Meh I don’t see a reason why I should do this.
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That’s totally fine by us. MPU isn’t going anywhere; we’re just trying to both diversify the business and offer something for those who want more.
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I can look into that.
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There is a lot of assumption rolled into that comment, in my opinion. I’ve always found the hosts well prepared and the show nicely edited.
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Thanks - Just a little thing that helps me, even if marginally. Keep up the great content!
So do you put a lot of work into your podcast?
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I think the main thing is… Times are changing. Without full advertising revenue, I am happy to throw some coin at my favorite podcast, ease any transition to ‘the new times’. Plus, the last thing I want to hear about is a shoeless David Sparks. Yikes!
I would enjoy hearing about all the surprising stages and automations which go into a single podcast. I gather the work is surprisingly long and involved, though I would agree that they make it sound easy and conversational. But I do notice little things, like how they smoothly move from topic to topic, catch themselves from spending too much time on a single topic, and challenge and support each other on various topics to keep the discussions energetic but polite. So… maybe… more work than it appears?
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There’s certainly room for highly produced, branded podcasts like the one made for Dell, or Reid Hoffman’s. They’re not better just because they do that, though, just more palatable to listeners with different tastes, subject preferences and different levels of comfort with longform audio.
For me, a Walter Isaacson appearance on MPU would be more interesting than the whole Dell show. 
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I appreciate that in the US “membership” seems to be the way commercial podcasting is going, but $50 is too much for me. My bench mark is that for £157.50 per year — call it $180 — I get ALL of the BBC; all of the television (4 ad-free channels plus 24 hour news), all of the national and local radio stations, BBC Sounds (podcasts) and BBC iPlayer (vod). It’s probably not fair to make this comparison, but it is the competition for my listening time.
I’m away to buy one of MacSparky’s field guides, which actually seem ridiculously cheap given what you get.
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A round number had to be picked.
And, like University fees, you charge the going rate or risk looking second class.
I will admit, though, these subscriptions are accumulating. (And the Family CFO doesn’t listen to podcasts.) 
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Well, I’ve just started the MacSparky Photos field guide and it is underpriced; just check Amazon prices for up to date books on Photoshop …
However, I stand by my statement on MPU subscriptions. I could be convinced to pay $50 p.a. for membership of Relay FM as a WHOLE, but not any single podcast. There’s enough on Relay FM to make it comparable to, say, BBC radio 4 as far as hours/ week of informative, well produced listening (think In Our Time, the Infinite Monkey Cage, More or Less, Americast, Newscast, Podlitical and a couple more) and it would be churlish to say that the Relay FM stable is worth less per hour. Checking, $50 also seems what’s typically asked for annual membership for NPR stations (at least the couple I used to listen to when I worked in the US in the 1980s). So, $50 for Relay FM as a whole sounds good, but one programme I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work for me.
PS. What exactly is the Relay FM crossover programme? Am I moaning about not getting something that is already on offer?
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I believe that with the “Crossover” you get all of the annual bonus content (usually in August/September, I believe) and your contribution goes to each show.
You do not get the weekly bonus content that you would get with Upgrade, MPU, or Connected, or the monthly content that comes with Cortex. To get that, you have to support that specific show.
If you do not want to support any of the shows, you’ll still receive the same content, you just won’t get any of the extras.
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Changing it over to something that’s more differentiated from the regular artwork. Some podcast clients may take several days to see the change.
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More than just preparation for one show involved though. Reminds me of an old engineers joke.
The engine below decks in a big liner stops, an engineer is flown out and and taps it with a hammer, it starts up, the iceberg is avoided. The bill comes, 100$. But says the owner and Captain, you only hit it with a hammer. The engineer tears up the bill and writes another one, this one says “tapping with a hammer 1cent. Years spent learning where to tap and knowledge gained 99.99$”
I find that true, surprisingly. Some great comedians apparently were quite spontaneous. However, anyway, I suspect there is a lot of prep anyway. Depending, as I am suggesting, what one means by prep.
Research. And by research I don’t mean following the news or reading your rss feed on a regular basis.
Good move on the new artwork for MoPU. When I added it to Overcast I could see the MoPU feed distinct from the MaPU one.
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I will say I liked the extra segment at the end.
(My own podcast episodes always end with ice cubes going into a glass. I’m lobbying my co-host to do an after show where we relax and talk off topic. The ice cubes going into the glass signal maybe a drink in hand as we relax and keep talking. MoPU’s after show was the thing that tipped my thinking over the edge…)
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OK, David and Stephen have been researching for years! You want to make it piece-work. There is some kind of case for that, sometimes, not here in my view.
Well I am not sure even then you are right. Look at the episode page and ask yourself how many shows produce that amount of useful and interesting linkage.
See I am somewhat in the same position as these guys though not in IT. Take a lawyer. Sometimes a piece of advice: I experienced this recently, will craft a five minute letter. Indeed, the immediate research will take a bit of time; however the charge, in some cases, will be for years of study and experience. In the case I have in mind the precedents and reasoning were quite obscure but clear once ‘bought to light’ and worth the expense. Same prinicple applies to specialist doctors.
To caricature your position a little bit. Should we price Picassos at piece rates? How long did it take him to paint Guernica?
You can’t see that? You didn’t ‘get’ my post and joke? I was being fairly serious.
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Good attitude and the kind of thing that makes the show one that, ironically, should be supported by $$$.
I probably won’t subscribe this year, there are so many things in my environs at the moment in a similar boat to you guys.
I would like to contribute in a tip jar way. I do buy field guides with ‘support’ partly in mind. I didn’t really need the Shortcuts one I got from David for example. I don’t use ios hardly, but…
I am tempted though and if the finances work, I am moving house so I need some time to see what costs I get, I might reconsider a sub to your show. One reason is that I like the ethics you and David have. I trust what you say and believe it is honest opinion and advice and that deserves some support in today’s World. It is a good model I think, not to just ‘cut off’ those of us who are not quite ready or who never will subscribe.
Regarding sponsors, I got a Caspar mattress which had it not been advertized on MPU I probably wouldn’t have. Best mattress I ever got. That standard is really not easy to maintain I know myself. The odd thing here for me is that your show is the only one I know of where I actually like the sponsor sections. Nearly every piece of software I use I first heard of on MPU. I started listening the week I got my first Mac.