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What don't you like about Overcast?

I think its my favourite and most used app. I haven't liked the other podcasts apps much. Apple's was beyond usable. The iPlayer radio app is getting very good, but thats BBC only.

I've had problems:

1) Syncing between iPhone and iPad was not good so I stopped using the iPad
2) There has been a recent problem with some podcasts not updating lately e.g. Jim Dalrymple and Chuck Joiner's, but that was solved immediately after Chuck Joiner spoke about it.
3) The Mac app is basic but still functional, but he's open about it just being an add on.

I don't use the Watch, but there have been some problems there, but those are for understandable technical reasons.

But what app doesn't have a few issues over time. Overall its great and nicely designed. His payment options are good.

His blog is always thoughtful and considered. In general he seems like a good guy.

I think they are all good, and while Marco and John complain, it comes from positive enthusiasm. I don't always agree; I don't like the way they take the piss out of Jony Ive, but they have a lot of valuable insight, and its entertaining.

The only thing I don't like is their car stuff. As a petrolhead I find listening to them excruciating, except for John, but he needs to just buy something fun and get his hands dirty, even its not the newest Ferrari he desires. He reads a lot, but I think he needs to do something like build a Caterham in his garage, or get an old Ducati.

I can't stand the interface of Overcast.

I used to listed to ATP. I don't anymore, primarily because of Armant.

He was really obnoxious when it came to discussions re: monetizing his app.

Should he charge up front for it? Should he give everyone a free version and then allow others to "pay what they want" for additional features? He complained and moaned about both models, which he abandoned, when anyone with half a brain could have told him the "let them pay what they want to pay" model was not going to work out well (remember Jobs telling the record companies: "You can't compete with free?"). He's incredibly naive and has zero business sense (please don't say "but Tumblr!" He's rolling in Yahoo money because of his old boss at Tumblr; not his business acumen).

I dislike the cutesty names he gives products, like: "MacBook Adorable," "MacBook One," "MacBook Escape," etc.

I dislike his extreme self regard, like when he wrote an article "to all the young people" after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. Even if you can't stand Trump, I have no idea why Marco Armant thinks anyone should turn to him for advice and comfort after their political candidate of choice lost. I guess maybe because he wrote a read-it-later app, a pod casting app and a failed magazine app? Sounds like the perfect person for a nation to turn its lonely eyes to!

I dislike the way he handled the content blocker issue in ios 9. He wrote a really good content blocker (I give him credit for this) and the day before it released, he penned a very long article explaining why he wrote it. After the app was released and web publishing friends started whining, he pulled the app because, as best I can tell, he simply felt bad---even though he knew exactly what he was doing and getting into---he wrote a post about it the day before. Just a very craven guy.

I have other problems with him but those are the ones that readily come to mind.
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The best laptop that has ever existed is the MacBook Air 2013.
For sure---that was the first year of 12 hour battery life.

Great machine.
 
I dislike the cutesty names he gives products, like: "MacBook Adorable

To be fair, the MacBook Adorable came from CGP Grey on Cortex. Who bought a loved the MacBook until it literally melted when he used Final Cut on it. He convinced Myke Hurley to get one, which he did on the day CGP got a new MacBook Pro. Myke also unloaded his when he realized that indeed, trying to do audio editing on it wasn’t fun.
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I dislike the way he handled the content blocker issue in ios 9. He wrote a really good content blocker (I give him credit for this) and the day before it released, he penned a very long article explaining why he wrote it. After the app was released and web publishing friends started whining, he pulled the app because, as best I can tell, he simply felt bad---even though he knew exactly what he was doing and getting into---he wrote a post about it the day before. Just a very craven guy.

I think Marco is a a very talented developer, but he wilts under any form of criticism. Also, at the same time Gruber was complaining that ad blockers were blocking The Deck, because his ads weren’t bad; just the other internet ads are bad.

As you said, like a lot of developers his business sense isn’t good. That said, few programmers are.
 
I think the 2015 MBP is a great laptop but definitely not better than the new tMBPs especially when it comes to the 15" models. Yes, I think the keyboards on the 2012-2015s are more natural and comfortable to use at first, but the new keyboard is great once you get used to it. The difference in speed is also noticeable. You still have people complaining that the tMBPs aren't powerful or "pro enough" yet continue to use MacBook Airs (extremely underpowered) and 13" MacBooks, that have always been much weaker than their 15" counterparts.

For today's use the only missing feature on the new ones worth complaining about is the lack of a USB type A port. It is a hassle to have to get an adapter instead of just plugging in an old flash drive or connecting an older device. The lack of an SD card slot is not nearly as bad since new dSLRs with WiFi and Bluetooth are on the market and we now even have wifi SD cards. Yes, that means buying a new frame but that's life. Wireless everything is becoming mainstream and Apple always tend to get rid of older standards first to force the industry to adopt new ones. In a year I don't think anyone will want to buy a notebook without TB3 and multiple USB-C ports. The ability to use eGPUs (coming real soon) and drive 5K displays with ease is really awesome.

