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The For-the-Rest-of-Us Edition Saturday, January 20, 2024

Apple Shares The Secret Of Why The 40-Year-Old Mac Still Rules, by Steven Levy, Wired

“It’s hard to imagine there being an Apple and not having a Mac,” says Joswiak. “It is in our blood—it's a product that defines who we are.” Federighi takes a shot at explaining why, in an industry where the standard is ephemeral, the machine that Steve Jobs introduced might be immortal. “The Mac has been able to absorb and integrate the industry’s innovations,” he says. “With each major technology wave, from graphical computing to the internet to even creating tools for mobile, the Mac has taken potential and turned it into intuitive creative tools for the rest of us. With seemingly disruptive waves like spatial computing and AI, the Mac will renew itself over and over.”

Mac At 40: User Experience Was The Innovation That Launched A Technology Revolution, by Jacob O. Wobbrock, The Conversation

It turns out that designing for usability, efficiency, accessibility, elegance and delight pays off. Apple’s market capitalization is now over US$2.8 trillion, and its brand is every bit associated with the term “design” as the best New York or Milan fashion houses are. Apple turned technology into fashion, and it did it through user experience.

It began with the Macintosh.

Spatial Time

Apple Releases A Guided Tour Of Vision Pro And Shares A Making Of Video, by John Voorhees, MacStories

Apple has released a guided tour of Vision Pro on its website that walks through a bunch of its features. Whether or not you’re planning to purchase Apple Vision Pro, this video is worth taking the time to watch. It’s about ten minutes long and covers many of the device’s core features from the perspective of someone using it for the first time.

Apple Vision Pro Delivery Dates Slip To Mid-March, by Hartley Charlton, MacRumors

The Vision Pro launches in the United States on Friday, February 2, but those now placing an online pre-order will not receive the headset until around the middle of March for all three storage capacities. This delivery time frame is likely to get pushed back even further as more people place orders.

Apple Vision Pro Available With These Three Storage Options, by Hartley Charlton, MacRumors

While the existence of a 256GB model was confirmed upon Apple's announcement of the headset's release date earlier this month, the other specific storage options and their price points were unknown until pre-orders opened earlier today.

Apple Vision Pro Accessories: $200 Travel Case, $200 Battery, $200 Light Seal, And More, by Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

Apple Vision Pro is now available for pre-order, and so are lots of accessories for Apple’s first spatial computer. The price for most things? $200 each. That’s how much extra light seals, batteries, and the Vision Pro carrying case costs.

Apple Vision Pro Custom Engraving Offered On Optical Inserts From ZEISS, by Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

It’s a great way to be certain that your optical inserts are yours in a multi optical insert household.

Belkin And Spigen Debut Apple Vision Pro Accessories, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Belkin worked with Apple to design a Battery Holder for the Vision Pro Battery Pack. [...] Spigen has debuted a Vision Pro pouch that offers protection for the device when it's not in use.

Vision Pro Apps: Why Some Big Brands Have Actively Opted Out, by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac

Some of them may have simply decided that the VP experience would reflect poorly on their app, but that it didn’t justify the work to fix, any more than a native app would. Better, then, to simply block it.

Second – and likely a much bigger factor – they don’t want the support headache. Given that Vision Pro users will represent an infinitesimally small segment of the user base, but potentially generate a disproportionate number of support requests, developers may consider it too much hassle.

Coming Soon

Apple Re-Adds Access To iTunes TV Show And Movie Wishlists In iOS 17.3, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

With Apple's over-the-air update, iPhones and iPads running the iOS 17.3 beta will now have a "Go to Your Wish List" button under the Movie and TV Show sections, which provides access to everything that's been added to the list in the past.

Notes

Apple Hongdae Now Open In South Korea, by Apple

Apple Hongdae opened today in the center of a bustling university neighborhood in Seoul, marking Apple’s 100th retail location in the Asia-Pacific region. This new space invites customers in Korea to discover and shop Apple’s incredible lineup of products, and receive best-in-class support from dedicated team members.

Apple Offers To Open iPhone NFC Payments To Third-party Providers After EU Investigation, by Jon Porter, The Verge

Apple will let third-party mobile wallet and payment providers access the iPhone’s NFC capabilities in concessions meant to address a European Commission antitrust investigation, the regulator announced today. The Commission is now seeking feedback on the commitments, which would end Apple Pay and Apple Wallet’s exclusive access to the iPhone’s NFC payment features. It’s the latest development in the nearly four year-old investigation.

Bottom of the Page

I am using four of Apple's six major platforms on a daily basis. (Depending on how one counts, those numbers may be off by one or two.)

But, if you force me to just use one of them, I will definitely choose my Macintosh. This is where the real fun is; this is where I feel the most creative and most efficient. I've been actively using a Mac for almost thirty years now -- about three quarter of the product's current lifetime. And I see myself continue to be a Mac user for many more years.

I certainly hope Apple will continue to push this platform, and will not be afraid of cannibalizing its other platforms.

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Thanks for reading.