656: *Heavy Sigh*

Summary

Clockwise Episode 656: Heavy Sigh — May 13, 2026

Hosts: Dan Moren and Micah Sargent
Guests: Christopher Lawley (YouTuber) and Scott Stein (CNET Editor at Large)
Theme: Four rapid-fire tech topics, 30 minutes—this week: Google’s new Chromebook, dedicated hardware, accessibility features, and the fate of VR.

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Episode Overview

The panel dives into four key tech topics: Google’s new Chromebook device and AI integration; which dedicated, single-purpose hardware they still use instead of their phones; accessibility and assistive features in daily tech use; and whether VR headsets still have a place in their lives. The episode is full of real-world takes, insightful tech commentary, and a few heavy sighs on where some categories are headed.

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1. Google’s New "Chromebook Replacement" and the AI-First Device Space

[Starts at 01:41]

Key Points

• Chris Lawley: Still prefers the MacBook Neo (with full MacOS); Google's device is intriguing for its deep Gemini integration and custom widget capability, “which actually kind of interesting,” but questions longevity:

  "But it's Google. So how long will this last until they kill it? I mean, that's the real question. Am I right?" (02:32)

• Dan Moren: Sees Google's Chrome OS/Android convergence as logical, mirroring Apple’s ecosystem consistency, but doubts widespread appeal:

  "I feel like most people will get forced into using a Chromebook and maybe it's not a first choice. Maybe this is their play here." (03:53)

• Scott Stein: Praises the AI “intentionality” (widget creation, the "wiggle cursor" as an AI summon), but is skeptical about the educational implications of embedding AI and Google's follow-through.

  "I'm curious about the consistency of the effort too." (05:28)

• Micah Sargent: Finds the demo features (like adding calendar dates by waving the mouse over data) promising but would still recommend a MacBook Neo over a Chromebook for most.

  “Ultimately I'm probably going to send someone the way of the MacBook Neo these days instead of the Google Chromebook route.” (06:37)

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2. Single-Purpose Hardware vs. The Phone-as-Everything Device

[Starts at 07:04]

Key Points

• Chris Lawley: Poses the question: Do you use any specialty hardware (e-reader, MP3, etc.) for something most would do on a phone?

• Dan Moren: Loves e-readers (Kindle, Kobo, tiny XT Ink X4):

  “I really enjoy having that as a single purpose device that's built for reading books.” (08:03)
  Finds MP3 players irrelevant now, sticks to iPad for flights but values traveling light.

• Scott Stein: Mentions dedicated sketch tablets like the reMarkable (seasonal use), physical notebooks, but mainly gravitates to dedicated gaming handhelds (Nintendo Switch). iPad is almost travel-only device.

  “Do dedicated game handhelds count?...That's the gear I tend to travel and bring around with me.” (09:24)

• Micah Sargent: Occasionally uses a DSLR for high-quality photos and prefers Steam Deck for gaming over phone equivalents.

  “So I think that's why I'm allowing it to count.” (10:25)

• Chris Lawley: Large role for dedicated cameras in his professional and personal life:

  "I still find that I need a dedicated professional camera...But I have a new puppy and I am taking lots and lots of photos...I don't like the over processed image look that you get with [iPhone photos]." (11:01-12:41)
  Is considering a Leica point-and-shoot for “life stuff,” breaking tasks off the phone for quality reasons.

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3. Everyday Accessibility & Assistive Features

[Starts at 14:05]

Key Points

• Dan Moren: Asks about daily use of accessibility features.

• Scott Stein: No default accessibility on phones but experiments with features on smart glasses (e.g., Meta’s Conversation Boost):

  “It's interesting, it's a little bit hollow and digitized and I’M not sure if it always helps.” (14:54)
  Uses reading/translation tools intermittently.

