👩⚕️ A lot of people are talking about Apple’s next big thing. Many people are claiming there’ll be nothing as big as the iPhone. It’s a good argument. A portable computer that came around at just the right time with just the right capabilities at a somewhat affordable price is hard to beat.
I do think there’s a next big thing. But it’s already here.
It’s clear that Apple is really putting a lot of effort into the Apple Watch. Like the iPhone, it’s named purely for acceptance reasons. And, again, like the iPhone, it could easily be named iPod because of all the things it can do. Sure, one could argue the Apple Watch is used more to tell the time than the iPhone is used for phone calls, but I’m comfortable saying the Apple Watch is a sleeper device. Named as such only to make it easier for us neophytes to accept.
The Apple Watch can show you the weather, let you read and send messages, play your music and podcasts, and, yeah, make phone calls. It can also tell summon help if you’ve fallen. It can even tell you if it thinks your heart is acting oddly. Today. That’s all available today. The next version will have another sensor. And the following year as well (along with improved sensors we’re using today).
I see a future where more and more people have an Apple Watch because, while there may be credible competition, who in the world are you going to trust with your health information? Huawei? Samsung? Google? Please.
🎥 I just saw the latest Spider-Man movie with my son. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is such a fun, incredibly well-made movie that I’m labeling it a must see. I’m not the biggest fan of the whole super hero thing, but if I’m picking one super hero, I’d pick Spider-Man.
📲 Apple so needs to up its game when it comes to the App Store. This kind of crap is exactly what shouldn’t be in the App Store and, if it’s going to be, then let me take my chances side loading apps (which I know Apple won’t allow). So up your game, Apple.
How awesome 1) there is video of it and 2) She is not backing down or apologizing for it!
I still stand by my idea, however, that I’d trade a Trump impeachment for Paul Ryan being in jail forever. Now that I think about it more, the MSM is culpable when it comes to Ryan. They took everything that liar said and ran with it. Never, ever questioned the hows.
📷 I know it’s incredibly old school and kinda weird, but I’ve been so happy messing around with my photo blog (an import of Instagram) that I want to pick up my camera again (yeah, the camera I knew would get all dusty from disuse).
⌨️ I’ve run into a weird bug with my clicky keyboard when using it with my iPad Pro. When I wake the iPad from sleep while the iPad is connected to the keyboard (connected via Apple’s USB-C to USB-A adapter), the iPad can’t connect to internet without first unplugging the keyboard. The iPad will then immediately connect and I can plug the keyboard back in and all is well.
I don’t think it’s a Wi-Fi issue since the Wi-Fi icon is still displayed in the status bar. Restarting it will temporarily help, but that’s not obviously a long-term solution. For now I can just tell the iPad not Auto-Lock (again, not a long-term solution).
Is it just my keyboard (Leopold FC 660M) or a bug in iOS? I am not sure how to file this bug as I’m not a software developer.
⌨️ Hobbies are a weird thing. Some of us get totally into some obscure area of interest while others don’t even know the whatever even exists. I’ve been hovering on going deeper into the world of mechanical keyboards for a while now. The more I read about them and the more I see customized, the more I want to… Actually, it’s just the more I want.
This Christmas I finally got the keycaps I’ve been wanting for years thanks to the generosity of my brother-in-law.
🥤 I have begun my first attempt at cold brew from scratch.* I bought my first-ever burr grinder and some OXO cold brew pitcher contraption. Burr grinders, for those that don’t know, make a big ol mess. *Well, semi scratch. I didn’t grow the danged beans.
📺 If there is not a fourth season of Travelers then the world is shite and I don’t want to watch TV any longer. I haven’t loved characters this way since Firefly.
🤝 I spent some time on Friday and Saturday trying to get a Drafts action working, although honestly I had no idea what I was looking at. So I found the person who wrote the action and he explained the problem and how to get it working for me.
The internet has such a wonderful capability to be a source of endless good, yet we often get the worst of people. And the people who do that know exactly what they are doing when they do it. It’s a terrible shame.
Anyway, my thanks to Dave Nicholls for being a top-shelf kinda guy. He also has a micro blog but it’s sadly underutilized.
☠️ It’s shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone the United States of America would let a little girl die in custody when it’s the same callous country that’s done nothing about it’s horrendous lack of gun control which led to the killings of nearly two dozens little children (I refer to those children as babies and I don’t give a shit if people agree with me) just six years ago.
I will never not be shocked. I will never get over it. Those poor babies were scared at the last moment of their lives because the Republican Party and the NRA cared more about money and power than the lives of those little children. Those children. My children. Your children.
☠️ Now we’re killing the children we’ve kidnapped. How anyone -anyone at all- can remain members of the Republican Party is beyond me.* They have blood on their hands that will never wash off.
*It’s been over 30 years since I could understand how people could be members of the Republican Party.
💻 Here’s the thing, Jeff with a G, the best products aren’t always the most expensive. I bought the 11" iPad and, man, it feels like I got a deal. It’s smaller than my old 11" MacBook Air (which I still love, despite it getting quite dusty). It’s also lighter. And it’s just more fun to use.
I know it’s fun (and easy and clicky) to pick on Apple, but I’ve spent less money this year than years in the past. I literally bought the least expensive new devices they make. And they are friggin' great. For what I like and for what I do. I’d argue that the folks reading Jeffy-G’s article are closer to me than they want to believe.
It has to be fun, however, to always pick on the current big dog in the yard. When it comes to Apple, however, it’s always gotten picked on. No matter what size it was and no matter what the date.
🏛 For years now I’ve been going on and on* about how we should lower the minimum age for president and also lower maximum age for president. Most people think I’m nuts and being ageist. All y’all might want to reconsider my idea.
*I go on and on about everything, I know. Also, we should fund medical research the way we research for “better” killing machines.
If I had a vocabulary that was more majestic or breath-taking rather than proletariat, I’d be able to say something other than holy shitballs this is amazing.
All the folks involved in this project are part genius and part hacker. But all scientist.
🤓 I used my new 11" iPad Pro without the keyboard folio this weekend. It’s so incredibly light. It continues to remind me of the iPhone 5 (that’s the model that it felt hollow to me). Anyway, this iPP is a really neat little machine. I have absolutely no buyer’s remorse.
🚗 Of course cars are a problem. If/when (OK, it’s really just IF) I ever leave NYC and my beloved Brooklyn, it would only be for a far less-expensive city, but not any less-expensive city. It has to have as high a walking score (roughly) as Brooklyn. Otherwise, I’m not interested.
Walking is good for you, doesn’t pollute, and, just as important, brings you closer to your community. I’ll all for banning or taxing the heck out of cars (put the collected tax money in public transportation).
🤓 I don’t get jealous about non-Apple tech all that often, but this NUC that my friend got is getting to me. It’s the Mac Mini I wish Apple had built. That being said, the update to the Mac Mini is really, really good.