455: ‘I’m Thinking X, Not X’, With Andru Edwards

John Gruber (0:00)

Andru, welcome back to The Talk Show. I think you were here a year ago. I think before the Apple event.

Andru Edwards (0:04)

Was it that long ago?

John Gruber (0:06)

I think so, but now I've had to hear after an Apple event. But you're fresh off an airplane, and I have to tell you, amongst numerous things that I've written in the last month, the one that has gotten the most, among the most reader feedback was a footnote where I pointed out about, is it just me, or is there this trend where no matter what time of day you fly, everybody keeps the windows all the way shut, and it's your... I read that. And you're flying in the dark, and I get it early in the morning. I totally get it. I do. I have a window. But in the middle of the day, I want the sunlight. I don't get it. It throws me off being in a dark aluminum tube at...

It's hard enough to adjust to time zones. But when it's 12 noon and you're taking off from the East Coast, it should not be dark. What are your thoughts on this?

Andru Edwards (0:59)

I'm hit by feedback. You might not like this. But I think you have a decision to make. You can be an aisle guy or you can be the window guy in charge of the window. We all know window seat gets the window, aisle guy has the easy access, and the middle seat gets both armrests.

So if you are going to be an aisle guy, you just have to put up with whatever the window person is up to. Me personally, I like the window because no matter how long my flight is, unless it's international, I'm not moving. I'm not going to the restroom. I'm just locking in and I'm going to take my laptop out. Maybe my Vision Pro, I'm going to do some work. So basically, I use the window as needed for what I'm trying to do for work. So if my laptop doesn't need a window and it's better while I'm editing to close that down, I'm closing it.

So what I don't like though, hopefully you're not one of these guys. Are you one of the guys that, the people that reach over from the middle or the outside? I could try to activate the window. I had one of those a couple weeks ago. I was in shock.

John Gruber (1:59)

No, no. Sometimes you take what you can get if you book last minute, but even so, you get what you get. You get your real estate and the window seat gets the window. No, that's ridiculous. That's almost as bad as if they reached over and took food off your tray.

Andru Edwards (2:13)

Exactly, exactly.

John Gruber (2:16)

Took the drink off your tray and were like, you're not drinking this, are you?

Andru Edwards (2:20)

That's a little presumptuous.

John Gruber (2:21)

No, and it's like a weird cultural change, though. I feel like everybody, and again, I'm not a doomer about screens, and everybody's addicted to screens, and everybody's down about how much time they spend on devices. I get it, and I think about it too, and I'm trying to be mindful about it, and trying to adapt and not get into habits about it, or break some habits about it. But I do think it's definitely a reflection of that. It absolutely is, and that people are not amazed by being 38,000 feet in the air and getting to see this magnificent earth. I mean, you really do. I'm an aisle guy, but my next choice is a window. I've sat in a window. And there's always some point on a long flight where you just look out the window, and you're like, wow, look at that. And nobody is amazed by that. What they are amazed by is the dumbass movie they're watching on their laptop.

And when you're watching a movie, you don't want the window open. You don't want the reflections. And so-

Andru Edwards (3:23)

You need that contrast.

John Gruber (3:24)

Yeah.

So I don't know. But it is, I got so much email about it, mostly from people who are like, yeah, I'm annoyed by this, but everybody sees there's nothing to be done about it.

Andru Edwards (3:35)

So most people were in agreement with you.

John Gruber (3:37)

And I remember from years ago when it was a lot rarer to have a laptop on a flight, right? And I remember when I first started flying the laptop 20 some years ago, it's you had to, I don't know, like a power book of the time would get like 2.5 hours of battery life. So if you're on a five hour flight, you could board, you could read for a bit, you could wait for the food cart to come down the aisle, and then take your laptop out and hurry up and do some work. And then your laptop would be dead by the time you got to like the Rocky Mountains and then you'd put it away and read for the rest of the flight and you didn't have to worry about it.