The Talk Show With John Gruber 443: ‘The Pogue Feature’, With David Pogue
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Mar 18, 2026 
David Pogue, tech journalist and author of Apple: The First 50 Years, walks through the book’s making and rare archive finds. He talks about Apple’s secrecy, product decisions from the iPod to iPhone, Jobs’ evolution, the origins of the “Pogue feature” screenshot story, and why Apple’s 50th anniversary matters.
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Apple Opened Its Recent Archives For This Book
- Apple granted David Pogue deep access to recent history after six months of negotiation, including interviews with Tim Cook's executive team and archivists.
- Apple archivists produced ~700 previously unseen images and arranged back-to-back interviews at Apple Park across 2024–2025.
Apple's Relentless Push Prevents Nostalgia
- Apple cultivates a forward-focused culture: launch a product, then immediately obsess over the next one, leaving little time to celebrate.
- John Rubenstein said there were no post-launch parties; teams were 'all guns blazing' on the next product.
Exile Transformed Steve Jobs Into A Hitmaker
- Steve Jobs' second era produced successive major hits (iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad) unlike his earlier career of many failures; his leadership style shifted after exile.
- Pogue frames Jobs 1.0 vs Jobs 2.0 as almost two different people with distinct outcomes.
