Some pretty good reasons there.

Gary Stockton dug up an old WWDC clip (embedded below) that shows Steve Jobs replying to a snarky question from the audience (remember when Steve used to take questions from the audience?) about OpenDoc and Java. Steve’s reply is worth watching.

Brian X. Chen and Vindu Goel, writing for the New York Times:

In the months surrounding the much-ballyhooed release of the Apple Watch, Apple managers courted Facebook in the hopes that the social networking giant would make a software application for the new gadget.

Facebook was not persuaded. Three months after the watch’s release, there is no Facebook app tailored for it. Adam Mosseri, who oversees Facebook’s news feed, said the social network had been studying the Apple Watch but had not figured out how to deliver a good Facebook experience — including the news feed’s stream of posts, photos and videos — on such a small screen.

Apple managers courted Facebook? How about a link, or even the most anecdotal proof behind that statement? It reads like a bit of an expose, but without the proof.

OK, moving on.

The lack of support from Facebook — and from other popular app makers like Snapchat and Google, which also do not have apps for Apple Watch — underscores the skepticism that remains in the technology community about the wearable device.

Skepticism? I don’t see it as skepticism at all. I see it as the tech community trying to get their head around what can and can’t be done on the Apple Watch. If anything, I see it as waiting for higher adoption rates and for watchOS 2 to hit the mainstream.

I believe the potential for Apple Watch is huge. Apple is very slowly tweaking the model to make sure the user experience is controllable and positive. As an example, consider the customization of watch faces.

watchOS 2 opened the customization gates a tiny bit, allowing third party developers to build custom complications (a complication is a little add-on to the watch face, like those that show day, date, next calendar event, or even phases of the moon) that will, potentially, appear on each of Apple’s existing watch faces.

The addition of complications is just a single step in the evolution of the Apple Watch experience. But Apple has to step carefully here. The Apple Watch screen is small, and the communication between the watch and the iPhone is slow enough to make controlling the back and forth critical. As Apple learns from these early experiences, R&D spending will find ways to improve the tech, and the Apple Watch will continue to evolve.

And at every step along the evolutionary path, more and more developers will find the right moment for their app to make the leap.

Michael Simon, writing for MacWorld:

Apple Watch is a conduit, not just to my iPhone, but to the world around me. While I haven’t used Digital Touch much (mostly due to the fact that I haven’t been able to convince my wife to buy one yet), the concept is central to what Apple is trying to achieve with Apple Watch. It’s not about replacing your phone or even leaving it in your pocket—it’s about using technology to stay more connected, not just through simple or multimedia messages, but through real digital contact. And that concept seems to be lost on many.

To me, intimate connectivity is a core concept of the Apple Watch that is under appreciated and, perhaps, under implemented by developers.

While there are plenty of things it doesn’t do well and likely never will—such as reading lengthy emails or swiping through voluminous photo albums—its unique form factor allows for a deeper visceral reaction to tasks I had grown accustomed to on my iPhone. The best example of this is when I receive a picture: getting tapped on my wrist to notify me that I have an incoming message and lifting my wrist to see a photo of my son appear is such a joyous interaction, it makes me linger a few seconds longer than I do when a text comes through on my phone. And I’m much more inclined to share it with the person I’m with, something I never did when my face was buried in my iPhone.

As is, the central theme of my Apple Watch is that of a notification funnel. Apps that play well in the notification space, that find a way to present a notification in a slim package that yields a more detail view if I tap it to get to the app itself, are much appreciated and most likely to stick around.

But there’s huge potential in the world beyond notifications. There’s an intimacy opportunity, a chance for Apple to bond people with their Apple Watch, that is currently implemented in the shared heartbeat, animated icons, and simple drawing app.

I’d argue that those things are signposts, simplistic showcases to give developers a taste of what is possible. Apps that offer real intimacy that allows people to feel truly connected will be the real killer apps for the Apple Watch.

Kirk McElhearn offers up an insightful look at why his (and many other folks’) iCloud Music Library metadata is getting scrambled.

So why were so many of my tracks showing in iCloud Music Library as Apple Music tracks with DRM? The metadata matching that occurred on the iPhone meant that iCloud Music Library could not verify whether the tracks that device contained were my original rips or tracks that I may have downloaded from Apple Music for offline listening. As such, it assumes the latter, adding them to my library as Apple Music files.

If it didn’t do this, you could download a couple thousand songs from Apple Music, turn off iCloud Music Library, and then turn it back on, and those songs would sync to your library as Matched tracks, without DRM. In other words, it would be trivial to get DRM-free copies of anything in the Apple Music library.

It’s a bit of a long read, but interesting and informative.

The Atlantic:

I talked to Lisa Hardaway, an engineer at Ball Aerospace in Colorado who led technical development of the one called “Ralph.” Ralph captures visible and some infrared light. When you see Pluto looking tan- and sepia-toned in the new, high-resolution photos, you’re looking at data captured by Ralph.

