Jon Westfall and I kicked off episode 607 with the news that Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple’s CEO to become Chairman, with John Ternus taking the helm this September. We speculated that his leadership might usher in a full “Neo” ecosystem—budget-friendly iPads and iPhones—that could finally bring the cost of a complete Apple setup under $1,500 for students. Jon is already leaning into this student-centric future by using NotebookLM to “chunk” his 75-minute lectures into digestible videos and activities, a strategy that is saving him hours of summer prep.
I spent some time on a “mini rant” about the state of budget Android tablets; while you can find great hardware for under $150, these devices almost never receive security or OS updates, effectively making them disposable e-waste. On the infrastructure side, the “router apocalypse” continues as the FCC’s ban on foreign-made hardware looms, though Amazon Eero recently secured an exemption through October 2027. To prepare for a post-exemption world, I’m preparing to experiment with OpenWrt on an old travel router.
We wrapped up with a look at the startling 2026 price hikes for storage—where a SSD drive that cost $350 last year is now nearly $1,000—and a discussion of encouraging maker culture for young people. We debated whether encouraging preteens to use 3D printers and AI coding tools like Codex is better than traditional hobbies, reflecting on the Heathkits and “dangerous” chemistry sets of my own youth.
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