[NewsPoster]

We thought last week was the beginning of the comedy portion of this whole depressing encryption debate between, essentially, the entire tech industry along with anyone who has ever understood the Constitution, and on the other side the US government and people terrified of terrorism -- which is a form of irony that doesn't yet have a name. Charles and Mike talk about a number of court cases and recent news, from the final chapter of the e-book case to the Chicago kerfuffle to -- as we must -- the latest turns in the FBI case, plus a lot of other topics

We really do get into a wide variety of things in this episode, but after some mercifully-brief political chat (and a pre-emptive call for civility) we move on into talking about the now-confirmed Apple event. It should be noted, however, that the contents of the event, while widely agreed upon speculatively, could be different (by any degree from small to total). We think there will be a new smaller iPhone model introduced, a new iPad model, and some Apple Watch accessories. Beyond that, it's all wide open. Much more, from how to sell colored iMacs to a review of some upcoming Broadway shows (what?), after the big player.

00:38 -- Managing Editor Mike wastes no time bringing the mood down, noting that a Polk County sheriff (aka Florida Man) has threatened Apple CEO Tim Cook with arrest for -- well, nothing. Throughout this entire dispute, nobody has ever accused Apple of breaking any law, but apparently Sheriff Buford T. Justice thinks this high-falutin' city boy just needs a lesson on what swampland authorities deem the proper respect for authori-tay.

We move on from there to the e-book case that Apple ultimately lost (by virtue of the US Supreme Court refusing to hear the case) and that leads to talk about the forum and civility with regards to the San Bernardino FBI case, which then leads to Friday's cancelled Trump rally, then back to the FBI case and the various comments that have been made from various notable people, from the President on down to Edward Snowden. Lots of discontent out there.

06:26 -- So let's talk about the March 21 Apple event, now confirmed. What we expect from the event has been much discussed, so Charles decides to make up his own rumor that there will be a new auburn color (or did he mean ... Cook's beloved Auburn?), and this leads to a lovely story about the first time Charles heard from Steve Jobs, for an ingenious idea suggestion. This is all because we can't divine any clues from the invitation as we usually can, to be truthful. Oh wait ... maybe this whole four-inch iPhone is a red herring to protect the secrecy of a new iPod touch! You heard it here first, folks!

14:28 -- Okay, now we have to come back to the Apple-FBI dispute. Sorry. We discuss last week's comments by President Obama, Attorney General Lynch, and -- in a surprising development -- former CIA Director James Woolsey, which makes you wonder why we haven't heard from the NSA and CIA about this mess (to which the answer is "because they're smart"). Beyond that, and in part due to AG Lynch, the language in the formal court proceedings has turned coarse and nasty, thanks to a new filing from the DOJ that goes as far as questioning Apple's patriotism in a flailing display of desperation that Apple attorneys -- particularly General Counsel Bruce Sewell -- took apart with great fervor.

We also find ourselves reluctantly agreeing with Edward Snowden, who said that the FBI has other options in the San Bernardino case, but they want to use this case to weaken civil liberties in the name of law enforcement. Mike, who leans conservative in this debate, and Charles, who leans liberal-to-libertarian in this particular instance, find the common ground that the public also seems to be discovering: the government is probably in the wrong here altogether, but of course that is for the courts -- and possibly Congress -- to decide.

30:25 -- Moving away from that for a while, another story that made waves last week was the announcement by Pengu that it can come up with a jailbreaking solution for iOS 9, and will be soon releasing one for tvOS as well. Because jailbreaking relies on the exploitation of flaws in the operating system, it has fallen out of fashion as more and more bad actors find those exploits and use them to spread malware and ransomware. The good old days of using jailbreaking for lots of customization or discovering unauthorized abilities through unofficial apps are over, we're sorry to say. Now you could use those exploit-finding skills for big bucks -- we hear the FBI might be hiring!

38:21 -- We spend some talking about our colleague Sanjiv's article comparison of the Apple Watch with Samsung's Galaxy Gear S2 Classic, which is called something just a bit short of a round version of the Apple Watch. There were things he liked and disliked about the S2 and things he liked and disliked about the Apple Watch. Quality competition is good, and props to Samsung (from us!) for using Tizen for it rather than just slapping in Android Wear and calling it a day. That was the right move, Samsung.

42:35 -- So now its time to talk Scott Forstall and what he's up to. Turns out, producing Broadway shows with strong female parts both on and off-stage, that's what. It's an interesting career pivot, but one where he has found new success; his first show, Fun Home, won Tony awards and critical raves. We wish him every success with the new one, Eclipsed. Interesting, there was a musical about Jobs and Gates that was planning to go to Broadway when an investor pulled out. If only they could get Forstall interested in that ... nah.

Meanwhile, yet another show that focuses on Jobs, called The Crazy Ones, is heading to Off-Broadway as we speak. We then go on to praise our colleague William's "Apple History" series, and then take a moment to acknowledge that our taping day was the late Douglas Adams' 64th birthday -- Charles got to inteview Adams, his favorite writer, a number of times over the years, and contributed to one of Adams' biographies and other associated works. This year also marks the 15th anniversary of his passing, so treat yourself to a re-read of The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- or better yet, his environmental work, Last Chance to See.

50:12 -- Penultimately (for a change this week), we turn to William Gallagher, who regales us with his commendations for the App of the Week -- this time, OmniPlan 3 for iOS. Then we make one last point -- us nerds are really the ones who are going to find the solution, if one exists, to this whole encryption riddle and where, if anywhere, one can find the balance between privacy (which is a right that mustn't be undervalued) and security (which is something nearly all human beings seek).

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The MacNN Podcast is copyright 2016 by MNM Media, with all rights reserved. Opinions expressed by the hosts or guests of the podcast may not reflect the opinions or views of MNM Media, its sites, or advertisers. Original music by Bradley McBurney. Comments and feedback are welcome at our Tips email address.