This week marks the 15th anniversary of the only joint onstage interview by computer pioneers and rivals Steve Jobs and ⁦@BillGates⁩. It was done at the ⁦@allthingsd⁩ conference by me and ⁦@karaswisher⁩, and was the highlight of our onstage interviewing career. Here’s another view:

1/ Twenty-four years ago today: the @nytimes gave front page play to the news that @Microsoft had bought $150 million in non-voting stock to help the struggling @Apple.

https://twitter.com/onthisdaynyt/status/1424037626617683970

2/ There are a lot of myths about this transaction, which I discussed in detail at the time with both CEOs. For one thing, Microsoft got a patent cross-licensing pact out of the deal. For another, it got to be able to tell the government and others that it had competition.

1/ I predict there will be a huge demand for tutors in the fall. Schools that reopen will be unable to do their jobs well, many parents will decline to send kids, teachers will quit. Those who can afford it will hire in-person tutors. Others will hire virtual tutors. 2/ Some families will, in effect, create ad hoc mini-schools for 10 or fewer kids staffed by licensed teachers who quit or retire.

I strongly recommend that, whatever your politics, you watch the marvelous portrayal of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in the @HBO mini-series “John Adams”. It’s available on HBO, HBO Max and every other version of HBO. It’s episode 2. hbo.com/john-adams/epi… Like my friend @patricknward, I watch this 90-minute portrayal every July 4. It is based on real history, not myth, and it shows just how difficult, dangerous, world-changing, and breathtaking the act of American independence was.

1/ I’m not weighing in on the growing controversy about the complex rules applied to developers in @Apple’s App Store. Just based on what I’ve read, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple is forced to change some of them. But I want to make three points that people seem to forget. 2/ First, in free markets, any merchant is free to receive a fee or share of the price of the goods it distributes to consumers. This is not a “tax”. You’re free to think 30% is too much to sell your app on a phone with about a 10% global share, but it’s not a “tax”.

1/ I wrote tech reviews for 27 years, so I know that civil criticism of reviews is fair. But it’s aggravating when the arrogant or ignorant claim a tech product isn’t up to “real work” or ”serious work” when what they mean is it’s not the right tool for *their* particular work. 2/ Every day, in the U.S. alone, tens of millions of people use consumer tech products like MacBook Airs, Chromebooks, iPads, and smartphones to do real work at real businesses and generate real money for themselves and their employers. Even if the IT department resisted it.

1/ This is an excellent thread about ageism (h/t @kvox). Both tech and tech journalism are overly youth-oriented. Yet I started my career as a tech columnist at the age of 44. I co-founded the AllThingsD conferences with @karaswisher at the age of 56. I co-founded @Recode at 66.

https://twitter.com/KieranSnyder/status/1224452010293858305

2/ I mostly got along well with the much younger tech engineers, product managers and CEOs I dealt with (except for the usual resentment at poor reviews). And I achieved serious status in my field. But I’m 100% sure there was ageism behind my back.

1/ Today is the 10th anniversary of the launch of the iPad, the last huge, game-changing product of the Steve Jobs era at @Apple, in which he unveiled entirely new products that shook things up every few years. I was there. I also saw the iPad privately before the launch. 2/ The iPad hasn’t entirely replaced the laptop, but it has taken over many common scenarios for which the laptop was once the prime device. I use my iPads daily, and they have led me to dramatically reduce my laptop use. I’m typing this post on an iPad.

1/ I’ve been a digital guy for decades. I get my news and features all day long online. But we still get print newspapers at our house. I’ve already read many of the top stories, often from the papers’ own sites. So why do I get the print papers? It’s not just habit or nostalgia. 2/ It’s because, 25 years after the Web appeared, the layout and presentation of stories in print is still superior. Some huge stories are more impactful, and the serendipity of the layout leads you to go broader on topics and discover other stories more easily.

1/ This is a good *first* step. Better than doing nothing. But it’s not enough. I read the full blog post. It makes no mention of disabling tracking how *often* the recipient opens the email. It’s also full of the rationalization that secret tracking is ok in “business” software.

https://twitter.com/rahulvohra/status/1146539948276740096

2/ The blog by CEO @rahulvohra admits that the recipient of a @Superhuman email can’t opt out of being tracked by emails sent from his product. He admits that the industry needs a solution to this. One good move might be to remove read tracking altogether from Superhuman.

1/ Thread. Here’s one way to view the Facebook/Apple dispute. Say I own a chain of 100 popular grocery stores. It’s far from the biggest chain, but folks trust it. Dole uses my chain to test new items. It wants to pilot a new kind of canned fruit at 3 of my stores, and I say OK. 2/ But Dole deliberately ships the test product to *all* of my stores, not 3. Plus, it turns out that the nature of the product violates my policies that Dole has agreed to. So I ban the product. (Note: I am not referring to the real Dole here of course. This is a made-up Dole.)

This is so wrong. Facebook, Google and others simply appropriate highly detailed, highly personal information about us without any action that could reasonably be called notice or permission. We need a federal law requiring that they ask first and offer to pay for it if need be.

https://twitter.com/antoniogm/status/1075508224554545152

And don’t be confused by the argument that you’re getting a “free” service in exchange for watching ads, like old-style TV or print. That would be a fair deal. It’s the secretive profiling, all over the Web, that must be banned. User permission & compensation should be required.

1/ Just back from a great six-day vacation in Montreal. Loved everything about it -the city, the people, the history, culture and food. Everything except our @Uber experience. 2/ After over a year of riding @lyft exclusively in the U.S., we had to use @Uber because @Lyft doesn’t operate there. And it was a far inferior service. We took at least a couple of @Uber trips daily, & about 80% of the time, the service somehow screwed up our pickup location.

1/ I know that next week Apple will introduce new, improved iPhones. But here’s my one-year update on my 2017 iPhone X, which is still running iOS 11. Battery: still great, lasts more than a day. Speed and fluidity: as good as on day one. 2/ Durability: no scratches or dents, despite several drops with just the same thin case I’ve used for years. Cameras: best photos I’ve ever taken, as good today as on day one. Face ID: works 9 out of 10 times so quickly that I can just ignore it and swipe to open.

1/ I attended the White House Correspondents Dinner for nearly 20 years. Attendance was expected by my bosses. This was before the big celebrity influx. But I still hated it. As soon as I could, I stopped going, even though I was still invited. 2/ In those days, the big highlight was that the president got to be funny and sarcastic. This was at a time when presidents weren’t on TV speaking - formally or informally- almost daily. So it could be fun to hear.