Apple didn't respond to several requests for information about why it decided not to include a day care facility at the new Apple Park campus, which opened last month and will hold 12,000 employees, or about what child care benefits it currently offers employees. [...]
One way to attract women, say experts, is by being more accommodating to families. Apple has added benefits like extended maternity leave, an adoption reimbursement program and egg freezing -- just as other tech companies like Facebook and Intel do. But the lack of onsite day care puzzles some, who say it could restrain the advancement of women at Apple, or limit the number who stick with the company.
In the long run, I think it’s a mistake for big companies to build sprawling suburban headquarters in areas poorly served by public transportation. I applaud Twitter and Amazon’s embracing of the urban center. (And Google’s decision to include child care centers in its facilities plans, unlike Apple and Microsoft.)
But I understand why building outside of the suburbs was never really a serious option for Apple—or its Seattle cousin Microsoft. Like their co-founders Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, they’re suburban kids who never seem to have really gotten a taste for the big city.
After watching this week’s announcements about the new AI powers in Google’s assistant, I’m reminded that there’s far more to releasing winning apps and services than sheer technological prowess. Google has on numerous occasions released products that were technically impressive but betrayed a woeful misunderstanding of what people might find useful (Google Wave, Google Glass, etc.).
Apple doesn’t need to demonstrate superiority over Google in the pure science part of artificial intelligence. It can win by coupling its AI chops with a superior understanding of how people will best benefit from AI in day-to-day life.
Google's right that your photos app shouldn't just be a place to see all of your photos and videos in reverse chronological order. It should be smart and help you do shit and know shit that's relevant to your media. Apple Photos dabbles a little with AI, but Google Photos embraces it fully, and the end result is magic.
But Apple calls Siri apps “extensions.” And Amazon calls Alexa apps “skills.” Microsoft, not very original, calls Cortana apps “skills,” too. Google calls Google Assistant apps “actions.”
But they’re just apps. Voice apps. Like phone apps and laptop apps. So really, can we just call them apps?
Internet giant Tencent was trying to retain the function on WeChat’s iPhone version by providing QR code payments as an alternative, according to a statement published on Wednesday. But in an updated announcement just a few hours later, Tencent said the function was completely shut down for iPhone users.
On its official WeChat account, Tencent said it regrettably had to abolish the feature for iPhone users after lengthy negotiations with Apple failed to reach a compromise. Apple said in a statement that WeChat can still allow users to tip as long as it used Apple’s own IAP system.
What fascinates me is that in all three of these sectors--mobile payments, ride-hailing, and bike-sharing—Chinese tech firms aren't just innovators, they're innovation leaders, and the competition with each other for domination in their home market has unleashed a scramble to conquer markets overseas.
Cultured Code has stuck to its roots in producing a beautiful, well crafted, powerful yet elegant new set of apps. Perhaps there's nothing revolutionary being done here, but that's okay; Things is full of little delights – and we could all use more of those in our working lives.
I consider myself to be a productivity nut in most cases, and I’ve tried pretty much every task manager under the sun on iOS and even on my Mac. Though I tried using Things very early on, I ended up sticking with more complex apps like OmniFocus and 2Do, along with Todoist for a while, mostly because Things did not have all of the features that I needed at the time, specifically due times. But now that Things 3 from Cultured Code has arrived, I think I found my new primary task manager, and honestly, that’s not an easy feat after I’ve been comfortable with my current system (2Do) for the past year or so.
The reality is that I don’t want me contacts, my calendar, or my todos shared in bulk in any arena where another person might get to them. Sure, it would be nice to have a shared family calendar, but a shared device for that seems absurd. Anyone in my family can pick up their devices and see the shared family calendar right now — without me having to share my device, weaken my privacy, or buy a purpose built device.
Both Apple and Roffe Group did not respond to my request for more information about the company's specific position on right to repair legislation.
The Right-to-Repair movement is so clearly not well-thought through. Especially for products that come from a company that values privacy and security, right-to-repair is a major problem in delivering the high bars of privacy and security that Apple has set for itself.
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Thanks for reading.