Business

Michael Tsai’s rollup on comments about Apple’s reported plans for an ARM-based Mac

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Lots of interesting discussion on the implications of any move Apple might make to move Macs from Intel to ARM.

One point to keep in mind? If it does happen, this will be no easy transition for developers. As Rich Siegel points out in this tweet:

Anyone who says “you just have to click a check box” or “it’s trivial” without actually having done the transition for a shipping product is engaging in wish fulfillment or marketing.

If you are interested in a bit of detail on this, take a look at this tweet thread from yesterday. Lots of responses and paths off to specific sub-topics. Learned a lot.

Suspect in YouTube shooting angry that her videos had been “de-monetized”

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NPR:

A woman with an apparent grudge against YouTube for what she claimed was censoring and “de-monetizing” her videos, opened fire at the video-sharing service’s San Bruno, Calif., headquarters, wounding several people before fatally shooting herself, according to police.

The NPR article has lots more detail, links to other sources.

The strange way that Apple Music is beating Spotify

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The Verge:

The Weeknd’s latest project, My Dear Melancholy, pulled in over 26 million streams in its first 24 hours on Apple Music, with the lead song “Call Out My Name” pulling in 6 million of those streams, the company tells The Verge. That in itself isn’t a record, but Apple Music’s numbers did beat out the single’s performance on Spotify, which pulled in nearly 3.5 million streams in the same period — the largest debut of 2018 on the service — according to Republic Records.

So what? Apple Music beat out Spotify in this one instance. Why is that so odd?

Here’s why:

Spotify has over 120 million more users, had two exclusive music videos from the EP, and it was where The Weeknd pointed his fans to stream the album on social media.

In effect, the deck was stacked in favor of Spotify, well stacked. And yet, somehow, Apple Music pulled more streams.

And this isn’t an anomaly either: this is the third time Apple Music has outperformed Spotify on a major release in the past 13 months.

First-day streams of Drake’s More Life on Apple Music outpaced Spotify by a staggering 28.6 million, and the streaming service dominated first-week streams of Post Malone’s chart-topping single “Rockstar” in the US.

Some kind of secret sauce at Apple Music HQ. Very interesting.

Interactive map shows history of San Francisco place names

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The linked map is interesting, both for the specifics on San Francisco’s history, and for the interface itself. I’d love to see this concept spread to other cities.

To use the map, zoom in, then tap/click on any highlighted road or feature. Nicely done.

[H/T Eric Vitiello]

The terrible scourge of Dark Patterns

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Dark Patterns are sneaky interface design patterns that trick users into doing something they otherwise might never do. Like share their contacts, or register for a service, or give an app permission/access unintentionally.

The video embedded in the main Loop post does a great job explaining this, and shares some terrific (terrible?) examples. If nothing else, just watch the incredibly great lengths Amazon goes to to hide the “delete my Amazon account” option.

If this interests you, take a few minutes to scroll through the Dark Patterns Hall of Shame.

TidBITS unveils its new shiny

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Adam Engst, TidBITS:

It’s live! After years of planning and months of work with our developer, Eli Van Zoeren, we’ve finally pulled back the curtains on our new Internet infrastructure. If you’re reading this in email, head over to the TidBITS Web site to take a look and click around — all 28 years of TidBITS articles and comments are there.

I’d like to explain more about various aspects of the system, since it’s vastly different from the homebrew system that Glenn Fleishman created for TidBITS nearly a decade ago. Yes, it really has been that long.

Nice look, snappier loading too. Click through to Adam’s post for all the details. Congrats, TidBITS team!

Death of the newsfeed

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Benedict Evans:

If you’ve friended 300 people, and each of them post a couple of pictures, tap like on a few news stories or comment a couple of times, then, by the inexorable law of multiplication, yes, you will have something over a thousand new items in your feed every single day.

And:

We’re ‘supposed’ to post stuff, but by posting stuff, we overload each other’s feeds. Facebook’s Growth team was too good at its job.

This overload means it now makes little sense to ask for the ‘chronological feed’ back. If you have 1,500 or 3,000 items a day, then the chronological feed is actually just the items you can be bothered to scroll through before giving up, which can only be 10% or 20% of what’s actually there.

