The Tech Night Owl LIVE — Tech Radio with a Pop Culture Twist!

We feature outspoken commentator and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy." Once again, Kirk expresses his ongoing concerns about Apple's lateness in admitting that the 2013 Mac Pro was a flawed design, and that they are working on something new, which will not be released this year. Kirk also explains why he's dissatisfied with current Mac designs, and is planning on bui...

On this week's all-star episode, we feature outspoken commentator John Martellaro, Senior Editor, Analysis & Reviews for The Mac Observer, who joins Gene in a fascinating discussion about Apple's promise of major updates for the Mac Pro and the iMac. And were there really seven reasons for Apple to discontinue the Mac Pro before they decided to move forward? What about the fate of the smallest...

We feature the inimitable Peter Cohen, long-time blogger and podcaster. Peter will discuss the latest developments on the security front and how reports of hacked iCloud accounts might impact Apple. You'll also hear about a consumer's "right to repair," the subject of pending legislation in Nebraska, which would force such companies as Apple to sell parts and repair manuals to anyone who wants to...

We feature outspoken blogger and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy." Gene and Kirk briefly discuss the probe by French authorities into alleged emission faking by more and more car makers, the latest being Mercedes-Benz. Kirk describes the new features in iTunes 12.6 for Mac and Windows and some of the glitches he's discovered that Apple needs to fix. The discussion mo...

On this week's all-star episode, we feature the one and only CrackBerry Kevin (Kevin Michaluk), who was in the process of traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada hosting KeyOne meet-ups for diehard BlackBerry fans. The KeyOne is a long-awaited traditional BlackBerry smartphone with physical keys that runs the Android OS. Kevin will also present a detailed history of the BlackBerry, and where the...

We feature outspoken columnist and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy." Kirk discusses his recent purchase of an 8TB backup drive to accommodate his large music library. After a brief discussion of the recent Wikipedia leaks of alleged CIA efforts to hack tech gear, including smartphones and cars, Kirk makes yet another criticism of what he regards as the failure of App...

We feature outspoken columnist and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy." During this episode, Kirk, a resident of the UK, discusses his decision to lease a 2017 Toyota Yaris Hybrid subcompact car, and moves on to the Tesla and the potential for self-driving technology. You'll also hear why he is skeptical of Apple CEO Tim Cook's hint, during the corporate shareholder's m...

On this week's all-star episode, we feature prolific author and commentator Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus, who talks about his first self-published book, "Working Smart for Mac Users." He'll discuss how he overcame his Adult ADD disorder to organize his time and become more productive as a freelance writer. He'll also explain how he began as a hunt and peck typist to become reasonably fast on the keyboard...

We feature Adam Engst, of TidBITS and Take Control Books. The main focus will be on Apple's decision to discontinue displays, and the deal that resulted in the development of the troubled LG UltraFine 5K Display, which was announced along with new MacBook Pros. What went wrong, and why did some units fail when in close proximity to a Wi-Fi router? Adam will also discuss the possibilities for futur...

We feature outspoken commentator Peter Cohen. During this segment, Peter will go into detail on the value of the Apple Watch, primarily for fitness, and its other potential benefits. What about the iPad? Is there a way for Apple to persuade more people to buy them? Gene explains why the iPad doesn't suit his workflow. There's also a long discussion about Apple's use of an ARM processor and watchOS...

On this week's all-star episode, we feature commentator John Martellaro, Senior Editor, Analysis & Reviews for The Mac Observer. During this session, John will talk with Gene about the possibilities of running macOS apps on iPads, whether Apple is moving more and more functionality on Macs to ARM, and whether a total processor switch is in the offing. The discussion will also cover Tim Cook's...

On this week's all-star episode, we feature writer Steve Guttenberg, CNET's "Audiophiliac." Steve covers the home audio beat, and on this episode he'll focus on such things as the death of FM radio in Norway, whether it's on the endangered species list in the U.S., and what about HD radio, a digital add-on for AM and FM that delivers enhanced sound? Have broadcasters and audio equipment makers don...

We feature outspoken commentator and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy," After Gene discusses a curious virus-style documents he was receiving from his Brother laser printer — and his solution — Kirk explains why he is bullish on Apple, despite the problems he has with recent products. Kirk continues to complain about Apple's inability to ship products on time, using t...