• Micah Sargent: Uses "Reduce White Point" every night—makes screen much dimmer than standard minimum brightness, assigned to iPhone’s action button for quick access:

  “Every single night, I will enable Reduce White Point...if I am using my phone in bed, then I have that turned on.” (15:35-16:09)

• Chris Lawley: Swears by iOS/iPad Background Sounds for white/rain noise—lets him focus in a household full of distractions, doesn’t conflict with other audio like apps do:

  “I can have real trouble focusing, especially if I am not home alone…So I use these background sounds all the time whenever I'm just like trying to write, do email, admin tasks, whatever.” (17:08-18:03)
  Recommends setting it up with the accessibility shortcut (triple-press lock button).

• Dan Moren: Reminded by eye-dilation at doctor’s office of how powerful these features are—had to use Zoom and briefly VoiceOver, found the latter confusing for one-off use:

  “I wish there was—this is a place where maybe, dare I say it, an AI feature could be handy...this is my problem. Give me a solution.” (18:46-19:23)
  Concludes everyone will need accessibility features someday.

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4. The Fate of VR in Personal (and Professional) Use

[Starts at 20:04]

Key Points & Memorable Moments

• Scott Stein: Opens the topic, notes the “death and rebirth" cycle of VR.

• Micah Sargent: Kicked his unused Oculus under the desk, tried Vision Pro and strongly disliked the experience:

  “I gave it the old college try…I've used a Vision Pro and hated every moment of it. I was in such pain the whole time. I dare I say I don't like VR.” (20:29-21:19)

• Chris Lawley:

  “Heavy Sigh is the title of the episode.” (21:19)
  Has three VR headsets (bought Vision Pro on Day One, also has an Apple M5 review unit and PlayStation VR2 in a moving box). Vision Pro failed as a daily driver—his main task manager app crashes, and sharing movies is impractical.
  “But even if I use a Vision Pro to get work done...my Task Manager app todoist...crashes on launch…kinda a problem for the platform.” (22:30-23:13)

• Dan Moren: Has an M2 review unit, puts it on every few weeks to check for new content, but the software is unreliable and keeping the device up-to-date is a chore:

  “Another part of it is every time I put it on, it has to go through a dance of like...you are like, oh, two weeks behind. Let me download all your messages...” (23:31-24:19)
  Feels VR is not a day-to-day tool—at best, a niche, luxury "private movie theater” experience.

• Scott Stein:

  “This is becoming like a death knell for VR unintentionally.” (25:05)
  Quest use dropped off when Meta cut support; praised VR mini-golf (“Walkabout Mini Golf”) but says friction and lack of creative apps mean VR isn't a daily experience, even for a pro reviewer:
  “But yeah, the friction, even putting it on, even though it is sitting by my desk in a bag, I don't always do.” (26:12-26:27)
  Criticizes stagnant hardware/software and absence of creative tools:
  “I would love to do something creative on a headset, but they don't even try…certainly Apple didn't even make any effort to do any 3D creative apps or cool GarageBand or you know, here's how you can edit a movie better using Vision Pro.” (27:16-27:45)

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Notable Quotes

• Chris Lawley:

  "But it's Google. So how long will this last until they kill it? I mean, that's the real question. Am I right?" (02:32)

• Micah Sargent:

  “I gave it the old college try…I've used a Vision Pro and hated every moment of it.” (20:41)

• Dan Moren:

  “I feel like most people will get forced into using a Chromebook and maybe it's not a first choice.” (03:53)
  “I wish there was...an AI feature...this is my problem. Give me a solution.” (19:15)

• Scott Stein:

  “I love this reality check. Virtual reality check, real reality check.” (25:00-25:04)

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Bonus Topic: Foods They Outgrew Disliking

[Starts at 27:55]

• Chris: Scallops, bacon-wrapped scallops, and shrimp.
• Dan: Vegetables (especially asparagus).
• Scott: Celery (forced himself to like it).
• Micah: Bell peppers ("Hated every single color...feed me all the bell pepper").

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Overall Tone

Conversational, honest, and a bit world-weary—especially regarding the cycles of tech evangelism and disillusionment around platforms like VR and Google’s many “new” things. There’s affection for tech, but a clear-eyed skepticism (and sometimes exasperation) about the industry’s habits and device longevity.

