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The Palate-Cleanser Edition Friday, November 9, 2018

Getting The iPad To Pro, by Craig Mod

Here’s my hope: With hardware as beautiful and powerful as that announced last week, companies and consumers will have to pay attention. Compared to two years ago, software on the iPad is already in a more mature place. Companies like Affinity produce professional level first-class apps for the iPad. In the next two years we’ll start to see genuine ports of other cornerstone creativity apps like Photoshop. Theoretically, in the process of porting, companies like Adobe will have an opportunity to refactor their decades old software, making it faster and better than what’s on macOS. The equivalent of a professional software palate cleanser. We’ll all win once we get over this current hump.

What An Insider Reveals About Apple’s Design Secrets, by Knowledge@Wharton

"The seven elements that I talked about — inspiration, collaboration, craft, diligence, decisiveness, taste and empathy — these were the building blocks of our everyday actions. You will notice that there is not politics. That is not in there. Big bureaucracies aren’t in there. Even though Apple was a big company, even back in the days when we were developing the iPhone, we tried to run it a little bit more like a startup. Get small teams together, empower them, give them the authority and the support to make a difference. The example would be that, yeah, you can start with an idea like an iPhone, something totally different from what was in the market, and those ideas can get out in the world and be successful."

That’s what I want to believe.

Stuff

Apple Music Taps CD Baby, The Orchard And Kontor For 'Apple Preferred Distribution Program', by Grant Rindner, Billboard

Apple Music has named three distributors as part of their “Apple Preferred Distribution Program”: CD Baby, The Orchard, and Kontor New Media. The move is similar to Spotify’s October announcement of its own list of preferred partners, which included both CD Baby and The Orchard, along with Emu-Bands, FUGA, and Distrokid.

Apple Releases Supplemental macOS 10.14.1 Update For 2018 MacBook Air Owners, by Peter Cao, 9to5Mac

Apple says it “improves the stability and reliability” and that it is recommended for all users.

Apple Offers New Activity Challenge On Apple Watch For Veterans Day, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Apple Watch owners who do a workout of 11 minutes or more can earn a special Veterans Day-themed badge that will show up in the Activity app along with a matching sticker to use in the Messages app.

WeMo's Smart Dimmer Now Connects Directly With Apple HomeKit, by Ry Crist, CNET

HomeKit compatibility means that you can add the device into Apple's Home app on your iOS device, then control it or automate alongside other HomeKit-compatible gadgets from other manufacturers. You can also control HomeKit compatible gadgets using Siri commands -- with a light switch like the WeMo Dimmer, she'll be able to turn the thing on and off or dim it up and down.

Notes

Chips Ahoy: The Mac’s Transition To Apple Processors Is Happening Sooner Than You Think, by Dan Moren, Macworld

Think about it this way: the Mac is now the only Apple product line that doesn’t use the company’s CPUs. What’s the sense in keeping things that way? What advantages does Apple get out of the current setup other than it’s the status quo? And when has Apple ever been satisfied with the status quo?

By 2020, Apple will have ten years of shipping its own processors under its belt. And it’s well-prepared for undergoing these transitions; it’s already done it twice before, and each time has gotten a little smoother. The fuse is lit: the only remaining question is which is the first Mac to blow?

At China’s Internet Conference, A Darker Side Of Tech Emerges, by Raymond Zhong, New York Times

Every year at the World Internet Conference, held since 2014 in the photogenic canal town of Wuzhen near Shanghai, companies and government officials have convened to send a message: China is a high-tech force to be reckoned with.

With that message now settled beyond much doubt, this year’s conference showcased something different. China’s tech industry is becoming more serious about grappling with its products’ unintended consequences — and about helping the government.

Bottom of the Page

If you go back in time to year 2000 and tell me that not only Apple's operating system is beating Windows, but that Apple's CPU is also beating Intel, I would not have believed you.

Of course, you will then follow up by telling me that the Apple's operating system is not Mac OS, and that the Apple's CPU is not PowerPC...

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Thanks for reading.