From Apple’s Black Friday teaser page:

Friday can’t come soon enough.

Our one-day shopping event will be here before you know it. Come back this Friday to check everyone off your list.

Free two day shipping on all in-stock items ordered by 5p. No mention of time zone there. Fair to assume it’s 5p local time?

Check back Friday morning to see what’s on sale. I’m hoping for a discount on the new Apple Watch.

Classic TV History:

TV Guide named it as the fortieth best television episode of all time. On lists of favorite sitcoms, or favorite holiday episodes, it invariably ranks even higher. WKRP in Cincinnati’s seventh episode, “Turkeys Away” begins as a wholesome, almost bland, Thanksgiving show. Around the midpoint, though, the standard-issue sitcom setup – Mr. Carlson (Gordon Jump), orchestrates a secret radio station promotion – takes a spectacularly morbid and off-color left turn, one that sets up punchline after hilarious punchline. The last line of the show (which can be viewed on Hulu, albeit with substantial cuts and music replacement) has become one of the most oft-quoted gags in the history of television.

This post is from a few years ago but, in honor of the upcoming US Thanksgiving Day festivities, I thought some of you might want to read this oral history of one of the funniest TV episodes of all time.

This is very cool. I need one of these.

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Craig Federighi’s response to an email from a 9to5mac reader concerned about the elimination of Sal Soghoian’s position at Apple:

We have every intent to continue our support for the great automation technologies in macOS!

Thanks for being an Apple customer!

— craig

That should alleviate some concerns in the AppleScript and Automator communities.

Some terrific, vibrant pictures.

[H/T John Kordyback]

Kirk McElhearn, Macworld:

I was chagrined to learn that Sal Soghoian, who was Apple’s Product Manager of Automation Technologies, was let go for “business reasons.” Mr. Soghoian had been with Apple for nearly 20 years, and was the keeper of the flame for technologies such as AppleScript, Automator, and more.

And:

It’s not clear whether the termination of Mr. Soghoian means the demise of AppleScript altogether, and particularly in iTunes, but many developers, iTunes users, and others are concerned by this decision.

You see, it’s all about freedom. Freedom to do things we want that Apple doesn’t think we need to be able to do. Freedom to explore. Freedom to discover new ways to link applications, to interact with files, to create our own solutions. We can’t expect apps to cater to all our whims, and tools like AppleScript and Automator allow us to go a step further and discover ways to do things that Apple never even considered.

Nice job by Kirk, passionately capturing the essence of the value of AppleScript and Automator. Technologies like AppleScript and Automator expose just enough of the wiring to allow pros and hobbyists alike to build out their own infrastructure, make their Apple products more powerful than they were when they came out of their boxes.

Apple’s official support page with details on what Macs are compatible with 4K displays, 5K displays, and Ultra HD TVs, the cables required, and a variety of warnings that are well worth reading.

Bookmark and pass this along.

Peter Cohen takes a look back at the origins of the hard drive. Pretty incredible how far we’ve come. Oh, and never, never, never read the bio at the bottom of the page.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Apple hasn’t refreshed its routers since 2013 following years of frequent updates to match new standards from the wireless industry. The decision to disband the team indicates the company isn’t currently pushing forward with new versions of its routers. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the company’s plans.

And:

Exiting the router business could make Apple’s product ecosystem less sticky. Some features of the AirPort routers, including wireless music playback, require an Apple device like an iPhone or Mac computer. If the company no longer sells wireless routers, some may have a reason to use other phones and PCs.

Not sure I agree with that last point. Somehow I don’t see someone switching out of the Apple ecosystem because of their router.

Combine this program cancellation with the news about Sal Soghoian’s position being eliminated, and it sounds like Apple is doing some beginning of the fiscal year house cleaning.

512 Pixels:

Apple’s new coffee table book “Designed by Apple in California” features many products the company has produced over the last 20 years. Most of what it is in the book is a part of my collection. Here are the actual products alongside the book.

Brilliant.

The New York Times:

For a host of reasons, Apple is unlikely to produce iPhones in the United States. But opening a smartphone factory in this country is not the only way to provide solid employment for working-class Americans who lack college degrees.

Apple’s overall contribution to the American economy is significant. Beyond the 80,000 people it directly employs in the United States, it says 69 supplier facilities in 33 states manufacture parts that go into its products. Hundreds of thousands of software developers also write apps for iPhones and iPads.

Apple has a greater effect on the American economy than many people realize.

Om had some interesting things to say in the article. Personally, I use both iPad and Mac, but I use them in different ways. I think each device is suited for, and excels at, their own set of unique tasks.

Today we are pleased to announce PlayStation Vue’s expansion to Apple TV. As one of the most highly requested devices by our fans, the PlayStation Vue experience on Apple TV will provide viewers with a better option to watch your favorite live TV programming, with unique streaming features such as cloud DVR, simultaneous streaming, and no long-term contract commitments.

I wonder how popular services like this are for people. There are still channels missing that I would like to watch, but Vue and SlingTV are making strong plays for customers.