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Timeline of Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------|--------------| | Intro / Guest Intros | 00:27–01:33 | | 1. Google Chromebook Replacement | 01:41–07:04 | | 2. Dedicated Hardware vs. Phone | 07:04–12:41 | | [Ad Break Omitted] | 12:41–14:05 | | 3. Accessibility Features | 14:05–20:04 | | 4. Fate of VR Headsets | 20:04–27:55 | | Bonus: Foods Once Disliked | 27:55–29:46 |

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Closing Thoughts

Episode 656 is a snapshot of experienced tech commentators, casting a wry but affectionate eye on where devices are headed — sometimes forward, sometimes in circles, but always with something worth discussing.

Transcript

[A]

It's Time for episode 656 of the Clockwise podcast from Relay, recorded Wednesday, May 13, 2026, clockwise, four people, four tech topics, 30 minutes.

[B]

Welcome back to Clockwise the tech podcast, where we've been quietly preparing while everyone else was outside. I am one of your hosts, Micah Sargent, and I am joined, as always, as you can expect, by my dear pal, the one, the only, Dan the Man Morin. How you doing, Dan?

[A]

Yeah, I'm prepared. I'm totally prepared. All prepared.

[B]

Yeah, like a Boy Scout. Or are they.

[A]

Never was a. Never was a Boy Scout. I'm definitely not prepared for any of the scenarios that Boy Scouts would need to be prepared for.

[B]

Well, while Dan fumbles with his, I don't know, pocket knife, let's move along to introduce our awesome guests. To my Left, it is YouTuber Chris Lawley. Welcome back to the show, Chris.

[C]

Thank you for having me. And I was a boy scout. So, Dan, that pocket knife, you should point it away from you. Away.

[A]

Thanks. Good tip. All righty. And goes in the other person.

[C]

Yep, yep, yep, yep. Stick them with the pointy end and to my left.

[A]

It is a first timer. Here on clockwise, seen editor at large, Scott Stein. Welcome to the show, Scott.

[D]

Hey. Thank you. It's good to be on this. Ready to answer questions and all that. And wonderful, wonderful Wednesday.

[B]

You all know how this show works. We've got four topics, 30 minutes, and mine for you is this. Google has just announced a new, well, sort of teased a new Chromebook sort of device. And I just wanted to know, what do you think about Google's Chromebook replacement? Chris, we'll start with you.

[C]

Yeah, it looks interesting. I'm still very much in love with the MacBook Neo. And the MacBook Neo comes with full Mac OS and this is not macOS. It's not a full desktop operating system. But there is some interesting things in here. It looks like there is. Gemini is deeply, deeply hooked into it. And one of the headlining features, which this doesn't seem like it should be a headlining feature, but it's one of the top things on their website is you can ask it to make custom widgets. And that is actually kind of interesting. I kind of like that. I'm kind of curious how that will work, if that's something that will work with third party services or is it just working with the web or third party apps? There's questions there, but it's Google. So how long will this last until they kill it? I mean, that's the real question. Am I right?

[A]

So this has long been rumored that Google would try to sort of merge its Chrome OS and Android. Right. It's got these multiple operating systems and it uses them for different things and it wants to bring them closer together. Anybody on the Apple side should not be shocked, right? I mean, iOS, macOS, ipados, they all share tons of DNA. And I imagine there is a degree of Google that's like, why are we maintaining multiple operating systems with different capabilities? Chromebooks have done pretty well for what they are, and they sort of rely on the fact that most tools, especially in the education market, a lot of stuff is web based. You don't really need beyond that to run apps. But I think as far as them being competitors in the wider laptop space, some of that has been hindered because you have competitors like the Neo and of course you have tons of Windows competitors. And so bringing in Android and some of its capabilities here, I think seems to them an opportunity. Now you can have apps and you can have all the great stuff you can get with Chrome. And then we throw in Gemini too. Let's just put in it all. Let's. Let's throw in the kitchen sink and see which part of it is going to work. I, I don't know. I mean, I, I don't think anybody. I'm sure there are Chromebook stands out there who are like, Chromebook, it's the best. But I feel like most people will get forced into using a Chromebook and maybe it's not a first choice. Maybe this is their play here. But as, as Chris animated, like, you know, we've seen this with a Pixel phone too, where it's like their commitment to these things is at times a little soft and wavering from year to year. So we'll have to see exactly the chips. And there's a lot of stuff that we don't know about it yet. Scott, what do you think?

