Here were a few of our favorites from Stratechery Plus this week.
- The Clock Strikes Midnight on Apple’s AI Efforts. After nine months of delays from Apple, we got news late last week that an AI-powered, “personalized Siri” will in fact be delayed indefinitely. In other words, the most ambitious Apple Intelligence features on display at WWDC last June not only haven’t shipped to date, but in a twist that’s equal parts embarrassing and concerning, they won’t ship until next year at the earliest. On Monday, Ben made a compelling case that this year’s catastrophe is evidence that it’s time for Apple to get over itself and capitalize on its still-excellent AI hardware by empowering third-party developers to build the killer AI software of the future. Then, in the final section of Tuesday’s Daily Update, we were reminded why it’s unlikely the current leaders at Apple will actually take that step. — Andrew Sharp
- More on Apple’s Intelligence Crisis. There has been no more authoritative voice covering Apple over the last two decades plus than John Gruber, and it was great to hear Ben and John discuss the Siri embarrassment on both Dithering episodes this week. This has been one of the higher profile Apple failures in decades, and John has the unique ability to contextualize this year’s disappointment with his own experience covering years of prior Apple releases, and his unique understanding of the broader Apple culture. I enjoy every 15-minute Dithering episode, but the semi-regular Apple summits are particularly great, and never moreso than this week. — Daman Rangoola
- And One More Thing. At the risk of Apple overload, I’ll just note that Ben and I have been podcasting together for two-and-a-half years, and in that time we’ve had roughly 500 conversations about Apple’s App Store policies and its devolving relationships with third-party developers. But throughout all those shows, we’d never talked about the history and psychology underlying modern Apple culture and its approach to developers. That changed this week as we took a different approach to covering the biggest story in tech: if you, like me, weren’t studying this company in the mid-90s, or don’t know who Scott Forstall is, Thursday’s episode of Sharp Tech provides fascinating context to some of the biggest Apple questions in the modern era. — AS
Stratechery Articles and Updates
- An Interview with Tailscale Co-Founder and CEO Avery Pennarun — An interview with Tailscale CEO and co-founder Avery Pennarun about Tailscale, and how he’s been learning to build a New Internet his whole life.
- OpenAI API Updates, Steelmanning the API Business, The Problem With Both — OpenAI has compelling new updates to their API that should be good for the API business; is that good for OpenAI?
- A Google I/O Idea, The Smartphone AI Value Chain, Apple’s Developer Hang-Ups — More on Apple and AI, this time through the lens of Google’s point of integration and where Apple should be in response. Plus, why Apple is so hostile to developers.
- Apple AI’s Platform Pivot Potential — Apple AI is delayed, and Apple may be trying to do too much; what the company ought to do is empower developers to make AI applications.
Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber
Asianometry with Jon Yu
Sharp China with Andrew Sharp and Sinocism’s Bill Bishop
Greatest of All Talk with Andrew Sharp and WaPo’s Ben Golliver
- The Mule vs. The Show Pony, An Official Statement on SGA Foul Baiting, Player Podcasts and Onesies
- The Cavs are Them and the Bucks are Not Them, An Official Statement on OKC’s Title Chances, Dispatches from Eastern Conference Hell
Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson
- The Murky Future for the NBA, A Variety of Notes on Apple and AI, In Defense of Tech That Removes Friction
- Apple History and Apple Psychology, How Apple Should Capitalize On Its AI Potential, Why It Probably Won’t
The latest Stratechery video is on AI Promise and Chips Precariousness.