[SPEAKER_02]: a factual day to creation facility production.
[SPEAKER_01]: Recorded live, as if there was another way, it's the OF&T podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: Here's your host, a turkey who enjoys stuffing himself with turkey, Jim Shaffer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, wouldn't that make me a cannibal?
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the OFNT podcast episode 297, which I'm calling.
[SPEAKER_00]: Black Friday is over.
[SPEAKER_00]: I apologize for the couple of audio dropouts during last week's episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: They would cause by my dog crashing out a couple of times during recording.
[SPEAKER_00]: That in an over-zillist noise gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm still learning my new audio interface, so I asked you to please bear with me.
[SPEAKER_00]: To those who celebrated, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
[SPEAKER_00]: I sure did, and I'm still recovering.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, what's wrong?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh yes!
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes!
[SPEAKER_00]: 3, 2, 1
[SPEAKER_00]: Tech News.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most of the tech's new seeds over the last week were all about Black Friday deals.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think goodness that's over with.
[SPEAKER_00]: How many good deals were to be had if you asked me?
[SPEAKER_00]: That way I did pick up a gift for my wife.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only problem with Thanksgiving being over is that now big tech will start easing into holiday mode.
[SPEAKER_00]: Things won't become exciting again until the early spring.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, well.
[SPEAKER_00]: First up, 95 Mac has the following headline.
[SPEAKER_00]: Quote.
[SPEAKER_00]: This $450 iPad set up is a better buy than most Chromebooks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's why.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unquote.
[SPEAKER_00]: The article goes on to describe a set-up which includes a base model iPad made it to a logic tech keyboard attachment and an Apple Pencil.
[SPEAKER_00]: This could be had as the headline declares for $450.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, sort of.
[SPEAKER_00]: The base model iPad and the logic tech keyboard attachment are or were on sale at the time the article was written.
[SPEAKER_00]: At regular prices it would cost a bit over 500 bucks.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, but there's something about this story that sounds familiar.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it does.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just last week, I was installing the value of the base model iPad and describe a set-up where a young person could achieve a Mac-like experience with the base iPad serving as the hub.
[SPEAKER_00]: My set-up included a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, a 4K monitor and an E-series iPhone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Though previously I have described what this author set up is, Sam's Apple Pencil.
[SPEAKER_00]: I chalked this up to great minds thinking alike.
[SPEAKER_01]: More like having nothing to write about with a deadline looming.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the case of the author of this article, well, that's most likely the scenario.
[SPEAKER_00]: The point being, the base monolipad is the best computing device deal out there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pat and I feel the article's iPads set up with suit people younger than those the set up by described last week was targeted too.
[SPEAKER_00]: My setup was aimed at young adults just starting out tonight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Feel my setup gives you more bang for the buck.
[SPEAKER_00]: With Google's Chrome OS, slowly more often into what appears to be nothing more than a scaled-up version of Android, expect to see more articles like this in the future.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple Insider, quoting a report from supply chain analyst outfit UDN, claims that the increased problem-all current-photable phones have, has been solved by Apple.
[SPEAKER_02]: Wow!
[SPEAKER_00]: This breakthrough, as the article puts it, means that the iPhone Fold is nearing mass production.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's as report is true, and I see no reason to consider it false.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Apple iPhone Fold will be the first creaceless screen phone in the foldable form factor.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's say muddy achievement that's not to be discounted.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure Samsung or some other manufacturer will beat Apple with this months before the iPhone Folds release.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're probably right, but the execution will be as good as Apple's version.
[SPEAKER_00]: Supposedly this creaceless screen was made possible due to the hinge the engineers and Apple have designed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Freaceless or not, I have no plans on purchasing an iPhone folder, whatever Apple wants up calling it.
[SPEAKER_00]: No computing scenario for an iPhone with a book-style folding form factor exists for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And anyway, the darn thing will be too expensive.
[SPEAKER_00]: After showing my lovely wife a YouTube video of a renderer of this foldable iPhone, she decided this book style foldable format is not for her either.
[SPEAKER_00]: She decided to wait for an iPhone that folds up in the flip style rather than the book style.