Though the core of this post was about Facebook, it applies equally well to Twitter or, I suspect, to any free-form social platform. In a nutshell, as you follow/friend more and more people, the complexity of your feed grows exponentially, making more than a handful of follows impossible to keep up with without that app taking over your life. And if you have multiple social networks, yeesh.

This is the logic that led Facebook inexorably to the ‘algorithmic feed’, which is really just tech jargon for saying that instead of this random (i.e. ‘time-based’) sample of what’s been posted, the platform tries to work out which people you would most like to see things from, and what kinds of things you would most like to see. It ought to be able to work out who your close friends are, and what kinds of things you normally click on, surely? The logic seems (or at any rate seemed) unavoidable. So, instead of a purely random sample, you get a sample based on what you might actually want to see.

Unavoidable as it seems, though, this approach has two problems. First, getting that sample ‘right’ is very hard, and beset by all sorts of conceptual challenges. But second, even if it’s a sucessful sample, it’s still a sample.

Someone is going to solve this problem. A new model will emerge that allows us to keep up with our friends/interests more efficiently and with less stress.

Interesting post from Ben Evans, right to the heart of the problem.

Mark Zuckerberg responds to Tim Cook’s “extremely glib” criticism

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From the linked, long Mark Zuckerberg interview:

Q: Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, gave an interview the other day and he was asked what he would do if he was in your shoes. He said, “I wouldn’t be in this situation,” and argued that Apple sells products to users, it doesn’t sell users to advertisers, and so it’s a sounder business model that doesn’t open itself to these problems.

Do you think part of the problem here is the business model where attention ends up dominating above all else, and so anything that can engage has powerful value within the ecosystem?

And Mark Zuckerberg’s response:

You know, I find that argument, that if you’re not paying that somehow we can’t care about you, to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth. The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can’t afford to pay. And therefore, as with a lot of media, having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service to reach people.

That doesn’t mean that we’re not primarily focused on serving people. I think probably to the dissatisfaction of our sales team here, I make all of our decisions based on what’s going to matter to our community and focus much less on the advertising side of the business.

But if you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford. I thought Jeff Bezos had an excellent saying on this in one of his Kindle launches a number of years back. He said, “There are companies that work hard to charge you more, and there are companies that work hard to charge you less.” And at Facebook, we are squarely in the camp of the companies that work hard to charge you less and provide a free service that everyone can use.

I don’t think at all that that means that we don’t care about people. To the contrary, I think it’s important that we don’t all get Stockholm syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you. Because that sounds ridiculous to me.

Shots fired.

The unbelievable story of the CIA kidnapping a Soviet spacecraft

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The other night, I was at dinner, and conversation turned to space exploration and to the earliest days of Soviet Russia’s Sputnik and Lunik satellite launches. What followed was a story so unbelievable, I had to do some digging to convince myself it wasn’t just a folk legend.

From Popular Science, a few years back, soon after the story was declassified:

Sometime between the end of 1959 and 1960, the Soviet Union toured several countries with an exhibit of its industrial and economic achievements. Among the artifacts were a Sputnik and a Lunik upper stage that contained the payload, the latter freshly painted with viewing windows cut into the nose.

Remember, this was the height of the Cold War, and the start of the Space Race. Fear of falling behind was rampant and, given our lack of visible results at the time, was realistic.

So what do you do if you see that your rival is touring the world with their technology? You plan a technapping caper, of course.

Incredible story. Take a few minutes and read it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. This should be Andy Weir’s next book (he wrote The Martian).

Naomi Campbell interviews Jony Ive

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This British Vogue interview starts slow, with some pretty softball questions, but does ease down an engrossing path, especially so if you are interested in design.

Two callouts. This first, on designer Azzedine Alaïa:

He was the consummate craftsman. I loved the physical studio in which he worked, I loved the way, and how directly, he worked – his process. I was in utter awe watching him, and I loved that he let me watch. I thought that was so generous. It was incredible to see the way that he understood material, and the way he would be frustrated with material and so create new ones. And then these beautiful forms would emerge.

And this, from the very end, on hiring a new team member:

The main thing is how they see the world. Ultimately, Steve’s legacy is a set of values and, I think, the belief in trying. Often the quietest voices are the easiest to overlook, but he was brilliant at lis-ten-ing as well as leading and speaking. A lot of com-munication is listening – not just lis-ten-ing to figure out what you want to say in response.

