The Rebound

Welcome to the future! Where you can scan your own books page by page thanks to Amazon (http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/03/rip-and-mix-is-fine-but-dont-burn-books/).

The future sadly will not include Radio Shack, which may be selling its stores to Sprint (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-02/radioshack-is-said-to-discuss-liquidation-as-part-of-sprint-deal) or Amazon (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-03/amazon-said-to-mull-buying-radioshack-stores-in-retail-expansion) or both.

Dan doesn't mind because You-do-it Electronics is still around (http://youdoitelectronics.com).

And, truly alas, TUAW will not be around in the future (http://www.tuaw.com/2015/02/03/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish/) and neither will Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2015/02/03/there-is-no-end/).

No sign, however that Daring Fireball is about to go under (http://daringfireball.net).

Individually run sites have the benefit of being able to make their own advertising decisions (http://sixcolors.com/post/2014/12/no-other-gatekeeper-but-me/).

It's not hard to imagine that AOL might mess up a decision or two as it's still big in the dialup Internet business (http://consumerist.com/2013/08/08/believe-it-or-not-2-58-million-people-still-pay-for-aol-service/).

If you miss TUAW, you can find most of them soon at Apple World Today (http://appleworld.today).

Apple itself, meanwhile, is rumored to be building a data center in that no-longer-used sapphire manufacturing facility (http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/02/02/apple-to-build-data-command-center-in-arizona/).

Lex is happy there's a way to make your iOS device's screen even darker (https://medium.com/@searls/how-to-make-your-iphone-dimmer-than-dim-d20fd3bbbb66). He's weird that way.

Lex will be back next week but it's just Dan and John this week.

Apple had a record quarter again (http://sixcolors.com/post/2015/01/apple-announces-q1-2015-results-today/), despite the dreaded currency headwinds. Brr.

Gene Munster got no answers on the Apple TV yet again. Dan likes his Fire TV (http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-W87CUN-Fire-TV-Stick/dp/B00GDQ0RMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422649498&sr=8-1&keywords=fire+tv) and Plex (https://plex.tv). The CEO of HBO has famously said he doesn't care if people share HBO Go logins (http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattlynley/hbos-ceo-doesnt-care-that-you-are-sharing-your-hbo-password#.nwy6PgzY9).

Contrary to what John says in this episode, Netflix is not losing Doctor Who (http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/entertainment/netflix-bbc-doctor-who-feat/index.html). It is losing some other shows.

Apple Pay is coming to 200,000 more outlets (http://www.macworld.com/article/2834669/the-ultimate-guide-on-how-and-where-to-use-apple-pay.html).

John talks about his career using plastic disks (http://davewooldridge.com/post/8666912823/for-all-you-star-trek-fans-toy-collectors-i) as counterfeit nickels.

It's notable that Apple had the most profitable quarter of any company ever (http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/apple-just-had-the-biggest-quarterly-earnings-of-any-company-ever/). And that Apple sold more smartphones than Samsung (http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/28/smartphone-report-q4-2014/). For some reason.

Microsoft announced freaking holograms this week (actual holograms not included) so we spend most of our time on that (http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/).

There's a host of "ZOMG!" commentary on the web about it but there's at least some reason to have a wait-and-see attitude (http://www.polygon.com/2015/1/21/7868351/hololens-kinect-microsoft-windows-10).

Not-really-holograms are so exciting that barely leaves us any time to discuss how badly (http://pando.com/2015/01/18/dan-lyons-career-an-obituary/) Dan Lyons' career is going down the tubes (http://pando.com/2015/01/20/the-death-of-dan-lyons-career-your-daily-update/).

We still eagerly await the Apple Watch, the companion app for which was recently revealed (http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/13/apple-watch-iphone-companion-app-revealed-with-new-watch-features-monograms/).

But if you went to CES you could have gotten a fake Apple Watch for $30 (http://mashable.com/2015/01/08/fake-apple-watch-ces/).

