The Mac Observer Show

Rick Smolan made his name in photography. While that’s not how he spends his time today, he’s got thoughts on image generation through A.I. He sat with host Ken Ray for this week’s show, talking 30+ years of Photoshop, publishing, making movies out of pictures out of nothing, Apple Intelligence, and what he’s up to now.

Financial analyst, media personality, and Apple shareholder Rob Black joins host Ken Ray to talk investing angles on Apple. How’s Apple Vision Pro doing? What should one make of Apple TV+? What – if anything – could Apple do to scare investors? Rob brings a wealth of insight to The Mac Observer Show.

GitHub Senior Developer Advocate and “Overtired” co-host Christina Warren joins host Ken Ray to talk about changes forced on Patreon by Apple. Is demanding commission the right move for Apple? What should Patreon do in response? And where do the changes leave Patreon creators? Christina shares her thoughts on the latest TMO Show.

Richard Gunther, co-host of The Smart Home Show and host of Home: On, shares his expertise on smart home technology and automation. He discusses the challenge of balancing automation with user control, emphasizing the importance of manual oversight. Gunther explores the new Matter standard aimed at improving device compatibility among major platforms like Apple and Google. The conversation raises thought-provoking questions about the necessity of smart devices and delves into security concerns, ensuring a practical approach to enhancing home automation.

Entertainment journalist, film critic, and avid content consumer Scott Mantz joins host Ken Ray for an in-depth discussion on video streaming today. Are production costs getting too high? Is Apple TV+ doing what Apple wants it to do? Can all of today’s streaming services survive? And can one movie or TV show be a break out hit given all of the titles being produced? Plus – Scott and Ken talk Star Trek… because they cannot help themselves.

Reticle Research Founder and Principal Analyst Ross Rubin joins host Ken Ray to talk augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality from the hardware side. Has Apple Vision Pro been a failure? Has Apple Vision Pro helped the Meta Quest 3? Is there time for another big player to enter the headset space? And what is the end goal for players in mixed reality? Ross lends his insight on this edition of The Mac Observer Show.

JOhn Rokos is the Founder, CEO, and Product Architect at Enemy Tree… and he had an idea for an iPhone case. It doesn’t take a lot to have an idea, but it takes quite a bit to turn that idea into an actual business selling actual things. On this episode he shares with us the time a business didn’t work out, as well as the many people, steps, and tools that helped make OpenCase happen.

Robert Hurt is a visualization scientist working at IPAC, a science and data center for astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology. His work has been used by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also hosted the video podcast “The Hidden Universe” for NASA’s Spitzer Science Center. He’s developed for mixed reality, he’s a fan of mixed reality – and he joins us today to compare and contrast the two biggest AR/VR/MR devices today – Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro.

Carolina Milanesi, analyst and President of Creative Strategies, joins host Ken Ray to talk A.I., Apple Intelligence, and various WWDC announcements. Topics include: Making the case for A.I. Rating Apple Intelligence Whether Apple is “late” to A.I. Whether Apple Intelligence will spur an iPhone “Supercycle” Other announcements of note from WWDC24

Michael Steeber, “Tabletops” publisher and developer of the app “Facades,” is probably the person with the most knowledge of Apple Retail today outside of Apple. This week, he joins host Ken Ray to discuss: His history with Apple Retail The short, sad tenure of Apple Retail exec John Browett Apple Vision Pro in Apple Stores Apple Retail – Post-Pandemic and Post-Angela Ahrendts The Apple Store Time Machine The Facades App Favorite Apple Retail Locations