Good read.

Apple Watch, heart rate data, and murder

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Daily Mail:

Recovered Apple smartwatch data, which indicated when a murder victim’s heart stopped beating, will be key prosecution evidence in the case against a South Australian woman charged with killing her mother-in-law, a court has heard.

Riveting story, and more so because the prosecution went through the process of recovering the victim’s heart rate data from her Apple Watch to tell the story of her death.

Hands-on with Business Chat for iMessage

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Zac Hall, 9to5Mac:

Included in iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4 is a new way to communicate with companies called Business Chat. Available in the United States as a beta to start, Business Chat lets you conveniently use iMessage for customer service and even complete transactions with Apple Pay. Check out our hands-on to see how it works.

I think Business Chat has huge potential. Zac does a nice job taking it through its paces. Key to success, as with Apple Pay, is adoption.

Apple is hiring hundreds of engineers to make Siri smarter

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Joshua Fruhlinger, Thinknum:

Apple hiring trend data suggests that the company is finally taking its Siri intelligent assistant seriously. According to hiring data that we track at Thinknum, the number of open positions that contain the term “Siri” has accelerated in recent weeks, with a current all-time high of 161 job listings posted today alone. This marks a jump in hiring for the keyword of 24% in just over a month.

Check out the chart embedded in the article. Job openings moved from a low of 46 back in 2016, in a relatively steady climb up to 160 today. That’s a big swing, slow and steady.

Facebook memo: “Maybe it costs someone a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.”

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BuzzFeed:

On June 18, 2016, one of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s most trusted lieutenants circulated an extraordinary memo weighing the costs of the company’s relentless quest for growth.

“We connect people. Period. That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified. All the questionable contact importing practices. All the subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends. All of the work we do to bring more communication in. The work we will likely have to do in China some day. All of it,” VP Andrew “Boz” Bosworth wrote.

“So we connect more people,” he wrote in another section of the memo. “That can be bad if they make it negative. Maybe it costs someone a life by exposing someone to bullies.

“Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.”

The explosive internal memo is titled “The Ugly,” and has not been previously circulated outside the Silicon Valley social media giant.

Explosive is a pretty apt descriptor here. Read the whole thing.

In response to this BuzzFeed post, Mark Zuckerberg commented:

Boz is a talented leader who says many provocative things. This was one that most people at Facebook including myself disagreed with strongly. We’ve never believed the ends justify the means.

We recognize that connecting people isn’t enough by itself. We also need to work to bring people closer together. We changed our whole mission and company focus to reflect this last year.

And, for a palette cleanser, spend a few minutes here.

Updating your HomePod and questions about firmware changing sound quality

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From this article by AppleInsider’s Mikey Campbell, titled Disgruntled HomePod owners say firmware update alters sound quality:

A number of HomePod owners are airing their dissatisfaction over Apple’s first firmware update for the device, saying the new software tweaks the speaker’s sonic fingerprint, a specific sound for which customers paid a hefty premium.

I’ve seen similar comments. Sounds like Apple may have tweaked the EQ settings to emphasize the midrange. That said, I’ve been listening to my HomePod heavily since i did the update (more on that in a sec) and I have to say, still sounds clean to me. When I listen to cleanly produced content, I hear the same separation as always, though I do think it’s possible the bass is backed off just a bit.

To me, the answer to this is, give people access to EQ controls or, at least, a set of presets. No single setting will work for everyone.

As to updating your HomePod, make sure your paired iOS device is updated to 11.3. Once that’s done, you can simply wait, as the default setting has your HomePod software updated automatically.

If you want to force the update, launch the Home app. If your HomePod icon has some text under the icon showing an update available, just tap it, and install the update. If you don’t see it, back off to the main Home screen and:

  • Tap the arrow in the upper left corner
  • Scroll down to the Speakers section and tap Software Update

That’s where you’ll see the Install Updates Automatically switch. Going to that page should bring up the update.

Just FYI, my HomePod version is now 11.3 (15E217). I’m assuming that’s a build number in there. If you have a different number, please do ping me.

Tim Cook on Facebook, Amazon, and Privacy: The videos

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[VIDEO] Recode and MSNBC have started sharing video snippets of Tim Cook’s sit down with Recode’s Kara Swisher and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.

