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CNET:

Twitter is upgrading its popular direct message feature to allow users to receive messages from other users regardless if they follow each other. The move is part of its ongoing effort to try to boost user growth as pressure from Wall Street investors continues.

I’m not sure how or why CNET describes this as a “upgrade”. It’s like the people who run Twitter don’t actually use Twitter. This will open up a whole new way for spammers to abuse the service and, while it might draw in advertisers who want to send “personalized” direct messages to people, it will drive away more users than it could ever to benefit.

UPDATE: The Next Web points out this is “an optional feature” and “The new setting is turned off by default.”

My thanks to Iconic for sponsoring The Loop this week. Looking for a special gift for that mega Apple enthusiast in your life? How about the newest edition of an absolutely stunning coffee table book that features lush, beautiful photographs of Apple devices? ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation is Iconic uses vivid color and detail to document Apple’s journey in design, form and function—and looks back at over 35 years of Apple innovation. Four years in the making, the author captured over 150,000 photos of nearly every product Apple has made, including rare prototypes and even packaging. With a foreword from Steve Wozniak and The Loop’s own Jim Dalrymple and hundreds of amazing quotes from other Apple pundits—ICONIC is the ultimate coffee table book for every Apple fan, and the perfect gift for any Apple owner who ever wanted to explore and discover the true roots of their favorite iMac, iPod, iPad, or iPhone. With free global shipping, see the different editions and use the coupon code THELOOP on checkout for 10% discount.

Jim’s Note: In addition to writing the foreword for this book, I also own two and love them!

Don Henley will not take it easy when there’s a product being sold that references both his name and career with The Eagles, and now everyone knows: After filing a lawsuit against a Wisconsin clothing company that emailed an ad telling customers to “don a henley and take it easy” last October, the two sides have settled the case, with the company issuing an apology to both Henley and his fans for trying to be too clever.

I really like Duluth Trading Co. and their ads, but they did go too far this time.

As with every product we make, we want as many people as possible to enjoy using Apple Watch. That’s why it’s designed with assistive technologies and features that make it easy for people with disabilities to use. Accessing them is also simple, either through Settings on the device itself or through the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

I love that this is a priority for Apple.

This is exceptionally great!

We surveyed a group of over 1,000 nationally representative consumers on 4/11, the day after the preorder window for Apple Watches opened. Our key insights include: (1) encouraging initial demand, with +11% of iPhone users “very likely” to purchase an Apple Watch this year, (2) regular watch wearers are among the most likely to order an Apple or other smart watch, suggesting high displacement rates for traditional watches from smart watch adoption, (3) young consumers are substantially more likely to buy an Apple Watch than older consumers, and (4) those likely to buy a smart watch most often indicate Fossil, Seiko, Casio, Rolex, Timex, and TAG Heuer are the watch brands they wear today.

I find it very interesting that regular watch wearers are among the most likely to order an Apple Watch. I would have thought they would be more reluctant to move from analog to a smartwatch. The brands listed in No. 4 have a lot to worry about in the next year or so.

Create stunning mobile apps simply by placing text, images and movies in a Dropbox folder. Professional results to rival major apps.

This is the platform The Loop magazine is built on. Glide is now ready for the public, so let’s support them.

Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environmental Initiatives:

Today, Apple and The Conservation Fund are announcing a collaboration designed to help America’s working forests stay working forests. For Apple, this is the beginning of a worldwide effort, one that represents a new approach as it reassesses its impact on the world’s paper supply chain.

Apple believes that paper, like energy, can be a renewable resource. So Apple is striving to supply 100 percent of the virgin fibers used in its paper and packaging from sustainably managed forests or controlled wood sources.

As usual, an interesting manifesto from Apple regarding its environmental initiatives but I also find it fascinating this is a story on Medium, not a press release. Hopefully, we’ll see more of these kinds of articles directly from Apple.

LA Times:

The Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking to recoup millions of dollars from technology giant Apple over a problem-plagued curriculum that was provided with iPads intended to be given to every student, teacher and administrator.

