I talk with David Demaree, a software product leader and the person behind the consultancy/agency Bits and Letters, whom I know through the Shop Talk Show Discord. We end up discussing AI despite trying not to, focusing on how two things can be true: AI can be useful while also feeling gross or harmful. We also discuss how AI gets shoved into tools for metrics, why good design should be opinionated, and why company benchmarks can be misleading compared to real-world “vibe checks” and user feedback.

Note: I said "Friday October 16th" in the recording, but this is for Saturday, October 17th. Stupid templates not knowing I'm recording ahead.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• David Demaree
• ShopTalk Show
• ShopTalk Show Discord — join via Patreon
• The Local Yarn Store
• Muse Wonder — Meta’s official announcement
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Claire Vo
• Simon Willison
• Every — Vibe Check
• Long Way Up — Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
• Long Way Home — Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
• Rivian
• Bits&Letters — David Demaree’s business

Topics:
00:00 Welcome and Setup
00:31 Meet David Demaree
02:30 Two Truths About AI
04:09 Cloud vs Local AI
06:35 EVs and Future Tech
09:35 A Practical AI Win
12:21 AI as Default Tooling
13:09 Bad UX and AI Sidebars
17:18 Benchmarks vs Reality
20:46 Jokes and Wrap Up
21:50 Where to Find David
22:18 Final Sign Off

Did You Know?

• I've got a newsletter you can subscribe to here that I send out most Tuesdays.
• I've had a blog for 20+ years you can check out here.
• If you don't like listening to me, you can find me elsewhere on the internet.
• You can check out some other podcasts I recommend here.

Support the Show
There are three ways you can support what I do online:

• Share the podcast with friends who might like it.
• Join other supporters on my Patreon with a monthly donation.
• Send a one-time donation via Stripe.

• Lynn
• Jon & Justin
• Abbey Fisher
• eileen smee
• 3 Guys 3 Questions

I’m curious about how you feel when sponsor spots and digitally inserted ads make their way into your favorite podcasts? And I talk about plans to have guest episodes come out on Saturdays.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Big Walk
• HouseHouse Games
• Panic Software
• The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast

Topics:
00:00 Dailyish Intro
00:13 Sponsor: Big Walk
00:46 How Podcast Ads Evolved
02:04 Would I Take Sponsors
02:53 Apple Views Feedback Loop
03:27 Upcoming Saturday Guests
04:17 Conversation Challenge
04:23 Subscribe and Sign Off

Did You Know?

• I've got a newsletter you can subscribe to here that I send out most Tuesdays.
• I've had a blog for 20+ years you can check out here.
• If you don't like listening to me, you can find me elsewhere on the internet.
• You can check out some other podcasts I recommend here.

Support the Show
There are three ways you can support what I do online:

• Share the podcast with friends who might like it.
• Join other supporters on my Patreon with a monthly donation.
• Send a one-time donation via Stripe.

• Lynn
• Jon & Justin
• Abbey Fisher
• eileen smee
• 3 Guys 3 Questions

Inspired by Chris Coyier’s setup that pulls YouTube comments into Slack, I used ChatGPT and Cloudflare Workers to automatically collect replies and comments from BlueSky and YouTube into my Notion “Listener Feedback” database, and describe building a prototype of an iOS app that records audio or video and uploads directly to Transistor, which feels empowering and creative but also like cheating, and it still requires significant polishing, testing, and design work, increasing my appreciation for professional app developers.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Cloudflare Workers
• Chris Coyier
• Earlier demo video of Transmitter for sending recordings to Transistor.fm

Topics:
00:00 Welcome to Dailyish
00:34 Why I Code With AI
01:00 Auto Logging Comments
02:43 Building A Recording App
03:28 Creative Yet Cheating
04:13 Polish Still Matters
05:39 Respect For Developers
05:59 Wrap Up And Links

Did You Know?

• I've got a newsletter you can subscribe to here that I send out most Tuesdays.
• I've had a blog for 20+ years you can check out here.
• If you don't like listening to me, you can find me elsewhere on the internet.
• You can check out some other podcasts I recommend here.

Support the Show
There are three ways you can support what I do online:

• Share the podcast with friends who might like it.
• Join other supporters on my Patreon with a monthly donation.
• Send a one-time donation via Stripe.

• Lynn
• Jon & Justin
• Abbey Fisher
• eileen smee
• 3 Guys 3 Questions