We're just a month away from 2018. I think it's time to let go of the 2012-2015 MacBooks and get on board with the new generation. Yes, they're expensive products (especially the underpowered 13" models) but the 15" MBPs are priced around the same as any high-end notebook on the market and when have high-end MacBooks really been cheap? Maybe the old polycarbonate or entry-level pre-retina 13" models from the last decade, but that's about it. The P3 displays are a great improvement and the difference in display quality is very noticeable compared to the previous gen. All of my photos and videos, even those shot on my 7 Plus look much better on this screen than a 2015 13". The reduction in weight is also a plus. My 15" weighs just a little bit more than what an older 13" weighs, and the new 13" weighs almost nothing. I'm considering picking up a new 13" next year just for traveling for that reason alone. It's ridiculous how portable they've been able to make them. It's a shame the 12" MacBook is just too underpowered because it really is the ideal notebook to take with you anywhere you go. 2 lbs is really nothing. Hopefully the 2018 12" is more powerful otherwise I'll go for a base 2018 13" whenever it's released.
 
What a shame it isn't in the iPhone or MBP box . . .
Yeah, I'm sure it has to do with scale. It's not economical to put a USB-C since *almost* everyone has a USB-A port or charging station. The laugh is of course if you've bought into the new MacBook ecosystem you don't have a USB-A port.

I'm getting an iPhone 8 after Christmas. I'm going to try real hard to get them to toss in a USB-c cable.
 
What a shame it isn't in the iPhone or MBP box . . .

How many people have USB-A vs USB-C? Makes a LOT more sense to include the A cable in the box. Millions of people buy iPhones. Of those, only a few thousand likely need the USB-C cable.

Including both cables not only adds cost to all buyers (Apple isn't going to just do it free) but it also means a LOT of cables ending up in landfills.

Just makes sense to include the more common cable and be done.
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Included in the box with the new $1000 phone? Or the $2000 laptop. Oops.

Your claim was that you can't attach your iPhone to a MacBook Pro without a dongle. Your statement was incorrect.

I can afford a $2600 laptop so buying a $20 cable isn't a big deal.
 
Precisely the reason it was utter stupidity to only use USB-C on laptops . . .

So we should never change technology, even if there are far far better options out there? Never ever update or make a move forward?

Fairly certain Apple showed us that change is needed time and time again. The original iMac took a jump and took a chance on switching to USB. No one else used it at the time (a couple other machines had USB but Apple far and away drove adoption of the technology). They've done it with the Dock connector and then the Lightning connector. Each time people cried like you are but they soon realized it was very much for the better and offered a much better way.

I'm sure in time you'll see that this move was for the better too.
 
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So we should never change technology, even if there are far far better options out there? Never ever update or make a move forward?

Fairly certain Apple showed us that change is needed time and time again. The original iMac took a jump and took a chance on switching to USB. No one else used it at the time (a couple other machines had USB but Apple far and away drove adoption of the technology). They've done it with the Dock connector and then the Lightning connector. Each time people cried like you are but they soon realized it was very much for the better and offered a much better way.

I'm sure in time you'll see that this move was for the better too.

You missed the point.
 
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How many people have USB-A vs USB-C? Makes a LOT more sense to include the A cable in the box. Millions of people buy iPhones. Of those, only a few thousand likely need the USB-C cable.

Including both cables not only adds cost to all buyers (Apple isn't going to just do it free) but it also means a LOT of cables ending up in landfills.

Just makes sense to include the more common cable and be done.
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Your claim was that you can't attach your iPhone to a MacBook Pro without a dongle. Your statement was incorrect.

I can afford a $2600 laptop so buying a $20 cable isn't a big deal.
I sure you can afford one. You tell us frequently. Just because you don’t mind giving Apple more money for something that should have been included with the X, doesn’t mean others see this as another cash grab. Who can blame them. Some people would rave about the iTurd. Then hand over $$ for it
 
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I sure you can afford one. You tell us frequently. Just because you don’t mind giving Apple more money for something that should have been included with the X, doesn’t mean others see this as another cash grab. Who can blame them. Some people would rave about the iTurd. Then hand over $$ for it
Apple isn’t the kind of company that would put 100 million cables in iPhone X boxes, only for 80 or 90 million to be thrown away as useless. What a waste.
 
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:rolleyes: Please. They are more worried about profit. Nothing wrong with that but call it for what it is.

They do care about profit, but they also care about sustainability. It would be irresponsible for Apple to bundle hundreds of millions of cables when they know that at this point in time 80% of them would get thrown away.

As USB-C adoption progresses, I'm sure a time will come where a USB-C cable will be standard and the USB-A cable an optional extra.
 
I think the only solution is when you buy the iPhone for them to swap out the cables. Apple can't include both, and putting USB-C in will really get the "Apple puts proprietary cables again!" even thought it's not proprietary.
 
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