​Since it captures visible light, Ralph is in many ways comparable to the camera found in a phone or fancy DSLR. In conventional camera terms, it’s a 75mm lens at f/8.7. But it was far harder to build than a normal camera.

Hilarious that these incredible images we are getting from New Horizons are from a “Ralph”. An “Omar” or a “Brad” I could understand.

Cecilia Kang, writing for the Washington Post:

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an antitrust review into Apple’s treatment of competing music-streaming apps that are sold through its iTunes App Store, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter. And while this probe specifically relates to the market for music streaming, the implications may be much greater.

At the heart of the probe is this: Music-streaming companies, such as Rdio, Spotify and Rhapsody, rely on Apple to sell their products to consumers. And Apple takes a cut of that money, even while it is installing its own rival service on every iPhone and iPad.

Apple is a big target and has some level of control over the market. One question that arises: Is Apple unfairly stifling competition here?

Rob Richman pulled some quotes from this morning’s Times interview [Paywall] with Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter.

If you are interested in learning more about Pixar, I strongly recommend Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull. The book does an excellent job digging into Pixar’s process, giving insight into the methodology that keeps the quality of their films so consistently high.

Cool, but no.

New York Times:

Free smartphone navigation apps from Apple and Google offer turn-by-turn driving, walking and biking directions. And many new cars have the option of built-in navigation systems. So is there any longer a reason to buy a stand-alone GPS unit?

While smartphone navigation apps have some advantages, including limiting the number of devices one needs to buy and carry around, they also have some negatives.

I’m still a huge fan of stand-alone GPS devices for the reasons stated here and many others. I’ve tried almost every iPhone navigation app and I still come back to my Garmin or TomTom GPS on my motorcycle. If you’re just going around town, the phone may do the trick but, if you are travelling and/or wanting to “customize” your trip, a dedicated GPS is the way to go.

According to an article on Bitcoin Code Erfahrungsbericht, Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, was looking for a $150K investment to get Airbnb off the ground, all at a $1.5M valuation. That investment would have netted you a 10% stake in Airbnb, an incredible value, as it turns out.

Chesky shares these rejection emails, not to gloat, but to make this point:

Next time you have an idea and it gets rejected, I want you to think of these emails.

Serenity Caldwell, writing for iMore:

When you try to sync offline Apple Music tracks to a nano or shuffle, you’re met with this rather disappointing message: “Apple Music songs cannot be copied to an iPod.” You’ll have to rely on your purchased music for those devices, instead.

As to why, Serenity speculates:

It’s probably a record label requirement: In theory, you could sync an iPod shuffle or nano up with Apple Music tracks, then cancel your Apple Music subscription and continue rocking out to those “copied” tracks forever.

Homing in on this a bit, I think the issue is a lack of a keyboard, the lack of an ability to log in to your iCloud account, the lack of accountability.

As Kirk McElhearn pointed out in this post:

Since the DRM on the files links to a time-limited account, you can’t copy them to a device that can’t check if your subscription is still active.

I’ve got no issue with the incompatibility between the nano/shuffle and Apple Music. It is what it is. That said, I do think this ranks up there with the smaller footprint iPhone as an issue that the consumer should be made aware of when they click the Buy button.

According to the latest numbers from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), the mix of iPhone sales between the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 5c and 5s is showing a significant wave of iPhone 6 Plus love.

The latest CIRP survey compares sales from the quarter ending in March 2015 to that ending in June 2015. As expected, 5c and 5s sales, when added together, dropped from a total of 22% of the pie down to 19%.

iPhone 6 sales dropped from 56% down to 53% and iPhone 6 Plus sales jumped from 22% to 29%. The survey is based on 500 Apple customers. Large enough to be a trend indicator, small enough to have a significant margin of error.

NASA:

New close-up images of a region near Pluto’s equator reveal a giant surprise: a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface of the icy body.

NASA’s Twitter account and web page are starting to post some amazing photos after New Horizon’s fly-by of the planet.

Neil posted this to Facebook today:

Streaming has ended for me. I hope this is ok for my fans.

It’s not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent.

It’s about sound quality. I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don’t feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It’s bad for my music.

For me, It’s about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that.

When the quality is back, I’ll give it another look. Never say never.

Neil Young

Global Human Resources Chief Denise Young Smith said at Fortune Brainstorm Tech on Tuesday morning that Apple’s next “diversity report” will come “sometime this summer” and will reveal some progress on recruiting diverse employees. “We did have some movement in our hiring or women and hiring of minorities,” said Young Smith, noting that about 35% of Apple’s recent recruits are women. The upcoming report, which Young Smith claims will have “more transparency” than its report last year, will show an uptick in hiring African-American and Hispanic recruits as well.

Apple should hire the most qualified person for the job, regardless of their gender or color of their skin.

