Apple.

iPad Doom.

I was reading a blog post today from one of the Apple websites I follow. The blog post was a round-up of pundits’ opinions on the state of Apple and its devices in 2023. Predictably, the pundits all gave the iPad lineup a failing score and cautioned that popularity of the platform is plummeting fast.

I guess the pundits have never noticed the point of sale device most likely used at their favorite coffee shop or restaurant, or the number of pilots using iPads as “Electronic Flight Bags”, or the number of students at their favorite haunt plunking away on an iPad of some sort.

I’m finding pundits tedious at best these days.

The iPad lineup was never designed to be a Mac replacement. There are plenty of things one can do with the iPad. Whole suits of popular software (ahem, Microsoft Office, Adobe Products, Final Cut Pro, etc) available for the iPad. Plus, since Apple strives to give you all the tools you need by default (Photos, Notes, Mail, Web Browsing, etc), it is certainly up to the task for the average consumer. Hell, all the tools I use as a cross-platform power user are available on my iPad Pro and today it’s on the rare occasion that I can’t accomplish something using my iPad. It’s a nifty device to bring along when I don’t want to lug a computer around. And if I want to play a game of Solitaire or something? It’s perfect. Plus, it’s the best platform for watching movies on the go, reading a book, and a whole lot of other consumption related activities.

Yes, I’m writing this blog entry on my iPad.

Instead of getting into it with some of the Apple pundits that basically get paid to share their opinion of Apple products and nothing more, I decided it was easier just to delete a few of these folks out of my RSS feeds.

I’m not the Apple fanboy I used to be, but I will not jump on the doom and gloom bandwagon of Apple when 1. they’re one of the richest companies in the history of human kind and 2. their products are ubiquitous in society. Is the iPad perfect? No. But it’s certainly not the garbage dump worthy of a failing grade a bunch of people who get paid to be outrageous make it out to be.

Use the tools that work best for you. End of story.

40.

Forty years ago today, the world was introduced to Macintosh.

And here’s the famous commercial (4K Restoration) that prepped the world for what was coming from Apple.

Vision.

Today Apple announced they’ll start accepting pre-orders for the highly anticipated Vision Pro, Apple’s “spatial computer”. It’s a VR/AR (visual reality/augmented reality) device using goggles. Deliveries start on the 2nd of February and the unit starts at $3,499 US.

That’s a lot of money.

I’m having a hard time understanding the use case for this device, especially at this price point. The Vision Pro will undoubtedly be an amazing experience for the user, and when it comes to wearing VR goggles on your face, I’m sure Apple’s experience will exceed anything we’ve seen before.

But the old guy in me wonders, why do we need this? Is it to have an unlimited number of “monitors” in front of your eyes? Is it to further immerse the user in an online world, shielding them from the realities of real life? Other than a super nifty computing experience, how does this new spatial computing paradigm make this world better?

Vision Pro Glasses? Sign me up. Take my money. But fairly heavy goggles tethered to a battery pack in my pocket? For $3,499 US? Pass.

My husband is relieved. The credit card company is not.

Apple is expected to sell 350,000 units in 2024. That’s $1.25 billion dollars. There’s a lot that could change in the world via $1.25 billion dollars.

Sync? Sunk.

The whole purpose of iCloud syncing in iPhotos is your snapshots are instantly available from any Apple device after you take a photo. That’s what Apple likes to tout in their marketing messages. I want to believe it’s true but it’s simply not.

Granted, everything works great when you’re home on your home internet connection. Most of the time. But when I’m on vacation I don’t want things to fall apart, and iCloud syncing just falls apart once you’re out and about. The last thing I want to do when I’m engaging in a few days R&R is troubleshoot IT issues.

I took a bunch of photos during our vacation day yesterday. We also had quite a few photos taken by Disney cast members which I imported into iPhoto via my iPhone.

None of these photos showed up on my iPad nor my MacBook Air. Yes, I’m a fool that brought along both on vacation because that’s what I do.

I took a peek at my iPad and it had paused iCloud photo sync to preserve battery power. The iPad was plugged into the wall. iPhoto sync on my MacBook Air had been paused due to “poor network connection”, though a speed test shows Disney’s Internet connection is more robust than what’s found in most of the United States.

