Mac Power Users 625: Apple as the Measuring Stick, with Austin Evans

YouTuber and podcaster Austin Evans drops by Mac Power Users to talk about his content business, how Apple is competing in the wider marketplace, and the gear he uses to get work done with a growing team.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile. 
  • Indeed: Get a free $75 credit to upgrade your job post.
  • Memberful: Best-in-class membership software for independent creators, publishers, educators, podcasters, and more. Get started now, no credit card required.

January in the MacSparky Labs

The first month of the MacSparky Labs went swimmingly. I spent a lot of time working on the back end of things as I added features and figured out friction points. But I still got a lot shipped to the members. Here’s a list of content that got released in January.

  • January 27 – I released a video sharing the tech gear I bring with me on trips with the Backstage and Early Access members..
  • January 26 – I did a zoom call with Early Access members sharing how I’m using calendars these days. (It’s kind of nuts.)
  • January 25 – I released a screencast demonstrating how to capture ideas on the iPhone with shortcuts.
  • January 22 – I released the journaling webinar video to early access members …well … early.
  • January 21 – I released a walkthrough of me building a shortcut from scratch to manage scheduling new podcast episodes to the Backstage and Early Access members using Shortcuts, Obsidian, Mail, and Calendar for Backstage and Early Access members..
  • January 19 – I made of a video of myself building the slide deck for the Journaling webinar and narrated it with some of my favorite Keynote techniques for the Early Access subscribers.
  • January 18 – I made and released a screencast about how to capture ideas on the Mac using Keyboard Maestro and Obsidian.
  • January 17 – I released my video interview with Kourosh Dini to Backstage and Early Access members where we talked about DEVONthink, Obsidian, top-level task management, and music.
  • January 14 – We had the first MacSparky labs virtual meetup on Zoom for Backstage and Early Access members.
  • January 12 – I released of video of me setting up and testing vibration and leak sensors in my home. I also shared an unsuccessful experiment to rig up my mailbox with a vibration sensor. (I haven’t given up on that one yet.
  • January 10 – I shared a video update and an example of how I block schedule.
  • January 7 – I did my quarterly planning with a Zoom room full of Early Access subscribers.
  • January 5 – I made a video answering some of the most often asked qustions following my big announcemnt.
  • January 3 – I released my first video to the MacSparky Labs members

Wizards No Longer United

I was too old to understand Pokémon Go, but I was interested in Niantic’s “Wizard’s Unite” game that came out a few years ago. The game was set in the Harry Potter universe and required you to catch digital creatures out in the real world. My enthusiasm for the game lasted about a week. I found that I preferred engaging with the actual world around me more than the little window on my phone. It sounds like I was not alone as the game is shutting down today.

All that said, I do think these reality interactive games are going to be huge in the future as technologies like VR/AR glasses evolve into something that you don’t have to literally strap to your face.

Automators 94: Legal Nerd-ness with Jeff Richardson

On this week’s episode of Automators, Rosemary and I are joined by Jeff Richardson: lawyer by day, automator for life. 

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • Fitbod: Get stronger, faster with a fitness plan that fits you. Get 25% off your membership.
  • Doppler: Sync environment variables at scale.
  • New Relic: Monitor, debug, and improve your entire stack. Sign up now and get 100GB of data free, forever – no credit card required.

Journaling Webinar Now on YouTube

Last week I did a free webinar on how (and why) I journal. It came out great, and I’ve got a lot of positive feedback on it. I usually add the webinar content to the appropriate Field Guide after I’ve finished it. In this case, however, I don’t have any Field Guide where adding a 45-minute journaling webinar makes sense, so I’m posting it to YouTube. Enjoy


There are a few links I mention in the video. Here they are.

Sparky’s Journal Prompts Page

Day One

Obsidian App

Craft App

Roam Research

Also, if this sort of thing interests you, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. I’m going to be posting there more regularly going forward.

Audio Hijack is Getting Scripting Support

Rogue Amoeba has the details on their website:

Perhaps the single most notable change, however, is something making a return from years back: scripting support. In the years since Audio Hijack Pro 2 was replaced by Audio Hijack 3, we’ve never stopped getting requests for some type of scripting to make a return. After much research and experimentation, we’ll soon be providing a from-the-ground-up JavaScript-based scripting system, as well as Shortcuts support.

I agree with Jason Snell. Audio Hijack has been my go-to audio recording tool for years. As a podcaster, I can record my mic, the Zoom audio, and a combined version of everything all at once. It’s this ability in Audio Hijack that has all of us nerds with our knickers in a bunch about podcasting on the iPad. It’s powerful enough, but it cannot do that.

That said, every time I record a show, I issue a silent prayer for Audio Hijack to get scripting support so I don’t have to take so many manual steps, even using my beloved, there is only so much I can do. This is going to be an awesome update. I can’t wait to put it in the rotation.

Apple and Support for Old Hardware

There are a lot of knocks against Apple that, when I hear them, I say, “Yup. That’s about right.” They charge too much for storage on new Macs. They’re secretive about new products, which is smart. But they are also often secretive about little stuff, which seems dumb. They are way too stingy with free iCloud storage. (5GB?! Really? In 2022?)

But then there is a separate category of knocks against Apple that baffle me. One of those is the idea that they cripple old devices, so you’ll buy a new one. Where do people get that idea? Until recently, my wife was running a 10-year-old MacBook. I know multiple people that are still using an iPad 2. (The iPad 2 shipped in 2011.) The same goes for the iPhone. When measured against the march of technology, Apple supports ancient iPhones.

John Gruber recently posted a story about Google dropping support for their Pixel 3, a three-year-old phone. At the same time. Apple still supports the iPhone 6S, which shipped in 2015. I honestly don’t get the argument that Apple is usint software updates to kill old hardware. In reality it is just the opposite.

If you look at the iPad in particular, I know a lot of people running old hardware quite happily. Apple keeps the software updates coming and the iPad is like the energizer bunny. It just keeps going and going. I have a theory that we’ll get similar longevity from Apple Silicon Macs, but that remains to be seen.