Good morning. Today, cameras alter an audio sensation.

Podcasts’ embrace of video has been great for promoting shows on TikTok and YouTube, but giving hosts a visual medium has left some headphone listeners struggling to keep up.

Picture the key anecdote from David Marcelis’s Journal piece this morning on one problem with podcasts’ pivot to video:

Now that YouTube is the No. 1 podcasting platform and Netflix is in the game, of course, it’s not so easy to find an audio-only alternative.

And beyond the comprehension questions, video changes the unique value proposition of a medium built on intimacy—both for listeners and for marketers.

Rising ad loads had already probably undermined the experience for some listeners, theoretically diminishing podcast ad effectiveness in the process.

Then cameras introduced another complication for hosts and brands.

Host-read podcast ads on YouTube were up to 25% less effective at driving purchases than in audio-only environments, according to research covered by the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Katie Deighton in December. The gap likely reflects audiences’ differing mindsets with each format, the bric-a-brac distractions that surround YouTube’s Default View, and hosts’ varying skill and enthusiasm for video show-and-tell.

And without necessarily comparing “Crime Junkie,” “Good Hang” or “Smartless” to the Supreme Court, let’s remember the justices’ successful resistance to allowing cameras into their proceedings, claiming that video would encourage attorneys and even the justices themselves to play to TV audiences.

Here’s Chief Justice John Roberts in 2018:

Why can’t anyone buy a Mac Mini right now?

It’s the perfect storm of supply and demand, Nicole Nguyen writes for the Journal.

You wouldn’t expect to hear “sold out” if you went to buy a niche product with no screen and chips that lag behind the current MacBook lineup.

But AI has a way of changing things, and the Mac Mini has in the past six months or so become the must-have host for private, “always-on” agents like OpenClaw.

It’s a cost-effective way for AI power users to run local large language models that can eat up dozens of gigabytes of RAM, aka memory. Running such software directly on a machine helps these people avoid usage quotas from cloud-based providers.

“Apple was caught up by the number of people buying Minis for Clawdbot [aka OpenClaw], which would have been impossible to predict a few months ago,” said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at research firm IDC.

Elsewhere at Apple: Stan Ng, vice president of product marketing for Apple Watch, AirPods, Health and Home, is retiring after more than 30 years at the company. [9to5Mac]

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Bob Liodice is stepping down as CEO of the Association of National Advertisers, a position he has held since 2003. [Adweek]

Netflix Chairman and co-founder Reed Hastings will step down from the company’s board after his term expires in June, ending a nearly three-decade run at the direct-to-consumer pioneer.  [WSJ] 

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News organizations are scrutinizing their deals with Nota, a provider of AI tools for newsrooms, after plagiarized articles turned up at Nota’s own network of news sites. [Poynter]

Design-software developer Canva’s longstanding profitability has helped avoid the large-scale layoffs seen at other technology companies as it builds toward an IPO, its chief executive said. [WSJ] 

The Geese Discourse has more people wondering how music marketing really works. Here’s another take, courtesy of Soundcloud’s Kalesha Madlani. [Link in Bio] 

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