437: ‘A Naughty Citizen’, With Quinn Nelson
The Talk Show With John Gruber
12/24/25
•148m
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Special guest Quinn Nelson returns for a two-topic holiday spectacular: the iPad in the wake of iPadOS 26, and Apple's executive changes as Tim Cook seemingly nears the end of his time as CEO.
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Transcripts: Unofficial but surprisingly good.
Links:
- Quinn on YouTube:
- "The iPad's Software Problem Is Permanent".
- "Apple Is Falling Apart (On Purpose)" (on executive shuffling).
- Spark -- Quinn's email app of choice.
- Yours truly back in January 2020: "The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10".
- Slide Over was originally eliminated in iPadOS 26 but came back in 26.1.
- Apple Notes extension apps, available on the Mac because they're only possible on the Mac because the iPad and iPhone are baby computers:
- Mark Papermaster, the hardware executive who took the fall for the iPhone 4 antenna saga.
- The classic cartoon from 2013: "Organizational Charts of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle".
This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.
Previous Episode
436: ‘Financial Boner’, With Tyler Hayes
November 30, 2025
•95m
Special guest: Tyler Hayes. Topics include how to get a small phone today, which way foldables should fold, the state of Apple TV (including its new “sonic logo”), and some holiday gift gadget recommendations.
Sponsored by:
- Clic for Sonos: No lag. No hassle. Just Clic.
- Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code talkshow.
Transcripts: Unofficial but surprisingly good.
Links:
- This Week The Trend.
- Tyler on the flip-style Motorola Razr as a small phone solution.
- Tyler: “Apple TV Is Finally Worth $99 Per Year”.
- Ad Age: “Apple TV’s Colorful New Branding Was Built With Glass and Captured In-Camera”.
- Aura Ink, $500 e-paper picture frame.
- Chargers:
- Anker Nano 70W 3-port charger — $50, on sale for $32 if you act fast.
- Nomad’s excellent “slim” chargers, in 40W (one port), 65W (two ports), and 100W (two ports) — I think the 65W one is the sweet spot.
- Nomad’s Wallet Tracking Card, compatible with Find My. (Not mentioned on the show, but very cool — Tyler and I both own one and recommend them.).
- Sharge’s Pixel 100W and 140W chargers, with cool fat-pixel dot-matrix displays on the side.
- The Sigma BF, a gorgeous, minimal L-mount camera.
- Govee Smart Christmas Lights.
This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.
Next Episode
438: ‘2025 Year in Review’, With Rene Ritchie
December 31, 2025
•162m
A look back at Apple’s 2025, with special guest Rene Ritchie.
Sponsored by:
- Factor: Healthy eating, made easy. Get 50% off your first box, plus free breakfast for 1 year, with code talkshow50off.
- Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code talkshow.
Transcripts: Unofficial but surprisingly good.
Links:
- The classic Mac OS Appearance Manager and its support for (rather garish) themes:
- ATPM, August 2000: “GUI Junkie: Schemin’ and Themin’” by Christopher Turner. Includes screenshots.
- Wikipedia: Appearance Manager.
- Luria Petrucci celebrates 20 years on YouTube.
- Steve Jobs on product people vs. sales/marketing people, back in the early 1990s.
- John Browett’s brief tenure running retail at Apple back in 2012. His sacking was effectively a footnote in the announcement that Apple had parted with Scott Forstall.
This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.
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