Fascinating deep dive into Steve Jobs’ beloved bicycle analogy.
Here’s the quote:
“When we invented the personal computer, we created a new kind of bicycle…a new man-machine partnership…a new generation of entrepreneurs.” —Steve Jobs, c. 1980
After you read Steven Sinofsky’s excellent post, take a few minutes to read Steve Jobs’ original essay that started this whole thing off.
Clarus the Dogcow goes all the way back to the beginning of the Mac, a seminal bit of Apple lore. This is a great, fun read, filled with images and videos, digging into stuff deep at the heart of a lot of us old-timers. Nice job by Stephen Hackett.
[VIDEO] Headlines have been flying around the internet similar to this one:
“Apple Is Locking iPhone Batteries to Discourage Repair”
As I read through the various articles on this issue, I remained pretty convinced that Apple was not specifically trying to discourage repair. There had to be more to the logic.
Turns out, there was more to it. And Rene Ritchie did a great job laying out the issues, making this understandable. Still not thrilled with the answer, but I get Apple’s goals here. Watch for yourself. Video embedded in main Loop post.
Threatpost, via 9to5Mac:
Researchers on Wednesday during Black Hat USA 2019 demonstrated an attack that allowed them to bypass a victim’s FaceID and log into their phone simply by putting a pair of modified glasses on their face. By merely placing tape carefully over the lenses of a pair glasses and placing them on the victim’s face the researchers demonstrated how they could bypass Apple’s FaceID in a specific scenario. The attack itself is difficult, given the bad actor would need to figure out how to put the glasses on an unconscious victim without waking them up.
Obviously, this is a very slim scenario, requiring an unconscious victim. But it does raise the specter of law enforcement rendering someone unconscious in order to break into their phone.
Juli Clover, MacRumors:
Apple is introducing an expanded bug bounty program that covers macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and iCloud as well as iOS devices, Apple’s head of security engineering Ivan Krstić announced this afternoon at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.
Someone is going to pay for those vulnerability details. Way better for everyone if it’s Apple.
Digiday:
Publishers including Vice Media and The Stylist Group say they’ve gotten traffic and, more importantly, revenue lifts from Apple News in the last three months. While this is from a small base, for some publishers it signifies that patience with publishing to the platform, which has been widely accepted as good for brand awareness but lagging revenue, is starting to pay off.
Details in the linked article, but certainly good news for Apple News+. Personally, I’d take another look at the service if Apple made some UX tweaks to improve the search mechanism, make it easier for me to find and get to the original articles, and add tools to more easily manage my reading list.
The big change here is the move from HDMI 1.4b to HDMI 2.0.
HDMI 1.4b:
That last is also known as 1080p, or Full HD.
HDMI 2.0:
Note that there’s also an HDMI 2.1, requires still another specialized cable, for 4K at 120 Hz, and beyond. Apple’s updated dongle is rated for HDMI 2.0.
Jake Kanter, Business Insider:
Samsung has a long and illustrious history of trolling Apple in its smartphone commercials. But now the South Korean firm is cloning one of the iPhone features it once mocked, and has quietly deleted records of the ads.
I kind of like the sequencing of this tweet from Sam Henri Gold.
Oh Samsung.
Billboard:
On Wednesday (August 7) Apple Music announced the launch of Apple Digital Masters, a new initiative by the streaming giant that combines all of its “Mastered for iTunes” offerings into one global catalog. This is the company’s first public acknowledgement of the initiative, which it has been quietly unveiling for some time.
You’ll see the new “Apple Digital Master” on associated songs in the Music app in macOS Catalina. I’m hoping for a checkbox that lets me limit my music browsing to only those songs.
Take a look at this Reddit post to get a look at the new badge.
[VIDEO] Before you dig into any of the videos Apple just posted, here’s a link to a nice little ASMR explainer.
From the post:
Coined in 2010, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) is a relaxing, often sedative sensation that begins on the scalp and moves down the body. Also known as “brain massage,” it’s triggered by placid sights and sounds such as whispers, accents, and crackles.
With that in mind, fire up some headphones (important!) and watch each of the videos embedded in the main Loop post. Hard to pick a favorite, I’ve enjoyed all four, but don’t miss the Ghost Forest, last but not least.
Enjoy!
Apple posted their latest iOS adoption numbers. Some pie charts, and some opinion […]
Interesting and important work, no doubt.
