CultCast #337 - It’s true—Apple’s building a BUS

This week:  

• The press passes are out, the WWDC keynote is around the corner.  We gotta talk about it and we’ll tell a new way you can watch it live.
• New details out this week show the Apple car has taken yet another sad and disappointing turn.  We’ll you where it’s at now.
• It’s the 12 year anniversary of one of Apple’s best creations—we remember Apple’s incredible Get a Mac ads.
• And thoroughly embarrass our ourselves in an all-new Get To Know Ur Cultist.

 

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Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.

 

On the show this week

@erfon / @bst3r / @lewiswallace

 

Apple confirms WWDC 2018 keynote livestream

https://www.cultofmac.com/549805/apple-confirms-wwdc-2018-keynote-livestream/

• Press invites for the June 4 keynote were sent out today. And guess what?
• Cult of Mac is on this year’s guest list, so we’ll be live blogging all of the action from ground zero at the San Jose convention center.
• For the rest of you shlubs, Apple will give you a front row seat to the keynote on June 4th.
• WWDC 2018 is expected to include the unveiling of iOS 12, macOS 10.14, tvOS 12 and watchOS 5. Other rumors have suggested that Apple may unveil new hardware such as new MacBook Pros, or possibly an iPhone SE 2.

 

WWDC livestream will support Chrome and Firefox this year

https://www.cultofmac.com/549965/wwdc-livestream-will-support-chrome-and-firefox-this-year/

• As always, you’ll be able to watch it using Apple’s Safari browser, the WWDC app or Apple TV. However, for the first time Apple is also supporting Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
• But does this mean you’ll be able to watch the stream on PC?  Unsure.

 

Apple teams with VW for self-driving bus project

https://www.cultofmac.com/550185/apple-teams-with-vw-for-self-driving-bus-project/

• Apple originally began its car project — known internally as Titan and T172 — in 2014. At the time, Apple planned to build a single vehicle that would upend society and industry, in what would be the automotive version of the iPhone. The company set to work on an electric driverless car with a lush interior reminiscent of a lounge or living room, where passengers face each other instead of the road, according to two early employees of the project.
• But Apple soon learned that making a car is really hard, so they tried to partner with BMW and Mercedes.  But as Apple always does, they made things difficult by insisting on controlling the car experience and customer relationship, so the
• Now?  Well, they’re making an Apple Park shuttle bus.  with VW.
• Apple has inked a deal with Volkswagen that will allow the iPhone-maker to turn some of its T6 vans into self-driving shuttles for employees.
• Apple’s self-driving shuttle bus is behind schedule, thought, according to The New York Times. Nearly all of Cupertino’s car team is working just on the VW vans project, but the 2018 deadline will be missed.
• And what happens after the shuttle bus? No one knows.

 

Today in Apple history: Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ campaign comes to an end

https://www.cultofmac.com/548865/apple-get-a-mac-ad-campaign-ends/

• May 21, 2010: Apple quietly ends its long-running, award-winning “Get a Mac” marketing campaign.
• Debuting in 2006, the ads starred actor Justin Long as the cool, youthful Mac. Comedian John Hodgman portrayed the stuffy, awkward PC. Alongside the “Think Different” and the iPod “Silhouette” campaigns, “Get a Mac” will become one of the most fondly remembered extended ad campaigns in Apple history.
• The U.S. ads ran for the next few years, with 66 television spots in total. The campaign also spread to other markets, with alternate actors playing the Mac and PC roles.
• Apple aired the last “Get a Mac” TV ad in October 2009, marking the beginning of the end for the campaign.
• But the clever marketing continued on Apple’s website. On May 21, 2010, Apple finally replaced its “Get a Mac” page with a “Why You’ll Love a Mac” page.