New York Times:

In 1986, Robin Williams was at a crossroads. “Mork & Mindy” was four years behind him, and his movie career had been foundering. His marriage to Valerie Velardi, his first wife and the mother of their son, Zak, was unraveling. But he still had two reliable sources of joy in his life: his live comedy act, and Zak.

Zak was just 3 at the time, but in his own way, he played a pivotal role in Robin’s stand-up tour from this period, which culminated in a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Over the span of this hour-long set (which was also released as the Grammy Award-winning comedy album “A Night at the Met”), he plays his usual grab-bag’s worth of characters: Robin Leach, Ronald Reagan, a ballet-dancing Tom Landry and, in a whispery, falsetto voice, Zak.

I was/am a huge fan of Robin Williams. I first met him here in Vancouver while he was shooting Jumanji and I interviewed him in San Francisco at a Macworld Expo. We corresponded for a time and I treasured the little piece of him I had. I remember this bit well and this is a great dissection of it.

The Outline:

Optimism about self-driving cars has sustained a fever pitch for so many years, at this point, that some die-hard boosters of the concept would still insist it’s an inevitability. Countless journalists who have experienced, with their own bodies and two eyes, a self-driving car journey, have declared it the inevitable future.

But it hasn’t been a great six months for self-driving vehicles.

Obviously, the headline is (unnecessarily) hyperbolic but the issues discussed in the piece make a lot of sense. Self-driving cars will get here – that’s inevitable – but I don’t think it will happily nearly as fast as its proponents think or hope.

Rene Ritchie, iMore:

Tim Cook wasn’t and isn’t a product person, not like Jobs. He didn’t dream up the next world-changing device. What he did was make those dreams a reality. Famously, he didn’t invent the iPad. He figured out how to make it for $500.

It would have been easy for Cook and his cool, steady Southern charm, to have continued as CEO much as he had as COO — running things by the numbers. But, even early on, Cook showed signs of something more.

Apple has never simply been a technology company. Jobs was clear on that: Apple stood at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. Slowly, inexorably, Cook has added a third pillar to that foundation: Civil responsibillity,

Tim Cook has been in charge long enough now that he’s put his own stamp on the new, many orders of magnitude larger, version of Apple.

[UPDATE: OK, this is the new article. It shared a URL with an older article, so there was indeed some confusion. All should be good now.]

Another one of those interesting, readable articles with an unfortunate headline.

If you can get past the “Apple’s greatest flaws” sensationalism, this is actually pretty interesting.

Katharine Schwab, FastCompany:

It’s been a decade since the British designer Imran Chaudhri first imagined a user interface that would introduce millions of people to the smartphone. Chaudhri joined Apple in 1995, soon rising to become the design director of the company’s human interfaces group–where he was one member of the six-person team that designed the iPhone.

Credentials established.

Very early on, when we first started building prototypes of the phone, a couple of us were lucky enough to take them home… By using the phone and living with the phone, I had friends all over the world who were hitting me up all the time and the phone was pinging and the light was going on, so I realized for us to coexist with this phone, we needed to have something to act as a gatekeeper. Very early on, I designed what ultimately became Do Not Disturb.

And:

Inside, getting people to understand that [distraction] was going to be an issue was difficult. Steve [Jobs] understood it…internally though, I think there was always a struggle as to how much control do we want people to have over their devices. When I and a few other people were advocating for more control, that level of control was actually pushed back by marketing. We would hear things like, ‘you can’t do that because then the device will become uncool.’

And:

You might install about 10 applications on an afternoon and say, ‘yeah, you can use my camera, you can use my location, you can send me notifications.’ Later on down the road, you find out Facebook’s been selling your data. Later on down the road, you realize that you’ve developed a sleep disorder because these things are blinking every night and you actually don’t really care about them until the morning.

These are just snippets, just a taste of what I found to be a truly fascinating interview.

