CNBC:

MGM has held preliminary talks with a number of companies, including Apple and Netflix, to gauge their interest in an acquisition, two of the people said. MGM owns the James Bond catalog and its studio has made several current hit shows including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which streams on Hulu, and “Live PD,” a reality police show that has frequently been the most watched show on cable TV and airs on A&E. It also owns premium cable network Epix. MGM had revenue of more than $1 billion for the first nine months of the year.

Apple, for example, is brand new to media production and distribution and has started Apple TV+ without an existing library of series and movies to entice consumers. Buying an existing studio with experienced media executives may make sense, especially if the company, such as MGM, is heavy on intellectual property and light on people.

I don’t usually comment or post about rumours but this makes a huge amount of sense if Apple is looking to expand past original content. MGM has a huge back catalog including the Bond franchise.

MDJ:

This afternoon in the US (4:30 PM EST on Wall Street, 1:30 PM PST in Cupertino, 2020.01.28 21:30 GMT) Apple Inc. will release the results of the company’s first quarter of fiscal year 2020. Coverage will happen live on a slew of websites, on CNBC, and on Twitter (we’ll be committing attempted punditry @macjournals if you care to watch).

We thought we’d take some time in this introductory issue under new tools to go through some of the basics of Apple results, what they mean, why they matter, and why, ever so occasionally, an analyst reaction or question can be so stupid.

Great analysis of what will happen later today and why.

Lots of detail. At the top of the page, tap/click Camera for the rear facing camera review from Nov ’19, tap/click Audio for the audio review from Oct ’19.

Wojtek Pietrusiewicz:

I built my last hackintosh in 2014 and it was overdue for an update. Since Apple recently updated their iMac with Core i9s and skipped the T2, this is probably the last time I’m building this sort of computer, before MacOS is locked down forever.

I wish Wojtek had expanded on that last bit, but it does feel as if the Mac is heading down the road of getting more and more locked down. And as far as I know, there’s no way to add a T2 to your own build, so if that ever becomes a requirement for a Mac, that’d be that. (Please do correct me if I’m wrong about that).

Add to that Apple’s recent moves towards all macOS software being notarized. From Apple:

Beginning in macOS 10.14.5, software signed with a new Developer ID certificate and all new or updated kernel extensions must be notarized to run. Beginning in macOS 10.15, all software built after June 1, 2019, and distributed with Developer ID must be notarized. However, you aren’t required to notarize software that you distribute through the Mac App Store because the App Store submission process already includes equivalent security checks.

Another sign of macOS lockdown. Could this be the last days of Hackintosh?

All that aside, if you are interested in building your own Hackintosh, this is a pretty build, lots of pictures.

Terrific interview from Input Magazine.

A bit about the two iPad leads, just to whet your appetite.

Imran Chaudhri, Former Director of Design on the Human Interface team:

I came to Apple in 95 as an intern in the Advanced Technologies Group. When I finished school in 97, I came to Apple and Steve was there after the NeXT acquisition and he was going through and cutting and trimming the fat at Apple — and ATG was a place that he wasn’t a huge fan of. He wasn’t a huge fan of research for research sake and I wasn’t either, which was kind of an interesting thing. I always wanted to really, really ship products and ATG really wasn’t about that. Steve laid off everybody in ATG and I was kind of left to figure out what I was going to do. I started emailing Steve some ideas and we started working closely together and the relationship formed a lot of products, the revitalization of the Mac, going on to the iPod, the development of multitouch to the iPhone and iPad and, post, to a bunch of stuff like the Watch, the AirPods and HomePod, etc. All things we finished before I left a couple of years ago.

Bethany Bongiorno, Former Software Engineering Director:

I joined in 2008, actually, right after they shipped the first phone. I joined immediately after that and started as a project manager on the iPhone. There was a very small team back then; we sat kind of in one hallway. [The phone] was definitely a startup within Apple and I was brought on board because the project manager that was working there really didn’t like working with designers and really didn’t like working at the higher levels of the stack. She preferred kind of working at a lower level; the core operating system and the kernel and things like that.