[D]

Google already has the presence for Chromebooks in that my kids use Chromebooks for school. You know, it's like it's there it is the default. So now they're trying to rewind that. But it's not really that they're trying to win a consumer space that's different than that. And that's where I think it gets fuzzy and odd. Like what I like about it, I like the intentionality of a company working on applications for AI that you could, like you say, with the widgets or other things or the wiggle cursor, that kind of becomes this AI summoning thing, like thinking about ways that it can mesh with what you're doing versus trying to hackify your own AI solution that I'm not going to find myself compelled to do. And then there's another side thing, which is what exactly would this be for education? Because I'm just seeing all these stories about AI in education and there's people not wanting it in the educational space necessarily. If you're going to be loading Chromebooks with AI deeply embedded, I mean, sooner or later we're going to have to think about these problems and these challenges or opportunities or whatever they might be. But does that mean it's going to go into all Chromebooks or is this just like a sub thing? And like you said, are they going to stop this effort at some point? I mean, I've seen the evolutionary paths of Chromebooks for so many years and covered them. So I'm curious, but I'm curious about the consistency of the effort too.

[B]

I do think that this is an interesting idea. It used to be that this was one of the devices that I considered when someone was is this terrible when it wasn't a family member and they wanted an inexpensive, device that was laptop. Like I would have that person consider a Chromebook. And so seeing Google continue on with this idea is interesting, but I really like this demo idea where you shake your mouse cursor over something and it will try to help you figure out whatever it is that you have in front of you. So it could be that you see a date and you shake your mouse cursor over it and then it adds that date to your calendar. So there are some kind of fun concepts here that maybe we wouldn't otherwise have because we're thinking of this sort of AI first platform. And in that way the potential innovation is interesting to me. But ultimately I'm probably going to send someone the way of the MacBook Neo these days instead of the Google Chromebook route. Thank you all for your answers on that. Let's go to our next topic, which comes from Chris.

[C]

So phones have become a jack of all trades, master of none devices. They could do so many different things. I'm curious if you have any specialty dedicated hardware that does something that most people would do on their phones, and if so, for what? You know, for example, it could be an ebook reader, mp3 player, maybe even a good old fashioned abacus. Look, I'm, I'm not here to judge.

[A]

I mean ebook readers would be the answer for me, except I have like four of them. So I don't know if that's better or not. I don't really like reading books on my phone. I've done it from time to time and then I always forget that my phone could do it. And I get fall into the trap of my phone can do all those other things. But I really enjoy reading on an ebook reader. I do it every night before I go to bed. You know, whether it's a Kindle or a Kobo, I have one of Those tiny little XT Ink X4s that I have used and brought with me various places. And I really enjoy, even though it's a tiny screen and ridiculous, I enjoy having that as a single purpose device that's built for reading books. I have no value whatsoever for an MP3 player. I know that it's become sort of a nostalgia hit now. And I, I loved the ipod. I had many ipods. I reviewed ipods, all of those things. Great device for what it was. There is very little reason for me to have that right now versus a smartphone. So I'm, you know, I'm checking, I'm looking around to see if there's anything else, you know, that I might use that sort of a dedicated device. But from a technology standpoint, no, I really love that. You know, when I travel, I was traveling for vacation a couple weeks ago and I brought my iPad for the plane and that's the only place I ended up using it. And I brought my phone and I brought my Kobo and like, that was it. And I love only having those devices because, you know, it's fewer things to charge, it's fewer things to juggle and take in and out of your bag if you need to at various security checkpoints. Honestly, you know, I wonder about a world where there's a foldable iPhone. I don't even need to bring that iPad for the plane. Could happen. I don't know, Scott.