Nice little rollup and video from AppleInsider. My favorite new Siri things:

• Being able to turn my flashlight on and off
• Asking Siri to find my devices

That second one is more than simply a handoff to the Find iPhone app. It will give you instant feedback if your device is nearby, and will offer to play a sound on the device. This is a very efficient way to locate a misplaced device, all with a single command and a button tap.

9to5Mac:

A report today from Ceros details the trend that Apple’s top-selling products overall (not just accessories) at the major retailer are indeed dongles. Specifically, over the past two years the 3.5mm to Lightning adapter and 3.3-foot USB-C to Lightning cable have been Best Buy’s most popular Apple branded items.

While AirPods just took over as the most popular individual product as of Q2 2018, dongles still prevailed as the top revenue generator overall, with Apple’s headphones category coming in second place.

Used to be, every cell phone brand made its own unique charger. That made for very little reusability and a nightmare if you forgot your charger. Outcry ensued, and we’ve now moved to two main form factors, both of which plug into the same USB brick. Much better.

This dongle thing feels like the pendulum swinging the other way. Now we have USB-C as a standard on our Macs, but dongles and USB-C confusion means we’ve got similar problems if we forget our dongle.

Will Apple ever move the iPhone from Lightning to USB-C? That certainly would simplify things for travelers, one dongle to rule them all.

UPDATE: I’m guessing this is unit sales, not revenue.

Digital Camera World:

It’s here. After weeks of teasers, leaked images, cardboard mockups and more, Nikon has confirmed its new Z-system mirrorless line. The line is launched with two models, the Z7 and the Z6, and a handful of lenses. The more senior of the two models is the Z7, and this is the camera that we spent some time with a few weeks prior to the launch.

What follows is a detailed look at the key parts of the camera’s spec sheet, as well as our first impressions from our time with a pre-production sample of the model.

Lots of people, amateurs and pros alike, have been waiting for this camera from Nikon. I’d love to try one out but, at a price point starting at $3400.00 US, I’d have to sell one of the children.

I’m taking offers on a used child if anyone is interested.

Ars Technica:

In April, we reported that Apple was working on developing a TV series based on Isaac Asimov’s highly influential Foundation series of science fiction novels. Today, Ars has confirmed not only that Foundation was in development, but it has now been given a full series order—meaning we’re definitely going to see it.

Foundation takes place over more than a thousand years, and the story tracks a group of exiles who are fighting against the Galactic Empire in order to save it. It is a highly influential work of science fiction; its impact can be felt in Star Wars, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and many other sci-fi films, books, and video games. Several previous failed attempts have been made to bring Foundation to the screen—including ones by Independence Day director Roland Emmerich and Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan.

The Foundation series was the first series of books I ever read as a kid, scifi or otherwise, and I reread it several times in the ensuing years. I’m really excited and a little worried about this as a TV series. It’s an incredible series, spanning worlds, galaxies, and time. I hope they do justice to it.

Pulp Librarian:

In the 1970s the cost – and size – of calculators tumbled. Business tools became toys; as a result prestige tech companies had to rapidly diversify into other products – or die! This is the story of the 1970s great calculator race.

Are you old enough to remember your first “pocket calculator”? We weren’t allowed to use them in school and my dad wouldn’t let me use one for my homework – I had to do the math by hand and he would check it with his calculator. Thanks to Dave Mark for linking to this on Twitter.

Deadline:

Paramount Pictures and Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road Pictures have set Patrick Osborne to develop to direct Monument Valley, hoping to launch a live action/CG hybrid family franchise based on the Ustwo Games’ international mobile game phenomenon.

“Monument Valley is a one of a kind experience, at once small in its meditative, simple gameplay, as well as enormous in its sense of history,” Osborne said. “I’m privileged to be handed the reins to Ida’s mysterious kingdom, to play in her world of impossible architecture where seeing things differently is everything. I am thrilled to bring this unique world to theaters with the talented storytellers of Paramount and Weed Road.”

I loved this game but I’m not clever enough to imagine what kind of movie they could make from it.