They guys at 3 Monkeys Amps are building me a new amp and are documenting the progress on Facebook. This beast is hand-wired and built from scratch by hand. I can’t wait!

A book review from Om Malik. It sounds like an interesting read.

Something’s coming. Could it be the iPod touch refresh?

Manipulative headline aside, this Wired piece by Brian Barrett is a good read. The first half is a state-of-the-union that discusses calls for Flash to have a specific end of life date, last major Flash holdouts (looking at you Facebook), and the game of Whack-a-Mole that Flash security has become.

Two interesting quotes from this first half:

“The Flash Player is a very interesting target for attackers because it really is ubiquitous and runs in all major browsers,” says Jérôme Segura, senior security researcher at Malwarebytes. “On top of zero-days, many end users are still running older versions which explains why the number one piece of software exploit kit writers go after is Flash.”

And:

Segura’s torn on whether Flash should die altogether. “At the moment it is the most responsible thing to do,” he says, “But I also think it may be short sighted. After all, malicious actors can easily move on to a new target.”

The second half of the article focuses on specific instructions on how to get rid of Flash from your environment. If you do decide to follow this path, you might want to read this more comprehensive article as well.

Goodbye, Flash. It’s been an interesting ride.

Will Gomez, writing for Mac360, addressing critics of the Apple Watch:

To Watch critics who said it’s too expensive, I say rubbish. It’s priced the way Apple prices everything. Within reach. To those who say the parts cost less than $85 to make, I say rubbish. Only Apple knows the parts cost, but price and cost are not the same thing. There are design, manufacturing, marketing, and support costs which must be accounted for in the price.

Watch is misunderstood. Critics lambast Watch as an overpriced bauble that won’t sell as well as iPhone or iPad, and does not have a clear value proposition. Use Watch for a week and you’ll see the value proposition is time and convenience. But Watch is an accessory so don’t expect a Watch connected to every one of the 150-million iPhones sold each year.

And for those who see the Apple Watch as a fashion accessory:

Watch lives in the fashion industry, yes, but as a fashionable iPhone accessory (of which there are many) that is also utilitarian. The Watch design, like those of many luxury watches, is timeless and will look great for many years. Apple did the design homework necessary to become both an accessory and a fashionable item.

Watch is designed and manufactured in the same vein as Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It’s both luxurious and utilitarian. It’s both fashionable and useful. It’s finely crafted but easy to use, but has a learning curve because Apple has crammed a lengthy list of capabilities into a device lightweight premium package that won’t be all things to all people, but will set the stage for future, standalone wearable products.

The Apple Watch is still a work in progress. Until you live with one and understand the things it does well, understand the friction in the gears it smooths away, there is no chance you will understand the value of the Apple Watch.

Great, informative article from Craig Hockenberry on the affect of water on your Apple Watch.

Every bit of this is a good read. But if I had to pick one point to highlight, it’s this:

Make sure you rinse your equipment in fresh water after it has been exposed to salt water. As you’ve seen above, that includes a swimming pool.

I make sure to wash my watch thoroughly after every swim. It doesn’t take much to get the corrosive liquid off. If you’re working out, it’s likely that you have a bottle of water handy: a few splashes is all it takes. Don’t use a sports drink for this rinse: it contains the same harmful electrolytes you’re trying to get rid of!

Chances are also good that you’re going to take a shower after a workout. Just hold your wrist up to the shower head and you’re done!

From the Wall Street Journal:

A top advertising executive at Apple has left to help lead Drawbridge, a fast-growing startup that helps marketers track user identity across mobile devices.

Winston Crawford, the former head of Apple’s mobile ad marketplace, has joined Drawbridge as its first chief operating officer, he said in an interview.

No worries there. People come and go all the time.

But his logic for leaving:

“I don’t believe they are interested in this capability because they have a strict policy around what they do with user data,” Crawford said. “IAd has great assets and great capabilities, but they are going to follow Apple’s policy to the letter of the law.”

That says a lot about Apple’s business practices and privacy.

Here’s the business model that lured Winston away from Apple:

Crawford’s experience overseeing ads on iPhones and iPads lends credibility to Drawbridge’s business of monitoring users as they move between mobile devices. The four-year-old startup can detect when the same user logs onto the Web from a PC, tablet or smartphone, or purchases a product in a retail store, based on their browsing habits and other clues. Drawbridge then sells that information to marketers who want to show the same person ads on different devices and measure the ads’ effectiveness.

Your ethics are holding me back, Apple.

“‘I can’t support this, you need to pay us from the first stream,’” Borchetta, the CEO of Big Machine Records, says he told Apple execs. “And those conversations led up to the weekend where Taylor posted the blog.”

Taylor Swift did a great thing.

I haven’t used this, but Yamaha is a great music company. This may be worth checking out as you look for an outdoor speak this summer.