[D]

This is not something I use all the time. But I've been kicking tires on the remarkable paper pure tablet that I just looked at at cnet and like, I like the idea of those dedicated sketch sketchpad things. I wouldn't say that. I keep going back to it though. You know, I feel like I, I use it for a seasonal period, then I will not feel necessarily compelled and I'll just grab a notebook or just write on my phone. Do dedicated game handhelds count? I mean, I always feel like I'm carrying like a switch, so I tend to do that even though there are other ways to play games. And I'm also carrying an iPad when I travel. And similar to what you said, I tend to mainly use it for the flight and or the vacation mode. So that's also a kind of a dedicated device in some ways. Yeah, that's the gear I tend to travel and bring around with me.

[B]

Nice. For me the dedicated hardware would be camera. I don't use it all the time but if I'm going to an event that's going to have lots of photo opportunities, I don't know, like if I'm going to go look at flowers or something then I'm probably going to bring the DSLR with me. I'm not a big gamer but games that I could technically I think maybe play on my phone, some of them are available on the phone. I do play on the Steam deck instead. It is a very capable little device and therefore I will use that as well as kind of a dedicated device. The games that can run on the Steam Deck far often fall in that same performance space as something that could potentially be ported over to the phone or in some cases have been ported over to the phone. So I think that's why I'm allowing it to count. But Chris, I'm curious to hear about you.

[C]

The big thing for me is cameras. Professionally I use cameras every single day and I still while the iPhone takes really good video, I still find that I need a dedicated professional camera. So I have the Canon C50 as kind of my main camera camera that's it's fairly new and very very nice. And then I have an R5 as well and that's kind of my hybrid. Take professional photos, do some you know, other angle video stuff. But I have a new puppy and I am taking lots and lots of photos and I could do a whole 30 minute rant on the state of phone photography and phone photos, especially the iPhone. I don't like the over processed image look that you get with it. While I don't using my Canon cameras to take photos of them of her. It's a big camera so I have been looking at like point and shoot stuff and me being who I am I immediately went to Leica and I have been hovering over the Leica Deluxe 8 buy button right now and I just the idea of having a dedicated point and shoot camera just for like life stuff whereas it's not the big heavy interchangeable lenses and mirrorless camera know like the stuff I use professionally has been really really like it's, it's there. If I make it to the end of the day and I haven't ordered it, I will be very very surprised. So yeah I, I'm I'm kind of all in on breaking tasks out of my phone that aren't necessarily, you know, what the phone is at its best for. So reading books, playing games, and definitely photography because oh, that over processed look, I can't, it's, it's killing me.

[B]

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[A]

So, you know, a lot of our technological devices, including iPhones, have added bunches and bunches of assistive or accessibility features, you know, to provide everything for help with vision or hearing or motor skills, etc. And I'm curious if in your everyday life there are any of these features, whether on your phone or other devices that you find yourself using, either from time to time as you need it, or on the regular. Scott, let's start with you.

[D]

Yeah, I don't have any turned on by default on my phone, but when it comes to glasses, again, I look at smart glasses and things like this. It's space that's not necessary for a lot of people, but a lot of stuff in there is kind of accessibility anyhow, so I don't know if that counts, but even there they don't quite stick for me. I've tried Conversation Boost on Meta's glasses. It's interesting, it's a little bit hollow and digitized and I'M not sure if it always helps beam into listening to people. Maybe that's comforting for if people are worried about. About surveillance. And I'll use some like the reading, translation things, you know, for sure. That's kind of what I do. I wish I had a more exciting answer for that.

