Phil Schiller Discusses WWDC 2019 on Accidental Tech Podcast

[deconstruct60]

Softball interview

If listen to the start of the podcast, the hosts have 'won' in vast majority (if not all) of the WWDC lotteries they have entered over last 5 years. Coincidence?

Apple has preferred sources they "channels" information out on. It isn't like Phil was wandering by and just happened to be available to talk about WWDC.

It isn't completely softball, but the interviewers aren't pushing Apple off the plate with hard inside fastballs either. If they did then Apple just would never show up again. If hit Apple with a hard fastball they don't get a 'walk' to first base. They probably just walk away ( for at least a very long time if not permanently). More podcasts than interview slots.

 

[Brammy]

I never expect these interviews to be hard-hitting, nor do I think they need to be. It was fun hearing about the wifi demo story. Phil also did a good job at deflecting the questions about when they know what is making the cut for WWDC.

If they did ask a hard-hitting question, we know how it would go anyway. All three of the hosts have been critical of the new keyboards. If they asked Phil, this is how it would go:

ATP: So, Phil, what is going on with the keyboards?
Phil: Customers love the new MacBook Pros. They are selling more than any other laptop in the history of Apple. Every version we make some design tweaks, and we think the current version is the best keyboard we have made.

 

[gugy]

Phil, if you're reading this, I hope you can know that we filmmakers simply want the cheesegrater Mac Pro back, but with modern components. No need to reinvent the wheel. We just want sheer power, with no thermal throttling, and the ability to add our own PCIe cards/upgrade RAM/upgrade CPU/GPU. Also, we need you to repair your relationship with NVIDIA. We love Apple, but over the last few years we feel almost like you've abandoned us. Bring us the Mac we need! Thanks Phil!

Could not agree more.
I still have my MP 2011 and if Apple does not upgrade this year with something like you just described, I’m compelled to overall my MP and hold for few more years. Sounds crazy that I need to depend on a 9 year old hardware to get my job done in motion graphics and design.

By the way, some new kick ass displays would be nice.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The only thing I ever worry about here with these kind of interviews is the impact it may have on their narrative on the podcast moving forward.

These guys are dorks - great guys, but dorks - and dorks get easily starstruck with stuff like this.

Marco has been a beacon of sanity in Apple land about the keyboards and touchbar, etc,

It would be a tremendous shame if his platform elevated him to a point where he gets noticed and gets to talk to Phil Schiller and suddenly is afraid or is now unwilling to be super candid about Apple issues in the future.

 

[Brammy]

Marco has been a beacon of sanity in Apple land about the keyboards and touchbar, etc,

I think John is, of the three of them. Marco sometimes gets stuck banging the drum on the keyboards or whatever. He has also bought about 6 laptops over the last four years so I am not sure of his critical analysis. Also, his perspective is skewed by a lot of things. He has never had a regular job, but every now and then opines on corporate America. The Tumblr money has given him a very comfortable safety net. This is fine. With the keyboards, though, it feels like he and Gruber decided this was the safe topic to prove they are critical of Apple.

John, at least uses his laptop every day, in a corporate setting. When I heard him talk on the Automators about the hoops he had to jump through to keep IS from overriding his home page setting, I felt his pain.

I love ATP, though. I think their personalities all work well together. Casey feels like his role is "the listener's narrator" where asks the questions to John and Marco we would have.

 

[turbineseaplane]

@Brammy

Good points about Marco..
It's sort of odd that they have ended up with a slice of "tech America" and income/wealth disparity just on that show amongst the 3 of them.

Marco is likely holding back about stories of his day researching his next Tesla, etc, while John was at a "real job" all day and probably has a small part of himself that resents the whole situation. He's much older - been around so much longer - yet is the only one still punching a clock.

 

[Brammy]

Good points about Marco..

There was a point in time where a few people mentioned to Marco that while, yes, anyone could do a business model he did, few lacked the audience and comfort he did. He took a lot of offense to that. That whole thread blew up for other reasons, but Marco can be very thin-skinned when it comes to criticism.

I have wondered what John thinks of the whole thing. It's pretty clear ATP and assorted podcasts make enough money for them all to quit, but I think John likes what he does for a living, and values the whole 401k thing.

 

[smulji]

What are you on about? OpenCL? That has been deprecated along with OpenGL. Apple is putting all its eggs in a Metal basket. Wonder what that could mean! Apple is going all in on ARM and professionals are not going to like it.

Apple also supports Metal on AMD GPU's (on the Mac)

 

[theluggage]

I just inherited a 3,1 Mac Pro and although I love the beast for what it is, it is ****ing enormous and just does not work in my office. If it was a 4,1 or 5,1 Mac Pro, I would be more inclined to make space for it.

