M.G. Siegler started to raise my hackles when he wrote on his 500ish blog about how Apple’s latest iPhone event cemented his feeling that the pre-recorded keynote video missed the mark — not in content, but in format:
Since the pandemic, I’ve been a fan of Apple’sproductionoftheseevents. They took their signature staged hoopla started by Steve Jobs and packaged it into something that could be consumed even when people couldn’t crowd around a stage. In some ways, they were better than the events of yore. Certainly more inclusive — in every meaning of that word — and a more fluid way to showcase product progressions. But as I was watching Tim Cook and company on stage — but not actually on stage, mind you — yesterday, I couldn’t help but feeling a little… empty? Everything looked good. But it just
didn’t feel right. There was a tangible lack of tangibility. And thus, a lack of excitement.
You see, my initial reaction to this article was that while tech pundits might be getting bored of Apple’s “new” (three years old) keynote style, it’s not their goal to entertain writers and YouTubers — it’s to sell their products. And I have to believe that the slick videos, seamless demos, and tightly-edited scripts are a more efficient way of showing off the new products and their features.
But then Siegler reeled me back in with this observation:
Case in point: after the keynote opened yesterday with a (truly moving) video about how Apple’s devices have literally saved lives, we cut to a pre-recorded video of Cook in the middle of Apple Park. “As we just saw, nothing is more important than helping save lives.” I don’t think Cook is insincere in saying that, but it’s such an awkward, canned delivery that it feels flippant. Because he didn’t just watch the video alongside us, he was in Apple Park a few days or weeks ago, filming his lines. If he were delivering that line on an actual stage, live, he might emote and connect more directly with the audience.
And I think such connections would work for many of the product unveilings too. This was the not-so-secret secret of Jobs’ stage presence in these events. They worked so well because he was clearly excited about the products. And he conveyed that sincerity masterfully, live. It’s human nature that if you’re watching someone show enthusiasm about something, as long as it seems sincere, it’s going to rub off on you.
And this one:
“And I’d like to show it to you now,” Cook says at one point leading into an iPhone unveil. But again, he wouldn’t actually like to show it to us now as he speaks those words in real-time, because he wouldn’t be showing us anything for days/weeks yet. It simply cannot be a sincere statement.
So, now I’m all conflicted. On one hand, I like watching the heavily-produced keynotes and do believe that they help Apple tell the story that they want to tell. Which is, objectively, the whole point of them. Plus, they’re technically and visually stunning. But Siegler makes a compelling point that having a live audience adds gravitas to the message being delivered. But it’s not because we need the “will it fail?” tension for demos — that misses the point. No, it’s knowing, even as someone watching the keynote through a screen across space and time, that it was delivered to a live audience. That the presenters were actually presenting to someone that adds that special sauce.
Does that knowledge that the introduction of a product was done live instead of solely in front of a camera compell more people to buy Apple products? I’m not sure. But I do think it leaves a more lasting impression on those in attendance, and those people might then do a better job than they otherwise would have to spread the word and help Apple sell more products.
This may sound like the opposite of what I argued just a few months ago — that Apple should do these videos for every product roll out. But I think that’s still true. I think anything Apple has released that was previously done via press release should get one of these videos now. But for the biggest events — the iPhone event and WWDC, with maybe one more event sprinkled in some years — perhaps a return to the stage, the live stage, is warranted.
Well done, Siegler, I think you’ve pulled me aboard.
It still seems like RSS and Mastodon could fit in the same app, though! If I were designing it, I’d start with the social media experience: the single timeline of posts. Very simple sidebar. No article view. No read/unread status — just position in the timeline.
You could add RSS feeds, but they’d be treated like Mastodon posts. Any article short enough would appear in full in the timeline, but most would probably have to be truncated. You’d open articles in your browser, just like you do now with social media apps (there’d be no third article pane).
Such an app could be a nice unified experience. Get your Mastodon, Threads, RSS feeds, Micro.blog and, hopefully, other services — anything that supports ActivityPub, RSS, or some other open format or API — all in one place, in a way that’s already familiar to everyone.
Sounds pretty great! But it’s not NetNewsWire.
I think Simmons is right on point when he posits that “social app as RSS reader” would work while “RSS reader as a social app” really would not.
I’ve actually been experimenting with that “RSS reader as social app” idea by following my Micro.blog’s timeline — with all its posts and replies — in Reeder via Sven Dahlstrand’s fantastic feed generator. It’s… okay. But conversations are hard to follow, and it’s not as pleasant or efficient as a native social timeline.
Funnily enough, Micro.blog already offers something like the solution that Simmons recommends. Since you can follow not only other Micro.blog users, but also Mastodon (and other Fediverse) accounts and individual sites just from their URL, you could certainly use Micro.blog as your home base with many windows out to the wider web.
I haven’t tried that yet (mostly because it would be a huge hassle to follow, and potentially unfollow, everyone there from my RSS reader) but I’m considering it as another experiment.
Mikah Sargent: What was a time that tech made you happy this year?
I know I just talked about my smart home stuff a few weeks ago, but it’s those Lutron Caseta switches that are top of mind for positive tech this year. It brought me lots of joy to be able to tell my wife that she wouldn’t need to worry about Siri not hearing her correctly, or having to go through her phone to operate our lights anymore. She could use the wall switches if she wanted, and I wouldn’t have to worry about her cutting off power to the smart lights for our automations or smart controls. A total win-win.
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Abrar Al-Heeti: What has been the most significant tech advancement or product launch this year?
For the world, I would unequivocally say “AI” in all its nebulous and non-specific glory. But I don’t really use any of the chatbots or image generation tools very often. So for me, I think the rise of ActivityPub and decentralized-yet-interoperable social networking has been the most significant advancement. I use Micro.blog for my primary social networking, and I’m very fond of the community I’ve built there. But Micro.blog also talks with Mastodon and other “Fediverse” instances. And with Threads following suit, I’m terribly excited for the next chapter of microblogging.
As much as it’s been both infuriating and sad to see the demise of Twitter, I’ve come to accept Elon Musk’s takeover there and his retooling the network into X as a healthy thing for the Internet as a whole. More people are more conscious about where they do their microblogging and how it can talk to other networks. Everything is a little less consolidated to one chamber. And although I expect Threads to be the new “place to be”, there were at least be more viable escape pods, and I think it’ll be more friendly to the rest of the web since it’s going to be ActivityPub compatible.
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Dan Moren: Technlogically-speaking, is there something in 2024 that you’re looking forward to?
I haven’t been as excited for a new tech product as I am for the Apple Vision Pro since probably when the Apple Watch came out. I’ve been diligently saving my pennies so that I can order one on launch day (🤞). The product reveal blew me away, and I can’t wait to try it for myself.
We have one main television in our house, and my wife gets primary use of it since she likes play PlayStation games there. But there are a lot of movies and TV shows that I think deserve to be watched in a more cinematic viewing experience than on my computer screen or iPad. So I think I’ll be catching up on a lot of TV with the Vision Pro. Plus, I really want to experience this new computing environment from the start. I think it’s going to make profound leaps during my lifetime, and I want to know every iteration — like folks who were around when the Macintosh was first introduced have gotten to do for the past 40 years.
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Sarah Bickerton: What gift have you bought just for yourself this holiday?
I have a terrible habit of buying things that I want or need for myself year-round, rather than putting them on a wish list. It makes me notoriously difficult to shop for, I’m told, but it’s a hard habit to break. So, yes, I did get a few things leading up to this holiday season.
I’ll mention the Hoto Laser Measuring Tool because I discovered it when ordering gifts of my favorite Hoto Electric Screwdriver. It’s an impossibly small and lightweight “tape” measure that uses a laster pointer to judge exactly how far a distance is. Seems to be quite accurate, and it’s way faster and easier to measure longer distances that unfurling a traditional tape measure and hoping it’ll stick where you hook it. For things like shipping boxes, or more oddly-shaped items, you can bounce the laser off your hand to get its length, width, and height.
It’s currently marked down from $60 to just under $40 when you use a 15% coupon on Amazon.
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Bonus Question: What is the best dish that you, yourself, make?
My cooking skills have really suffered the past few years as my wife’s have soared. She enjoys it, so she does the lion’s share of our cooking. That said, when I have to bring a dish to pass my go-to recipe the past few years has been for Ted Lasso biscuits. You know, the ones that Ted makes for Rebecca every morning that she can’t get enough of. (Yes, they really are that good.)
1 ½ cups/340 grams cold unsalted butter (3 sticks), cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing the pan
3 cups/385 grams all-purpose flour
¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and line with parchment paper so that there is a 2-inch overhang on the two long sides.
Prepare the shortbread: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or beaters, mix together flour, sugar and salt. Beat in butter on low speed until dough just comes together but is still a little crumbly. (Or pulse together ingredients in a food processor.)
Press dough into prepared pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven.
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My Question: What sticks out to you as a favorite Christmas or holiday memory as a kid?
Our extended family always got together at my grandparents’ house for Christmas Eve. We’d hang out, have a potluck dinner, and then all the grandkids went upstairs with my Grandma to read story books and sing Christmas carols together while Santa arrived downstairs and delivered gifts beneath the tree. When we heard his sleigh bells out in the yard, we knew he had visited and we’d rush downstairs to find bites from platter of milk and cookies we’d left, nibbles out of the reindeer’s carrots, and boot prints out in the snow.
I can’t thank my family enough for those wonderful memories and for making the magic of Christmas come to life for us like that.
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To all who celebrate, I hope you had a happy Christmas with your loved ones. 🎄
We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership. We will also offer a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month that you can sign up for here.
Prime is a very compelling value. […]
A better PR decision would probably be to offer an ad-supported tier at a lower cost right now and leave the ad-free tier alone. Then, in six months or so, raise the price of the ad-free plan by the same $3. They’d probably get less blow-back that way.
But I appreciate that this feels more honest, somehow.
And, I suppose they’re getting ad money for brands to reach a very large customer base since I expect almost no one will cancel Prime because of this alone. It’ll take effort and more money to join the ad-free tier.
Related: I recently heard (can’t remember where) that apart from Netflix, Prime Video has the most content available of all the streaming platforms. Color me surprised at that. You — well, I — hardly ever hear about Amazon’s streaming service.
Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know. And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web.
I’m chatting with Austin for the PenPals project this month. Our second exchange, as summarized by ChatGPT, is below:
Austin reflects on his varied knowledge and potential consulting opportunities after meeting someone accidentally during a campus political debate. He discusses his broad interests, online platform experiences, and the challenges of “owning” everything on the internet. Austin shares insights from his visits to Japan, emphasizing cultural nuances and artistic freedom of expression. He highlights the concerning trend of online platforms evoking anger and discusses the issue of publicized IP addresses on Chinese platforms. Jarrod, in his reply, admires Austin’s confidence, apologizes for the delay, and inquires about his potential consulting firm. He explores Austin’s shifting interests, discusses the challenges of consistency, and comments on his choice of a fox tail. Jarrod also addresses the cease-and-desist situation, expressing agreement with Austin’s perspective on third-party clients for big platforms. He concludes by asking about Austin’s plans for the end of the
year.
If you’d like to be a penpal for this project, please reach out! I’d love to get you on the schedule.
Dan Moren: Do you use any additional security measures on top of the standard recommended practices?
I’ve got Advanced Data Protection turned on for my Apple devices, but that’s about it for where I go above and beyond. The general stuff I do is use a password manager, two-factor authentication where I can, and, increasingly, passkeys. Nothing too fancy over here!
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Anže Tomić: When you travel abroad, which websites/apps do you trust the most to sightsee or navigate?
I’ve been a Tripsy or TripIt user in the past to keep all the stuff for a trip together, but sometimes I’ll just resort to an Apple Note. To actually book stuff, though, I usually just end up looking through listicles after searching for “fun stuff to do in [destination]”. At times I’ve used Kayak and liked it, but I’ve yet to land on the One-True-App.
I do wonder if ChatGPT and the like will make a meaningful impact on this kind of planning.
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Jason Snell: Do you have any old stuff, tech or otherwise, that might be valuable to a collector?
Not that I can think of. I used to have a reasonable collection of Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards that might have had some value now since I got in so early to those games. But I’ve long since given all that away. Same with my old video game consoles, cartridges, and CDs.
But I’m not much of a collector of things.
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Brianna Wu: How do you feel about participating in open betas or crowdfunding?
I’ve become less likely to participate in software betas, potentially at the same rate that I’ve become more susceptible to plunking down money for crowdfunded physical products. I feel like I have less time for spelunking into beta software like I used to and less patience for things that break because of the unfinished software.
There are a handful of apps that I’m on the TestFlights for. But I’m pretty bad about actually offering feedback during the betas, so I should stop picking those up.
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Bonus Question: Do you have a favorite holiday song?
Hard to say because there are so many good ones, but the first that springs to mind is Pentatonix and Tori Kelly’s version of “Winter Wonderland / Don’t Worry Be Happy”.
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My Question: How do you tech-out the holidays?
The obvious answer is with smart outlets and light bulbs to set up a “Hey Dingus, turn on the Christmas Tree” automation. It’s not only the obvious answer but perhaps my only one. I guess you could count switching over to my Christmas and Yule playlists, but I wouldn’t.
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The holidays are drawing near, but I hope to be able to pop in for next week’s episode as usual.
A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.
1️⃣ I was captivated by this tale of Cerro Torre, an iconic peak in Patagonia, that was plagued by controversy about who actually climbed it first, and by what means. It’s a four-part podcast series, but you can get the cliff notes on Wikipedia. [🎙️ Duct Tape Then Beer // climbinggold.com]
2️⃣ Another banger Decoder episode in which I learned of and about the United States Digital Service. It’s not often that I feel proud and content about “technology” in the hands of a government official, but I am in this case after this interview. [🎙️ Decoder // overcast.fm]
3️⃣ This “game” is actually an educational experience to show how far computer vision for self driving cars still has to go before it’s any good at detecting humans who don’t necessarily look like typical people crossing the street. In this case, if you win against the computer vision, well, you would’ve been hit by a car! (Also, I just lost The Game. 😒) [🔗 Jen Glennon // kotaku.com]
4️⃣ This new Alpine Suit from Patagonia looks wild, and wildly effective for the most demanding climbs. [🔗 MaiLee Hung // patagonia.com]
5️⃣ Also from Patagonia, but back in September, they penned a (beautifully narrated) investment update letter to their sole shareholder, Planet Earth, on the anniversary of their radical restructuring of where its profits go. [🔗 patagonia.com]
6️⃣ I don’t have Old Wavy as much as Grey, but he’s right about Tri-Color Polaris being the best potential new flag design for Minnesota. [▶️CGP Grey // youtube.com]
7️⃣ I’ve been very interested in getting a smart lock (I’m always coming in the door with my hands full) and The Bearded Teacher, AKA Stephen Robles has been doing the best reviews on them. He’s finished trying out the quartet of locks with Apple Home Key support, and this is the final roundup/ranking. [▶️ Stephen Robles // youtube.com]
Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know. And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web.
A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays (or occasionally on Mondays). Sometimes themed, often not.
1️⃣ An impressive demo of Google’s Gemini AI model. (Note that apparently this is pretty heavily sped up and edited, so watch with a grain of salt.) [🔗 Google // youtube.com]
2️⃣ Perhaps longer and more dramatic than strictly necessary, this is still an enjoyable read with good intentions about retuning to the principles of a more open and personal web. [🔗 Kev Quirk // thewebisfucked.com]
3️⃣ Taylor Swift is an absolute phenom. This article on her Person of the Year award is well-worth the read through her journey. (Oh, and the portraits are masterful too.) [🔗 Sam Lansky // time.com]
4️⃣ BasicAppleGuy released a do-it-yourself tier list for all the products that Apple released in 2023. I’m thinking about doing one myself, and would love to see how others rank everything up. [🔗 BasicAppleGuy // basicappleguy.com]
5️⃣ The MacStories Selects Awards has me revisiting some of the top-tier apps they’ve recognized this year. Excellent writing and choices. [🔗 MacStories Team // macstories.net]
6️⃣ As heard on ATP, this app helps you to digital save your kid’s art. It looks really slick, does everything on-device, and lets you tag it by kid, age, etc. [🔗 KidArt // apps.apple.com]
Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know. And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web.
Mikah Sargent: What apps do you regularly use to take photos on your phone?
99.999% of the time (or higher), I use the stock Camera app on my iPhone to take photos. My go-to method to get to the camera is from the lock screen, or with a triple back-tap. I also have it set up as an icon from Control Center, conveniently placed exactly where it is on the lock screen so that there’s no fuss in getting that quick snap. With so many ways to open the camera, I don’t even have its icon on my home screen.
The only exception to my stock camera usage is when I remember that I pay for Halide’s pro plan so that I can take macro shots with my iPhone 13 mini. Although it has an ultra-wide lens, the 13 mini does not get the macro mode in the stock camera app. So I give the Lux developers $12 a year to use Halide’s macro mode instead if I ever want those up-close-and-personal shots with the micro world. Can I tell you when the last was that I used Halide instead of the Camera app? No, no I cannot. But I like having that tool available to me because I think those photos look so dang cool.
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Rosemary Orchard: What is your favorite recent, small (less than $75) tech purchase that you would recommend to others?