[B]

It's all right. It's a good answer. Nonetheless. I have a feature that I use quite literally every single day, so much so that my action button is dedicated to it. And that is Reduce White Point. Every single night, I will enable Reduce White Point if people aren't familiar with this accessibility feature. It basically lets you overclock the reduce brightness function on your device. And so you can take that brightness slider, of course, and bring it all the way down to the bottom. And that for the most part, is enough of a lack of brightness. But when all of the lights are off and your eyes have adjusted to the darkness, the screen is still quite bright. And so Reduce White Point helps you to make it even darker. And so I have it set to reduce it even, I think by like 20 points more. And I turn that on if I am using my phone in bed, then I have that turned on to make it even darker. Chris, what about you?

[C]

Yeah, so there's a couple that I use, but one I want to highlight in particular is the Background Sounds feature. Uh, this allows you especially on iOS and iPad OS that they don't allow you to have multiple streams of audio at once. So even if you have a dedicated app that you really like, like one of my favorites, Dark Noise, if you were to try and play a video while Dark Noise was going, it would pause Dark Noise. So what Background Sounds does is it lets you play white noise or rain sounds or waterfalls or what, whatever. Like I, I just like the rain one personally, but whatever. Like that background noise that you like, there's a bunch built into it and it's system level, so it'll keep playing even if you keep playing or if you start playing a video or a podcast or something like that. Like, that audio is persistent. I have adhd. I have. I can have real trouble focusing, especially if I am not home alone. My girlfriend's a doctor, so she has a weird schedule. Sometimes her mom stays with us. And like I mentioned, we also have a new puppy, so there's can be a lot of distractions happening in the house. So I use these background sounds all the time whenever I'm just like trying to write, do email, admin tasks, whatever. I. All the time. And my little trick for this is if you go into Accessibility, scroll all the way down, there's an accessibility shortcut option, and you can assign a triple click lock button press to an accessibility feature. I have mine set to background sound, so I can just triple click that and it turns right on. You know, throw in AirPods, noise canceling, and I can get work done even if the house is full of distractions.

[A]

All right, well, those are all good examples. The reason I asked this question, it came to me this morning as I had opened up our spreadsheet. I had my. My annual eye doctor appointment, and they dilated my eyes. I realized I cannot read anything on my phone. And so I started playing around. I was sitting, sitting in the car, like, trying to play around with various things, and I remembered, okay, yeah, there's a way you can zoom in on stuff. And I was struggling to get that working. And I was like, oh, what about voiceover? And I was like, wow, this is like, I've entered an entirely different parallel world. Like, this is a thing that I am sure is incredibly useful to people who need it, but if you're a person who needs it, like, once a year, you're not going to remember how anything works. I also didn't have, like, a good voice downloaded for it for some reason, even though I have, like, better Siri voices on my phone, it didn't download those for voiceover. So I was using the extremely robotic voice reading everything. This is not a great experience. So I did eventually get the zoom thing working, and that was pretty good because it meant it gives you, like, a little loop, essentially, that you can drag around the screen and you can, you know, turn it on and off with a gesture and all this stuff. And I was like, this is actually, you know, it's enabling me to get done what I need to get done. But I'm not going to be sitting here reading long swaths of text on my phone. And so I was kind of fascinated by this. Like, I wish there was. This is a place where maybe, dare I say it, an AI feature could be handy. Being like, hey, I've just had my eyes dilated. Can you help me make my phone more readable? Do what you need to do, right, so that I don't have to know what it is, but this is my problem. Give me a solution. And so I thought it was very interesting because I know how powerful these features are, and we have friends and colleagues who write a lot about this stuff. But it is a great reminder. All of us will need accessibility things eventually. In one way, or another. And so having those features there is super important and I think it is instructive to have to use them, even if it's only from time to time. Thanks for all your answers that let's get our final topic, which comes from Scott.

[D]

So I am just curious because I cover this field a lot. I look at VR and there's always ups and downs. VR is always dying, coming back, dying again. But, you know, Vision Pro reports that it might be gone or maybe still alive. I'm just curious, do any of you use VR for anything anymore? Currently? And if so, what?