[SPEAKER_00]: Upon hearing this, my bank account led at a sigh of relief.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you interested in the foldable iPhone?
[SPEAKER_00]: The holiday season is in full swing and the rumors are already flying around the old intertubes about the next batch of Apple operating systems, which of course will be OS27.
[SPEAKER_01]: According to, oh, let me take a wild guess.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mark German.
[SPEAKER_00]: Correct.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bloomberg's Mark Germanite is.
[SPEAKER_00]: This year's operating systems will be short on new features but long on quality.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hold on.
[SPEAKER_00]: What about Apple intelligence?
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, no real mention of that could be found, but the new AI-FU series is supposedly coming with the release of iOS26.4.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're currently on iOS26.2, so I guess we're looking at March or April for that to arrive.
[SPEAKER_00]: What we're rumored to be getting next year for OS 27 is, enhancements for enterprise users, features tailored for users in emerging markets, and designed weeks for liquid glass.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I don't use nearly half of the current operating system features that Apple provides, so if Cupertino can enhance and stabilize what they have now, well that'll be good enough for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to numerous reports from Apple's centric websites, I'll use Mac rumors as the source here.
[SPEAKER_00]: The apparent flop of the iPhone Air is caused major Chinese phone manufacturers to back off plans for their own copies, I mean versions of ultra-thin phones.
[SPEAKER_00]: Zhao Mi, the king of blatantly ripping off Apple designs and even names of Apple products,
[SPEAKER_00]: Oppo Vivo, and though they weren't mentioned in the article a Huawei, we're all gearing up to produce their interpretation of a thin phone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even Samsung who rushed out the S25 Edge in response to the iPhone Air, when it was still in rumor phase, as we partly cancel plans for the S26 Edge, and has halted production of the Galaxy S25 Edge.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now aren't you glad that you didn't buy the iPhone Air?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I guess I dodged a bullet there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love the form factor of the iPhone Air and almost pulled a trigger on buying one.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were just too many compromises with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Battery life being the main one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was first excited by the iPhone Air because it resembled a fictitious phone featured on an episode of Black Mirror on Netflix.
[SPEAKER_00]: People who did purchase an air can out be seen in comments, sections, and YouTube videos and also heard on podcasts defending their purchases.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't blame them.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I wound up getting one I would probably do the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: As of now, the iPhone Air isn't officially dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been reported that Apple is redesigning the model in order to add another camera and improve battery life.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will tell.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I actually followed my own advice for once, which is never by the first generation of any product.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now here's a story that I never expected to see on my news feeds.
[SPEAKER_00]: Looks like Apple and Intel are going to be doing business once again.
[SPEAKER_02]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: According to nine to five Mac, who are quoting former King of Supply Chain Leakers, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Mingxhi Quo.
[SPEAKER_00]: APPLAUSE That Intel may start producing Apple M series chip starting in 2027.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow!
[SPEAKER_00]: Now who saw this coming?
[SPEAKER_00]: According to the now slightly less esteemed mystical, Apple has decided to diversify its chip production by again partnering with Intel.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, not all MCB's chips will be made by Intel, only the standard ones, not the Pro Max or Ultraversions.
[SPEAKER_00]: The article suggests that this may be an effort to please the current administration by supporting a USB-S manufacturer.
[SPEAKER_01]: or with the current climate in that area of the world.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe Apple knows something we don't?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now you're getting into tinfoil hat territory.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think this is about, it's freeing up capacity for Taiwan's TSMC, who currently make all of Apple's chips.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you recall, Google just dropped Samsung in favor of TSMC to make their 10 store chips, which might put a strain on TSMC.
[SPEAKER_00]: But either way, diversifying a supply chain
[SPEAKER_00]: This next story is from Android Authority and concerns Google's Chrome OS.
[SPEAKER_00]: In early days, that was a big fan of Chrome OS that was to be sippy into the first Chrome book model because I entered a lottery that Google was running in and was lucky enough to be selected.
[SPEAKER_00]: At the time I wasn't yet in trench within the world garden apple ecosystem we all know and love.
