MobileViews.com Podcast

In MobileViews 623, recorded on August 23, 2026, Jon Westfall and I reunited after a brief summer hiatus. I congratulated Jon on his official promotion to full professor!

The main discussion was my observations and rants dealing with the effects (1st world problems) of Hurricane Lala, which was downgraded to a tropical storm as it passed south of Oahu. While our immediate neighborhood was spared major damage, we experienced an annoying 45.5-hour power outage that instantly killed our wired broadband and degraded local cellular towers. Prior to the storm, I successfully experimented with Google Spark to aggregate emergency updates, but once offline, my only communication lifeline was Apple’s satellite messaging service to stay in touch with Jon and my daughter. While the service worked brilliantly, Jon and I strongly criticized Apple's UI design for hiding the satellite settings until a crisis occurs, which prevents users from familiarizing themselves with the interface beforehand.

My experience with utilities recovery highlighted a massive gap in customer service "situational awareness". I spent days dealing with AT&T and Spectrum customer service representatives who claimed our services were fully active when hundreds of households in our neighborhood were entirely offline. Jon and I agreed that this is a prime use case for AI coordination. Spectrum, in particular, could have resolved problems if it had what I call an Omniscient AI Analyst monitoring incoming service calls and comparing it to declared operational status. In this case, after one of my neighbors was able to escalate a call to a tier 1 technician, it appears that a service call about a mile away had restore service to at least one customer resulting in the entire region being listed fully online. This resulted in a truck roll late at night (kudos to Spectrum for this) that restored service to our area in a few hours.

Related to this AI Analyst concept, Jon recently tested ChatGPT's Codex as a virtual systems administrator on a VPS, finding it incredibly diligent at running backups, simulating disaster recoveries, and analyzing server logs. When traditional digital networks failed us, our most reliable source of hyper-local road conditions and safety information turned out to be our neighborhood postal worker, proving that low-tech human networks still trump broken infrastructure during emergencies.

We finished up the episode with a look at new hardware and physical ergonomics. Jon evaluated the Clicks physical keyboard for the iPhone, praising its build quality but admitting his thumb-typing speed has naturally declined in favor of on-screen typing over the last 15 years. I shared who I made an uncomfortable "ergonomic" split keyboard actually comfortable, I bought inexpensive plastic "laptop feet" to give the keyboard a 15-degree lift on its rear side, and I’m eagerly awaiting a bioluminescent keyboard skin to make the low-contrast keys of my MacBook Neo visible in dim light.

Our thoughts go out to those on the Big Island and other areas who suffered severe losses and who are still dealing with power and water outages a week after the storm. We hope to have our friend Sven Johannsen back on the show next week to talk about his latest hardware purchases.

In MobileViews Podcast 622, I caught up with my good friend Mike Temporale for his first appearance on the show in nearly ten years! We started off with a brief trip down memory lane reflecting on his visit to Hawaii and our past discussions, before discussing how we're both integrating AI into our daily workflows. I shared some of my recent experiments using Google Gemini to auto-generate illustrated frames for my blog and using Adobe Podcast Studio alongside Gemini to automatically build YouTube chapter timestamps from transcript files. Mike had a great real-world story from his summer at his cottage, showing how AI helped his family quickly render design ideas for a cottage awning, calculate costs, and locate local contractors in minutes.

We also spent time talking through the practical realities and failures of current AI tools, including Mike's experience using Microsoft Copilot for employee performance reviews and how it struggles to trace back to its original email sources. From there, our conversation turned to the evolving mobile hardware landscape. We compared our current daily devices—including Mike's experience with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra—and weighed in on the upcoming hardware trends, from memory constraints forcing developers back toward code efficiency to what we hope to see from Apple's eventual entrance into the foldable market.

It was a great, wide-ranging discussion covering everything from 6502 assembly language programming on the Apple II to modern Gemini Spark agents automating my daily tech news briefs. 

We wrapped up with a promise not to wait another decade before the next chat, with plans to reconnect around Canadian Thanksgiving in October. Check out the full episode video and transcript to hear all the details!

For MobileViews 621 I'm joined by longtime friend Jason Dunn filling in as guest co-host. We kicked off by discussing the "moatless" nature of modern AI tools, where hopping between Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT is easier than ever, though our deep ecosystem preferences often dictate our ultimate choices. This led into a deep dive on note-taking app migrations. Jason shared his recent departure from Evernote after a shocking 171% price hike under its new holding company, Bending Spoons. Using an AI-assisted plugin, he successfully migrated 16 years of data to a local Obsidian vault. I shared my own frustrations with Microsoft OneNote, where basic tasks like syncing handwriting on my Boox e-ink tablet are quietly draining my limited monthly Copilot AI credits, pushing me to explore Obsidian as well.

I noted my initial experience using Google Spark, an autonomous personal AI agent that recently rolled out to Google AI Pro subscribers. This capability was once restricted to the much more expensive Google AI Ultra tier. In my test, I instructed Spark to review the extensive archive of past MobileViews Podcast show notes alongside current technology news platforms. Utilizing the recurring themes from our previous episodes, the agent generates a compiled tech news digest daily at 6:00 PM US Eastern Time, aligning with the conclusion of the standard workday.

