded a “jackass”, and more. Sponsored by: Audible.com: Sign up today for a free audiobook of your choice and a 30-day membership trial. Automatic: Cool connected-car adapter (a.k.a. “dingus”). Save $20 with this link. Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Casper: Premium mattresses at extraordinary prices. Save $50 through this link. Links: Sony makes $20 per iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 from image sensors. Sony loses money on its own phone handsets. Ben Bajarin on Xiaomi slump in phone sales in China. (And Apple’s rise.) Microsoft’s impressive HoloLens demo at Build this week. Windows 10 to Run Recompiled Android and iOS Apps. VentureBeat and Recode both fall for iSuppli’s claim that Apple Watch Sport costs only $83 to manufacture. Tim Cook, earlier this week, on these speculative cost breakdowns: “I’ve never seen one that is anywhere close to being accurate.” Mike Rundle argues Apple Watch is too small. Dr. Drang visualizes declining iPad sales. Local Edition, bar in downtown Frisco. Very Nice Website. The Pentax K1000. Gorgeous.

Special guest Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal joins the show to talk about Apple Watch and the new MacBook (and her reviews thereof). Sponsored by: Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Squarespace: A better web starts with your website. Use promo code “jg” for 10 percent off. Harry's: An exceptional shave for a fraction of the price. Use coupon code “talkshow” and save $5 on your first order. Backblaze: Unlimited, unthrottled, uncomplicated backup for just $5/month. Links: Joanna’s Apple Watch review and video. Joanna’s review of the new MacBook. Apple’s battery life page for Apple Watch, which states that the 42 mm models get longer battery life. Browser.

Guest Ben Thompson and host John Gruber discuss the Apple Watch, Jay Z's streaming music service Tidal, audience ceilings faced by TV devices, Meerkat-vs.-Periscope, and NCAA Final Four picks.

Special guest Serenity Caldwell joins the show. Topics include last week’s “Spring Forward” Apple media event; the new Force Touch Trackpad for MacBooks, and the prospects for force touch in future iOS devices; and of course, Apple Watch. Sponsored by: Foremost Edition: Small-batch, American-made clothing line for men and women. Use the code “PROMOCODE” at checkout to receive 20 percent off. Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Harry’s: An exceptional shave for a fraction of the price. Use coupon code “talkshow” and save $5 on your first order. Squarespace: A better web starts with your website. Use promo code “jg” for 10 percent off. Links: Jacqui Cheng’s review of the original 2008 MacBook Air for Ars Technica. Christopher Phin fondly remembers the PowerBook Duo. Greg Koenig: “How the Apple Watch Is Made”. Luma Loop — high quality, well-designed camera strap. Serenity’s MacBook Air accident this week. The Atari 400 and its craptacular keyboard.

Special guest Matthew Panzarino joins the show. After some brief chitchat on Meerkat and monocular vision, we get into the obvious topic this week: Apple’s “Spring Forward” media event in San Francisco. Sub-topics therein: ResearchKit; FaceTime and open standards; accessibility and Tim Cook’s refusal to measure the ROI of such things; Jeff Williams’s first on-stage appearance at an Apple keynote; Angela Ahrendts; the new single-port MacBook; San Francisco as the new keycap font on the MacBook keyboard; the Taptic trackpad; the timing of this event; and more. Oh, and something called “Apple Watch”. Sponsored by: Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Igloo: The intranet you’ll actually like. Sign up for a free trial. Harry’s: An exceptional shave for a fraction of the price. Use coupon code “talkshow” and save $5 on your first order. Squarespace: A better web starts with your website. Use promo code “jg” for 10% off. Links: Meerkat. Video for Apple's "Spring Forward" event. Matthew's scoop on the Apple Watch diagnostic port. Matthew on Apple Watch: 'The Apple Watch Is Time Saved'. Yours truly's pretty good guesses on Apple Watch pricing.

Special guest Paul Kafasis returns to the show. Topics include the new Pebble Time watch, the imminent arrival of Apple Watch, Paul’s clever new doorbell (and unfortunate refrigerator situation), a little bit of baseball, and why I can’t attend next week’s Apple event in San Francisco. Sponsored by: Warby Parker: Boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point. Casper: Great mattresses at low prices. Use code “thetalkshow” and save $50. Fracture: Your pictures, printed directly on glass. Use code “daringfireball” and save 15 percent. Hover: The world’s best domain name registrar. Use this week’s special code, “springtraining”, and save 10 percent off your first purchase. Links: MacRumors “speculative pricing” forum posting that social media turned into a “leaked price list from Apple”. Ring, Paul’s clever new doorbell. Just The Tip, Paul’s podcast with my wife, Amy Jane Gruber. Paul, writing at One Foot Tsunami, on Apple’s continued disregard for the Unicode 7 “Reversed Hand With Middle Finger Extended” emoji glyph, arguably the most pressing technical issue facing Apple and its users today. Apple’s response to Paul's Radar on the “Reversed Hand With Middle Finger Extended” emoji. Audio Hijack 3, Rogue Amoeba’s new update to their excellent audio recording app for Mac. Interesting ESPN feature on Alex Rodriguez’s return to baseball.