7 Things This Week [#37]
A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.
To solve the issues of lackluster annual updates, Apple should do two things. First, it should continue to build out point releases with additional features throughout the year or even unbundle app updates from its annual releases entirely. Did the FaceTime team come up with a great new feature that’ll make pandemic chatting easier? Release it when it’s ready! Second, it should start to space out its major software releases, waiting an extra year or two between iOS or macOS versions to ensure that when it does release a “new” operating system, there are actually big changes to be excited about.
Honestly, I have to agree with Chaim. Not that I’m disappointed with this fall’s software releases, but I think an extended time frame between major releases would do both Apple and its users a lot of good. It would hopefully mean that more quality of life enhancements would get pushed out in point updates, and more advanced features would get the time they require for major versions. It’s been a long time since I’ve tried to convince my wife to update her devices. She’s not one to get excited about new features, and they come at such a pace that it can be exhausting to keep up. I’m all for extending out that period by six to twelve months for sure.
2️⃣ Emojis Are Folklore | Emojipedia
Emojis are “constantly in flux” which is why they need to be documented and archived.
This was a fun 📖. I’m surely not the first to say this, but emojis are modern hieroglyphics. Even though it feels a little 🥴 to put stock into these little pictures, they’ve found what I believe to be a permanent place in human 🗣️.
3️⃣ Museum of Forgeries | MSCHF
By forging Fairies en masse, we obliterate the trail of provenance for the artwork. Though physically undamaged, we destroy any future confidence in the veracity of the work. By burying a needle in a needlestack, we render the original as much a forgery as any of our replications.
If you missed this drop by MSCHF when it was active, it’s still worth checking out their site. This type of devilishly creative projects are fascinating, and something that I hope never leaves internet culture. It reminds me of a Banksy stunt, actually.
Yesterday’s Bloomberg report indicated that Apple’s ideal outcome is that the Apple Car “would have no steering wheel and pedals.” Instead, it would be designed for complete autonomy. While it’s unclear whether Apple would be able to achieve this with its 2025 timeline, Morgan Stanley analysts say that a car without a steering wheels or pedals “must be a shared service and not an owned car.”
Shared service for Apple’s car product? Now, where have I heard that idea before? Here’s what I wrote back in January:
By introducing this type of ride-hailing service, rather than a car for people to own, Apple would avoid the messy business of showrooms, loans and leases, and the extravagant price that a “Designed by Apple in California” vehicle would undoubtedly cost. Apple could scale the service at their pace and only in the places that allow unmanned vehicles. And, since I imagine that owning an iPhone or Apple Watch will be required to access this service, Apple could design the vehicle’s features to integrate tightly, privately, and securely with their existing products and services.
I don’t know what the future holds for Apple, but I stand by my prediction. A ride-sharing service sounds far more attainable and useful than building out luxury cars for individual purchases.
5️⃣ Launch: Vinegar | And A Dinosaur
YouTube5 was a Safari extension back when Flash was still a thing and hated by everyone. It replaced the YouTube player (written in Flash) with an HTML
<video>tag.And now the YouTube player situation has gotten bad enough that we need another extension to fix it. That’s where Vinegar comes in. Vinegar also replaces the YouTube player (written in who-knows-what) with a minimal HTML
<video>tag.
I discovered this Safari Extension via Daring Fireball and can confirm that it’s as seamless and delightful as billed. If you want a more native video experience from YouTube.com or anywhere YouTube videos are embedded, grab this app.
6️⃣ Bo Burnham’s Inside and “White Liberal Performative Art” | F.D Signifier
Bo Burnham’s Inside currently streaming on Netflix is one of the best things I’ve seen all year. It perfectly captures so much of the emotions I think all of us felt in the last 18 months or so… emotions that we probably should keep close since things are going in reverse.
However, some parts of Bo Burnham’s experimental special were… a bit othering. I realized that as a whole the special wasn’t for me. It was a deeply personal piece that spoke explicitly to Bo’s experiences and worldview, and as a “straight white male”, there’s definitely some elements of his worldview that aren’t going to look the same from my standpoint.
This got me thinking about other works of art with similar themes. I think there’s tons of art made by white creators that speak explicitly to a white worldview in a way that isn’t explained by just being “for general audiences”. I named it “White Liberal Performative Art” and I’m super proud of myself for that lol.
In this video I give a little background on what brought me to this idea and how Bo Burnham’s Inside works as a proof of concept for it.
This was my first exposure to F.D Signifier’s channel. I enjoyed Inside immensely, but I also appreciate this perspective from someone who has a very different background from me. It’s healthy for me to expand who I hear from to avoid getting stuck in an echo chamber. F.D mentioned that he used to be a teacher, and it’s apparent from this video — the research, the impassioned stance, the clear communication — that he was a quality educator.
7️⃣ Everything Apple Newsletter - Issue #3
If you’ll allow me this bit of indulgence, a year into writing this blog I as big a rush from seeing anything that I’ve written gets shared elsewhere as I ever have — which is to say a huge thrill. So when I got a Twitter notification saying I was mentioned by Kyle Reddoch the other day, my heart leaped for joy! It looks like Kyle is getting his own site started for sharing his journey into app and Shortcuts development, along with an Apple-focused newsletter. If you like what I write here at HeyDingus, I think you’ll enjoy Kyle’s work.
Thanks for reading 7 Things! If you enjoyed these links, or have something else neat to share, please drop me a line on Twitter or shoot me an email!