To press its case, the Board of Education on Tuesday authorized its attorneys in a closed-door meeting to explore possible litigation against Apple and Pearson, the company that developed the curriculum as a subcontractor to Apple.

This story has been ongoing and includes an FBI investigation, resignations of officials and plenty of blame for all to go around.

Inquisitr:

Dan Price, the CEO of a start-up company located in Seattle, has just raised his employee’s minimum wage to $70,000 by cutting his $1 million salary to that of his lowest-paid employees.

Price is taking upwards to 80 percent of his credit card processing company Gravity Payments’ $2.2 million expected profit and putting it into his employee’s salaries.Price recently announced that over a three-year period, Gravity Payments will be offering its 120 employees a salary of at least $70,000.

Fantastic news for the company’s employees. Some say this will become the model for other companies but I’d be hugely surprised if anyone else followed suit. It’s just not The Corporate Way.

One thing bothered me about this story though.

Price recently told the New York Times that he was motivated to make the radical change after he read a newly released study about how pay raises increase the happiness of those receiving them.

Seriously? You had to read a study to know this? He’s obviously never been poor a day in his life. The vast majority of us know all too well how important money can be to peace of mind, health, happiness and security.

My criticism aside, I couldn’t be happier for the employees of Gravity Payments.

John Siracusa:

Nearly 15 years ago, I wrote my first review of Mac OS X for a nascent “PC enthusiast’s” website called Ars Technica. Nearly 15 years later, I wrote my last. Though Apple will presumably announce the next major version of OS X at WWDC this coming June, I won’t be reviewing it for Ars Technica or any other publication, including the website you’re reading now.

Siracusa’s name was known to many long before he started to write his incredible in-depth reviews of Apple’s Mac OS X but he will be forever known as the guy who wrote in the most detail about the OS.

He says:

Someone else can pick up the baton for the next 15 years.

Sadly, that’s not going to happen. No one can replace Siracusa or his writing style or his passion for writing the most complete reviews humanly possible of Mac OS X.

Gopi Sangha, Director of Technology for Coachella said three-quarters of attendees are using the Coachella app and 90 percent of those are using iOS. […]

Several celebrities like Katy Perry, Drake, and Pharrell Williams have been spotted with the gold Apple Watch Edition ahead of the device’s launch, but Apple gifted designer Karl Lagerfeld with something even more special — a custom gold Apple Watch with a gold Link Bracelet.

I checked and FedEx didn’t leave one of these at my door.

Jim and Dan talk about the meaning behind the WWDC announcement, why Jim got three Apple Watches, the evolution of music (from vinyl to tapes to cd’s and now streaming), beginning guitar without an amp, and more.

I used to like iTunes Radio, but it seems like the crew has abandoned ship and the service is crashing hard. It’s actually gone from questionable song choices to downright maliciously stupid. I swear it just tries to upset me. … Continued

I’ve used a lot of interfaces over the years, but honestly these are the best.

Maple acoustic guitars haven’t been known for their warm, rich tone. Until now. Taylor master builder Andy Powers has poured his expertise into revoicing Taylor’s maple 600 Series, and the results are stunning. From specially aged spruce tops that produce a played-in sound from day 1 to custom-calibrated bracing that unleashes more volume, low-end warmth and sustain, Taylor’s new 600s give players a multi-dimensional musical voice that responds wonderfully to every playing style.

I played one of these at NAMM and was impressed.

FiveThirtyEight:

Americans hate filing tax returns, but they love getting refunds. More than three in four taxpayers get refunds, and the average amount they get back is close to $3,000, according to IRS data. That means that for many Americans, their annual refund is the biggest single check they’ll get all year.

But if you’re among the millions expecting a payout from the IRS this spring, make no mistake: That money was yours all along. Getting a refund means you paid too much in taxes last year and the government is paying that money back — without interest.

