Special guest Marco Arment returns to the show for a brief discussion. Topics include Apple’s OS development strategy, HomePod and Siri, the sad state of Apple TV apps, where to get a good cheesesteak, how to boil water, and more.

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Links:

• Ina Fried on Apple reportedly changing tack to focus more on quality in software.
• Mark Gurman on Apple’s OS development strategy.
• Steven Sinofksy on Apple’s software “problem”.
• The biggest problem with Siri isn’t the list of capabilities but the reliability of what it can do:
  • https://twitter.com/gruber/status/963843284794793984
  • https://twitter.com/waltmossberg/status/963849863959011328
  • https://twitter.com/waltmossberg/status/963881247478091776
• Nick Heer on the new YouTube “app” for Apple TV.
• Baratza Virtuoso coffee grinder.
• The typographically disastrous Medelco 12-cup kettle.
• Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp 1.7-Liter Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Kettle — Marco’s recommended electric kettle.
• Alexa’s pro-Eagles stance on Super Bowl 52.
• ActBlue’s The Great Slate — 8 first-time progressive candidates for Congress, each with “a clear path to victory in a poor, rural district that is being ignored by the national Democratic Party”.
• Cleavers Philly — good fucking cheesesteaks.
• “The Menu Bar”: Zac Cichy and Andrew Clark’s re-launched podcast on Apple.
• Mark Bramhill’s “Welcome to Macintosh” — minute-for-minute the best Apple podcast in the world.

This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.