Abstractions

By Justin Mayer & Dan Jacobson

Abstractions is a podcast about technology, software, hardware, and the Internet, and the way the ever-increasing layers of these technologies permeate every aspect of our everyday lives.

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FAQs about Abstractions:

How many episodes does Abstractions have?

The podcast currently has 67 episodes available.

Abstractions episodes:

August 06, 2026Long on Schadenfreude
MacOS upgrade shenanigans continue, SpaceX loses billions in first “earnings” report, LLMs are surprisingly good at financial advice, and Dan describes his new high-fidelity audio system.
🔗 Links
LLM2Human Clinic
Iris Photos app for MacOS
MacOS Safari standalone installer downloads from Apple
SpaceX’s first-ever earnings report comes as stock hits new all-time low
AI debt orgy can’t last forever, while hidden borrowing has exploded to $1.65 trillion
AI Economics for Dummies
AI financial advice is surprisingly good
LLMs reward expertise
Arcam A25 integrated amplifier
Dali Sonik 5 floor-standing speakers
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
50min
July 23, 2026Bubbles Don’t Really Give Way
Apple might be building servers powered by M7 Ultra processors, S&P downgrades Oracle’s debt, and open-weights large language models narrow the gap with frontier models.
🔗 Links
Why Oracle’s recent credit downgrade could be a warning sign for stocks
Moonshot and Alibaba unveil models they claim rival OpenAI and Anthropic
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
45min
July 16, 2026Caesar Debt Salad
Mac software developers find a way to get out of “squircle jail”, there is growing opposition to data center over-construction, and bankers warn about risks associated with growing debt and shrinking cash flow related to generative software infrastructure investment.
🔗 Links
Train melodies on Tokyo’s Yamanote line
Ride voxel Tokyo Yamanote train while studying Japanese
Thaw: Mac menu item organizer, Ice fork, and alternative to Bartender
Escape from Squircle Jail
Resist the Squircle Jail
NSDockTilePlugIn
Iris Photos: A Native MacOS photo library
Iris launch announcement post
Data center construction backlash
Backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan
Data centers are guzzling California’s water — We have no idea how much
Data Centers Now Consume 6% of U.S. Electricity — and the Backlash Has Begun
Generative software debt risk
Banks seek to offload risk to avoid “choking” on data center debt
Hyperscaler Debt Flood Brings Derivatives Bonanza
Big Tech’s $2.7 trillion AI bill comes due: Chart of the Day
AI boom risks global financial crash, warn central bankers
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
44min
July 09, 2026Footgun Cavalcade
Claude Fable & Mythos models are once again available, Sony kills PlayStation physical game discs, Xbox fires thousands of employees, commencement speakers are surprised by “AI” backlash, and Allbirds pivots from shoes to data centers.
🔗 Links
“Bring Me to Life” cover: Gregorian
“Bring Me to Life” cover: Otamatone
Fable 5 & Mythos 5 are now available again
ChatGPT can’t believe RAM prices
Sony kills PlayStation video game discs
Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles
Sony announces end of PlayStation discs
Xbox fires thousands of employees
Clueless commencement speeches about “AI”
Related comic
Allbirds abandons clothes, pivots to “AI compute infrastructure”
Money Stuff: AIbirds
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
52min
July 02, 2026Sulfuric Acid Shark Tank
Video game summer sales commence, we remember Om Malik, Apple raises prices, Apple Silicon servers could power Apple Intelligence, and Facebook and Amazon foist generative software onto their employees.
🔗 Links
Free The Icons: Apple should end their prohibition on shapes in MacOS app icons
Remembering Om Malik
Om Malik, 1966-2026 – On my Om
Matt Mullenweg: All Roads Lead to Om
Daring Fireball: Om
Glass: Remembering Om
More Om Links
Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket
Apple Reportedly Building M2 Ultra and M4-Powered AI Servers
Apple M5 Max vs. Nvidia DGX SPARK: Can Apple Dethrone CUDA?
Facebook Embrace of A.I. Is Making Its Employees Miserable
Facebook to pause internal mouse-tracking tech while examining data security issues
Amazon workers pressured to up AI use, making up extraneous tasks
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
48min
June 25, 2026Martian Human Vats
SpaceX stock price plummets, Llama.cpp and LlamaBarn are now “Llama”, and Microsoft hopes to make people addicted to its software.
🔗 Links
Are you in the weights?
Steam Machine launches
Llama
Microsoft Wants to “Make People Addicted” to its New AI Assistant
Original paywalled article
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
45min
June 18, 2026 Operating System Boomer
Apple II retro-gaming, small wins in Apple OS 27, Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 & Mythos 5, and the SpaceX IPO.
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
1h 2min
June 11, 2026Tickets to a Cat Museum
At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple announces Siri AI and other improvements to its upcoming OS 27 line of operating system software.
🔗 Links
WWDC26 highlights: Apple Intelligence, Siri AI, and more
Apple introduces Siri AI
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
45min
June 04, 2026Existential Horror of Existence
Google kills its search product after 25 years and announces its Gemini-LLM-centric “Googlebook” notebook, while Plex triples its lifetime pass price to $750.
🔗 Links
The Virtual OS Museum
Is AI Profitable?
Google kills its search product after 25 years
On Google declaring war on the Web
Ad Infinitum
Search alternatives:
Kagi
DuckDuckGo
Ecosia
Startpage
Googlebook
Official Reddit announcement post
Dropover: wiggle cursor to open a “shelf” (MacOS)
Plex lifetime pass to jump from $250 to $750
Jellyfin
Jellify music app for Jellyfin
Awesome Jellyfin
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
48min
May 28, 2026Boy Oh Boy Does It Show
Friends don’t let friends use Ollama, local software needs to be the norm, and why it’s not fun to read what LLMs write.
🔗 Links
Since You Arrived
Friends Don’t Let Friends Use Ollama
Local AI needs to be the norm
Local-first software: You own your data, in spite of the cloud
Local-first Software Directory
Sinceerly
Your AI Use Is Breaking My Brain
original 404 Media link (paywalled)
You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space.
Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.
...more
39min

FAQs about Abstractions:

How many episodes does Abstractions have?

The podcast currently has 67 episodes available.