That reminds us of a great story from Macworld | iWorld 2013 (http://www.macworld.com/article/2027044/starfish-smartwatch-saga-illustrates-entrepreneurial-stumbling-blocks.html).

Dan is getting an Amazon Echo (http://www.amazon.com/oc/echo/). For science.

But he really wants to talk about his surfeit of remotes and how he hopes the Neeo will fix all his problems including that rash (http://www.neeo.com).

The entire rest of the episode is a T-Mobile ad read conducted by Lex (http://www.t-mobile.com).

Much of the episode is spent talking about a post by Marco Arment (http://www.marco.org/2015/01/04/apple-lost-functional-high-ground).

Daniel Jalkut has collected a list of problems over the last 10 years (http://bitsplitting.org/2015/01/05/the-functional-high-ground/), so it's not like Apple has always had bugs. Since posting, Marco has said he regrets saying what he said because of the subsequent media buzz (http://www.marco.org/2015/01/05/popular-for-a-day).

Dr. Drang has another take (http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/2015/01/apple-leverage/).

Moltz and Dan have a wait-and-see approach to Photos (http://www.imore.com/photos-os-x-yosemite-explained). Lex is going to be the experiment group.

The only interesting thing we've heard from CES is that Mophie has Juice Packs for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (http://www.mophie.com/shop/battery-cases). Unless you want a DJ controller that looks like the Millenium Falcon (http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/06/casio-new-dj-controllers-trackformer/).

Lex and Moltz talk about their experience with the Kano (http://www.kano.me).

Lex is considering getting custom-made ear molds for headphones (http://earsound.com). Dan wants to look like Lobot (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lobot). But then he's going to the Anaheim Star Wars Celebration (http://www.starwarscelebration.com).

Moltz has a red light on his Drobo (drobo.com). But it's gonna be OK.

Then we discuss the rumors about a 12-inch MacBook Air.

http://www.slashgear.com/macbook-air-2015s-killer-feature-may-be-a-lack-of-click-22360353/

Rumors often don't pan out, like the one about them removing the headphone jack on iPhones.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/06/06/lightning-enabled-headphones-could-let-apple-ditch-the-headphone-jack-on-future-iphones

Then the podcast ends forever when Dan says he keeps trackpad tapping on on his MacBook Air. So long, been nice podcasting for you.

OK, back to headphones, Moltz has these Bose jobbies — http://www.amazon.com/Bose-MIE2-Mobile-Headset-Black/dp/B007WQ9LSC/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&srs=2529061011&ie=UTF8&qid=1420181104&sr=1-1&keywords=bose+headphones — which, eh, are OK.

Dan has Koss PortaPros: http://www.amazon.com/Koss-PortaPro-Headphones-with-Case/dp/B00001P4ZH

Lex has Sony MDRV6s: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDRV6-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B00001WRSJ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420182061&sr=8-2&keywords=sony+mdr

If you're having trouble hearing from your MacBook's speakers, you can use Boom and, well, maybe blow your speakers out.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/boom/id415312377?mt=12

Seems like you could get some completely acceptable podcasting equipment for certainly no more than $200. A Yeti isn't the best microphone in the world but it's fine. Hindenberg Journalist is about $100. For $100 more you can get Logic Pro.

Yeti: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1420182267&sr=1-1&keywords=yeti+microphone

Hindenberg: http://hindenburg.com/products/hindenburg-journalist/

Logic Pro: https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/

For video, if iMovie drives you berserk, you could actually edit video in Screenflow.

http://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm

Finally, Lex tells the story of the PowerBook 540c that got away. By being stolen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_500_series

Was iTunes 12 a crime? Lex and John introduce Dan to Crossy Road and the result is...predictable.

John has some choice words for Zuck, Lex details what would make him switch to an Apple TV, and the only upside to Apple's arbitrary app review process is that Dan has found his calling in life.

Lex buys a new TV, John buys a new car, and Dan doesn't buy whatever they're selling.

On this happiest of Thanksgiving holidays, Lex talks about his new electric car, Dan talks about his new Fire TV Stick, and John talks about people with stupid advice for Apple.