Then very quickly after that, they told me that the real reason they had to hire me was because Steve had this pet project that he was really excited about and they needed somebody to lead that effort because the team really needed to remain focused on development of iPhone.

Fantastic read.

Nikkei Asian Review:

Apple has asked its suppliers to make up to 80 million iPhones over the first half of this year, people familiar with its planning told the Nikkei Asian Review, a rise of over 10% on last year’s production schedule that could boost the company’s near-record share price.

And:

However, suppliers warned that blistering pace of production could be complicated by the outbreak of the coronavirus in China’s Hubei Province, given that their main manufacturing centers are in nearby Henan and Guangdong provinces, with more than 100 confirmed cases as of Monday afternoon, and in Shanghai, with over 50 confirmed cases.

Good news, bad news. And no way to truly gauge the coronavirus impact.

As to sales impact, I suspect that people will be willing to wait longer for their iPhones if Apple can’t make them fast enough.

Steven Sinofsky:

The announcement 10 years ago today of the “magical” iPad was clearly a milestone in computing. It was billed to be the “next” computer. For me, managing Windows, just weeks after the launch of Microsoft’s “latest creation” Windows 7, it was as much a challenge as magical.

The success of iPhone (140K apps & 3B downloads announced that day) blinded us at Microsoft as to where Apple was heading. Endless rumors of Apple’s tablet obviously meant a pen computer based on Mac. Why not? The industry chased this for 20 years. That was our context.

Sitting in a Le Corbusier chair, he showed the “extraordinary” things his new device did, from browsing to email to photos and videos and more. The real kicker was that it achieved 10 hours of battery life—unachievable in PCs struggling for 4 hours with their whirring fans.

There was no stylus..no pen. How could one input or be PRODUCTIVE?

Sinofsky is the former President of the Windows Division at Microsoft and had a front row seat to the disruption the iPad would cause.

The Hustle:

Few things epitomize America more than the all-you-can-eat buffet.

For a small fee, you’re granted unencumbered access to a wonderland of gluttony. It is a place where saucy meatballs and egg rolls share the same plate without prejudice, where a tub of chocolate pudding finds a home on the salad bar, where variety and quantity reign supreme.

But one has to wonder: How does an industry that encourages its customers to maximize consumption stay in business?

To find out, we spoke with industry experts, chefs, and buffet owners. As it turns out, it’s harder to “beat” the buffet than you might think.

I don’t like buffets in principle (the idea of “picked over food” nauseates me) but woe be to the restaurant that offers “All You Can Eat Sushi.” I can eat my body weight in sushi.

Motherboard:

An antivirus program used by hundreds of millions of people around the world is selling highly sensitive web browsing data to many of the world’s biggest companies, a joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag has found. Our report relies on leaked user data, contracts, and other company documents that show the sale of this data is both highly sensitive and is in many cases supposed to remain confidential between the company selling the data and the clients purchasing it.

The documents, from a subsidiary of the antivirus giant Avast called Jumpshot, shine new light on the secretive sale and supply chain of peoples’ internet browsing histories. They show that the Avast antivirus program installed on a person’s computer collects data, and that Jumpshot repackages it into various different products that are then sold to many of the largest companies in the world. Some past, present, and potential clients include Google, Yelp, Microsoft, McKinsey, Pepsi, Sephora, Home Depot, Condé Nast, Intuit, and many others.

I opt-out of all data collection regardless of whether or not the company claimes “the data is fully de-identified.” If you use “Avast Security for Mac”, you might want to look for alternatives.

Wired:

There are any number of reasons why monitoring your kid’s phone makes sense. These range from the relatively benign (they could be cheating on their homework) to the severe (they could be texting a drug dealer). Cyberbullying is a particular concern, and it’s a veritable epidemic; 42 percent of children say they’ve been bullied online, according to i-Safe, and 35 percent have been actively threatened. Of those kids, 58 percent never tell their parents.

Nevertheless, am I a bad person to be so suspicious of my pride and joy? Am I guilty of—shudder—invading my children’s privacy?