Videos embedded in the main Loop post. I have to say, a lot of nuance is lost between what Tim says, in context and in its entirety, and the quoted snippets, embellished by sensationalized headlines, that appear in the press.

Watch the videos.

Predicting the iPhone

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Every so often, someone pops up with something from the past that seems to imply knowledge of the present. There’s this pic of a young Steve Jobs wearing something that looks an awful lot like an Apple Watch.

Or these paintings from 1860, 1918, and 1937, all showing people staring at their iPhones.

But this one follows a different tack, more an eerie prediction of future tech, in a magazine blurb on the future of computing. Pretty solid predictions.

[H/T, Robert Macmillan]

Where’s the iCloud storage bump for the rest of us?

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Dan Moren, SixColors:

Look, it’s lovely that Apple has decided to give 200GB of free iCloud storage to any Apple ID associated with a teacher or student. It’s a nice gesture, and one that probably makes things a lot easier for those in school environments.

But, come on, Apple—you’re really going to leave the rest of us at 5GB?

Apple has a balancing problem. On one hand, there’s the profit motive of one of the largest corporations in the world and the corresponding pull to maximize shareholder value.

And on the other hand, there’s the motivation to do what’s right, whether it be equal rights for all, privacy, or simply delivering fair value to the consumer beyond what’s required to pull money from their pockets.

The 5GB thing? To me, this falls on the wrong side of the line.

More from Dan:

The standard 5GB of free iCloud storage has been in place for years now, and, frankly, it’s starting to wear thin. When most iOS devices come in 32GB configurations at the smallest, and many start at 64GB, 5GB feels pretty paltry. Especially when the next step in the upgrade tier is to pay $0.99 for 50GB of storage space. I realize Services has become a moneymaker for Apple, but it just feels cheap.

5GB feels like a money grab. Apple clearly recognized the need for a bigger storage baseline when they announced the 200GB free tier for education. Bravo to that. But now it’s time, Apple. Make the change. Just as you eliminated the 8GB and 16GB minimum device configurations, recognizing them as outmoded, bump the free storage tier.

Apple pricing, the iPad, and the battle for student mindshare

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[VIDEO] Lots has been written about yesterday’s Apple Event. One core thread concerns Apple pricing. One prominent school of thought is that yesterday’s event was a swing and a miss by Apple. That Apple did not price the new iPad aggressively enough to make a dent in the Android/ChromeBook dominated education market.

While the facts on which those arguments are based are certainly true, they miss the point. The new iPad, even at $299, is certainly more expensive than the cheaper alternatives. No question of that.

But two things are lost by those arguments:

  1. The new iPad, though more expensive, is a head and shoulders better product than the cheaply produced alternatives. To me, there’s no comparison. If you want cheap, buy cheap. But in the long run, cheap will out. Cheap will cost you more in support time and effort, cheap will cost you more in terms of product life.

  2. Yesterday’s event was about so much more than a new iPad. Apple rolled out an entire system of device and curriculum management, new software for collaboration (Pages, most specifically), and a phenomenal computer science curriculum that will help many schools that want one but can’t afford to pay the talent to come in and create one. And all that stuff I just mentioned? It’s free.

Google has a significant lead here. And the Android tablets and ChromeBooks are clearly cheaper. Google has a set of tools that are also free, and they work. So this is no easy get for Apple.

But that said, the experience of using an iPad with a Logitech Crayon or Apple Pencil is creatively freeing. There’s just no comparison between the products when you consider the potential it unleashes in students.

Take a look at the video embedded in the main Loop post, which Apple ran at the end of yesterday’s event. To me, what Apple has delivered is worthy of consideration.

Drawing and smart annotation with the new Pages

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[VIDEO] Jeff Benjamin does an excellent job showing off the new Pages (video embedded in main Loop post). Even though it was announced at yesterday’s Education event, the new Pages is for all of us and is available now. Smart annotation is an excellent add. No crayon required.

All about the Logitech Crayon

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From Logitech’s official Crayon specs page:

Using the same technology found in Apple Pencil®, Logitech Crayon delivers sub-pixel precision, lightning fast responsiveness, and dynamic tilt to bring new dimensions to learning.

