Thanks to this paragraph in Jon Gruber’s review of Apple’s new HomeView. Gruber is normally all business. Love that he snaps here.
Lost in Gruber’s snark is Apple marketing staying undefeated for all-time. Such a good ad it might even convince some people that their phones and iPads aren’t enough. Ca-ching bro.
The end of Jennifer Weiner’s opinion piece.
“I wanted to think the world had changed, that all those years of marching and making demands by students at colleges all over the country had resulted in more effective systems. That colleges had better ways of handling sexual assault. That we’d educated boys and girls about rape culture. That young men see their female classmates as people. That all our work meant something.
Looking at the screenshots the Chi Phi brothers sent that night, I think maybe all that’s changed since 1987 is the technology.
All I can do is hope that in another few decades, when one of my daughters is dropping off her daughters on campus somewhere, things will finally be better. Until then, we’ll have to keep giving our girls the talk, and hoping, truly hoping, that it’s enough.”
News alert. I am not buying Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo.* For two reasons. Most importantly, because I want to spend less time with my pocket computer. With a Duo, I’d likely spend more. I want to make eye contact with you, not signal anything about success or social status. Secondly, my vision makes my existing iPad a better reader/mobile t.v.
I want one thing out of a new phone, greatly improved battery life. That’s why I’m getting the new 18. The hope is, top it off while microwaving the morning oats, and forget it.
Speaking of which, I’m sticking with my Garmin sports watch because the batteries in even Apple’s newest watches can’t compare. Apple’s newest/most expensive watch is supposed to get 50 hours. My Garmin lasts a week. Game, set, match.
I have a dream of living in a world free of cables and chargers. Apple should take a clue from Porsche. Porsche’s newest electric SUV can be wirelessly charged . All you have to do is plug in the pad and drive over it. Next morning, all juiced up.
Dear reader, let me know if that Porsche set up is as sweet as it seems.
*First iteration at least. I reserve the right to flip-flop and Duo2 or 3.
Sipping coffee, reading this. Already watched some initial impression vids. I know what’s going to happen. So does “ChromeAce” who started his day by dunking on MacFan782020.
People are complaining mightily about the price. But they will buy it. Because it will be aspirational and it will signal success. If it makes my iPad superfluous, I might Duo myself. However, I will wait for the dust from a few key reviewers to settle before deciding.
And good news. Mine will be free. Because your buying it will raise the price of my shares. Thank you in advance.
Charlotte Alter on X writes, “Want to hear a horror story?”
My very sweet husband emailed me a couple dinner options for our anniversary coming up. He listed a couple different restaurant/picnic options and asked which I preferred. I started replying to his email and that’s when I noticed…That Gmail AI had the gall to DRAFT MY ANSWER FOR ME, the audacity to select a restaurant on my behalf.
It picked badly. It picked the restaurant that is most well reviewed. I want to go to the place that is special for us because we’ve had lots of nice memories there.
But the AI wouldn’t know that. Because it isn’t me, it hasn’t been married to my husband for 7 years, and it doesn’t know what we’ve been through recently and why I would want to go to our spot.
Which is why it should stay the fuck out of my email and my marriage.”
“Different restaurant/picnic options”?! The “very sweet husband” for the win.
From an excellent essay titled, “When A.I. Took My Job, I Bought a Chainsaw” by Brian Groh.
“In towns like mine, outsourcing and automation consumed jobs. Then purpose. Then people. Now the same forces are climbing the economic ladder. Yet Washington remains fixated on global competition and growth, as if new work will always appear to replace what’s been lost. Maybe it will. But given A.I.’s rapacity, it seems far more likely that it won’t. If our leaders fail to prepare, the silence that once followed the closing of factory doors will spread through office parks and home offices — and the grief long borne by the working class may soon be borne by us all.”
My “friends” like to bust my chops for buying and selling cars too often. And yet, they give me no credit for my seven year old iPhone. The whole lot, consistently inconsistent.
One of my besties visited last week from CA. While in the kitchen, he glanced at my ancient iPhone XS Max on the counter, smiled, make that laughed, and asked, “Do you still keep it in a tube sock?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“When you first got it, you used to keep it in a tube sock!” followed by more guffawing.
Damn if I hadn’t repressed that memory. It started to come back. Walking into Department meetings slinging a tube sock on the table next to me. Too bad I can’t rewind that tape. Had to have been the phone before the ancient phone and I vaguely remember waiting on a proper cover. Still, hard to live that down. Damn his very good memory.
I just watched a vid of tips and tricks to customize the brand new IOS 26. Only one problem, IOS 26 only works on 11s forward. Tim Apple, what are you doin’ to me, a longtime investor?
Yeah, it’s probably time to upgrade, but I don’t like being pushed. I wanna jump into the new tech pool of my own volition.
The AirPod Pro 3 reviews are smashin’. I will get those despite the 2’s still being fine. The bonus being that will give my “friends” more fodder.
The last three-word sentence in this brief excerpt from Joanna Stern’s month-long review of Apple’s Vision Pro.
“Ryan Rzepecki, 44, said his Vision Pro has replaced his TV and laptop for watching movies.
‘It’s the best media player,’ he said, adding that he and his wife also have different show preferences. Same for Chad Christian, 50, who has been putting on the headset to watch movies while on his Peloton bike.
And yes, everyone I spoke to was a male between the ages of 30 to 50. Vision Bro, indeed.”
Dig this exchange of commenters on a review of Apple’s new Vision Pro.
The Earlies are all a flutter. Meanwhile the Lates are loading their empty Bic pins with spit balls and taking dead aim at them.
As an investor, I’m heartened by the Earlies’ enthusiasm; but more personally, I’m down with the Lates’s cynicism.
