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The Signalling-Loudly Edition Thursday, May 9, 2024

Apple Is A Camera Company Now (Again), by Jaron Schneider, PetaPixel

Over the years, the company repeatedly said it likes to give its app developers the ability to make the most out of its hardware. Sure, you can just use the default camera app, but at a certain point, it’s just not powerful enough. That’s why Apple itself relied on Blackmagic’s camera app in its productions, including the very impressive “Scary Fast” event from last year which was visible in the company’s behind-the-scenes video it published shortly after.

But with Final Cut Camera, Apple signaled very loudly that it is shifting its perspective: it’s now making the software required to take full advantage of its capture hardware. There really is no other definition of a camera company than that.

Brief Thoughts And Observations On Yesterday’s ‘Let Loose’ iPad Keynote, by John Gruber, Daring Fireball

One thing I’m taking away from this is that it’s wrong to think about M-series generations as year-over-year annual iterations, like the A-series chips in iPhones. Rather, it seems like Apple is evolving the M-series chips in parallel, designing them with very specific but widely variant products in mind.

Goodbye To Apple’s Smart Keyboard Folio, The Best iPad Pro Accessory, by Chris Welch, The Verge

The Smart Keyboard Folio was thin enough that you never really had to make a choice; you could always just leave it on no matter what you were doing.

Apple Pencil Pro Packaging Is An Inspiring Piece Of Art, by Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

Starting with the Apple Pencil Pro, the product artwork is surrounded by actual art.

The Crush

Apple's 'Crush' Ad Is Disgusting, by Devin Coldewey, TechCrunch

But what Apple is doing is destroying these things to convince you that you don’t need them — all you need is the company’s little device, which can do all that and more, and no need for annoying stuff like strings, keys, buttons, brushes or mixing stations.

Apple’s New iPad Pro Ad Sparks Outrage As Hugh Grant And More Slam Tech Giant: ‘The Destruction Of The Human Experience’, by Todd Spangler, Variety

But the ad has been interpreted more as a visual depiction of the tech industry’s devastation of cultural industries. “The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” actor Hugh Grant commented on X.

Filmmaker and actor Justine Bateman, who has served as an adviser to SAG-AFTRA on AI issues, had a similar incredulous reaction: “Truly, what is wrong with you?” she said in quoting Cook’s post.

People Sure Are Pressed About Apple’s Crushing iPad Commercial, by Alex Cranz, The Verge

The last time Apple did this, people weren’t talking quite as urgently about AI automation snapping up all the jobs humans once held.

iPad Pro Ad Looks Better In Reverse; Hugh Grant And Others Criticize, by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac

It would have been better to start with this ‘impossibly thin’ device, and then show all these amazing things emerging from it.

Apple In Courts

Judge Grills Apple Exec About Whether Company Is Defying Order To Enable More iPhone Payment Options, by Michael Liedtke, AP

Gonzalez Rogers was particularly pointed as she grilled Fischer about whether Apple had deliberately made it more cumbersome and confusing for consumers to make digital purchases through alternative services.

[...]

Fischer maintained Apple is complying with the judge's order while still trying to shield iPhone users from bad actors on the internet and enabling the Cupertino, California, company to reap a return on its investments in the app store and other mobile software.

Music Streaming Firms Urge European Commission To Reject Apple's Proposal In App Store Case, by Jaspreet Singh, Reuters

Digital Music Europe expressed concern in a letter submitted to the European Commission on Tuesday that Apple's proposal to comply with the regulator's March order, in which the iPhone-maker was fined 1.84 billion euros, does not provide concrete and effective remedies.

On Smart Home

Matter 1.3 Specification Adds Energy Reporting, Electric Vehicle Charging, Water Management Support And More, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Matter 1.3 adds support for a range of new device types and features, including water management devices, electric vehicle chargers, kitchen and laundry appliances, and TVs.

Matter Is Now Racing Ahead, But The Platforms Are Holding It Back, by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge

We have reached the chicken-and-egg stage of a new protocol. If the platforms don’t support the new device types, manufacturers are less likely to spend resources supporting them (on top of all the other support they need to add to their products to work with Alexa or Google Home or Apple Home, if they can’t do it through Matter). But if there are no devices, then why should the platforms bother putting time, effort, and resources into supporting the new device types?

Stuff

Disney+ Launching Exclusive Marvel Immersive Story For Apple Vision Pro, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

An hour-long interactive and immersive Disney+ story is coming to the Apple Vision Pro in the near future, according to an announcement from Marvel Studios. The Disney+ original is connected to the "What If…? animated series and it will be released as a new app for the Vision Pro.

Apple TV Plus Is Turning Into The Best Place For Streaming Sci-fi, by Andrew Webster, The Verge

For whatever reason, the lineup of sci-fi shows on Apple TV Plus has steadily grown over the years, not just in terms of size and quality but also tone and scope. The genre has become one of the service’s strongest selling points.

