AI Tools: What's Actually Working (and What Isn't) with Bill McLean

Big news out of Cupertino: Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO, with hardware engineering chief John Ternus set to take the helm this September. Tom and Jeff spend a few minutes on the transition — then welcome back guest Bill McLean for an honest, no-hype check-in on AI tools: what they're actually using, what's working, and where the marketing is writing checks the technology can't cash. In this episode: • The Tim Cook → John Ternus CEO handoff and what a hardware guy at the top might mean for Apple's software • Which AI platforms Tom and Bill settled on, and why ChatGPT got dropped • Claude Co-Work in real life: web scraping, YouTube analytics, and why you still have to babysit it • The "dopamine hit" problem: why AI-generated ideas can kill your motivation to actually do the work • How Bill replaced his Squarespace subscription using Claude Code with zero coding background • Why context might be AI's real superpower and why Apple could have the biggest edge • MCP integrations worth building: Readwise, Craft, Apple Reminders • Why Claude projects and skills outperformed an Obsidian vault for real workflow results • A must-read New Yorker profile on Sam Altman Links from the show: • Bill McLean on YouTube:    / @billmclean   (   / @billmclean  ) • Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? (https://apple.news/AuaEiB2A9RdCMXHktC...) - The New Yorker Question or Comment? Send us a Text Message! (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2086252/fa...) Support the show (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2086252/su...) Contact Us • Drop us a line at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) • You’ll find Jeff at @reyespoint (  / reyespoint  ) on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/reyespoint.b...) on Bluesky • Find Tom at @tomanderson (https://www.threads.net/@tomanderson) on Threads • Join Tom’s newsletter, Apple Talk (https://www.tomfanderson.com/) , for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks. • Tom has a new YouTube (   / @tomfanderson  ) channel • Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design (https://www.randallmartindesign.com) Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating! • Review on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...) • Rate on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/75Yn8nb...) • Recommend in Overcast Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen • Apple Music (  / seven-league-boots  ) • Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/album/4TPQ8N...) Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness.