Jonathan Ive and the future of Apple

This long form New Yorker piece explores, side-by-side with Sir Jony, the past present and future of Apple. A magnificent read.

A beautifully hand crafted Valentine’s Day present

To be up front, this is an ad for a red Field Notes memo book that came out a few years ago. But ad or not, it’s full of Valentine’s Day sentiment. Share this with someone you love. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The original Les Paul prototype guitar about to go on the auction block

CNN:

The crusade to find a home for a sacred electric guitar is reverberating like a thundering encore through the music business as innovator Les Paul’s Black Beauty from the ’50s is going up for auction.

There’s also video of Tom Doyle talking about the guitar and the tech and craft that went into it.

The snakes that ate Florida

This well-drawn graphic novel format tells the true story of the Burmese pythons that came to Florida as an accidental invasive species, and started gobbling up all the animals.

An oral history of 70’s music mecca Laurel Canyon

Some of the biggest names in 60s and 70s singer-songwriting made their homes in California’s Laurel Canyon, just outside of Los Angeles. This is how they remember it. Fantastic read.

Carl Icahn is at it again

Blah, blah, blah, Apple should repurchase their shares, blah, blah, blah, make me more money, blah, blah, blah.

Photos for Mac: an FAQ

Two good reads if you are interested in learning about Photos for OS X, Apple’s coming replacement for iPhoto.

PayPal, Apple Pay, and friction

Karen Webster, in her weekly piece for PYMENTS.com, interviews PayPal’s GM of Retail, Brad Brodigan. She then follows this with some cogent analysis, focused on Apple Pay, PayPal, and friction in the payments market.

Transcript of Tim Cook at the Goldman Sachs conference

Serenity Caldwell is a miracle worker. She put together a transcript of Tim Cook’s talk at the Goldman Sachs conference. Given the casual, conversational nature of his talk, that was no easy feat.

Be your own Genius

the best repairs are the ones you do yourself. To that end, spend a few minutes reading Joe Caiati’s Mac troubleshooting guide, posted on 512 Pixels.

Joe is a former Apple Genius and writes from hard-won experience.

Getting Apple to call you

Apple has inserted an immediate callback option in the path to scheduling a Genius Bar appointment. Also, a tip on fixing a wonky trackpad.

$700? For a book of rare John and Yoko pics?

Japanese photographer Kishin Shinoyama had the rare opportunity to capture pictures of John Lennon and Yoko Ono a few months before Lennon’s murder. Shinoyama is now taking full advantage of that opportunity. To the tune of $700 for a book.