Apple Releases iTunes For Windows 12.13.2 With Support For New iPads, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Apple today released an iTunes 12.13.2 update for Windows users, with the software introducing support for the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models.

This App Combines Your Calendar And To-Dos, by Khamosh Pathak, Lifehacker

Planning a day like this, you're much more likely to finish the tasks, as they are now anchored to a time block. Plus, you can be mindful about spacing them out so that they aren't overlapping (something the app will alert you about).

Logitech Announces Combo Touch For M2 iPad Air And M4 iPad Pro, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

Following the announcement of new iPads on Tuesday, Logitech today announced a new version of its popular Combo Touch keyboard case for the latest M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro. The accessory works as a great alternative to Apple’s Magic Keyboard, as it also features a full-size keyboard and multi-touch trackpad.

Vision Pro Support Arrives For Duet Display And Screens To Enhance Your Virtual Desktop, by Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac

More functionality for Vision Pro has landed with two new third-party app updates. The popular Duet Display and Screens are both now available for Apple’s headset. Here are all the details and features.

Sonos’ Redesigned App Is Going Over Like A Lead Balloon With Many Users, by Chris Welch, The Verge

The new app moves backward in certain areas, but Sonos has succeeded at some of its over-arching design goals. Whether you’re a fan of the new app will vary depending on how you use Sonos products in the first place.

Notes

Tim Cook Can’t Run Apple Forever. Who’s Next?, by Mark Gurman, Bloomberg Businessweek

If Cook were to stay that long, people within Apple say, the most likely successor would be John Ternus, the hardware engineering chief. In a company whose success has always come from building category-defining gadgets, the ascension of a hardware engineering expert to the CEO job would seem logical. Ternus, who’s not yet 50, would also be more likely than other members of the executive team to stick around for a long time, potentially providing another decade or more of Cook-esque stability.

Ternus is well-liked inside Apple, and he’s earned the respect of Cook, Williams and other leaders. “Tim likes him a lot, because he can give a good presentation, he’s very mild-mannered, never puts anything into an email that is controversial and is a very reticent decision-maker,” says one person close to Apple’s executive team. “He has a lot of managerial characteristics like Tim.” Christopher Stringer, a former top Apple hardware designer, called Ternus a “trustworthy hand” who’s “never failed with any role he’s been elevated to.” Eddy Cue, the Apple executive known as Cook’s closest confidant, has privately told colleagues that Ternus should be the next CEO, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

FDA Recalls Defective iOS App That Injured Over 200 Insulin Pump Users, by Jess Weatherbed, The Verge

At least 224 people with diabetes have reported injuries linked to a defective iOS app that caused their insulin pumps to shut down prematurely, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

On Wednesday, the agency announced that California-based medical device manufacturer Tandem Diabetes Care has issued a recall for version 2.7 of the iOS t:connect mobile app, which is used in conjunction with the company’s t:slim X2 insulin pump. Specifically, the recall relates to a software issue that can cause the app to repeatedly crash and relaunch, resulting in the pump’s battery being drained by excessive Bluetooth communication.

Apple’s Unionized Maryland Store To Vote On Possible Strike, by Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

The store and Apple have reached a series of agreements, none of which are considered to veer greatly from Apple’s preexisting policies. The union told employees there are ongoing negotiations regarding pay, overtime, unpaid leave of absences, time-away benefits and scheduling.

What A Zoom Cashier 8,000 Miles Away Can Tell Us About The Future Of Work, by Whizy Kim, Vox

While video calling isn’t bleeding-edge tech, the Zoom cashier captures what often happens when an industry integrates new tech into its business model: Jobs don’t really disappear, they just shrink, along with their paycheck, and this degradation is presented as the natural outcome of automation and technological progress.

Bottom of the Page

Somewhere in my house, there are still lightning cables that I am not using, a DVD player that can play physical media that I have not switch on for many years, and an iPod nano that can play radio but I never listen.

What I am saying... well... firstly, I am not a hoarder. I try very hard not to be a hoarder and do get rid of things that I no longer need nor want.

But, I don't like to throw away things, or things being destroyed when they are still working fine. Things that are still useful, still functional, still beautify, should not be just destroyed.

Which is why I was feeling so much uneasiness during this crusher bit during the 'live' Apple iPad event.

Yes, I know no real stuff are being destroyed. All these can be done, and are probably done, in CGs. (I hope I am right on this.) Yes, I know the messaging Apple is going for, that the thinnest iPad is made up of all these stuff. Yes, I know Apple is not messaging that AI is coming to crush us all.

Nevertheless, I feel so uneasy during that spot during the event. And, furthermore, the whole crushing thing went on and on for so long. I had to, and I did, look away towards the end.

To use this as an advertisement, it's not good. Not good at all.

And yes, AI is out to get you all ended up as the unintended message. I'm pretty sure someone somewhere is probably making a supercut with all the "AI" uttered during the event and intersperse with this no-good advertisement.

~

Thanks for reading.