My thanks to Timing for sponsoring The Loop this week.

When was the last time you were frustrated with your time tracking app,
for example because you had forgotten to set a timer?

Or when you wondered what you spent all your time on today?

Timing solves this problem. Instead of making you do all the work, Timing automatically tracks how you spend your time. It logs which apps you use, which websites you visit, and which documents you edit.

Timing is essential for anyone serious about their time — power users and freelancers alike. Download the free trial now and on Friday review exactly what you did this week, down to the second.

Use coupon code THELOOP to get a 25% discount till next Monday.

Amazon:

Until November 18th at 11:59 p.m., PT, eligible new members can join Amazon Prime for $79 plus applicable taxes for the first year and enjoy member-only benefits and content, including The Grand Tour. Although the price in your cart will show $99, the promotion discount will be applied at checkout. You will be charged when you place your order.

Just in time for the holidays and the new show from the former Top Gear hosts.

There is no formula that makes a picture influential. Some images are on our list because they were the first of their kind, others because they shaped the way we think. And some made the cut because they directly changed the way we live. What all 100 share is that they are turning points in our human experience.

I mentioned this upcoming series earlier this month and now it’s available. While all the images are incredible, fair warning: some are disturbing and might upset some people.

Macrumors:

Setapp, an upcoming subscription service from MacPaw, aims to offer a Mac App Store alternative and change the way customers obtain software for their Macs. Setapp will make 40+ popular Mac apps available to Mac users for a flat monthly fee at launch, and there are plans to continually add new apps as the service grows.

Much like Netflix, Setapp will charge users a flat $9.99 fee per month, giving them access to a wide range of Mac apps like RapidWeaver, Marked 2, Ulysses, iMazing, iStat Menus, Toast Titanium, CodeRunner, Blogo, Pagico, and more. It’s an interesting concept that has already attracted quite a few app developers, and could attract many more popular apps should the concept catch on.

I don’t know if the Mac Community needs, wants or is ready for a subscription service like this. It will come down to the number and quality of the apps.

Interesting story, via the Dan’s Deals site. In a nutshell, people in the forum started reporting that they had lost access to their gmail accounts, the accounts suspended due to terms of service violation.

From the article:

It turns out the common denominator is that they had all bought Google Pixel phones and shipped them to a phone dealer in New Hampshire who paid them a profit on each phone. There is no sales tax in New Hampshire and the phones are then resold to others.

The problem is that many of them didn’t read the terms that they agreed to when buying the phone from the Google store. Those state “You may only purchase Devices for your personal use. You may not commercially resell any Device, but you may give the Device as a gift.”

If true, this seems an overreach on Google’s part, suspending access to someone’s email for this sort of violation, rather than simply voiding the sale.

Apple today opened registration for Hour of Code workshops at all 487 Apple retail stores worldwide, from December 5 through 11 in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Among the most popular events at the Apple Store, Hour of Code workshops teach the basics of computer science with Code.org’s programming tutorials. Apple and Code.org share the goal of giving every student the opportunity to learn computer science.

This is such a great program.

If you love music, this 8-part series from PBS is for you. I’ve made it through parts 1 and 2 so far, and they are both fascinating and riveting. The list of artists involved in this project is astonishing. Starting with George Martin and the Beatles, it’s a real who’s who of modern music, a true insider’s view.

Episode One is embedded below.

Here’s a link to the main site.

And here’s a link to the PBS site hosting other episodes.

Jason Snell tells the story about trying to remote help his sister who is a victim of a particularly nasty bit of Safari malware.

The story itself is worth the read, unfolding like a mystery. But if nothing else, be sure to read the section titled “In the end, common sense wins”, which shows a bit of problem-solvery you should add to your own troubleshooting toolbox.

Dan DeSilva, 9to5mac:

Tucked in Amazon’s big Black Friday news this morning was the announcement of a handy Package X-Ray feature for its iPhone shopping app. The app can now leverage your iPhone’s camera to reveal the contents of an Amazon delivery without having to actually open up the package or hunt down tracking numbers.

And:

It will only work on packages tied to your Amazon account so you don’t have to worry about your kids or spouse ruining any surprises (as long as you don’t share an account, that is).

Great idea. Here’s how it works…

[WARNING: Autoplay, grrr]

Anshel Sag, writing for Forbes:

It’s been a month since I got the Apple iPhone 7 Plus. Full disclosure, I have never owned an Apple product in my life. Okay, I had an iPod shuffle for about a week or two and ended up returning it. I had experiences with Apple computers as a child in a suburban elementary school but never owned an iPhone, iPad, MacBook or anything of the sort. I have been a lifetime Google Android user, and before that a Microsoft Windows Mobile user (yeah, I know). So, my first experience with an Apple product that I bought and used has been extremely interesting. That includes the utter shock and awe that came out of people’s mouths after I told them that I got an iPhone. I feel like a lot of the reasons why I never switched to Apple have gone away while others remain.

I love stories like this, because it reflects an objective, outsider view that is rare inside the Apple bubble.