Whether you opt for an M1-powered Mac with an active cooling system or an extra GPU core, they’re all powerful and efficient devices. Metz describes it as “awesome to have a range of devices that do meet your needs, whether you know you need to be moving around and you want this portable device or you need something in a small compact space or this wonderful all in one experience with the large display.” Between the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Mini or the iMac, there’s a model for everyone.
Apple’s failure to take seriously the safety of people who exist outside of the Apple ecosystem is inexcusable. It’s not enough for Apple to just protect iOS users. The billions of Android users deserve to be protected from stalking too. The single most important step that Apple should take is to create an Android app that alerts users to nearby trackers. You shouldn’t have to own an Apple device to know if you are safe from Apple’s products.
In April, Apple participated in a judiciary competition subcommittee hearing on App Store policy and monopoly power. Representatives from Spotify, Match (parent company of Tinder), and Tile made their case as to Apple’s anticompetitive actions.
In a formal letter today, Apple’s Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer has directly responded to their complaints. Apple characterized the companies’ testimony as “focused more on grievances related to business disputes with Apple than on competition concerns with the App Store”. Apple then goes into detail with the issues raised by each company.
Apple says iOS users benefit from a locked-down, curated platform. It rejects “stores within stores” like the Epic Games Store, which could allegedly expose users to harmful and unvetted software. It’s also, however, fighting Epic Games’ claims that there’s no meaningful competition on its platform. So this morning, an Apple attorney grilled one of Epic’s witnesses about a slew of iOS-hosted gaming apps. The move might have helped rebut Epic’s complaints, but it also highlighted just how arbitrary Apple’s policies can seem.
Sometimes I reflect on my life and wonder where I went wrong, such that I am sitting on a wooden pew in federal court, watching a Google search for Candy Crush Saga on the display monitor. This is a huge trial with major stakes for tech companies. It is also a crashing bore.
The new slider in the app’s editing panel is deceptively simple. Move the slider to the right to make the details of an image pop or to the left to smooth out the details. If you look carefully, though, you’ll notice that the increase in contrast isn’t uniform across a photo.
You can see all of the timers on on screen at once. It’s even possible to name each one and change the background color to help tell them apart.
A medium that exploded due to the lack of institutional gatekeepers is now seeing big tech companies act like traditional media networks, signing popular hosts and shows to exclusive contracts. Of course, other publishers like Slate and Stitcher have offered subscriptions to their shows via their own websites and mobile apps. But the much larger audience share of Apple Podcasts and Spotify has much greater potential to move the podcast ecosystem in the direction of premium paid content.
Since most performers have come to depend on touring for their livelihoods, the COVID-induced pause on all in-person live events made even more of them realize their precarious position. “It’s caused a number of artists to take a hard look at their recorded music income and put an end to Spotify’s long-standing excuse that you can just make it all up on tour,” Krukowski said. Dupuis also mentioned that “a lot of artists spend most of the year in a grind of constant travel and gigging, which doesn’t leave mental energy for conspiring towards change or reflecting on where our working conditions could be improved.”
An Apple employee involved in writing the petition, who spoke to Recode on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional repercussions, described their reaction to the news of Apple parting ways with García Martínez as “very celebratory but firm that this is only the first step,” and that organizers intend to continue pressing the company to investigate the circumstances around García Martínez’s hiring.
There are still many open questions around the situation — like if Apple was aware of García Martínez’s writing, if he was terminated or willingly resigned, and if he was given a chance to recant his earlier stated views before leaving.
Singapore has gone back to a lighter-version of the original lock-down for the next one month. No more dining in outside of homes, all who can work from home must work from home, and inter-household mingling is limited to two unique person per day.
Oh well.
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Thanks for reading.