Today, Apple did what they do in September. They announced new iPhones and some other stuff. Here are some of my quick thoughts after watching the event, mostly on mute with closed captionings, while at work. I’ll breeze through this, mostly in order.
Alan Taylor at The Atlantic put together a bunch of photos from the opening days of Disneyland back in 1955.
Why are keyboard shortcuts so inconsistent, even across different apps of the same type? I look at four iOS email clients with wildly different keyboard shortcut implementations, and they are super confusing.
It’s that time of year again! We’re a few days out from WWDC 2019, and everyone is talking about what they want to see in the next update to Apple’s line of operating systems. I do most of my work on iOS these days, so that’s where most of my needs come from.
Nancy Scola, at Politico, reporting on Facebook’s comment about a doctored video that right-wingers (including Fox “News”) have been spreading:
Facebook said Friday that a video doctored to depict House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slurring her words will remain on the social network because false information alone does not violate the site’s rules.
“We remove things from Facebook that violate our Community Standards, and we don’t have a policy that stipulates that the information you post on Facebook must be true,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with POLITICO.
This video is not a parody or a reenactment. It’s purposefully editied and the speed altered to make Pelosi look like she’s basically having a real-time stroke. Twitter and Facebook refusing to take down a falsified video is just spreading of blatant propaganda for ad dollars. There is no excuse for this, other than money. Allowing the sharing of political lies like this (from both sides of the aisle) is reprehensible. Shame on them.
YouTube has removed all the copies of the video, according to a statement.
Blanche likes to “help” Gary play in the water table. These two are adorable together.
The last season of Game of Thrones has begun! I’m probably crazy, but I still think a Lannister will take the throne at the end.
But not the Lannister you think.
It’s going to be Tyrion.
Matthew Panzarino, at TechCrunch:
The fact of the matter is that hardware is, well, hard. The basic concepts of wireless charging are well known and established, but by promising the ability to place multiple devices anywhere on a pad, allowing them to charge simultaneously while communicating charge levels and rates, Apple set its bar incredibly high for AirPower. Too high, in this case.
This is not surprising at all. Apple has delayed announced products in the past (white iPhone 4, Apple Watch, and HomePod were all months delayed), but never well over a year.
Apparently, jamming a bunch of heat-creating charging coils into a leather envelope causes heat issues. Who knew?
And now, we watch the internet lose its collective shit because a nearly trillion-dollar company who just announced a multi-billion dollar new revenue stream decided not to ship a phone charger.
First impressions of the 2019 version of the AirPods wireless earbuds.
John Gruber has a few thoughts on Apple’s rumored gaming subscription service that may or may not be announced alter this morning. I mostly agree with him, but I have one quibble.
I would pay game makers the same way — the more time people spend playing, the more the game maker gets paid. No in-app purchases — you pay a monthly fee to subscribe to Apple Games and that is it, you get it all. You spend time playing a game, the game’s maker gets paid.
I totally disagree with this. Paying by “engagement” or “time played” will encourage game developers to make games slower and more convoluted, forcing players to spend more time in the game. It’s the equivalent to shitty pop culture sites that take a 300 word blurb about The Royal Family and turn it in to a thirteen page slideshow so they can get more ad impressions.
Same goes for news. Don’t give publishers more money for more time reading. This just encourages fluff and filler. I don’t want hundreds of extraneous words in each story so that the publisher can get a few more pennies.
Wildwood Canyon hike!
Folding displays will become a thing some day. Right now, it's early days. A folding phone is basically 2 phones hinged together by a flexible screen. Double the thickness, double the weight.
Fryman Canyon Hike. Sunglasses required. 😎
We’re off to get our library card (and test the new Gary carrier backpack)
I call it the Garrier. 😎
I switched the sidebar of the site to a dark color last week. It's a small change, but I think it sets off the content better than the previous sea of white. Here's how easy it is...
Happy Villaintines Day!
#starwars
Training Day.
Get it? Because trains. 😎🚂
If I had as much “fuck you” money as @JeffBezos, I’d buy all of AMI and just turn it into a hipster food blog.
Forgot my AirPods today and have to wear my work-issued headphones or listen to the cacophony of an open plan office.
I’m reminded that I hate both ear sweat and wires. 🎧 👂💦