A major topic was Jason’s journey into "vibe coding". While initially hesitant, he used AI to build a custom Tampermonkey script that saved his team over 150,000 manual clicks by streamlining a web form. He later used AI to develop a Mac OS tool called "File Time Travel" to fix frustrating video timestamp metadata issues in Google Photos—a highly specific problem that software developers have not addressed. We discussed how AI flips the traditional learning curve on its head, empowering non-developers to create deeply personal, single-purpose software solutions.

We wrapped up by exploring the power of voice-as-input for AI. Jason has been using Whisper Flow, an LLM-powered speech-to-text tool that finally fulfills the broken promises of old software like Dragon Dictate by actually understanding conversational context and complex names. This allows for "ramble coding"—speaking massive, context-rich prompts directly into the AI to generate much better code and outputs. Of course, the AI revolution isn't without its hilariously frustrating bumps; we swapped stories about AI hallucinations, from Microsoft Copilot completely fabricating Yellowstone episode descriptions.

In MobileViews 620, Jon Westfall recorded a special solo "vidcast,"(since I was not available for recording a podcast this week) recording a walk-and-talk along an historic railroad trail in Cleveland, Mississippi. Filming entirely on his Insta360 Luna Ultra with a neck mount and the creator pack microphone, Jon used the scenic Sunday walk to share his recent deep dive into data sovereignty and the process of building his own local alternatives to popular subscription apps.

The core of Jon’s summer project was migrating away from the Day One journaling app to avoid its $25 yearly fee and proprietary cloud storage. Using ChatGPT and Codex, he generated scripts to convert his Day One JSON export into future-proof Markdown files managed within an Obsidian vault. He then successfully replicated Day One's best features, using Apple Shortcuts and Python to ingest text snippets, process daily photos, perform offline audio transcriptions, and even selectively transcode video files larger than 25MB down to mobile-friendly sizes.

Expanding his DIY software suite, Jon also automated his personal relationship management and location tracking. He built a script that "interviews" him weekly to automatically update his self-hosted Monica CRM and Obsidian vault with details about his interactions with family and friends. Furthermore, to reclaim his travel history after Google restricted the web version of Google Maps Timeline, Jon coded a tool to parse his device's local JSON location data into detailed, daily Markdown travel logs. With his self-hosted documentation ecosystem fully functional, Jon is taking it on the road for late-summer travel and will return to the podcast in mid-August.

Jon Westfall and I started off MobileViews 619 with quick tech troubleshooting before I shared my early experiences with the iPad OS 27 public beta 1 on my M3 iPad Air. While the new AI-powered Siri is currently non-functional for me (and, yes, I am off of the waitlist), I have been taking advantage of the new Apple Shortcuts triggers for keyboard connection. Using a plain English prompt, I built a shortcut that automatically toggles Stage Manager windowing on or off depending on whether my Bluetooth keyboard is connected. We also noted a subtle but important branding shift: Google has officially renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook, though the web destination remains the same for now.

The core of our conversation focused on the profound impact AI is having on higher education and course design. Jon noted that as AI companies merge their tools—such as integrating Codex directly into the ChatGPT Mac app—automation is becoming much more holistic. He detailed his new workflow for building his clinical psychology and statistics courses, using AI to spot curriculum blind spots, draft syllabi, and suggest relevant journal articles. Most impressively, he now uses Codex to automate the tedious administrative "grunt work" of building modules and formatting links directly inside the Canvas learning management system, freeing him up to focus on transitioning his classes toward project-based learning rather than traditional exams.

We wrapped up the episode with a discussion on the psychological trap of having a dedicated "tech budget". We agreed that it is too easy to buy devices just because the funds are available, leading to cognitive dissonance when you feel forced to use hardware you don't actually need. Instead of buying minor upgrades, Jon is actively saving his budget for the rumored foldable iPhone that might be announced later this year.

In MobileViews 618, recorded on July 12, 2026, guest co-host Don Sorcinelli joined me to cover a wide range of tech updates. I kicked off the show with a shoutout to my web host, DreamHost, who helped me manage an exponential spike in website traffic by filtering out various bots that were crashing my virtual private server. We then looked ahead to the upcoming Google Pixel event on August 12th, where we expect to see the Pixel 11 and potentially a new Pixel Watch. We also discussed the rollout of Android 17, noting its gradual improvements to desktop mode compared to the initial version rolled out in Android 16.

I shared my frustrations with Microsoft Copilot, which is rapidly burning through my AI credits just for using basic OneNote features like syncing handwritten notes. This has pushed me to experiment with Obsidian and the Excalidraw plugin as a potential offline alternative for my e-ink tablet. We also touched on Windows, discussing the new Cloud Rebuild feature in the Windows 11 preview. Don shared his success in reviving an older 2019 Samsung Galaxy Book with a simple Windows 11 reset, a timely win given that skyrocketing RAM and SSD prices continue to make budget-friendly options like the MacBook Neo incredibly appealing.

Finally, Don provided a deep dive into the complex world of Microsoft Enterprise Licensing. He explained how Microsoft is rolling features from its struggling Intune suite into its standard E3 and E5 licenses while simultaneously pushing price increases. Most notably, they have introduced a new E7 license—which Don jokingly called the "mother of all licenses"—that includes high-end Copilot agent features for a staggering $99 per user per month. We closed out with a look at how these price hikes, including those for non-profit organizations, are forcing IT departments to carefully rethink how they assign user licenses across their organizations.

Google just added the "Take Notes for Me" feature to the consumer version of Google Meet if you have a Google AI Pro or AI Ultra subscription. This was previously only available to Google Workspace group subscriptions. I opted to turn on the feature for this and future podcasts. You can find this Google Meet generated summary on MobileViews.com.

With episode 616, recorded on June 28, 2026, we marked the halfway point of the year with a deep dive into a term that I previously dismissed but am now on-board with:  "Microslop"—a term for the frustrating decline and fragmentation of Microsoft's ecosystem. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which recently stripped out its scanning function, turned a previously simple task into a multi-step ordeal. It is particularly ironic that Copilot continues to hallucinate, even suggesting I use the retired Office Lens app for scanning, seemingly unaware of its own company's product retirements. Consequently, I’ve pivoted to Genius Scan, a fast and purposeful alternative that offers a far better experience for digitizing my daily doodle project sketches.

Jon, meanwhile, has been putting two impressive new hardware gadgets through their paces. He’s been testing the Insta360 Luna Ultra, a gimbal camera featuring a clever detachable screen that doubles as a remote control, allowing him to film himself while managing tracking and settings from a distance. He also showcased the Kodak Zink Slim Printer, a pocket-sized device that creates color adhesive stickers using zero-ink, heat-sensitive paper—perfect for adding instant color photos to a physical journal. While these gadgets provide plenty of utility, the broader tech landscape is facing a sobering shift: AI-driven demand for components is causing shortages in RAM and SSDs, leading to significant price hikes for devices like the MacBook Neo, which is expected to jump in price from $599 to $699.

I opened with a "mini-rant" about the frustrations of the USB-C ecosystem and aparent power requirement issues with a new Acer USB-C external LCD display. We also observed possible tangible effects of "AI scarcity," noting that Google Meet recordings and Alexa Plus responses are taking significantly longer to process, likely due to the processing demands of modern AI models. This scarcity sparked a conversation on new social norms in the AI age, specifically regarding the etiquette of AI agents (like Read.ai) attending meetings and the "cat-and-mouse game" of recording lights on smart glasses.

Jon shared a major shift in his productivity workflow by moving to Obsidian, a "Swiss Army knife" of note-taking. By using Codex to convert 20 years of WordPress entries and Day One journals into Markdown files, he has created a future-proof, portable "vault" that avoids proprietary databases. We also discussed the release of Android 17, which introduced an interesting "Screen Reactions" overlay feature but also caused frustration by resetting permissions for tablet casting and photo galleries.

To wrap up, Jon provided a field report on his DJI Neo 2 drone, which successfully tracked him during a 20mph e-bike ride. Despite suffering its first high-speed crash into a tree, the lightweight drone proved remarkably durable, surviving the impact with no visible damage. We also touched on a few tech trends, including Gen Z's growing rejection of Silicon Valley's vision in favor of "dumb" tech like flip phones and repaired iPods

In MobileViews 614, Jon Westfall and I were joined by frequent guest panelists Sven Johansson, and Don Sorcinelli discuss the highlights from Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference—or, as it we call it: the "Apple AI Conference". We also discussed the branding shift as my Google One 2TB plan was officially rebranded to Google AI Plus, signaling a broader industry trend toward AI-centric subscriptions. Don shared his experience with the Dreambeans experiment from Google Labs, which acts as a "really good sketch artist" by creating eerily accurate daily comic strips of your life based on calendar data and search history. This led to a deeper debate on the privacy vs. utility trade-off, contrasting Apple’s "private cloud compute" architecture with Google’s data-heavy personalization. The conversation turned to the shifting economics of AI, which I’ve dubbed the "drug dealer model". Companies are moving away from subsidized usage toward granular credit systems; for instance, Microsoft Copilot now consumes credits for simple tasks like opening large files or syncing handwriting. Despite these costs, "vibe coding" remains a game-changer. I shared how I used Google AI Studio to build a custom tool that summarizes the Techmeme River news feed and reads it back to me using an AI-synthesized voice, a task that took less time than brushing my teeth. Jon and I also lamented the current state of Siri, wishing it could handle multiple commands simultaneously rather than the current "one-step-at-a-time" limitation. We closed out with a look at the hardware horizon and a bit of tech nostalgia. While rumors swirl about AirPods with built-in cameras to help the user "see" the world, I was disappointed by the lack of any hints regarding a desktop Mac Neo. Our parenting discussion highlighted the iPad as the gold standard for managed digital access for toddlers, with Don choosing a strict "kiosk mode" approach to build good habits early. Finally, we reminisced about the original Microsoft Barney doll and the early days of Microsoft Flight Simulator (in context of the new Flight Simulator in Google Earth).