Jalopnik:

This is one of the most common shared experiences in all of automobilia: You’re outside a car, trying to get in. The person inside the car is attempting to open the door lock at the same time you’re pulling the handle to open the door. A comedy of errors ensues, with each of your actions canceling out the other’s, leaving you both pulling handles or locking buttons over and over, in a seemingly never-ending mechanical stalemate. Eventually, someone yells for someone to let go, already, and the nightmare ends. But why must it be this way? What’s going on?

Why can’t you pull the door handle while the door is being unlocked? Why would such a fundamental mechanism of a car have such a frustrating flaw? Well, the answer is simple mechanics. (Except, as we found out, there’s nothing simple about door latches.)

I had no idea car door locks were so insanely complicated.

Open Culture:

You’ve probably seen one, or at least a parody of one, somewhere along the way–formulaic and harmless surf’n’fun films sold to teens, set in a world with very few adults, and most probably starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello as the central will-they-or-won’t-they romantic couple. These weren’t troubled juvenile delinquents like ones played by Marlon Brando or James Dean–these were squeaky clean kids. These weren’t movies about teens like John Hughes films, he points out, but they were sold to teens.

Anyone else remember these movies? As a kid, I loved watching them but I saw one a few years ago and started to watch it out of nostalgia before I realized, they are really quite awful.

First things first, I do hate this headline. Perhaps that’s my reverence at work.

That said, here are a few chunks from this article about Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ upcoming book that are the focus of this point:

Mr. Jobs fathered her at 23, then denied paternity despite a DNA match, and gave little in financial or emotional support even as he became a god of the early computing era.

And:

In passage after passage of “Small Fry,” Mr. Jobs is vicious to his daughter and those around her. Now, in the days before the book is released, Ms. Brennan-Jobs is fearful that it will be received as a tell-all exposé, and not the more nuanced portrait of a family she intended.

And:

On the eve of publication, what Ms. Brennan-Jobs wants readers to know is this: Steve Jobs rejected his daughter for years, but that daughter has absolved him. Triumphantly, she loves him, and she wants the book’s scenes of their roller skating and laughing together to be as viral as the scenes of him telling her she will inherit nothing.

I do think the article is worth reading and that the headline is accurate, if not emotionally manipulative. I’m torn about reading the book. I know what I’ll find, and I’m not sure how much truth about Steve Jobs I want to absorb. But truth is truth and I’d be hypocritical if I ignored the sour for the sweet.

Ironically, this will be one of the first books I order in the newly rendered Apple Books.

Gruber is on a roll. In this Daring Fireball post, he digs into the iOS “Shake to Undo” gesture, an inelegant solution to a reasonably common and complex problem.

My favorite bit:

Here’s an anecdote I heard years ago about how Shake to Undo came to be. Scott Forstall charged the iOS team with devising an interface for Undo — everyone knew the iPhone should have it,1 but no one had a good idea how to do it. One engineer joked that they could just make you shake the iPhone to invoke it. Forstall said he loved the idea, and what was proposed as a joke has been with us as the Undo interface ever since.

My biggest issues with Shake to Undo are that it breaks flow (you have to stop whatever you were doing and shake your device like a maniac) and requires a physical action that is difficult for many people. I’d love to see this addressed as part of the architecture, as Undo is for the Mac.

Marc Edwards continues to add to his library of vector speed runs. He mostly works in Illustrator, but the techniques translate into most object drawing applications. Bookmark and pass along.

Here’s a link to an Imgur album with the complete set of images. Be sure to tap the load more images button at the bottom of the page to see them all.

To me, this is one of the great artifacts of the computer age. Every little bit of this computer was assembled by hand, a genuine product of Woz and Jobs’ imagination and determination.

Terrific images, take a look.