[SPEAKER_00]: I still had an HP all in one as my desktop PC, and it's a cheap Windows laptop I used to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: As for phones, I had more than one at the time, but my main driver was a Nokia N8.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the phone was a Nexus 1, which I didn't care for, but that's a story for another time.
[SPEAKER_00]: that operated mainly online.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only problems with that and other early Chromebooks were the small storage capacity they came with, and that they had to be online in order to function properly if at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those problems have been fixed since then, and I've considered buying one many times over the years.
[SPEAKER_00]: The last time was a few years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was in the market for a laptop, and though by then I was deeply into Apple's ecosystem, I'd figured I'd save some money by getting a Chromebook and using iCloud.com for access to Apple apps, and Office 365 or whatever is called these days, mainly for Word and Excel, which I was using at work, smart thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I do that every once in a blue moon.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, I wound up purchasing a 15-inch M2 MacBook Air, which I still have.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because a Chromebook equipped with the same features would have cost even more than the MacBook Air.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, the irony.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nowadays, I seldom use my MacBook Air.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I use a 13-inch M4-chipped iPad Pro, complete with a Magic Keyboard attachment for my casual computing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last year, Google announced that they were combining Chrome OS with Android, and just about cleared out the Chrome OS development team with layoffs.
[SPEAKER_00]: This new hybrid operating system, if that's what it truly turns out to be,
[SPEAKER_00]: Note that it's not the Illuminum Project.
[SPEAKER_00]: It spelled ALU-M-I-N-I-U-M.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unless you thought I was trying to sound more intelligent than I, really am by using the British pronunciation of Illuminum.
[SPEAKER_00]: I do have some concerns with this new operatic system.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first is how secure will it be?
[SPEAKER_00]: Second, will this OS just be a semi-enhanced scaled-up version of the Android mobile operatic system?
[SPEAKER_01]: You mean sort of like iPad OS?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, exactly like iPad OS.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just occurred to me that perhaps that's why Google is doing this.
[SPEAKER_00]: They might know what direction Apple is headed in.
[SPEAKER_00]: As iPad OS is becoming more Mac OS-like.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple has even consolidated the numbering of its various operating systems.
[SPEAKER_00]: Eventually they can all be combined, I guess.
[SPEAKER_00]: In that case, Google could be attempting to beat Apple to the punch.
[SPEAKER_00]: That being said, I appear to be one of the few who have concerns about Chrome OSB merch with Android.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's because Android Authority conducted a survey, and 83% of the respondents said they wouldn't miss Chrome OS, especially if the new operating system offers the same features and more.
[SPEAKER_00]: While Android is the world's most used mobile operating system, Microsoft Windows dominates the computer space, primarily because most businesses and governments use Windows.
[SPEAKER_00]: Windows is what most Android users have running on their own at desktop and laptop computers.
[SPEAKER_00]: This could be an attempt by Google to wrestle some market share from Windows, especially amongst normal consumers.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I can't see businesses in government shifting to Android from Windows anytime soon though.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chrome OS can run Linux apps, so this could help persuade some consumers over to the Android desktop operating system.
[SPEAKER_00]: myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I weren't so invested into the apoleco system, I'd probably re-running Linux.
[SPEAKER_00]: Heck, I'm using to expand on that basic iPad set up from my S episode and also a bit of this episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll run down the brands and cost of everything I mentioned.
[SPEAKER_01]: Wait a minute.
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you saying that you actually did some research?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I was feeling energetic last Monday, so I figured, why not?
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now be advised.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a low-cost setup.
[SPEAKER_00]: Men for people who are down to the bone, if I may quote Ian Anderson of the band, Jethro told, What does that even mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: Down to the bone refers to being broke.
[SPEAKER_00]: No more?
[SPEAKER_00]: No less.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, gotcha.
[SPEAKER_00]: All prices were quoted from amazon.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: The main device to set up is of course the base model iPad.
[SPEAKER_00]: Normally it would sell for $349, but it's now on sale for $279.
[SPEAKER_00]: In order to have plug-in options, I selected an Acer 71 USB-C dock, which features two USB-A connectors for legacy devices.
[SPEAKER_00]: A high-speed USB-C data port, a normal USB-C port, a 4K HDMI port, and an SD port for adding some storage.
