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The Brain-Rot Edition Thursday, September 5, 2024

iPad Kids Speak Up, by Anna North, Vox

But does this mean their brains are decayed? In scientific terms, no. Research on the impact of screens on young people’s development is mixed, and there’s an ongoing debate about whether smartphones and social media actually affect kids. So, as of now, there’s no hard evidence that being online is bad for young people’s mental health. And, of course, a phone or iPad cannot literally rot someone’s brain.

In talking with kids and experts, though, I’ve come away with the impression that young people also worry about the impact of technology on their lives. Their concerns, however, are more nuanced than some doomer headlines might suggest. And sometimes they have more perspective than adults do when it comes to what a healthy relationship with technology looks like — and how theirs will evolve in the future.

Apple’s September Event: The Delight Will Be In The Details, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

Leaks from the supply chain mean that we tend to know certain basic physical things about new Apple hardware: the shapes, the sizes, and the components with their accompanying specs. But it’s harder (not impossible, but harder) to get all the details of the software that Apple’s planning to take advantage of that new hardware.

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The stories Apple tells around features like this tend to be quite informative about how Apple’s approach and philosophy. I find it interesting and helpful, a rare (albeit self-serving) peek behind the curtain.

Stuff

Apple Music Introduces Five New 'Find Your Mood' Stations, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

Apple says the mood stations are personalized based on your Apple Music listening history, and they are always updating with new songs.

Apple To Launch 'Find My' Network In South Korea Next Spring, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

Apple has announced it will introduce its popular 'Find My' network to South Korea in the spring of 2025. The launch will bring the full range of Apple's location-based ‌Find My‌ services to South Korean customers for the first time, enabling them to keep track of devices, belongings, and loved ones.

Notes

Internet Archive’s E-book Lending Is Not Fair Use, Appeals Court Rules, by Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica

Judges for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected the Internet Archive (IA) argument that its controlled digital lending—which allows only one person to borrow each scanned e-book at a time—was a transformative fair use that worked like a traditional library and did not violate copyright law.

Bottom of the Page

The last time Apple surprised us with prices -- and prices are one of the things that is so difficult to be leaked beforehand -- I believe it was the first iPad. Rumors were wild then that the tablet was priced just below $1,000, and everybody believed it, but Steve Jobs came out and declared $499 instead.

Will Apple surprise us with prices ever again? I doubt it. Not with how Apple is operating nowadays, with a constant need to maintain profit margins across all products, and an unwillingness (or perhaps inability) to do really low cost products like the iPod shuffle.

So, prices are seldom leaked before Apple events. But what Apple reveals are usually what we expect.

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Maybe we were all surprised by how expensive the Pro Display XDR was?

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Thanks for reading.