I’m no tax expert but I’ve always told people they should work their taxes so they get the smallest refund possible. Otherwise, you’re just giving the government an interest free loan of your money.

I’ll be honest, I like my iPad better, but a lot of people really like the Kindle. They dropped the price, so if you were waiting for that, here’s your chance.

Not using floppy disks, but the drives themselves.

This is just full of awesome. More great work from Donovan at CSS Animation.

The dates are now confirmed. I’ll be attending AltConf too.

Andy Hertzfeld:

I suspect that Steve Jobs would not be thrilled with Becoming Steve Jobs, a new business biography by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli. While it’s a worthwhile book filled with previously unheard stories and insightful industry analysis, Steve would have disliked it because of the persistent negative spin it applies to the first half of his career.

That’s why it’s puzzling to see Apple throw their considerable weight behind it.

Interesting comments from Hertzfeld, a guy who was there in the beginning. While he acknowledges his own biases, he does bring up some interesting questions about the descriptions of the early part of the book, the lack of interviews of the people involved in those early days and why Apple threw considerable weight behind this book.

He does say the book is interesting and still worth a read. Like most biographies, it takes several versions and editions to get a complete picture of the subject and even then, you are looking through a foggy window to do so.

The Defiant Tour Documentary is a never before examination of the finances of a touring band and what it takes to go on the road.

We’ve all seen big bands show up to gigs in their limos, but what does it take for an indie band to tour the U.S.? Lonero wants to show you with this new documentary. I’m supporting this one.

Om Malik:

What blew me away was the exceptional attention to detail. The way you can slide the bands on and off from the watch is smooth and slick. And you don’t need any special tools: A tiny bit of pressure does the job, and the sliding has the smoothness of silk.

It’s interesting that some of Om’s thoughts completely contradict Mike Rundle’s thoughts, which we posted earlier today. This truly is a personal product.

Apogee’s MetaRecorder is the first two-channel audio recording app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to offer intuitive multi-take recording, tagging and file organization for any field recording scenario.

Nice.

I don’t see how you can go wrong here.

Apple:

Ad-injection software is advertising-supported software that can come from third-party download sites. Software that you download from such sites may have been customized to install both the software you want and the ad-injection software. If your Mac has ad-injection software installed, you might see pop-up windows, ads, and graphics while surfing the web, even if “Block pop-up windows” is selected in Safari preferences. Ad-injection software might also change your homepage and preferred search engine.

Use these instructions to uninstall or remove ad-injection software—sometimes called adware.

These are step by step instructions from Apple on how to remove this garbage. It’s a little involved and fidgety but worth it if you or someone you know has this issue. I also use the donationware software, AdwareMedic, periodically to ensure I remain adware free.

Looking for a special gift for that mega Apple enthusiast in your life? How about the newest edition of an absolutely stunning coffee table book that features lush, beautiful photographs of Apple devices? ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation is Iconic uses vivid color and detail to document Apple’s journey in design, form and function—and looks back at over 35 years of Apple innovation. Four years in the making, the author captured over 150,000 photos of nearly every product Apple has made, including rare prototypes and even packaging. With a foreword from Steve Wozniak and The Loop’s own Jim Dalrymple and hundreds of amazing quotes from other Apple pundits—ICONIC is the ultimate coffee table book for every Apple fan, and the perfect gift for any Apple owner who ever wanted to explore and discover the true roots of their favorite iMac, iPod, iPad, or iPhone. With free global shipping, see the different editions and use the coupon code THELOOP on checkout for 10% discount.

Jim’s Note: In addition to writing the foreword for this book, I also own two and love them!

Monday Note:

As the first wave of Apple Watch reviews shows, waiting for impressions to settle down isn’t part of the Product Review genre. The psychoactive toxicity of Apple product launches that I made fun of two weeks ago is in full display as reviewers climb to the rooftops in a race for income-producing pageviews.

There’s no doubt that “page view journalism” has taken its toll on, at the very least, reviews of Apple’s products.