Its hardly news that you're not going make much effort to accommodate a 10-year-old hand-me-down computer (although I don't think you'll have much trouble selling it to someone who does), and you admit yourself that you'd be more inclined to make space for a mere 6-7 year-old one... so that's not really an argument against a hypothetical 2019-spec tower.

...and, space-wise, what's the comparison? Separate CPU, external GPU and storage units strung together with Thunderbolt cables sitting on your desk, vs. everything in one box tucked away underneath it?

There's also scope for making the old 'cheesegrater' quite a bit smaller and more modern: Probably don't need 5.25" optical drives in 2019 - certainly not two of them - maybe just 2 or 3 PCIe slots (what with TB3, USB 3.1g2 and probably 10Gb Ethernet on-board, they're now only really for GPUs and suchlike). The system disc will be a blade on the motherboard (with room for a second if the machine is designed in reality-land) so that's at least one 3.5" bay that can be dropped (maybe 2 bays with room for 2x3.5" or 4x2.5" ?)....... but then, on the other hand, this is all going on the floor under the desk, and even halving the size won't turn it into a laptop so why not keep the flexibility?

Besides the technical issues of building a mini-tower with both Thunderbolt 3 AND a removable GPU

There's no technical issue with TB3 and a removable GPU unless you really need to connect the 1 (one) currently available Thunderbolt 3 display that doesn't have any other interfaces (other Thunderbolt displays may be available, but they also have DisplayPort and HDMI).

There are cards for PCs that solve that problem (https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GC-TITAN-RIDGE-rev-10#kf) via the fugly but effective method of having external DisplayPort cables going to the GPU.

If this is really, really important then Apple just need to treat their AMD life-partners to coffee and waffles in bed and persuade them to make some Apple-edition GPU cards with internal DisplayPort headers that can be hooked up to the TB3 controller - plumbing, not rocket science. If they don't do this already its probably because the vast majority of professional displays use DisplayPort and/or HDMI, and the only real selling point of TB as a display connection is single-port docking & charging for laptops that are going to be plugged and unplugged daily. I seriously doubt that anybody who is worried about being able to choose their own PCIe graphics card gives a wet slap about Thunderbolt displays.

 

[fermat-au]

LOL! Since when was bluetooth only possible once the headphone jack was removed?

What a consumer listens to and believes all Apple's marketing BS.

 

[BigBoy2018]

All I heard were two guys sucking up really hard. I heard more about cars and lunch boxes than even developer improvements.

Exactly. I think ATP did themselves a disservice. They usually make incisive, tough observations about things Apple isn't doing, or could do better. That's what makes the show great.

So here they have Schiller on the show and it's a big get, but instead of staying true to themselves, they end up just sounding like starry eyed kids talking to a big sports hero.
It's not like they needed to go all hardball on him, but what would be wrong with asking something like "So Phil, it's no secret the new MacBook Pro keyboard has been controversial, what's your take on all that?'.

Bottom line: They may have gotten more listeners than ever with this podcast, but it was so boring, all those 'new' listeners will likely never be back.

I know Siracusa has a ton of integrity, and I can only imagine he was biting his lip throughout the whole interview, knowing he was muzzled. In order to get Phil on the show, any so-called 'tough' questions would not be allowed.

So what did we get? An interview where neither party looks good. John and Marco sounded like wimps, and Phil and Apple look like they'll only do interviews if they just get softball questions, like he can't handle a real interview with real questions.

 

[turbineseaplane]

LOL! Since when was bluetooth only possible once the headphone jack was removed?

I know right?

Everyone saying:

"use Bluetooth!"
"Bluetooth is the future!"
"I have airpods and don't need a headphone jack anymore"..

Umm..

We could have "both" (like I do on my SE)

I also have Airpods and use Bluetooth..

But I also use that headphone jack every single day.
Preeeeeeetty damned nice to have both!

 

[BigBoy2018]

I know right?

Everyone saying:

"use Bluetooth!"
"Bluetooth is the future!"
"I have airpods and don't need a headphone jack anymore"..

Umm..

We could have "both" (like I do on my SE)

I also have Airpods and use Bluetooth..

But I also use that headphone jack every single day.
Preeeeeeetty damned nice to have both!

Agreed. Bluetooth has been around since 1998. It may be the 'future', but it's also very much from the 'past' as well.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Exactly. I think ATP did themselves a disservice. They usually make incisive, tough observations about things Apple isn't doing, or could do better. That's what makes the show great.