When I first encountered this article, I thought it was simply a one-sided view of typical employee migration from one tech company to another. But a few nuggets:

In 2018 so far, LinkedIn data shows Apple has hired at least 46 people who worked at Tesla directly before joining the consumer electronics juggernaut. Eight of these were engineering interns. This year Apple has also hired former Tesla Autopilot, QA, Powertrain, mechanical design and firmware engineers, and several global supply chain managers. Some employees joined directly from Tesla, while others had been dismissed or laid off before joining Apple.

So this means Apple is hiring, still growing, and Tesla attracts worthy talent.

Field joined Tesla in 2013 from Apple, where he was a VP of hardware engineering at Apple. At Tesla, he was responsible for development of new vehicles there, including the Model 3 electric sedan, which is the company’s first electric vehicle designed for the mass market. Earlier this month, John Gruber reported that Field had returned to Apple to work on Project Titan.

Add to the equation, a major hire attracts people who looked up to that person, appreciated working with them, followed them from Tesla to Apple.

Regarding competition with Apple for talent, a Tesla spokesperson said, “We wish them well. Tesla is the hard path. We have 100 times less money than Apple, so of course they can afford to pay more. We are in extremely difficult battles against entrenched auto companies that make 100 times more cars than we did last year, so of course this is very hard work.”

I found this a very interesting read.

This started with Twitter user Paul Alvarado asking @AppleSupport why Siri could not do something basic and useful like turn on the flashlight.

@AppleSupport Why can’t I ask Siri to turn my iPhone flashlight on or off? Seriously, it’s inexplicably inane limitations like this that make me deeply despise Siri. cc @tim_cook @pschiller @cue

As you can see, Paul cc’ed Tim, Phil, and Eddy.

When I read this, I recognized the usefulness of the request. Asking Siri to turn on the flashlight would be an incredibly useful feature, especially when you are on your hands and knees trying to look under the couch for the only battery in the house that of course rolled under there.

So here’s the kicker, Phil Schiller’s response to the tweet:

iOS 12 “Turn on flashlight” pic.twitter.com/FtAjdwrOG2

— Philip Schiller (@pschiller) August 22, 2018

Yup. In iOS 12, Siri can turn on the flashlight. If you’ve got the beta, try it for yourself. And props to Paul Alvarado for asking the question and for his appreciative response to Phil.

Stephen Hackett, 512 Pixels:

These images came from the OS, running on actual hardware; I didn’t use virtual machines at any point. I ran up to 10.2 on an original Power Mac G4, while a Mirror Drive Doors G4 took care of 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5. I used a 2010 Mac mini for Snow Leopard and Lion, then a couple different 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros to round out the rest.

This is simply remarkable work. Here’s a link to the screenshot library home page.

One vivid memory this brings to mind: I was working at Metrowerks, makers of CodeWarrior, and I had the chance to play with the first beta of Mac OS X. It was jarringly different. Finder windows used this multi-column browser approach, very different from the disclosure triangle, single-column of the original Finder. The colors were different, the window controls were skeuomorphic, had depth to them.

To be honest, I thought the beta was ugly. But over time, I got used to the change, and grew to love the power, functionality, and especially, the accessible Unix underpinnings of the new Mac OS.

Remarkable stepping through all these screenshots, watching macOS subtly evolve over time.

John Gruber, Daring Fireball:

For most of the modern era at Apple, the company’s Mac portable lineup has been simple, dating back to Steve Jobs’s 4-square product matrix in 1998. iBooks and PowerBooks. Then, in the Intel era, plastic MacBooks and aluminum MacBook Pros. Lower-priced for consumers, higher-priced for pros.

The original MacBook Air threw a monkey wrench in this simple lineup, though. When it debuted in 2008, the MacBook Air was a premium portable, starting at $1799 with an 80 GB hard drive, and going up to $3098 for a version with a faster CPU and 64 GB of SSD storage. It was a different type of premium portable than a MacBook Pro, focused on a remarkably svelte (for the time) form factor. When Steve Jobs revealed that first MacBook Air by pulling it from a manila envelope on stage at Macworld Expo, there were gasps.

