MyAppleMenu

The Narrower-Uses Edition Sunday, August 20, 2017

Apple’s iPhone Gives Little-Known Suppliers A Long-Awaited Payday, by Alex Webb, Bloomberg

As Apple fights to maintain its technology leadership in smartphones, it’s turning to little-known suppliers that have spent years or even decades developing components in the hope they might one day enjoy widespread adoption. Like Universal Display, other companies including Lumentum Holdings Inc. and AMS AG are also poised to benefit from the next version of Apple’s bestselling device.

The iPhone 8, as analysts tentatively dub it, is the most significant upgrade to Apple’s handset lineup since at least 2014. Smartphones have evolved from communication devices into portable hubs for identity, payments, entertainment and new experiences like augmented reality. That requires major hardware upgrades, forcing Apple to scour the global electronics supply chain for tools and services that often had narrower uses until now.

Apple Looks For Exceptional Engineer With A Secret Job Posting, by Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac

A hidden Apple website that hosts a job description and invitation to apply for an important position has recently been discovered. The posting describes a role that should be filled by a “talented engineer” who will develop a critical infrastructure component for the company’s ecosystem.

'Planet Of The Apps' Wasn't A Great Show, But It Was Still A Success For Apple, by Kerry Flynn, Mashable

Mashable spoke with six participants, who described their experiences working with Apple as positive for the most part. Some companies like e-commerce app Dote secured millions in venture capital funding. Others like Companion and Claim it! still communicate frequently with the show's celebrity mentors. They all got exposure.

What Happens To Creativity As We Age?, by Alison Gopnik and Tom Griffiths, New York Times

Why does creativity generally tend to decline as we age? One reason may be that as we grow older, we know more. That’s mostly an advantage, of course. But it also may lead us to ignore evidence that contradicts what we already think. We become too set in our ways to change.

[...]

Childhood and adolescence may, at least in part, be designed to resolve the tension between exploration and exploitation. Those periods of our life give us time to explore before we have to face the stern and earnest realities of grown-up life. Teenagers may no longer care all that much about how the physical world works. But they care a lot about exploring all the ways that the social world can be organized. And that may help each new generation change the world.

Bottom of the Page

Turns out, I value a good sync engine.

I'm still paying for my Evernote subscription, because all my notes sync up on all the platforms I am using: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Web.

I have a Todoist subscription, and I have all my todos sync up nicely on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Web.

Looks like if any of the remaining apps on my Mac and/or iOS want my money when switching over to a subscription business model, it better be offering a good sync engine, with at least a good web app.

~

Thanks for reading.