236: ‘A Vivid Nightmarescape’ With Dieter Bohn

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: A wide-ranging holiday interview centered on the tradeoffs among Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Android hardware/software. The conversation focused on LTE-enabled tablets, the Pixel Slate and Pixel 3’s mixed execution, Google’s camera leadership, Apple’s tighter integration and Face ID, and the likely future shift of Macs to ARM. Both speakers compared design philosophies, carrier pain, and the limits of current tablet/computer hybrids.

Main Topics: Big Christmas trees and holiday chaos (Priority: 2/5): The episode opens with a humorous, relatable rant about the host’s family’s oversized Christmas tree, the difficulty of getting it into and out of the house, and the annual mess of needles and lights. LTE on tablets and carrier frustration (Priority: 5/5): They discuss why LTE is valuable on portable computers and tablets, but also why carrier activation, SIM management, eSIM locks, and expensive plans make the experience painful and convoluted. Surface Go vs. iPad vs. Mac for portable computing (Priority: 5/5): The speakers compare the Surface Go, iPad Pro, Pixelbook, and MacBook line, arguing that each device family falls short in different ways. Windows offers flexibility but too much friction; iPad is easy but constrained; Mac remains the most capable for podcasting and work. Google hardware: Pixel Slate and Pixel 3 (Priority: 5/5): A major portion of the discussion critiques the Pixel Slate as a flawed tablet and praises the Pixel 3 as a strong phone with excellent still photography, while noting software and display issues that undermine the experience. Apple’s design philosophy and ARM future (Priority: 4/5): The conversation explores Apple’s annual release rhythm, its insistence on features that can be demonstrated live, and the likely migration of Macs to Apple-designed ARM chips using a Rosetta-like transition. Camera philosophy, Night Sight, and machine learning (Priority: 4/5): They contrast Apple’s real-time camera preview philosophy with Google’s post-processing approach, especially Night Sight and portrait mode, which can create striking results but sometimes sacrifice realism. Palm nostalgia and the evolution of mobile UI (Priority: 3/5): The discussion ends with reflections on old Palm/WebOS ideas, notification placement, card-based multitasking, and how many modern mobile interaction patterns trace back to Palm-era design.

Key Arguments: LTE is genuinely useful on tablets and tiny computers, but carriers make setup, account transfer, and device locking unnecessarily painful. The Surface Go proves Windows can integrate LTE well, but Windows still burdens users with too much choice and too much cognitive load. The iPad has improved but remains fundamentally constrained by its mobile-first design, while the Mac remains the best all-around working machine. The Pixel Slate shipped with software so flawed that it felt unready, despite strong hardware, making it a bad halo product for Chrome OS. The Pixel 3 has excellent still photography, especially Night Sight, but its screen calibration and texture choices undermine the experience. Google’s camera software philosophy is to do more after the shot; Apple prefers features that can be previewed live in the viewfinder. Apple’s likely ARM transition would mirror the Intel switch: announced at WWDC, supported by developer tools, and motivated by performance-per-watt. Old mobile UI ideas, especially Palm’s card-based navigation and notification concepts, have influenced modern Android and iOS design more than people realize.

Data Points: iPad cellular plan fee: $50/month - Speaker says his iPad line on AT&T costs $50 a month for 7GB of data. Verizon add-on device fee: $10/month - Family plan adds an iPad or other device for $10 a month after activation. Verizon activation fee: $30 - Described as a morally offensive one-time charge for adding a device. Project Fi / Google Fi data price: $10 per gigabyte - Discussed as the pricing for data usage on Google Fi. Google Fi phone line charge: $20/month - Base monthly charge for a phone line on Fi. Google Fi data device charge: $0/month - Data-only SIMs for devices were said to cost nothing per month. Google Fi soft cap: $60 at 6GB - Mentioned as the point where charges stop increasing until a higher threshold. Pixel Slate starting price: $599 - Lowest price mentioned for the Pixel Slate lineup. iPad release year: 2010 - Used to compare the iPad’s age to the classic Mac at a similar stage. Apple 8-year comparison: 1992 - Approximate year when the Mac was also eight years old, during System 7’s peak. Pixel 3 front cameras: 2 - The Pixel 3 front-facing camera system includes two cameras for wide selfies and related features. Pixel 3 rear cameras: 1 - The Pixel 3 has a single rear camera. Night Sight exposure count: up to 15 frames - Described as the number of frames Night Sight can stitch together. Android / Chrome OS update cadence: every 6 weeks - Chrome OS was described as shipping updates on a six-week cadence. Apple’s annual software cycle: once per year, with point updates in February/March - Used to explain why Apple ships major features on a yearly rhythm. iOS 12 beta stability: beta 1 was unusually stable - Not a formal statistic, but repeatedly noted as unusually stable for a WWDC beta. Pixel 3 review photo count: 600+ photos - Speaker estimated taking at least 600 photos with the Pixel 3.

Pivotal Quotes: "they laid the foundation. They built the house. The house is okay. It's not the best house. It's like a ranch. And then they just forgot to put any furniture in it" — John Gruber: Used to summarize Windows: a strong base lacking polished apps and coherent product direction. "the heaviness of the Mac that allows iOS to remain light" — John Gruber: Argument that the Mac’s continued existence gives iOS/iPad room to stay constrained and focused. "I swear they could just re take the script and just have Phil Schiller say it instead of Steve Jobs" — John Gruber: On how an ARM transition would likely be explained using the same performance-per-watt logic as the Intel transition.

Implications: The episode suggests the industry still lacks a perfect portable computing form factor: Macs remain best for work, iPads remain constrained, and Google’s hardware is improving but inconsistent. Carriers and software philosophy still shape user experience as much as specs.