While this may be a (minor) ethical dilemma for many parents and a conversation I enjoy having with other parents to see where they draw the line, I maintain that up to a certain age, “Children have zero expectation of or right to privacy from their parents.” Or, as my mother would have put it if she had children today, “My house. My rules.”

I know this sounds like piracy, but it’s not about that. This is a walkthrough of some lesser known resources that you can mine, free, for a pretty wide range of content.

Before you follow the link, think about what the list of the most borrowed books of all time (well, since the New York Public Library opened in 1895) might look like.

Don’t forget kids books, a favorite at most libraries.

Enjoy.

The Unofficial Apple Archive:

My videos may be down but my spirit is up. Standby please.

Even as it was talked about all over the Mac web last week, I knew it was only a matter of time before it got taken down. You can’t publicly aggregate this much of Apple’s content and not have them notice. There is still lots of content there but all the videos seem to have been pulled. The Verge has more of the story.

CNET: I’ve heard it, you’ve heard it and anyone remotely familiar with electric cars has heard it: range and charging anxiety. It’s the fear of running out of charge while driving, or not finding a proper plug to juice up the car before hitting the road again.

Well, here’s a not-so-shocking revelation: Owning an electric car actually eases those anxieties. AAA released its latest EV study on Wednesday and it found car buyers shouldn’t dismiss battery-powered cars until they actually live with one. For those who invest in an electric vehicle, proper care for your EV batteries is crucial to protecting your investment.

After surveying 40,000 electric vehicle owners, plus another 1,000-plus plug-in hybrid owners, AAA concluded that owning an EV is the best prescription for the unknown factors surrounding them. In total, 71% of those surveyed were first-time EV buyers, and 96% of them said they would shop for another EV. Don’t knock the EV life until you try the EV life.

Anecdotally, I’ve heard similar feedback from the few Tesla and Leaf owners I know. They enjoy the convenience of charging at home and typically find their vehicles more than sufficient for daily commutes. The dealbreaker for me, however, is the mileage range; while it’s rare someone will blow through an entire 200-mile range in a single day, the peace of mind that comes with having a bit more flexibility matters. It’s somewhat like the used cars in Montclair, which offer reliable performance and a bit of extra range for longer trips. You’re not just paying for functionality; you’re getting that added assurance on the road.

At least on my motorcycle, I regularly and easily do that much in a day four days out a week. An electric car that can’t do 300-400 miles on a charge means I’ll never own an electric car.

Ars Technica:

Almost two years have passed since the appearance of Shlayer, a piece of Mac malware that gets installed by tricking targets into installing fake Adobe Flash updates. It usually does so after promising pirated videos, which are also fake. The lure may be trite and easy to spot, but Shlayer continues to be common—so much so that it’s the number one threat encountered by users of Kaspersky Labs’ antivirus programs for macOS.

Since Shlayer first came to light in February 2018, Kaspersky Lab researchers have collected almost 32,000 different variants and identified 143 separate domains operators have used to control infected machines. The malware accounts for 30 percent of all malicious detections generated by the Kaspersky Lab’s Mac AV products. Attacks are most common against US users, who account for 31 percent of attacks Kaspersky Lab sees. Germany, with 14 percent, and France and the UK (both with 10 percent) followed. For malware using such a crude and outdated infection method, Shlayer remains surprisingly prolific.

Tell your less technically adept family and friends FLASH IS DEAD and they shouldn’t install any version of it, particularly if those family and friends visit “sketchy” websites.

The Verge:

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence just published a statement on the company’s website to try to clear up an announcement made earlier this week: on Tuesday, Sonos announced that it will cease delivering software updates and new features to its oldest products in May. The company said those devices should continue functioning properly in the near term, but it wasn’t enough to prevent an uproar from longtime customers, with many blasting Sonos for what they perceive as planned obsolescence. That frustration is what Spence is responding to today. “We heard you,” is how Spence begins the letter to customers. “We did not get this right from the start.”

“Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible.”

