Internet Friends

Follow-up on Garden (spoiler alert: nope) leads to a discussion of the evolution of keeping in touch, from actual pen pals through the IM years to the social media era, and the shifts in the nature of relationships that went along with it. Close relationships seem to make technological transitions more easily, but when one gets a little closer to hitting Dunbar’s number, it can get a little weird. Drew had an urgent topic come up before recording, though, so it was urgent that they discuss how awesome AirPods are. The main topic this episode is audio as an interface, which means talking about headphones, but that’s just the hardware. The interesting part is how technology is transforming the audible dimension of human life.

Want to be internet friends? Write to Drew and Jon or find us on Micro.blog at @InternetFriends.

One of the downsides of being off social media is losing the automatic reminders to stay in touch with people. Since deactivating Facebook four months ago, Jon is trying to build a system to replace that. Drew found an app called Garden that seems to fit the bill. They discuss whether it’s okay or healthy to rely on apps for maintaining relationships. Think about it: How do you remember when someone’s birthday is these days? Exactly.

Want to be internet friends? Write to Drew and Jon or find us on Micro.blog at @InternetFriends.

Jon has decided to retool everything on his phone, which means that something has gone wrong along the way. His ripping up of the digital floorboards turns into a conversation about our current ecosystems and the trickiness of answering questions that used to be simple like “What kind of phone should I get?” Recommendations aren’t as simple as they used to be, but perhaps they’re more important than ever. Also: Jon’s one-sentence review of the Apple HomePod.

Want to be internet friends? Write to Drew and Jon or find us on Micro.blog at @InternetFriends.

Not-live from not-Chicago, Drew and Jon recap Apple’s March 2018 event focused on education. They discuss the new iPad and updated iWork apps with Pencil support, the new Everyone Can Create courses teaching students how to make music, make movies, draw and take photos, and a whole range of new software capabilities supporting students and teachers.

Want to be internet friends? Write to Drew and Jon or find us on Micro.blog at @InternetFriends.

It’s not just us: the story of social media has turned dark, and the leaders of the big platform companies are scrambling to fix it. Drew and Jon consider the prurient origins of social media and wonder whether it’s possible for these companies to turn around. Zuckerberg and Dorsey are touting lofty new values and shiny new metrics, but when you really look at the recent controversies, it kinda seems ridiculous to think new, hand-wavey stats will save them. Jon and Drew’s solution: Just let the Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary curate News Feed worldwide and be done with it.

Want to be internet friends? Write to Drew and Jon or find us on Micro.blog at @InternetFriends.

Drew and Jon share their excitement and frustration about this transition period between the desktop and touchscreen worlds. They realize they’re talking about having fun with their Apple stuff, which the Apple commentariat seems to have forbidden recently. Inevitably, this leads them to how people talk about technology these days. Jon does a brief soliloquy on the evolution of tech news coverage and somehow ends up using a sports metaphor somehow. Tech is not sacred, so why is it so religious? They examine tech companies as almost mythic characters in a narrative — and how far this has gotten us from actually talking about what technology actually does for us. From there, optimism drives them to leave the media behind and talk about how their technology helps them live better lives.

Thanks so much for listening. We hope you love the show as much as we do. Starting now, we’ll be posting new episodes every two weeks for a nice, relaxing, not overly notification-y pace. Talk to you then.

Want to be internet friends? Write to Drew and Jon or find us on Micro.blog at @InternetFriends.

Drew and Jon’s internet friendship began with this no-longer-extant live video chat… show… thing on April 19, 2012. Internet friendship has changed dramatically since then. In this episode, they trace the histories of their internet selves from the pseudonymity of forums and AIM through their first forays onto social media, the dramatic transformation caused by discovering Twitter, and… *sigh*… what’s happened to the internet since then. They consider the link between creativity and conversation, the place-ness of online places, what happens to society when the town square gets trashed, and the loss of online intimacy everywhere except for podcasts — hence, this podcast.

Want to be internet friends? Write to Drew and Jon or find us on Micro.blog at @InternetFriends.