[SPEAKER_00]: It costs $23.
[SPEAKER_00]: They team books if you want it in space gray.
[SPEAKER_00]: For input, a Logitech MK250 Bluetooth mouse and keyboard combo, which normally goes for $30, but it's now on sale for $25.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's better to go with established name brands with keyboards.
[SPEAKER_00]: You made this all up with a high-quality USB-C or HDMI cable, well let's say, that'll cost you 10 bucks, to an LG 27 US 527-inch Ultra-Fine 4K monitor, which is currently on sale for $177.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's normally $249.
[SPEAKER_00]: And press though, you have yourself a powerful little setup that can also double as an entertainment hub.
[SPEAKER_00]: All this for the cost of around $665 plus tax, $555 plus tax if the items are on sale.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course you could mix and match to your own preferences.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to add a phone, well I'd recommend an iPhone E-series model.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well of course you would.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not only is this the cheapest model of iPhone you can buy, but it'll sink perfectly with your setup.
[SPEAKER_00]: As I said last week, the iPhone would be the most expensive item of this setup at 600 bucks plus tax.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you already have a phone or can score a later model iPhone on the use market for less money, well you're good to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you think about this setup?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you do better?
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me know what OFNT podcast at gmail.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: During last week's episode, I was complaining about the extra step it took in order to read your blood oxygen level results from your Apple Watch, amongst many other things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead of the results being displayed on your watch after performing the test, the way it had worked before the band, you had to get the results via the Health app on your iPhone.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was kind of bored at the time, so I decided to give it a look.
[SPEAKER_00]: The channel isn't a very popular one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I even forget the name of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: What caught my attention, though, was that the host of the channel had created an app that let you view the results of your blood oxygen test directly on your watch.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's called O2 Buddy, and I was sold.
[SPEAKER_00]: I immediately went to the app store and downloaded O2 Buddy.
[SPEAKER_00]: the price?
[SPEAKER_00]: A very reasonable 99 cents.
[SPEAKER_00]: After installing both the iPhone and watch versions of the app, well I gave it a test.
[SPEAKER_00]: We open the app.
[SPEAKER_00]: It displays the latest blood oxygen results in a list of previous results.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's where I ran into a problem with O2 buddy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Results are not available immediately after taking your blood oxygen test.
[SPEAKER_00]: It takes a little less than 30 seconds for the results to update on O2 Buddy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Still not as good as the pre-band method, but a little more convenient than Apple's method.
[SPEAKER_00]: It only cost me a buck, so I consider O2 Buddy worth it.
[SPEAKER_00]: entertainment news.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to preface this next report by stating I consider mainstream media and news reporting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, most of it anyway.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's entertainment as you've told us many times before.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, as I've told you many times before, hence its occlusion within the entertainment news section.
[SPEAKER_00]: Repeat this for the sake of new listeners.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're joking, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, it could happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you weren't aware, Apple has a news service.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now really?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's not like they have their own reporters and news bureaus.
[SPEAKER_00]: They partner with news agencies who provide the content.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a free tier called Apple News and a paid tier called Apple News Plus.
[SPEAKER_00]: The paid tier is also included within the Apple One Premier Bundle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or you can pay $12.99, cents per month for a standalone subscription.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of our reports that CNN has decided to end its decade-old partnership with Apple.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's because CNN launched once again a digital subscription service, which you can get for between 30 to $70 per year, depending on what tier you desire.
[SPEAKER_00]: A while back, CNN attempted the same thing, but it flopped.
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps they'll have better luck this time around.
[SPEAKER_00]: Supposedly Apple is in negotiations with CNN in order to restore CNN content to Apple News.
[SPEAKER_00]: But over the years, it's become one of the lowest rated major news outlets.
[SPEAKER_00]: CNN has pioneered the agenda driven and opinionated news format where stuck with today.
[SPEAKER_00]: The network has sunk so low that the ODSMSNBC now known as MSNOW beats CNN and viewership.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a subscriber of the Apple One Premier Bundle.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I pray that Apple allows me to drop Apple News Plus from my bundle, which would lower the price.