Thanks for all the feedback & my apologies for not responding sooner. I wanted to make sure we get it right. All Sonos products will continue to work past May: https://t.co/bmwQQgPd86

— Patrick Spence (@Patrick_Spence) January 23, 2020

Sonos is saying this was more of a misstep in communication.

New York Times:

Names, and their concomitant marketing strategy, aside, today’s launching of the Macintosh by Apple, unlike I.B.M.’s recent introduction of the rather unexceptional PCjr, presages a revolution in personal computing. Like all major innovations, this one entails a high risk of failure. Apple lost the first battle, begun with its $10,000 Lisa. The second assault is with a machine only a fourth the cost of its big sister and almost as versatile.

The Mac display makes all the other personal computer screens look like distorted rejects from a Cubist art school. With a 512-line horizontal by 342-line vertical, the display conveys an image that is refreshingly crisp and clear. The fundamental difference between the Mac and other personal computers is that the Macintosh is visually oriented rather than word oriented. You choose from a menu of commands by simply pressing the wandering mouse’s button rather than by using a number of control keys or by entering words.

As today is the Mac’s 36th birthday, read (or reread for those of you old enough) the Times’ original review of the Macintosh.

John Gruber, digging into this Wall Street Journal article:

But what caught my eye was this graphic halfway down the page, showing “Q4 2019 U.S. customer base by service”, sourced to Ampere Analysis. Their numbers, in millions:

• Netflix: 61.3
• Amazon Prime: 42.2
• Apple TV+: 33.6
• Hulu: 31.8
• Disney+: 23.2

At first blush, Disney+ being behind Hulu is shocking. But then:

It’s worth noting that Disney+ didn’t launch until November 12, halfway through the quarter; I expect Disney+ to eventually take the number one spot on this list.

Absolutely agree. I do expect Disney+ to roar into the top spot in the next quarterly report.

That said, I think this is about customer onboarding strategy for the new players. Apple’s approach is a logical masterstroke. Buy a new device, even an Apple TV will qualify, and you get added to the list. Even if you forget to sign up, we’ll remind you. And it’s free.

Amazon used the same approach to build up their customer base, albeit with a slight twist. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime, you’re on the list, even if you never watch a single movie. To me, that makes Amazon’s numbers a bit softer.

Hulu will likely benefit, at least somewhat, from the amazing success of Disney+. So we might see their numbers bump past Apple next quarter. But long run, I think Apple TV+ will grow past Amazon, so we’ll see Disney+, Apple TV+, then Amazon Prime in the third spot in the next report.

Juli Clover, MacRumors, pulled together a nice walk down memory lane for Mac’s 36th birthday.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Apple today overhauled its Apple jobs website, introducing a new look and a new video in an effort to better recruit employees. The updated video on the site features the different Apple logo designs that Apple first created for its Mac-centric event in October 2018.

Take a minute to visit the newly refurbished Jobs site. Watch the video, with those animated logos, a nod to those logo designs from the October ’18 event.

The prose narrating the video:

To the constant beginners who sing off-key against the beat. To those unfamiliar with convention, unmoved by rules, and reborn with every new discovery. Those open to daydreams and night dreams and visions and mirages. Who can see the millions of shades of green in a field of grass. Whose days are filled with mysteries that cannot be solved with facts. You are more powerful than you think… and you are welcome here.

Reminds me of this…

MacRumors:

The Wall Street Journal today published a profile of Tony Blevins, Apple’s vice president of procurement, providing an inside look at Apple’s corporate culture and what Blevins does for the company.

As Apple’s vice president of procurement, Blevins’ job is to get suppliers to cut their prices, and he will apparently stop at little to score a favorable deal for Apple, which has earned him the nickname “the Blevinator.”

His negotiating skills are so important to Apple that Cook tapped him to manage negotiations for Apple’s spaceship-shaped Apple Park campus. When getting bids for the curved glass used for the structure, he invited glass makers to Hong Kong, put them in separate conference rooms, and went from room to room to get the lowest price, ultimately saving Apple hundreds of millions of dollars.

There’s a guy like this at almost every successful company, for better or worse.