And:

This is one of those columns where I started with one idea, but in the course of writing it, drastically changed my mind. I find none of these scenarios satisfying, but I started out with the idea that the one thing Apple wouldn’t do is simply update the MacBook Air, as we know it or very similar, and just give it a retina display. I’ve been saying this for a few years now, that I saw the future as just MacBooks and MacBook Pros, and that the MacBook Air remained in the lineup only until the 12-inch MacBook could drop in price.

But the more I think about it, the more I think that something along the lines of the “just put a retina display in the MacBook Air” scenario seems the most likely.

These callouts are just snippets from an unusually long Daring Fireball column. When the MacBook Air came into being, it represented a huge change, filled a hole in the market. But the MacBook and MacBook Pro have taken advantage of the technology and material science gains MacBook Air brought to the market.

What will a new MacBook Air look like? Good question. Gruber’s take does a nice job exploring the tree of possibilities.

Texas Monthly:

To explore the inner workings of the heart is to discover a form and a function that can inspire thoughts of the divine in the most determined atheist. It is a marvel of strength, efficiency, and tenacity. About the size of a human fist—your fist, custom-designed to your unique size—it nestles perfectly at an angle deep inside the chest, protected by the rib cage and a cushion of lungs. Weighing about eight to eleven ounces, about the same as a running shoe, it has four hollow chambers, two atria and two ventricles that look, in pictures, like ancient temples carved out of caves. Those hollows hold perfectly regulated amounts of blood. The heart also has its own system of valves, muscles, and electrical currents that make sure nothing goes wrong. In fact, it’s easy to believe in the heart as a perpetual-motion machine: it beats 60 to 100 times per minute, about 115,000 times a day, more than 2.5 billion beats in an average lifetime.

This is a book excerpt. It’s visceral and fascinating. It has me hooked.

CNBC:

Recently, job-search site Glassdoor compiled a list of 15 top employers that have said they no longer require applicants to have a college degree. Companies like Google, Apple, IBM and EY are all in this group.

This just does not ring true to me. I know a number of people who work at Apple and Google without college degrees. And many more with degrees unrelated to the field in which they work.

I’d like to see the quote from Apple or Google citing a specific policy change. Ping me if you know more about this.

Microsoft Office blog:

As of the Office 365 for Mac September 2018 update, macOS 10.12 or later is required to update to the new version of the Office client apps for Mac and receive new feature updates.

macOS 10.12 is more commonly known as macOS Sierra. If you don’t want to update to Sierra, you’ll still be able to get support. You just won’t be able to update to the new shiny coming in September.

As part of the upcoming September 2018 update, Office 365 for Mac users on macOS 10.12 or later will receive an update from the Office 2016 for Mac client to Office 2019 for Mac in order to maintain access to new feature releases and updates.

If you use Office, keep this in mind. I’ve always found Microsoft’s penchant for embedding calendar years in a release name an odd branding choice. In a few weeks, you’ll jump from Office 2016 to Office 2019.

No matter, good to know what’s coming.

This is not really news, any more than the fact of Apple holding a September event is news. Both are connected, obviously, and both come like clockwork. But I did find this interesting:

> My mom is an import / export broker and told me they were notified that Apple has reserved almost all air freight going from China -> USA for the upcoming weeks. And the note was “Product Launch” so either they’re placing iPhones in the states, or there is something else happening. On aside note, for individuals eager to venture into the freight industry, enrolling in specialized educational institutions like freight broker training schools in Dallas is an excellent first step. These programs offer comprehensive courses designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the complexities of freight logistics. From understanding industry regulations to learning how to efficiently manage transportation routes, these schools provide valuable insights that can greatly enhance career prospects. Graduates leave with a deep understanding of both the practical and theoretical aspects of the freight brokerage business, positioning themselves as qualified professionals ready to excel in this dynamic and growing field. Professional houston trucking services may help boost the growth and expansion of various businesses. Today’s shipping news highlights a growing demand for eco-friendly transport solutions among global logistics providers. This reflects the industry’s shift toward sustainability and carbon emission reduction.