We feature Jeff Gamet, Managing Editor for The Mac Observer. In addition to a brief pop culture segment where Gene schools Jeff on the correct pronunciation of the wacky DC Comics character, "Mister Mxyzptlk," the discussion focuses on the MacBook Pro and the controversy over the battery tests from Consumer Reports, in which Apple's notebooks were at first not recommended until retested. And what...

We feature tech journalist Josh Centers, Managing Editor for TidBITS, and author of "Take Control of Apple TV" and other titles. The discussion begins with Gene's strange story of the problems he encountered installing macOS Sierra on a 2010 17-inch MacBook Pro. The segment moves on to reports that Apple is giving the Mac short shrift, and whether such stories have any credibility. Josh brings up...

On this week’s all-star episode, we feature noted industry analyst Stephen Baker, Vice President for Industry Analysis at the NPD Group. He begins the conversation discussing the success of 4K (Ultra HD) TV sets during the holiday quarter. What about the advanced picture technologies, such as HDR, and what about the dearth of 4K content? The discussion will also focus on whether Samsung was hurt a...

Outspoken columnist and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy," returns to talk about a variety of tech issues. A discussion about the future of diesel cars in the wake of Volkswagen's emissions scandal turns to autonomous driving, as Gene wonders when he'll be too old to drive for himself. From there the discussion veers to the use of robots in fast food restaurants and s...

We feature columnist and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy." During this session, Kirk remains in"rant mode," as he discusses the ongoing controversy over the battery life of the Late 2016 MacBook Pro, and why Apple chose to remove the "time remaining" display in the macOS Sierra 10.12.2 update. Kirk also explains why he's keeping his Macs longer than ever nowadays bef...

We feature long-time author Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus, who focuses the conversation to some degree on the controversial Late 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. He also mentions a few of his favorite gadgets for the holiday season. But perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion is when Gene and Bob speak of the time they almost met a member of the Beatles. There's also a short discussion about t...

We feature commentator John Martellaro, Senior Editor, Analysis & Reviews for The Mac Observer. His bill of fare includes the "tribal warfare" that often surrounds the Apple ecosystem, the difficulties in "extracting truth" from Apple, along with how the company has been blindsided by such products as the Microsoft Surface Stereo all-in-one desktop and HP's Z2 Mini Workstation; the latter is d...

We feature outspoken blogger and podcaster Peter Cohen, who focuses on the questions raised about Apple's ongoing commitment to professional users. And what about published reports, since denied, that chief designer Sir Jonathan Ive may no longer be fully involved in developing new Apple gear? The discussion also includes ousting the manager of the automation division, home of AppleScript, Apple's...

We feature Kyle Wiens of iFixit, a company that routinely tears down new tech gear to check for repairability. During this segment, Kyle brings up the recent report of the recall of 2.8 million Samsung washing machines due to a serious defect which can hurt people. He suggests that the quality of such appliances is far lower than it used to be. He will bring you up to date on recent gear his crew...

We feature ethical hacker Dr. Timothy Summers, President of Summers & Company, a cyber strategy and organizational design consulting firm, who discuses the recent DDoS attack on DynDNS, which resulted in the slowdown or loss of access to such large sites as Netflix and PayPal. According to Dr. Summers, this attack came from botnets that were assembled by hacking home devices that connect to th...

Featured on this episode is Josh Centers, Managing Editor for TidBITS, and author of "Take Control of Apple TV" and other titles. Josh talks extensively about the controversial MacBook Pro, and its tentpole features, including the Touch Bar and Touch ID. Did Apple overprice this new computer? What about Apple's desktop Macs that haven't been upgraded in quite a while? Gene suggests a potential rep...

Featured on this episode is columnist and podcaster Kirk McElhearn, also known as Macworld's "iTunes Guy." Gene and Kirk dissect the good, bad and ugly points in Apple's media presentation where the main focus was to introduce a new MacBook Pro line. But what about the tentpole feature of the refreshed notebooks, the Touch Bar. Does it offer enough advanced features, as a context sensitive OLED-ba...