[SPEAKER_00]: I haven't watched or read anything, seen and pumps out for years now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And many have followed me in doing so.
[SPEAKER_00]: The new owners of CNN have been attempting to bring the once reliable news network back to its glory days, but so far, haven't been able to do so.
[SPEAKER_00]: For me, CNN and Apple News Plus will not be missed.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've made the snap decision to also include stories about social media within the entertainment section going forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you social media because doing so leads me feeling kind of upset?
[SPEAKER_00]: I do use YouTube, which you can consider social media, I guess.
[SPEAKER_00]: But have stop reading the comment sections of videos for the same reason as not using other social media platforms.
[SPEAKER_00]: I find this next story is kind of funny, while also reinforcing my beliefs at social media is not good for one's mind or health.
[SPEAKER_00]: X's new location feature exposes apparent fraudster accounts posing as Americans, Gaza journalists, is the headline of a Fox News article.
[SPEAKER_00]: You heard that, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Fox News.
[SPEAKER_00]: The new feature allows all ex-users to inspect where accounts are actually located.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what's coming?
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: The turns out that many of these MAGA and Gaza accounts were based in countries that are far outside the United States or Gaza.
[SPEAKER_00]: Examples given were 1776 General, which was based in Turkey,
[SPEAKER_00]: Abu Joma, Gaza, who claimed he was a journalist on the ground in Gaza, is actually based in Poland, and many more accounts who weren't from where they claimed to be from.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who knows how much misleading information was posted to these accounts that was fed to their thousands and some cases millions of followers.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wish I could tell you the real sources of verified news and information, but I really don't know myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I can say is, don't trust anything you read and now because of AI, watch or hear.
[SPEAKER_00]: My advice would be to just wait a day or two after reading, hearing or watching something on social media, and all other media before taking something as being gospel.
[SPEAKER_00]: internet, including nine to five Google, where I first heard of this next story, are reporting that Spotify is getting sent for yet another price hike for subscribers.
[SPEAKER_02]: What?
[SPEAKER_02]: What the hell?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been barely a year since the last price increase within the United States.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was introduced to Spotify by my son many years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: I enjoyed using it because Spotify had artists and songs on it that I couldn't find on any other service.
[SPEAKER_00]: Spotify's recommendation algorithm turned me on to many other artists I either had forgotten about or had never heard of before.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was magic.
[SPEAKER_00]: Since Spotify started going big into podcast and now video, the price increases have started getting hot and heavy.
[SPEAKER_00]: The app itself has gotten bloated and can be difficult to navigate at times, especially for an old fart like yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure if my son still pays for a subscription or not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I sure don't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like other things, my music listening habits have changed drastically since I've retired.
[SPEAKER_00]: That in other music streaming services have caught up with Spotify.
[SPEAKER_00]: What music streaming service do you use?
[SPEAKER_00]: Draw me a line, let me know, and I'll check them out.
[SPEAKER_00]: I currently use Apple Music after trying out most of the others.
[SPEAKER_00]: The best music streaming service that I have ever used was Nokia Music.
[SPEAKER_00]: Upon its demise, I use Microsoft Music, right before I switch to Spotify.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, Nokia and Microsoft Music Streaming Services are no longer in operation.
[SPEAKER_00]: podcast news, I'm going to talk about audio interfaces now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, the joy this will bring, not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was pretty content with my Louis XXX interface for a couple of years.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was simply you, sounded decent and hardware was unabtrusive.
[SPEAKER_00]: That isn't until I attempted to bring an audio via my smartphone.
[SPEAKER_00]: The plan was to have my daughter Jessica calling every week with a report from New York.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Connect 6 doesn't have any Bluetooth connectivity, but that's fine.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can connect your phone or other source via a USB-C cable.
[SPEAKER_00]: I soon this worked fine for many, but I was one of the unlucky ones where it did not.
[SPEAKER_00]: After going back and reading reviews, I found that many others, especially users of the Connect 6 from Germany were having the same problem that I was.
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem was that the USB-C phone connection just didn't work.