And, from the comments:

> The funny thing is, those iPhones seriously add up in terms of value per cubic meter. > > Imagine a regular living room, maybe 6 x 6 meters, with 2.75 m ceilings. That’s 99 cubic meters of space. An iPhone X box is 16x5x8.8 cm which translates to 704 cubic cm, or 0.000704 cubic meter. > > So your average living room can hold over 140,000 iPhone X boxes. That’s a cool $140M of retail value right there.

Imagine the value of a cargo plane filled with iPhones.

This is an excellent list. Nitpick away, but I’m betting there’s something new and delightful for you here.

My three favorites from the list:

• Spirited Away: If you’ve never experienced a Studio Ghibli film, this is a great starting point. On my personal list of all-time great films. From the writeup:

Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki seems unable to make anything but masterpieces; still, this epic tale of a young girl separated from her parents and thrust into a magical world, stands as his greatest — not only for its transporting visuals but for its bracing sense of adventure, terror, resilience and heroism.

• Michael Clayton: Talking truth to power, personal growth, with just a sprinkling of a “caper” film, this is George Clooney at his best. From the writeup:

If movies can be evaluated as sums of their parts — script, performance, design, editing and sound — then this legal thriller is sheer perfection.

• Children of Men: This was made in 2006, but it might well be talking about today. From the writeup:

Alfonso Cuarón’s adaptation of the P.D. James novel evinced the perfect balance of technical prowess, propulsive storytelling, complex character development and timeliness when it was released in 2006. But its depiction of a dystopian near-future – what we ruefully now call the present — has proved to be not just visionary but prophetic. Its predictive value aside, it stands as a flawless movie — a masterwork of cinematic values at their purest, with each frame delivering emotion and information in equally compelling measure.

I love this list, not just for the movies it surfaces, but for the descriptions. Well done.

Mitchel Broussard, MacRumors:

We’re just under one month from Apple’s annual September iPhone event, which should also see the debut of the Apple Watch Series 4. Alongside each new edition of the Apple Watch, Apple typically updates its array of band accessories with new colors and styles. Echoing shortages from previous years, it appears that numerous Apple Watch bands have either been removed or are currently unavailable to purchase on Apple.com ahead of next month’s event.

Very curious what Apple has up its sleeve for the next Apple Watch. Thinner? Smaller bezel? New sensors? Improved heart-rate monitoring?

Gadgets360:

Netflix is not letting people sign up for its service via its app for iPhone and iPad. The Netflix iOS app also isn’t allowing people to log in with accounts where the subscription has lapsed and no credit or debit cards are linked to the Netflix account, Gadgets 360 has discovered. This means there is currently no way for users of iOS devices to pay for Netflix via the payment method saved on their Apple ID, unless they signed up to do so in the past.

Tricky situation. Netflix is choosing to keep the 30% Apple would normally take as a fee, and sacrifice the ability for users to sign up for accounts in iOS.

I just signed up for a new Netflix account in iOS Safari, so that still works. Presumably, Apple does not get 30% of that fee.

I’m guessing Apple will not kick Netflix off the iOS App Store. Existing subscriptions continue to be a cash cow for Apple and the availability of Netflix is politically important for iOS and Apple TV.

Will this set a precedent for other, Apple burdened subscription services? Interesting.

UPDATE: From this AppleInsider post:

Since Aug. 2, testing of the idea has been taking place in 33 countries, Netflix confirmed to TechCrunch. Some of the bigger test markets include Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.

The company in fact said that it’s been testing since June, but began in just 10 countries. All new or resubscribing Android users have been unable to use Google Play for billing since May.

Apparently, you can still sign up for a new account in the US, but seems like this move is in the works. [H/T Mike Wuerthele]

Making good on his promise to give his entire fortune away. Respect.