The Talk Show With John Gruber

Special guest Rene Ritchie returns to the show for a special Apple 2014 year-in-review episode. Just a few of the many topics covered: Apple’s Beats acquisition; WWDC 2014 in hindsight; an aside speculating on the alternate universe where Google acquired WebOS instead of Android; the similarities between the “projected UI” nature of AirPlay, CarPlay, and WatchKit; UI fonts (Helvetica Neue in Yosemite, Apple Sans, and the Watch’s San Francisco (a.k.a. “DINvetica”)); Apple’s growing ability to design and bring to market its own hardware internals and components; recent controversies and confusing rejections at the App Store (and the need for a public-facing App Store ombudsman); and what we’re looking forward to in 2015.

Special guest Dan Frommer joins the show to talk about prop bets in Vegas, more *Star Wars*, some follow-up on James Bond, what Apple should do with its mountain of cash, speculation on why iPad sales growth has stagnated, and more. Also, some in-depth segments on Instagram and the concept of “institutional taste”.

Special guest Dave Wiskus joins the show to talk about the new teaser trailer for *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*, and just-announced title and cast for the 24th EON Productions Bond movie, *Spectre*. Other topics include the untapped potential of podcasting and YouTubing, cutting babies in half, turtle copulation, and kangaroo genitalia.

Special guest Christa Mrgan joins the show to talk about Yosemite UI design, Apple TV’s aesthetics (and its shitty IR remote control), Apple Watch speculation (including using it as an Apple TV remote), the Watch’s new San Francisco font, bling in icon design, and more. It’s a Thanksgiving week design-focused spectacular.

Who else but very special guest John Moltz to ring in The Talk Show’s centurial episode. Topics include iPhone display sizes (and in particular, our mutual preference for the old 5S 4-inch size over the 4.7-inch iPhone 6); the new book Moltz co-wrote, “The Visual Guide to Minecraft”; writing tools, including word processors and Markdown; shopping for gaming PCs as a Mac person; Microsoft Office going free on mobile platforms; Twitter’s stilted strategy statement; President Obama’s statement on Net Neutrality; and Tim Cook’s eloquent essay announcing that he’s gay.

Very special guest Merlin Mann returns to the show to talk about Comcast customer service, cable-cutting, Marlins Man (no relation) and his showboating-spectator predecessors, and the state of podcasting today. Also: daylight saving time and Roman numerals.

Special guest John Siracusa returns to the show to discuss last week’s Apple event (introducing the iPad Air 2), and OS X Yosemite (and his review thereof).

Special guest Guy English returns to the show to talk about iOS 8 quality concerns, and whether Apple’s annual software cycle is stretching the company too thin. Then things devolve into a bitter argument over the merits of file name extensions.

Special guest Ben Thompson joins the show for an Apple Watch discussion: what it’ll cost, what it’ll do, how it will be sold, and more. Other topics include “Bend-gate”, Apple’s growing prowess in mobile chip design, and Derek Jeter.

Special guest: Rene Ritchie. Topics: What else? The iPhones 6, iOS 8, and last week’s special event at the Flint Center in Cupertino.

Special guest Jason Snell joins the show on the cusp of Apple’s September 9 event, where the company will purportedly introduce two new iPhones and a breakthrough wearable device. Topics include the purpose and advantages of a 5.5-inch iPhone, why only the 5.5-inch iPhone will (I think) get an @3x retina display, speculation on the nature and purpose of an Apple wearable/watch, the intrigue surrounding the event’s venue, and more.

Speculation on the purportedly-imminent new 4.7- and 5.5-inch iPhones, and the rise of adaptive user interface layout and design on iOS. @3x, here we come.

Topics include Joanna’s recent review of over 20 laptops; the HTC One M8 for Windows Phone; why Windows Phone is still struggling to gain traction; the role of Microsoft Office in today’s world; and speculation on Apple’s upcoming iPhone event.

Topics include speculation — seriously, just speculation — on Apple’s purported upcoming wrist wearable thing, Apple’s fall event schedule, polarized sunglasses, market share in the post-PC era, and Beats’s integration into Apple (including a clever idea from Dan about the potential for a Beats Music channel on Apple TV).

Topics include Apple's quarterly results, how much Apple's cable and peripheral prices contribute to the popular conception that their products are "expensive", presbyopia and large-screen phones, and more.

Topics include the design and development of Marco’s new iOS podcast player, Overcast, custom UI fonts, the difficulty of low-level audio programming, and pricing strategy — with digressions on U.S. politics and other non-controversial subjects.

Topics include the design and development of Marco’s new iOS podcast player, Overcast, custom UI fonts, the difficulty of low-level audio programming, and pricing strategy — with digressions on U.S. politics and other non-controversial subjects.

Topics include Samsung getting pinched from Apple on the high end and Xiaomi (at least in China) on the low end, Android and the importance of software differentiation, wearable devices, and more.

Topics include the new look and feel in OS X Yosemite (10.10), Google’s new “Material Design” look and feel for Android, smartwatches (including the new ones Google showed at I/O last week), and Dave’s new behind-the-scenes role at The Talk Show.

Topics include the ongoing World Cup and the sport of soccer, Google Glass, mockups of devices in rumor reports, Amazon's Fire Phone, the New York Times's profile of Tim Cook last week, Apple's growth, and the agonizingly slow death of Blackberry. Lastly, Paul brings up a devilishly tricky question regarding whether Apple will support a particular new addition to the Emoji specification.