[B]

As I accidentally kick the felted case of the Oculus that for some reason I put under my desk at one point and have yet to move it, I can tell you that no, I do not use VR for anything anymore. I gave it the old college try. On a number of occasions, I've used a Vision Pro and hated every moment of it. I was in such pain the whole time. I dare I say I don't like VR. So, yeah, no, not for me. Chris, what about you?

[A]

Heavy Sigh is the title of the episode.

[C]

Yeah, I have not won, but three VR headsets in this house technically sounds

[A]

like a you problem.

[C]

Yeah, no, it is. Okay, so I was the sucker that bought the 1 TB vision pro on day one because I was convinced this was gonna be the future of computing. I'm the big iPad guy. I'm always looking for what's next. And oh boy, I thought Vision Pro was gonna be it. So my M2 1 TB Vision Pro is in the box right now. And you're probably like, chris, that's a weird way to phrase that. You're right, that is a weird way to phra that. Because I also have an M5 Vision Pro that is a review unit from Apple. I did not pay this one.

[A]

This is.

[C]

This that's still here, but that one is sitting in my closet with the battery dead because I haven't used it. And somewhere in this house, in a box because I haven't unpacked it since I moved in over two years ago, is a PlayStation VR 2. And that hasn't. I have no idea where that is. It's in a box somewhere still that I just refused to unpack. But it's. I thought this was going to be a big thing. I was ready to go all in on it. But even if I use a Vision Pro to get work done, and technically I can, and I tried a few months ago, but like my Task Manager app todoist it's technically on the Vision Pro, but it crashes on launch and I don't even know if they know about that, but the fact that the app is just crashing on launch and I can't use my task manager to see what tasks I need to do, it's kind of a problem for the platform. So I've just kind of, like, given up on it. I need to send back back my review unit and probably sell mine. I. I really wish it would have gone somewhere, but it's just not especially. Like, if I want to watch a movie, I can't watch a movie with my girlfriend. With Vision Pro, I mean, technically I have two.

[A]

So

[B]

how will the dog watch one for the dog?

[C]

There we go. I need a third one. I need it for my work. I'm gonna go tell my accountant right now. I needed it for my work. I'm sure they won't bop me in the head, but. Yeah, no, just. No, sorry.

[A]

I have a. I have an M2 review unit here from Apple. Look, what a coincidence. We've all got some reviews. I put it on every couple weeks just to, like, try, you know, if there's new content or whatever that Apple has distributed or there's a new app I want to try or just to, like, you know, get. Like, sometimes it is handy to be like, I want to go sit on the beach. Like, I do enjoy the experience of using it from time to time, but part of the issue is that the software ecosystem is not there, and that's because the users aren't there. It's like people aren't feeling compelled to update their apps for Vision Pro. Another part of it is every time I put it on, it has to go through a dance of like, oh, I open messages. It's like, you are like, oh, two weeks behind. Let me download all your messages. Okay, never mind. I'm going to do something else. So there is definitely a challenge with it sitting there. It doesn't seem to do as much staying up to date in the background as I'd like, despite the fact that it's mostly plugged in. So, you know, what, what is the point? What is the threshold into, like, okay, how much stuff do I need to get past in order to make this usable again right now for a thing I'm doing, or do I need to jump through a bunch of hoops? I think there remain cool applications for it, but I. I don't think that it's a mainstream technology. I think it's a thing that people, you know, might like for certain applications. But honestly, as a day to day place where I'm doing work or whatever I need to get done, it is my lowest choice of platform. Scott, why don't you wrap us up here?

[D]

I love this reality check.

[A]

Virtual reality check, real reality check.