[SPEAKER_00]: I eventually got around this by connecting my phone to the interface by way of a USB-C
[SPEAKER_00]: was too late.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had already decided to move on from the Connect 6.
[SPEAKER_00]: I decided I would wait for the Roadcaster duo to go on sale at a discounted price.
[SPEAKER_00]: Skin Flint.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another thing about the Connect 6 interface was it sound.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought it produced dull plain Jane audio, which I tried
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem with plug-in-zo is that they introduce digital artifacts.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the interim, I purchased a Persona's Quantum ES2 audio interface at a bargain price.
[SPEAKER_00]: There it is again.
[SPEAKER_00]: What a skin flip.
[SPEAKER_00]: OK, I'm a cheap skate.
[SPEAKER_00]: We get it.
[SPEAKER_00]: While the audio the personas was producing was much better than what the loot connects six produced.
[SPEAKER_00]: Didn't have any onboard digital signal processing, forcing me to rely on outboard digital audio plugins for things like a noise gate compression and more.
[SPEAKER_00]: The resulting audio while still sounding much better than that of the Connect 6 was still degraded by the digital artifacts that the external plugins left behind.
[SPEAKER_00]: Still with me?
[SPEAKER_01]: Barely.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if the list there heard any differences in the audio of my podcast episodes or not, but I sure did.
[SPEAKER_00]: Luckily, Amazon Prime sale days coincided with my birthday, and after having the road duo on my wish list for over a year or more, the roadcaster duo was substantially discounted.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pull the trigger in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now all in one.
[SPEAKER_00]: The duo introduced another problem though.
[SPEAKER_00]: The device is overkill from my humble needs and comes with a steep learning curve.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm still learning about the duo and haven't gotten around to pairing my phone to it yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last week's episode was the best sounding one since using the Road Unit, well, leasing my opinion.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first episodes produced using the Road Duo set it muddy to these tired old ears.
[SPEAKER_00]: After figuring out the correct routing, all I did was remove some processing options that Road was implementing automatically.
[SPEAKER_00]: If only that old connects six had some of the options of the Road Duo while still maintaining
[SPEAKER_00]: Louis has all but abandoned the Connect 6.
[SPEAKER_00]: It hasn't received a firmware update in years.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last week I received an email from Louis.
[SPEAKER_00]: An email was asking my opinion on what features I would like to see in an audio interface.
[SPEAKER_00]: All but confirming that they're working on a new model.
[SPEAKER_00]: I responded by suggesting that they keep the same small footprint of the Connect 6.
[SPEAKER_00]: While adding Bluetooth in some more digital signal processing options, but not so many that the user would become overwhelmed, as I am with the do-oh.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I guess this means that you will again be in the market for a new audio interface.
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will continue learning how to use my Rodeo.
[SPEAKER_00]: Besides, a new, fluid audio interface is obviously still in the planning stages.
[SPEAKER_00]: We most likely won't be seeing the new model for a year or so.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, when it does come, I'll be sure to give it a nice hard look.
[SPEAKER_00]: The upcoming update to iOS26.2 is a Bivvy of new features Apple's own apps.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's great, but I have to ask, what does this have to do with podcasts?
[SPEAKER_00]: You're impatient, aren't you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of these upgrades are coming to the Apple Podcast app, which I find myself using more and more of these days.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple Podcast app has been slowly adopting features from the podcasting 2.0 standard, automatic transcripts being the main one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, according to 9 to 5 Mac, automatic chapters will be coming, a feature that most non-podcast 2.0 listening apps don't do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another feature is auto-generated links to other podcasts that are mentioned by the host of the podcast you're listening to.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you enjoyed this episode, I enjoyed making it for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you like what you heard, well, you can always make a donation using the link in the show notes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, donations will be greatly appreciated.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can always reach me at GoFNT podcast at gmail.com if you're so inclined.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd enjoy hearing from you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, don't listen to what they say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why?
[SPEAKER_00]: What they do?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, the sun is set, and the show is over, so get off my lawn.
[SPEAKER_00]: They escape the coal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, I'm out.
[SPEAKER_00]: See you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'll see you next week.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, are you going to say it or what?
[SPEAKER_01]: And that folks is the end of the show.