Learn, Make, Learn

We return from hibernation to talk AI nonsense, critique the review industrial complex, promote a return to RSS, and share a raft of recommendations!

JOACHIM ON AI NONSENSE – 01:52
Previous Discussion of Humane AI (starts at 18:34)
Humane Set to Brick $700 ‘AI Pins’
I outsourced my memory to an AI pin and all I got was fanfiction
Ben Thompson: DeepSeek FAQ
Previous Discussion on LLMs & Constraints (...

Ernest’s experience with a boundary-breaking headphone sparks a discussion on caveat emptor, or buyer beware, and just how much risk we, as product creators, should expect buyers to bear.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:15
MKBHD, Panels & Pricing
WTF Happened in 2024?!
I Love You, Man: The Male Friendship Recession
Why Are Boys and Men in Trouble?

CAVEAT EMPTOR? – 06:36
Caveat emptor
An ode to open-bac...

A conversation triggered by MKBHD’s Panels app gets really interesting when we dig into pricing & lessons for people in the business of making products.

FOLLOW-UPS – 02:23
Are Pop Lyrics Getting More Repetitive?
How gamification took over the world
Can't Play, Won't Play
An Interview with Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth
Meta Connect Keynote 2024
Meta’s big tease

MKBHD, PANELS & P...

We dive into our titular question with Nate Grubbs, who, unlike us, is a professional designer with strong views borne of decades of experience across UX, visual & product design.

MEET NATE – 01:18

THE AGE OF AVERAGE – 04:19
Alex Murrell: The age of average
The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same
How Khruangbin’s Sound Became the New Mood Music (paywall)

SOUL, FL...

We go off-the-cuff again, sharing product learnings from Miele vacuums, Snow Peak’s modular IGT system & Ableton’s singular vision for music creation.

OFF-THE-CUFF – 00:59

JOACHIM RECOMMENDS: MIELE C3 VACUUM – 01:38
Miele Complete C3 Calima PowerLine
Behind Dyson’s cyclone
Dyson Stick Vacuums Lose CR Recommendation
We’ve Recommended Miele Canister Vacuums for Almost a Decade
My Middle-Aged ...

In another short(er) format episode, we examine Apple’s recent “Glowtime” event. Please do let us know what you think of this new format at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or @LearnMakeLearnShow on Threads.

OPENING – 00:00
Suttle Lake
Suttle Lodge

HELP US NAME THIS NEW FORMAT! – 03:12

APPLE’S ‘GLOWTIME’ EVENT – 05:08
Apple Event
The Verge: iPhone 16 event in 16 minutes
John Gruber describes h...

We introduce a new, shorter, more off-the-cuff format focused on recommendations that we hope you’ll enjoy. Also, our apologies for the audio getting a bit crunchy in spots—we’re working hard to improve our audio quality. Please do let us know what you think of this new format at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

ONE MILLION CHECKBOXES – 03:20
Are You a Checker or an Unchecker? (paywall)
T...

Generative AI: step change or snake oil du jour? We enter this mire with Anmol Anubhai as our guide & insight into the future of GenAI x product creation as our destination. Join us for a refreshingly grounded conversation on a topic that’s typically full of hype.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:42
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Manual Mode Changes Performance EVs Forever
WTF is a Product Manager?
Dare Obasanjo on Product Managemen...

The pressure to repeat history, as in the previous year’s sales for a given product, can be pernicious. We share ideas for unshackling yourself from this weight so that you can avoid, as Marshall McLuhan put it, marching backwards into the future.

FOLLOW-UPS – 00:43
Humane is looking for a buyer
Coffeezilla on the Rabbit R1
NOMOS at Watches & Wonders
NOMOS: The icon in 31 color compositions
Noel Gal...

The concept of fan service, which originated in anime and is now common across media, has pervaded the world of product creation as well. We discuss what it is & why it’s vital to serve your customers without pandering to them.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:11
Progressive Complexity (aka Progressive Disclosure)

THE PERILS OF FAN SERVICE – 03:50
Star Wars: Fired Solo Directors Didn't Want Movie To Just Be Fan Se...

When it comes to products and product innovation, in our new era of higher-for-longer interest rates, enough *is* enough.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:23
iOS spacebar meme
Windup Watch Fair San Francisco
Steven Pinker is wrong about violence and war

ERA OF EASY MONEY IS OVER – 12:02
The Era of Easy Money Is Over. That’s a Good Thing.
The Price of Time

CASE STUDIES: BAD & GOOD — 18:34
The Wo...

Daniel Kahneman, credited as a grandfather of behavioral economics, passed away in March, and we devote this episode to an unfiltered discussion of his legacy through a product lens.

KAHNEMAN’S LEGACY: THE BULL CASE – 01:55
NY Times obituary of Daniel Kahneman

KAHNEMAN’S LEGACY: THE BEAR CASE – 03:40
The “Nudge” of the Obama Era Was Always Neoliberal Nonsense
Nudge economics: has push come to shove for...

A decade ago, design thinking was all the rage across the corporate world. But, today, it's widely derided as a failed experiment. Is there still a place for design thinking or is it an idea whose time has passed?

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:56
Time to Learn
Hublot at Watches & Wonders 2024
Cartier Santos-Dumont Rewind
JLC at Watches & Wonders 2024
Should Products be Political?
Bobbie
Bobbie fo...

Apologies for our delay this week! In this episode, with the Watches & Wonders show around the corner, we talk watches & the broader lessons we can draw from a product category rooted entirely in emotion.

WRIST CHECK – 02:16
IWC Pilot’s Watch Chrono Top Gun
Ming 37.07
Halios
Raven
In-House vs. Off-the-Shelf Movements
Idris Elba Wears a $500 Watch

JOACHIM’S 👍 – 11:39
IWC
IWC...

This week, we tackle a thorny topic: Should products be political? And to be clear, we don't mean brand messaging. Instead, our focus is products, and whether makers should intentionally imbue their products with their politics.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:15
Eno—a groundbreaking generative film by Gary Hustwit
Apple Vision Pros & Cons
Hugo Barra on Apple Vision Pro

SHOULD PRODUCTS BE POLITICAL – 05:34

Musician Brian Eno defined a scenius as “the intelligence of a whole operation or group of people,” in contrast to the classic archetype of the lone genius. We debate scenius vs. genius in the context of product—is one more conducive to innovation than the other?

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:42
The Mentats in Dune
McDonald's ordering system suffers McFlurry of tech troubles
How Apple Sank About $1 Billion a Year Into a...

This week, we talk restomods. It’s a concept born of the automotive world—extending the life of a classic car by modernizing it—but we discuss the potential to apply this idea to categories beyond cars. With sustainability now a must-have in product creation, we believe the restomod concept is ripe for mainstream adoption.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:24
Behind Apple’s Doomed Car Project
RIP Apple Car. This Is Why It Died.
...

This week, we discuss the tension between integrated in-car UX platforms vs Apple’s CarPlay & Android Auto. When, if ever, does it make sense to give up control of your product experience?

FOLLOW-UPS – 02:21
Tesler’s Law, aka Conservation of Complexity
Theodore Leavitt on Marketing Myopia
@geoffbaron: The difference between PMs & developers
@tr3v: No one was ever inspired by a KPI

CARPLAY O...

This week, we dive into Ernest's career as a product manager/product marketer and discuss what a product manager does, how to sift meaningful insights from the noise, how to enter the field & much more.

FOLLOW-UPS – 02:25
Surprised by the Hot Hand Fallacy?
Imagined Consumption Reduces Actual Consumption
I placed too much faith in underpowered studies

WTF IS A PRODUCT MANAGER? – 07:24
Ernes...