In some good timing, I wrote up a blog post with two-sentence reviews for a bunch of gadgets and gizmos that I’ve picked up just a few weeks ago. Not all the things on that list are under $75, but a fair few of them are.
If I were to choose a favorite off that list, I’d have to double up on Stephen’s recommendation of the Hoto Electric Screwdriver. I echo everything he said. The carrying case with all the bits is awesome. The USB-C charging is convenient. The light is nice. But the best thing is that it’s small and light, so it can be used in tight spaces where a more typical power drill just wouldn’t. And you can stick it in a pocket to carry it around the house.
But two more things deserve a mention.
First, Anker’s 733 Power Bank (or GaNPrime PowerCore 65W🤷♂️) at $70 on sale is pretty sweet. It’s both a battery bank and a wall charger, all in one! This is replacing the big battery pack and the older power brick that lived in my travel bag. Now I can just plug this one thing into the wall, and with its three charging ports, I should be able to power up everything I typically take on a trip. And if I need a little extra juice where there’s no place to plug into a wall, I can still just charge off the battery bank itself. And, I should never have to remember to charge it up because it’ll always be charging itself when plugged into the wall at night each trip. I’m pretty psyched about the features, and having one fewer thing to lug around.
Second, the Lutron Caséta switches. Granted, to get started with their required hub will probably cost a little more than $75. But the switches themselves are usually less than $75 a pop. Go for the Diva Switch for dimming lights, or the Claro Switch for simple on/off lights.
If you have members of your household who get frustrated with smart lights because Siri doesn’t like to listen to them, or they don’t want to go hunting through their phone to turn on a light, just get these. You’ll be a hero in the home because these gizmos will always work as a normal switch wired in the wall. But you can still control them via the Home app, activate them with Siri, and set up automations. They’ve been absolutely great.
I put off buying these for years because I thought they’d be tricky to install, but they’re totally not. I switched (heh) out a bunch of them in our new home all in an afternoon. The only downside? They don’t play well with smart lightbulbs. So if you have a light that you really like having RGB color-changing capabilities, maybe stick with the dumb switch for it.
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Dan Moren: What new features of iOS 17.2 are you looking forward to?
While I’d like to say the Journal app because it would spur more personal journalling, I’m too much of a realist to do so. I’ve had Day One on my home screen for years, and I still only occasionally open it up to jot down my thoughts there. I am excited for my wife to try the Journal app because she has expressed interest in starting a gratitude journal, and I think she’d appreciate a built-in app over digging through the App Store.
But since I know I probably won’t use the Journal app, I’m going to go with the Listening History Focus filter for Apple Music as well. When I need to get in the zone, nothing does it quite like orchestral music or the BEATstrumentals playlist. But I don’t need music recommendations or song counts tallying up based on those listening sessions. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m glad there will finally be a way to easily switch that history on and off.
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Stephen Robles: What new feature in macOS Sonoma has increased or impacted your workflows?
Perhaps my favorite new feature is the slow-motion screen savers/wallpapers. They bring me delight every time I turn on my Mac.
But the one that has impacted my workflows the most is probably the improved Passwords and Autofill experience. I’m slowly extricating myself from 1Password, and switching over to iCloud Keychain/Passwords has been nearly seamless. It’s great at detecting password fields, but when it needs a little help having them live behind the Autofill option in a right-click context menu is so handy.
Bonus Question:What is something that always makes you feel better when you’re sad?
Most of the time, I’ll retreat to my ‘Sad’ playlist for some good emotional music to help me get the feelings out. But if I want a pick-me-up, I’ll revisit the Instagram message chain that I have with my wife which consists of nothing but funny or heartwarming videos, usually of pets or cute animals. It’s just the best.
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My Question:For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is knocking at our door. What’s something that you’re looking forward to in the upcoming snowy season?
For me, it’s ice climbing. When the weather turns too chilly for rock climbing, it’s time to pull out the ice axes and crampons and start scaling the frozen waterfalls and features. I started ice climbing back in college at the Michigan Ice Festival for a few winters. And then didn’t get another opportunity until last winter after I moved to the Adirondacks. I fell in love with the sport and now like it nearly as much as rock climbing!
In fact, I got out for a handful of pitches just this morning, despite the warmer temps and retreating ice. It’s helpful to have something that has you wishing for cold temperatures when you live in a place with frigid winters like northern New York State.