So here they have Schiller on the show and it's a big get, but instead of staying true to themselves, they end up just sounding like starry eyed kids talking to a big sports hero.
It's not like they needed to go all hardball on him, but what would be wrong with asking something like "So Phil, it's no secret the new MacBook Pro keyboard has been controversial, what's your take on all that?'.

Bottom line: They may have gotten more listeners than ever with this podcast, but it was so boring, all those 'new' listeners will likely never be back.

I know Siracusa has a ton of integrity, and I can only imagine he was biting his lip throughout the whole interview, knowing he was muzzled. In order to get Phil on the show, any so-called 'tough' questions would not be allowed.

So what did we get? An interview where neither party looks good. John and Marco sounded like wimps, and Phil and Apple look like they'll only do interviews if they just get softball questions, like he can't handle a real interview with real questions.

It was a genius PR move by Apple.

They are probably making a point to get some big names around to shows/people that have been critical in the past as it's very effective to make them "starstruck" and feel "big time" by getting such guests.

That can very easily have the effect of silencing those critics, or at least toning them down substantially.

Power and access absolutely corrupt people and a PR department at a company like Apple knows just how to use that to their advantage.

 

[Brammy]

"So Phil, it's no secret the new MacBook Pro keyboard has been controversial, what's your take on all that?'.

Phil would have given the PR-speak answer I referred to earlier. Everyone involved knew that, so why waste the question?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Phil would have given the PR-speak answer I referred to earlier. Everyone involved knew that, so why waste the question?

Well - I'd rather they ask and get the PR answer honestly.

I think it's important to at least pose the question and let that person know it's a problem for them and at the very least make someone like Phil go through the motions.

Apple needs to fix this s*** and just having him on to shoot the breeze and pretend like there are no issues is basically wasted time, at least to me.

Story time is fine, but use that opportunity to at least make Phil address the question.

 

[BigBoy2018]

It was a genius PR move by Apple.

They are probably making a point to get some big names around to shows/people that have been critical in the past as it's very effective to make them "starstruck" and feel "big time" by getting such guests.

That can very easily have the effect of silencing those critics, or at least toning them down substantially.

Power and access absolutely corrupt people and a PR department at a company like Apple knows just how to use that to their advantage.

But again, I think it makes Apple look bad too, since they clearly had a rule that no 'tough' questions would be allowed. That makes them seem afraid and superficial to put those kinds of 'rules' on interviews. So I don't think it's a good PR move at all.
[doublepost=1552853414][/doublepost]

Well - I'd rather they ask and get the PR answer honestly.

I think it's important to at least pose the question and let that person know it's a problem for them and at the very least make someone like Phil go through the motions.

Apple needs to fix this s*** and just having him on to shoot the breeze and pretend like there are no issues is basically wasted time, at least to me.

Story time is fine, but use that opportunity to at least make Phil address the question.

EXACTLY! For the whole interview it felt like there were 16 elephants in the room and no one would even admit it. At least friggin' admit it for gods sake!

 

[turbineseaplane]

But again, I think it makes Apple look bad too, since they clearly had a rule that no 'tough' questions would be allowed. That makes them seem afraid and superficial to puts those kinds of 'rules' on interviews. So I don't think it's a good PR move at all.

Fair point - Frankly if I were ATP I wouldn't have him on if I can't even "ask" about the keyboards.

ATP has been all over that issue for years.
It should be expected if you go on that show that you'll have to at least address it.

Good god the whole world needs to stop bending over for Apple.
Jesus guys - they don't need free PR.

Don't have them on if those are the rules.
Have some ***** standards for yourself and don't just get used for THEIR marketing purposes.

We don't need EVERY Apple centric podcast to just turn into Gruber's show

 

[bladerunner2000]

I know right?

Everyone saying:

"use Bluetooth!"
"Bluetooth is the future!"
"I have airpods and don't need a headphone jack anymore"..

Umm..

We could have "both" (like I do on my SE)

I also have Airpods and use Bluetooth..

But I also use that headphone jack every single day.
Preeeeeeetty damned nice to have both!

I don't care for bluetooth. In my car I have a single earbud headphone:

https://www.jlabaudio.com/products/jbuds-j6ms-in-ear-single-earbud

I plug in my phone to charge via USB and plug in the headphone jack to talk whenever necessary. Bluetooth audio sucks because everyone complains they can hear ambient noise from the mic thats connected to the stereo (and I've got my car sound deadened as well).

I suppose I should complain about bluetooth being removed because it's a nuisance to me.... but then I'd look like a prick. But not the case for those that want the headphone jack removed. WTF?

 

[turbineseaplane]

@bladerunner2000

You're forgetting how Apple "had to remove the headphone jack to make a sexy thin and light phone."