Not quite the same as Apple Pencil. No pressure sensitivity. But it also sells for $49 versus the Apple Pencil’s $89 (since Crayon is only sold through Education market, makes sense to compare to Apple Pencil education price). For students, I suspect the Logitech Crayon will be just fine.

iPad has palm rejection technology that ignores any touch that doesn’t come from Logitech Crayon, so students can stop worrying about their hands and just focus on the task at hand.

And:

A flat shape prevents Logitech Crayon from rolling off desks or getting lost.

Hmm. I wonder why Apple doesn’t consider this.

Logitech Crayon has almost 8 hours of writing time between charges — enough for a full school day. Additionally, a fast charging option provides 30 minutes of battery in 90 seconds.

Lots of good stuff here. One important thing to note: The Crayon does not use Bluetooth. Its wireless frequency is specific to the iPad announced yesterday. Just as Apple Pencil will not work with an iPhone, Crayon will not work with other iPads.

All told, this seems a great solution for the education space. And the way I read this, looks like Crayon is only available through the Apple Education channel.

Will Apple IBM Deal Let Watson Replace Siri For Business Apps?

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Bob O’Donnell, Tech.pinions:

Even though it wasn’t the first time that Apple and IBM have announced partnerships in the enterprise space, as a long-time tech industry observer, there’s still part of me that finds it surprising to see an Apple executive speak at an IBM event.

Such was the case at last week’s IBM Think conference in Las Vegas, where the two announced that IBM’s Watson Services was going to be offered as an extension to Apple’s CoreML machine learning software. Essentially, for companies who are creating custom mobile applications for iPhones (and iPads), the new development means that enterprises can get access to IBM’s Watson AI tools in their iOS business applications.

And:

At a basic level, you could argue that there may be future battles between Siri and Watson. Given all the difficulties Apple has had with Siri, versus the generally much more positive reaction to Watson, that could prove to be a significant challenge for Apple.

Lots more to process in the article, definitely an interesting read, but at the heart of this IBM/Apple collaboration is the collision course between Watson and Siri.

Will the partnership cede the business space to Watson’s brand? Will Siri have a role there? Will they share the space, with Siri handling the admin work and Watson the analysis?

All interesting (to me at least) questions. And it points to a future problem, as the world gets filled, more and more, with devices that interact with the likes of Siri, Alexa, GooglePerson, Cortana, and yes, even Watson. I’d like to see a standard evolve for this sort of interaction, something that allows me to ask Siri to interact with a hotel’s services, even if they are provided by IBM or Amazon. Food for thought.

Foxconn buying Belkin. But why?

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Foxconn press release:

Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited (FIT) (HKG: 6088), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., and Belkin International, Inc. (Belkin®, Linksys®, Wemo®, Phyn® brands) jointly announced today the signing of a definitive agreement under which FIT agreed to acquire Belkin International for approximately US$866 million in cash, creating a global consumer electronics leader.

Fine. But why?

Foxconn is the largest private employer in China (not important to the discussion, but interesting). They manufacture things for other companies, most notably Apple, Microsoft (Xbox One), Sony (Playstation), Nintendo (WiiU), and Intel (motherboards). How does Belkin help them?

Leveraging Belkin’s strength in research and development capabilities and the consumer products channel, FIT is expected to further tap into premium accessories and the smart home market. The transaction would also fuel the growth of Belkin’s portfolio of brands and products and supports further investment in research and development and engineering to expand FIT and Belkin’s presence in the U.S. and key markets globally.

Belkin owns Linksys. A mature, well known brand. Is Foxconn building its own end game, leveraging its move into the US and cheap manufacturing costs to compete in the consumer electronics space under its own auspices, a bit of a trojan horse, giving it instant legitimacy in the product space?

From The Financial Times:

FIT Hon Teng said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday that the merger with Belkin, which manufactures products including wireless charging devices and networking products, will give it access to sales networks, technology and production capabilities.

Keep your eye on Belkin. I suspect they are in for a bit of a rocket ride.

Finding out some of the info that Google keeps on you

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This time, we’re talking Google, not Facebook. These links come from this Twitter thread posted by Dylan Curran. Good stuff.

Jump into your browser and click:

There’s a lot more. Step through the thread. Or download your Google data using this link.