Put a Snack in There

November 20, 2025·1 hr 11 min·4 clips

Federico explains why the AI model wars feel exactly like the early App Store era — and why that's both thrilling and exhausting.

Episode 579 starts with ceremony. Mike introduces Federico and Stephen like this might be the week Connected becomes a serious operation, then immediately pokes at the idea that professionalism has arrived after 578 tries. The room loosens up fast. They look ahead to episode 600, compare their numbering quirks with Upgrade, and joke about how extra drafts and skipped Christmas breaks have bent the count over the years. Ecamm gets the sponsor slot, with the read covering Zoom output, separate participant audio and video capture, and a Black Friday and Cyber Monday annual-plan discount through December 2nd. Then the show veers off course in the usual Connected way. A tvOS note turns into what Mike calls the iPhone Pocket review, even as he admits he is not really a phone-wearing person. The useful part is the follow-up. Joey writes in with context for Apple's "a piece of cloth" phrasing: it points to a specific Issey Miyake art and garment idea, not just floaty Apple copy. Alex adds the technical side. APOC is described as a garment cut straight from a single piece of woven fabric, connected to a 3D knitting process where the garment is woven as one piece and then cut into shape. That makes the whole thing read differently. What first sounded like Apple getting precious about cloth becomes, in Mike's framing, a fashion reference he wishes he had caught the first time. They keep the tone chatty, more group thread than lecture. Mike reads, reacts, admits the added context helps, and stays amused by the concept of wearing a phone. The show's meta layer stays alive too. Thanksgiving scheduling turns into a bit when Stephen asks whether they are really recording next Thursday and Mike realizes why that might be odd. The answer is practical enough: they will record on Thanksgiving, and the episode lands a day later. Stephen also sends listeners toward a Mac Power Users episode that connects with the day's conversation. The close is quick, with Ecamm thanked again, 512 Pixels mentioned, and the usual round of goodbyes.

As heard by us

A loose Apple accessory discussion finds substance in the Issey Miyake design context behind iPhone Pocket.

Connected uses Apple's iPhone Pocket as a small object lesson in how tech products pick up meaning from design history. Mike Hurley leads the review, with Federico and Stephen folding in listener follow-up that reframes Apple's phrase "a piece of cloth" as a reference to Issey…

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Why you'd press play

If you have ever squinted at Apple marketing copy and thought something felt off, the listeners noticed too.

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