Dot Grid

As the world hunkers down to battle COVID-19 and millions of office workers start to work from home, Will and Andy discuss their newfound, homebound hobbies and work practices. Will has a coffee subscription service that involves a wi-fi enabled scale, and Andy installed bluetooth light bulbs all over his apartment. So, you know, things seem to be going pretty okay.

New year, same us (Though with 200% more Merlin Mann-style hotel desk bells)! Will and Andy throw back the curtain and show off their phone home screens, their watch faces, and what’s sitting in their Mac app docks. The apps you see there may shock you! Or, of course, it might be just what you expect.

Will and Andy are joined by Michael J. Metts, Chicago-based UX designer and co-author of the book “Writing Is Designing” with Andy. The two of them dig into how they collaborated, edited, reviewed, and got the book to the publishers, all while working 2000 miles and two timezones away from each other.

Third time’s a charm! Will and Andy are getting serious… about games. Andy doesn’t like board games because he doesn’t want to work to have fun, but he likes playing Apples to Apples in the Inverted Method. Will’s gonna guess the velocity of the unladen European Swallow with Wingspan, and build his IBM card deck. Plus: EXTREME PLAYDATE CONTENT.

Whooooo buddy, is this one a long time coming. Will and Andy record IRL. It takes them 22 months to post it. Sounds about right.

2017 is finally over, and Will and Andy are talking about new year resolutions for 2018. Specifically, the mechanics of them: how do you set resolutions? How do you keep track of them? How well do you keep them? That, plus lots of chatting about paperback books and “portable word processors” from the early 2000s. Plus, why is there a “.men” TLD but not a “.women”?

Will and Andy be talking ‘bout that Apple Watch and dem Fitbits. Also, Soviet-era pocket watches, apparently.

Today, after a long talk about video games and, er, internet coming-of-age stories, Will and Andy talk about “smart home” devices — wi-fi enabled lightbulbs, digital assistant dinguses, sentient refrigerators and fancy speakers. Andy confesses his home is completely dumb, but after the techno-apocalypse, he won’t be locked out of his home and car like Will. Warning: Andy and Will forget and say (literally) triggering words that may summon your always-listening dingus to life. Proceed with that knowledge.

Will and Andy are talking about subscriptions, both analog and digital. This is especially relevant as of late, as big apps like Day One and Ulysses have decided to switch to the subscription model. What mental processes do we go through when making a decision to subscribe to something? How does the subscription model benefit the maker?

Plus, help support the show and keep the lights on: We have stickers and buttons! Head over to the Erasable Shop to check them out. And if you add both to your cart, and use promo code #SWAGSTACK, you can save $2 on your order.

Will and Andy are back! Again! And this time, they’re making a commitment to staying back for you, the listeners. Today’s episode catches you up on what’s new in their lives, personally and professionally, and what tools and workflows they’re using that have changed. Plus: they document how Millennials are, indeed, ruining literally everything. At least according to the news.