I do wonder if I’d like to know if dementia, or Alzheimer’s is coming my way. For me, it’s similar to the question of knowing the exact day I’m going to die. I do think there’s value for those around me, no question. And if there’s a treatment, of course, it’d be critical to know so I can maximize my chances and my quality of life.
But there’s a psychic toll to knowing something is coming for me, something relentless, dark, and inevitable.
Would you want to know?
Last week, we posted a link to some some pretty amazing typing on Apple Watch.
Here’s an even more impressive version, this one with the video disabled. Pretty cool.
Adrianne Jeffries, Motherboard:
The Yelp app lists a restaurant’s direct phone number on the actual listing. That’s (212) 262-8300 in the case of Judge Roy Bean Public House. But when you click on the phone number, this dialogue shows up: Delivery or Takeout and General Questions.
And:
When a user clicks on the “Call” button labeled “Delivery or Takeout,” they are taken to a different number, (646) 394-9837, which is owned by Grubhub.
And:
Even though restaurants are capable of taking orders directly—after all, both numbers are routed to the same place—Yelp is pushing customers to Grubhub-owned phone numbers in order to facilitate what Grubhub calls a “referral fee” of between 15 percent and 20 percent of the order total
Read this article. Astonishing. It gets way worse.
My first thought, after processing all this, was, “This is the crowdsourcing behind Apple Maps”.
I hope Apple has a backup plan. Perhaps one of the many partnerships Apple Maps has outside the US? This is not a good look for Apple Maps.
Julia Alexander, The Verge:
Disney will offer a bundle package of its three streaming services — Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ — for $12.99 a month starting on November 12th, the company announced today.
Bob Igor, Disney CEO, during yesterday’s investor call:
The streaming services is likely to be available through “Amazon, Apple, and other distributors,” according to Iger. Disney has not finalized any deals with the aforementioned companies, but told investors “we feel it’s important for us to achieve scale quickly, and we think it’s going to be an important part of that. They’re all interested in distributing the product.”
Presumably, if you sign up for the bundle outside Apple TV, you’ll still have access to all three inside Apple TV, though you might have to jump through a few verification hoops to enable that access.
If you are an existing subscriber to, say, Hulu, via Apple TV, seems to make sense to dump that subscription and sign up for the bundle instead. Will the bundle signup be available within Apple TV?
Hulu with no ads is $11.99 a month. Assuming that no-ads Hulu is the one included with this bundle, the $12.99 bundle allows you access to Disney+ and ESPN+ for just a buck more a month. A no-brainer.
UPDATE: I’m told that the version of Hulu included with this bundle is the ad version, which runs $5.99 a month. Wonder if there’s a path to the ad-free version from the bundle. As is, that means you are paying $7 a month for Disney+ and ESPN+. Still a no-brainer, at least to me.
Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac:
The granted patent could use the Mac’s camera to do two things. First, it would avoid timing-out into sleep mode when there’s someone in front of the machine.
and, after posting a big chunk of “patenteze” from the granted patent:
My reading of that and the accompanying illustrations is that the Mac can automatically wake and log you in, even if it is in sleep mode when you approach it.
Sounds good to me. And, I’d add, it sounds like that “second sensor” mentioned in the patent is your Apple Watch, though could be the iPhone in your pocket, too.
From the press release:
By adding Amazon Music Unlimited, Prime Student members can now get over 50 million songs, thousands of curated playlists and stations, and discover new music through voice with Alexa
This is no small thing. Amazon is quickly gaining on both Apple Music and Spotify. In part, this is due to the wild success of Echo and Alexa. Imagine how this would be if Amazon had a successful phone and watch to add to the mix.
Hacker News put out a call to its readers for their favorite Mac keyboard shortcuts. Worth a scan. I’d be shocked if even the most seasoned Mac power user didn’t find a few surprises there.
[VIDEO] This Bill Gates interview came out about a month ago, but I just watched it this morning, thought it was worth sharing.
The whole thing is relatively short, all interesting, but the Steve Jobs bit kicks in at about 2:40 in. I definitely get a sense that Bill held a real reverence for Steve. The video is embedded in the main Loop post.
This was a really interesting read. If you have an iPad Pro with USB-C, spend a few minutes scanning the options here. Dongle city, but necessary for many.
[VIDEO] Apple’s official YouTube channel just added 10 new Apple Card videos. The first one, How to Apply, is embedded in the main Loop post. The rollout has started.
Matthew Panzarino, TechCrunch:
Apple Card is getting its first group of public test users today. A limited amount of customers that signed up to be notified about the release of Apple Card are getting the ability to apply for the card in their Wallet app today — as well as the option to order their physical Apple Card.
