MyAppleMenu

The Island-of-Certainty Edition Saturday, May 14, 2022

A World Without iPods, by Steven Levy, Wired

In the post-iPod age, we don’t own songs—we access them. I actually can’t tell you what happened to all the songs I bought digitally or ripped from CDs to fill my various iPods. (Here’s the most recent, not-very-clear explanation Apple provides.) Sure, I like the idea of listening to anything at any time, but Jobs was right when he said that people like to feel ownership of the music they love. These days, I cling to one island of certainty—a still-working iPod Classic (c. 2007) with about 14,000 songs, each of which I personally put there. I’m afraid to use it too much, because if it breaks, it’s gone. When contemplating whether to take the gadget on a road trip, I’m like Elaine in “the sponge” episode of Seinfeld—is this outing iPod worthy?

RIP, iPod: A Tribute To The Device That Revolutionized The Art Of Music Fandom, by Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone

People talk about this device in terms of how it started the digital-music era, or even how it paved the way for the smartphone. But in retrospect, now it looks like the last format designed for old-school pre-streaming trends, where music is something you “have,” rather than something you lease.

Listening to the iPod, you’re off the grid. You are not being tracked, measured, counted, rated, studied, data-mined, or researched. It’s nobody’s business, just you and the tunes. It keeps track of play counts, but that’s just for your personal stat-crunching amusement — it doesn’t judge you.

Stuff

Apple TV+ Shows Come To Life With ‘Severance’ And ‘Ted Lasso’ Among Pop-ups At The Grove Apple Store , by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

The Grove Apple Store, which is located in Los Angeles and was completely redesigned last year, now has an area with multiple pop-ups themed around the Apple TV+ shows.

For Mental Health Awareness Week, Here Are The iOS Apps That Help My Anxiety, by Daryl Baxter TechRadar

In our low moments, there are plenty of mediums that can help lift us out. It could be our favorite games, music, or films; or perhaps a book that's been written by a mental health expert. Others use exercise to subdue panic attacks and harmful thoughts

For me, it's certain apps on my iPhone that help me manage anxiety attacks whenever they start to rear their head.

'Wdgts' App Update Adds Interactive Widgets To macOS Menu Bar, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

Multiple widgets can be added to the macOS Menu Bar with the latest Wdgts update, such as Time Zones, Currency Converter, Calculator, Photo Memories, and Music Controls.

This iPhone Ring Light Is A Must-have MagSafe Add-on For Content Creators,b y Beth Nicholls, Digital Camera World

Ideal for content creators with an iPhone, the ring light can be easily and quickly attached to your phone using MagSafe to light up both the selfie and rear cameras.

Notes

Apple CEO Tim Cook To Gallaudet Graduates: ‘Lead With Your Values’, by Lauren Lumpkin, Washington Post

In a video last month, Gallaudet University senior Molly Feanny signed a message to Apple chief executive Tim Cook, inviting him to deliver the school’s commencement address. About an hour later, Cook had accepted — and on Friday he stood in front of the Class of 2022, where he imparted advice, cracked a couple of jokes and wished the outgoing cohort of students good luck.

“I have one important piece of advice I want to share, so important that it’s the only piece of advice I’m going to share today,” Cook said. “And that is this: Whatever you do, lead with your values.”

Watch And Learn: The Apple Watch Needs A Better Upgrade Experience, by Dan Moren, Six Colors

Even if Apple can’t find a way to update the software as part of the migration process—and come on, it should be able to do that—it should at the very least make it more transparent.

Bottom of the Page

I still have one working iPod nano. I wish Apple Music can sync over to it; that will be cool. After all, the iPod already have the DRM software and everything. But, alas.

Well, the radio still works. :-)

~

Thanks for reading.