Editor's Note: there are many examples of our MacNN Podcast
that we are proud of, but this one we picked as an example of "the best of MacNN
" because it is so representative of what the podcast was about: comraderie, laughs, news, insight. Even though the podcast focused on stories that had already been reported on the site, it gave listeners both our analysis of those events as well as a look at the people behind the reporting. The good news is that the podcast will continue after MacNN's
shutdown under a new name, so we hope previous listeners and new ones will join us for more banter, bad jokes, and ballyhoo starting the week of July 11. To our previous listeners, thank you again for your support. We loved doing this, and we think this episode shows that well.
Another interesting week at
MacNN brings us plenty to talk about on Episode 25 of
The MacNN Podcast, ranging from the FCC approval of the
AT&T/DirecTV deal for no clear reason (but with a bunch of conditions), to our new column
"My Stupid Fault." We also include a full report on
Apple's fiscal Q3 and the uncalled-for drop in the stock, the results of our testing of Apple's
new third-party SSD Trim support, and more.
Did we mention our look at the
new 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro? Oops, we're blaming that on the cats then. In our latest column, "My Stupid Fault," we showcase what were previously thought to be self-inflicted tech horror stories, but now that we have a new scapegoat (er, scape-cat), we figure we'll make the column even more popular by including pictures of adorable cats and kittens working on computers (particularly testing keyboards, they've very good at that).
01:35 Following introductions of our (sadly) all-male group this evening, host and
MacNN Editor Charles Martin and Managing Editor Mike Wuerthele discuss the implications of the recently-approved AT&T/DirecTV merger. Originally intended to counter the now-nonexistent
Comcast/Time Warner merger, its baffling why the FCC allowed this, but at least it set a ton of conditions on the deal. There may be some wiggle room there, however, so we'll have to keep an eye on how this plays out.
07:10 It is rare that a new column shoots to the top of the charts, but that is exactly what happened with "My Stupid Fault," a new tech horror-story column about cats that ... no, sorry,
MacNN staffers who created their own tech hellscape through one or a series of errors, presented in the hopes that we can save some adorable kittens from making the same mistake.
22:40 The first of a series of reports on both Apple and AAPL in the aftermath of the company's fiscal Q3 and record-breaking quarter. By all accounts, Apple did better than it had any right to do during the spring quarter, but didn't quite hit
analyst predictions on iPhone unit sales. Since Wall Street is obsessed with iPhone sales to the exclusion of all else (hey, how 'bout them
industry-beating Mac sales?), this resulted in an AAPL slide -- meanwhile, Amazon managed to squeak out a
minuscule profit (less than four percent of its revenue) and AMZN was rewarded far in excess of any rights or sanity.
30:39 We also talk about other factors of Apple's fiscal Q3 performance, specifically the Apple Watch (and we think the fact that Apple
won't reveal hard numbers on the Watch is the real reason the stock is being punished) and the company's
rising performance in China. The former is admittedly vague in a way we're not used to with Apple (apart from Apple TV sales, iPod sales, Mac sales broken out by product or iPhone sales broken out by device ...), but we think they're doing pretty okay with it for a new product in a new category -- the problem is that some under-educated pundits apparently think the Watch should be outselling the iPhone (apparently unaware of the inherent problem with that idea). We also look at how phenomenally well the company is doing in China, and why.
41:22 Just recently, the number of iOS devices in total have started
outselling Windows PCs in total, a reflection of the increasing trend of going mobile, plus the general downward sales trend of PCs generally. To be fair, Android total shipments beat that number a good while back, but the larger point speaks of the way the world has changed in the last 20 years, and leaves us wondering what Microsoft can do, or will do, to remain relevant in the years to come.
47:13 Let's talk hardware! Get your hard hat on, we're entering the
MacNN Testing Zone (cats strictly forbidden!). We have done a short series of articles testing some concern from our Linux cousins that Apple's newly-enabled Trim support for third-party SSDs could have issues, specifically with Samsung's EVO and Pro line of SSDs (and possibly some other brands). Spoilers: the Samsungs were given a clean bill of health, though they may still be vulnerable to a bug causing data loss with queued Trim implementations, which luckily Apple doesn't support at all.
52:05 Sanjiv in Australia drops in to give us his review of the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, now sporting a bevy of new hardware upgrades (apart from the processor), and generally packing a powerful all-around punch that makes it, on balance, one of the best 15-inchers money can buy for a general-purpose notebook.
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