I’ve been using the card for a few days on my own device, making purchases and payments and playing around with features like Apple Cash rewards and transaction categorization.
And:
The application process was simple for me. Portions of the information you need are pre-filled from your existing AppleID account, making for less manual entry. I had an answer in under a minute and was ready to make my first purchase instantly. I used it both online and in person with contactless terminals.
It…works.
Read the article for more of Matthew’s personal experience. Expect to see a wave of articles as the invites continue to go out. Here’s a link to the Apple Wallet Apple Card application page.
I’ll definitely be getting a card, though I’ll also share my card use with my existing credit cards. One thought I have is to use Apple Card when I travel, especially overseas, to minimize the hassle of fraudulent card use.
This is simply incredible.
This series of experiments fascinates me. Heads up, this is not a cassette player, which is what first sprang to mind. Heh. Silly me.
Considering signing up for an Apple Card? Read the Apple Card Customer Agreement, posted on the Goldman Sachs website (via Juli Clover, MacRumors).
A few highlights:
On the credit card APR:
13.24% to 24.24% when you open your account, based on your creditworthiness. After that, this APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate.
You may not use or permit your Account to be used for:
That second one is subtle. Back in definitions, Cash Advances are defined as:
Any cash advance and other cash-like transaction, including purchases of cash equivalents such as travelers checks, foreign currency, or cryptocurrency; money orders; peer to peer transfers, wire transfers or similar cash-like transactions; lottery tickets, casino gaming chips (whether physical or digital), or race track wagers or similar betting transactions.
Got it? Good.
Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:
Last week, Trump announced that the United States would place a 10 percent tariff on another $300 billion worth of goods imported from China, starting September 1st.
And:
Kuo writes that Apple has likely made “proper preparations” for such a tariff, and he predicts that Apple will “absorb most of the additional costs” in the mid-short term. Thus, Kuo believes that “prices of hardware products and shipment forecasts for the U.S. market will remain unchanged” despite the tariff.
Obviously, the cost of any such tariff needs to be paid. If Apple eats the tariff cost, rather than passing it along to consumers, that will impact their bottom line.
Natalia Drozdiak, Bloomberg:
Starting next year, Google will prompt users to make a choice between Google and three other rival options as their default search provider. Google invited search providers to bid as part of an auction on the new choice screen, which will appear when a user sets up a new Android smartphone or tablet in Europe for the first time.
This is all about avoiding big EU antitrust fines. To get a sense of what the “choose your search provider” interface looks like, check out the pic in the Google blog post announcing the change.
Not clear if this change will be limited to the EU. Also not clear if this will impact Apple. Google pays for that default search provider spot. Will Apple be forced to open that spot up to similar competition?
[VIDEO] If you love hearing stories about Steve Jobs and Apple, carve out some time and immerse yourself in master storyteller Scott Knaster’s one-man show, Adjacent to Greatness. The video is embedded in the main Loop post.
Ignore the production values and just listen to tales from someone who was in the room, a fly on the wall, at some very interesting moments in time.
CBS local, Nebraska:
911 dispatchers in Nebraska say an Apple upgrade is to blame for a rise in the number of unintentional calls.
Sarpy County Communications in Papillion said it has received 7,000 abandoned calls so far this year, taking up valuable time and resources that could used for true emergencies.
As you might have guessed, these hangups are due to accidental 911 calls triggered by fall detection and Emergency SOS.
“My Apple watch, while [I was] wrestling with the grandchildren, called 911. All of the sudden my watch was talking to me and asking if everything was OK,” he said. In a panic, he hung up.
Is this a design problem? A user education problem? Both?
Officials say if you do misdial 911, please stay on the line to answer the dispatcher’s questions.
If you stay on the line, you can let the 911 operator know it was a misdial, save them trying to track you down in case the emergency was real.
Matthew Panzarino, TechCrunch:
In response to concerns raised by a Guardian story last week over how recordings of Siri queries are used for quality control, Apple is suspending the program world wide. Apple says it will review the process that it uses, called grading, to determine whether Siri is hearing queries correctly, or being invoked by mistake.
In addition, it will be issuing a software update in the future that will let Siri users choose whether they participate in the grading process or not.
And:
“We are committed to delivering a great Siri experience while protecting user privacy,” Apple said in a statement to TechCrunch. “While we conduct a thorough review, we are suspending Siri grading globally. Additionally, as part of a future software update, users will have the ability to choose to participate in grading.”
Perfect response.