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The Solve-Later Edition Monday, September 5, 2022

‘I Didn’t Want It Anywhere Near Me’: How The Apple AirTag Became A Gift To Stalkers, by Anna Moore, The Guardian

To Rory Innes, founder of the Cyber Helpline, these safety updates serve to illustrate the problem. “The approach is: ‘Launch it, get it into the world, get it to market, monetise it and we can solve problems later,’” he says. “That doesn’t happen in any other industry. You don’t launch a car and fix the seatbelts months down the line – and that’s because there are strict laws and regulations, safety standards and testing. That just doesn’t exist in tech – and it’s a real gap.

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Another issue is the lack of support when it happens. “If you find an AirTag under your car or you get a notification, it’s impossible to speak to anyone at Apple,” says Innes. “At that point, speed is important. You need expert advice very quickly.”

Apple's New iPhones Will Sparkle, But The Magic Lies In Older Models, by Steve Ranger, ZDNet

New handsets keep the momentum and energy going, and keep the early adopters engaged with new features. But it's that long tail of older devices that really demonstrates the power of the Apple ecosystem.

Stuff

Here’s What $10 A Month Gets You From The Top Cloud Storage Services, by Doug Aamoth, Fast Company

If we can agree that $10 a month is a reasonable outlay to back up your important files, here’s a look at what you can expect from the likes of Google, Microsoft, Apple, and other major players.

‘Hey Siri, How Do I Enhance My Home Security?’ Try One Of These HomeKit Security Cameras, by Jonathan Knoder, Yahoo

That additional encryption and security is the biggest benefit to owning a HomeKit camera. We’ve all heard the horror stories of people hacking into home security cameras, but Apple’s end-to-end encryption makes it incredibly difficult and protects you and your family from experiencing data invasion.

Notes

Apple Plans To Double Its Digital Advertising Business Workforce, by Patrick McGee, Financial Times

The iPhone maker has around 250 people on its ad platforms team, according to LinkedIn. On Apple’s careers website, it is looking to fill another 216 such roles, quadruple the 56 it was hiring in late 2020. Apple disputed the figures but declined to elaborate.

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Apple declined to comment on its long-term ambitions. But job ads tell prospective employees that its goals are nothing less than “redefining advertising” for a “privacy-centric” world.

Cinema Operators Look To Streaming Groups To Help Fill Blockbuster Shortfall, by Christopher Grimes, Financial Times

Persuading the streaming companies to release films in the traditional fashion could aid cinema operators, where a slow recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has caused financial problems for big chains such as Cineworld. Yet it is far from clear whether Apple, Netflix or Amazon are interested in becoming deeply involved in the traditional box office.

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Fithian suggested streaming companies could provide the midsize or indie films that would fill cinema seats between blockbusters. But one streaming executive pushed back against this idea, saying that these smaller films were often risky propositions even before the pandemic and that a poor theatrical reception for an indie film could affect its popularity when it was streamed.

Bottom of the Page

If you are a cinema owner, and you haven't figure out how to get people to pay more than a month's worth of TV streaming price to come to your cinema to watch a movie, you have a major problem that cannot to solve by just talking to Apple and Netflix.

The only reason, I feel like, that Apple and Netflix will exhibit films in cinema is to qualify them for an Oscar or two, so as to make the filmmakers and stars happy. In a few years time, I figure, either the rules for Oscar qualification will change for good, or Apple and Netflix will start their own award shows.

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Thanks for reading.