[D]

This is becoming like a death knell for VR unintentionally. So I think I do this for a job. So the real talk of the situation now is, yeah, I find that there are still periods where I don't look at the stuff and I go, what happened? Why'd it fade out? Meta, the quest. I mean, I've got. Obviously there's a ton of VR headsets around here. The quest, I was using it pretty regularly for exercise and stuff, and then that dipped off. When it dipped off, I didn't go back and then I wanted to get back. And that was right around the time that Meta decided to just stop supporting all sorts of different things, including Supernatural. And it just turned me off and it ruined the momentum for me of getting back in. But even then I found it helpful. But between making sure it was charged, sometimes the Apple watch doesn't quite connect to it and it glitches out and other times it's fine and then it gets sweaty. Although I have a silicone face mask thing, babe, that's something to tolerate. And they never spent good time trying to really evolve the hardware or the software. That being said, I played Walkabout mini golf again after a long time and I was like, I really enjoy this. This is great. Why am I not doing this more? And of course a long period of time will probably go before I use it again. Vision Pro. I try to get work done in it once in a while. I definitely will do that. But yeah, the friction, even putting it on, even though it is sitting by my desk in a bag, I don't always do. I do like watching movies in it, but it is a weird luxury experience. It's the equivalent of like, you know, am I going to go to a theater alone and buy a ticket to something? Which I don't do that often. You know, I have my family, but it feels like the same sort of thing. It's a private movie theater experience. The display is really good. That being said, I can still feel like I can see areas where it can be better after all this time using it. But a lot of the stuff I've been doing instead is again, I have display glasses lying around, so I'll plug in those and get like an equivalent, close enough experience that I don't have to boot up the whole headset. Yeah, PlayStation VR 2. It's sitting here where I go, I should check that out again. I should play Microsoft Flight Simulator finally this week and I just kind of never get around to it. Have to recharge the controllers. Samsung Galaxy XR is sitting here going check out Gemini. So it's a hassle for me and I'm as deep into it as it gets. But yeah, that's. It's helpful to hear your thoughts on it too. And they're very bits and pieces. I would love to do something creative on a headset, but they don't even try. You know, there are a few apps that do it on Quest. Certainly Apple didn't even make any effort to do any 3D creative apps or cool GarageBand or you know, here's how you can edit a movie better using Vision Pro. So yeah, it's mostly a movie watching and display expanding and a couple of apps type of a platform. Vision OS for the most part.

[B]

Alrighty folks, that brings us very nearly to the end of this episode, but we've got just enough time for a bonus topic. What's a food you didn't like as a kid but love now? Chris, we'll start with you.

[C]

Scallops, Specifically bacon wrapped scallops and shrimp. We just went to Teppanyaki the other night for Mother's Day and oh, I got shrimp filet and the hot and spicy sauce. Oh, that's a good meal right there.

[A]

Can I just say vegetables?

[B]

Just general.

[A]

Yeah, I did not. I was a picky eater as a kid and now I really love this stuff. And of course I'm watching my kid now get to a stage of being like, I don't want to eat that. I was like, it's so good. Trust me, you'll be, you'll regret not eating it for all these years but like I'll pick one. Asparagus. I love asparagus.

[D]

Celery. I didn't like celery at all.

[C]

Wow.

[D]

And I made, I remember making myself like it. Like just being like, you're gonna enjoy this and pass through the journey. I just like like condition myself and now I find that I like it.

[B]

For me it was bell peppers. Hated every single color of bell pepper as a child. And now feed me all the bell pepper. Cooked, not cooked. Love, love, love, love, love, love. Bell pepper, otherwise known as capsicum. Hey, if you out there would like to get ad free episodes with an extra unwound episode every week where Dan and I chat about a topic you can become a member of Clockwise, go to Relay FM clockwise to sign up. $7 a month, $70 a year to help support the show. With that, it is time to say goodbye to our awesome guests. Christopher Lawley, thank you so much for being here.

[C]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

And Scott Stein, thank you so much for making your debut on Clockwise. Hope to have you back soon.

[D]

Yeah, it was great to be on. Thanks a lot.

[A]

And, Micah, we'll be back again next week, but until then, we remind everyone out there listening, watch what you say

[B]

and keep watching the clock.

[A]

Bye, everybody. RA.