That's why Samsung doesn't have headphone jacks on their new Galaxy S10 models..

Oh...s***...wait a minute..

 

[BigBoy2018]

Bottom line for me ... I do love the ATP guys but listening to that podcast just made me sad for them. It's that feeling when you feel like your favorite alternative rock band has sold out and is now doing commercials for Pepsi.

 

[turbineseaplane]

All I heard were two guys sucking up really hard. I heard more about cars and lunch boxes than even developer improvements.

I just want to thank you, and others, for listening to it all and reporting back.

I got a few minutes in and I knew precisely where it was going and just skipped to stuff after the "interview" and then deleted the episode.

 

[Brammy]

Well - I'd rather they ask and get the PR answer honestly.

I think it's important to at least pose the question and let that person know it's a problem for them and at the very least make someone like Phil go through the motions.

I did a PR/Demo thing with Apple about 7-8 years ago with a new version of Logic. There were two people on the call with me: the SR Product Manager for Logic (or something close to that) and the PR person. The scope of the interview was very limited: the new version of Logic. I'm a little fuzzy on the a lot of it, but I think they gave me a demo and then let me ask my questions. I didn't have any pre-planned questions.

It was made very clear to me that they were here to talk about the new version of Logic. Not the old version. Not how they got here. Not the next version of Logic. Nothing but this version of Logic. I mentioned to them that some feature would work great in GarageBand. I could hear the Logic guy start to open his mouth, but the PR person jumped in and said, "We are here today to talk about Logic."

This isn't uncommon. I used to do a lot of similar writing about video games and the PR person would be "We are here today to only talk about the expansion to OurAmazinGame.

So, ATP was likely told up front that Phil was only going to talk about WWDC. No product discussion. At that point, knowing the questions are out of bounds, asking them doesn't add anything. You know Phil won't answer the question. Or they immediately end the call.

As an aside, at least back then, Apple was particular about the technical details being accurate in places. There was an article I had gotten some minor point wrong, and I got an email from Apple PR with the correction. Apple wanted that fact changed, and not even quote them they had requested the change. It was all "on background" but they wanted to know as soon as it was corrected. I forwarded the email to my editor and let her deal with it.

This is a long winded way of saying that asking Apple tough questions you know they aren't going answer isn't a good hill to die on.

 

[BigBoy2018]

I did a PR/Demo thing with Apple about 7-8 years ago with a new version of Logic. There were two people on the call with me: the SR Product Manager for Logic (or something close to that) and the PR person. The scope of the interview was very limited: the new version of Logic. I'm a little fuzzy on the a lot of it, but I think they gave me a demo and then let me ask my questions. I didn't have any pre-planned questions.

It was made very clear to me that they were here to talk about the new version of Logic. Not the old version. Not how they got here. Not the next version of Logic. Nothing but this version of Logic. I mentioned to them that some feature would work great in GarageBand. I could hear the Logic guy start to open his mouth, but the PR person jumped in and said, "We are here today to talk about Logic."

This isn't uncommon. I used to do a lot of similar writing about video games and the PR person would be "We are here today to only talk about the expansion to OurAmazinGame.

So, ATP was likely told up front that Phil was only going to talk about WWDC. No product discussion. At that point, knowing the questions are out of bounds, asking them doesn't add anything. You know Phil won't answer the question. Or they immediately end the call.

As an aside, at least back then, Apple was particular about the technical details being accurate in places. There was an article I had gotten some minor point wrong, and I got an email from Apple PR with the correction. Apple wanted that fact changed, and not even quote them they had requested the change. It was all "on background" but they wanted to know as soon as it was corrected. I forwarded the email to my editor and let her deal with it.

This is a long winded way of saying that asking Apple tough questions you know they aren't going answer isn't a good hill to die on.

So the end result is a boring show that satisfies no one. New listeners who tuned in to hear Phil likely wont be back since it was so lame, and loyal listeners are horribly dissappointed.

So that’s the ‘hill’ they die on.

 

[Brammy]

So the end result is a boring show that satisfies no one. New listeners who tuned in to hear Phil likely wont be back since it was so lame, and loyal listeners are horribly dissappointed.

I thought the discussion about the wifi demo, the jump, and the disclaimers was good. Some of the background stuff was nice too. But talking about WWDC is always going to be a softball effort. They aren't talking about products. They aren't going to talk about what will be announced. It is also before the March 25 event, so they aren't going to talk about that.

Phil did a masterful job at deflecting questions too. Honestly, I liked that part better than them repeatedly saying they aren't qualified to talk about the Spotify lawsuit and then talking about it for 40 minutes anyway.