A bit of cajoling and tapping on messages and things got moving. Almost. Then the imported photos didn’t appear on the iPad but they did appear on the MacBook Air.

I had also created a shared album with my husband so we could easily share photos between our accounts because after all, “It Just Works”. Though it’s not working. It needs more cajoling and noodling. AirDrop is a crap shoot at best.

So we send text messages back and forth with the photos.

I like what Apple is trying to do, and I’m willing to pay the premium price so I don’t have to think about these things because after all, I am on vacation and I don’t want to spend our vacation troubleshooting IT issues.

But Apple needs to step up their game here.

Scary Fast, Part 2.

On Monday I noticed in the credits of the Apple “Scary Fast” event that the entire 30 minute production had been shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

I find this impressive.

Apple released a “behind the scenes” video showing how this was done and it’s amazing to me that an iPhone can be used to film an entire promotional video. This area of technology is moving forward quickly.

This has further inspired me to use my iPhone as my primary video device when storm chasing. At the moment I’m still using an iPhone 13 Pro, but I’m sure the next iPhone in my pocket will be the “Pro Max” version of whatever is the latest at the moment.

I wonder what Hollywood productions are being shot on iPhone (outside of the current actors’ strike). I imagine the days of miles of film and large cameras on top of a rig are long gone.

Just for fun I took a random shot on my iPhone 13 Pro just prior to writing this blog entry. It’s the corner of my work desk.

To my amateur eye I find the quality of this two year old iPhone to be amazing.

Scary Fast.

I miss the days of Apple events being full of surprises. So many journalists and pundits share every scrap of Apple speculation and rumor possible. I try my best to avoid these things; I like my Apple event experience to be somewhat old school Apple.

Tonight Apple had their “Scary Fast” event. The company took 30 minutes to introduce the latest iteration of their M-series chips, focusing on their beefed up MacBook Pro line. They also introduced the new chips to their colorful line of iMacs.

I’m sure the new M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips are going to be crazy, crazy fast. My M2 MacBook Air is wicked fast for my needs, heck, my M1 Mac mini is still being used by Jamie for his photography needs and he finds it to be amazing. Apple has made amazing strides with their custom silicon. The user experience is amazing. And the new Space Black color offered for their MacBook Pros looks quite impressive. I can’t wait to see it in person.

For the time being I am quite pleased with my existing MacBook Air so I have little need to upgrade. I found the polish of the presentation to be quite enjoyable and I am happy to see Apple moving the needle forward with their technology advances.

Wallpapers.

I found the new iPhone 15 Pro wallpapers online so you don’t have to. Right-click and “Open Image in New Tab” to see in full size.

This!

I know most will not agree with me, but I found this segment of today’s Apple presentation to be the most compelling, and the most important.

There’s a lot of snark online about Apple and their devices and their features and all of that. I know, your flip phone could do everything plus bake a loaf of bread back in 1972. Your “blarrrrgggggghhh” tweets/Xcrements from your Android phone could wipe the floor with anyone and everyone that works at Apple. I know, I know, you need your superiority.

You know what’s superior? Taking care of the planet. Listening to Mother Nature. And Apple gets it right. And it shows, right here.

This was the most important message of today’s presentation. Let’s do everything we can to be carbon neutral, as fast as we can.

And let’s face it, Octavia Spencer is one fine Mother Nature.

Admission.

There has been something I’ve been wanting to get off my chest for a while, and after several weeks of pondering on this, I have decided to go for it and make this bold announcement right here on my blog. That’s right, you’re hearing it here first.

I bought the official Apple Polishing Cloth.


There it is in glorious color, positioned at a jaunty angle atop the original packaging.

I mentioned this fact a few weeks ago on an Apple centric Reddit channel and was promptly chastised and mocked for having made such a purchase from an extravagant $19.00. Apparently I can go to the dollar store and buy some knock off wipes called Sham-Mee or Sham-Wow or something and accomplish the same exact task, the desire to clean finger prints from my M2 MacBook Air in Midnight, with the same ease instead of buying into Apple’s rapid and vapid commercialism and capitalism and paying a whopping $19.00 for a polishing cloth.

After all, in this era of buying $9 coffees (Mocha-Chocha-Woo-Woo-Zaire-Lite, no whip please) with more calories that an African nation, how dare I spend money that will make Tim Apple a billionaire.

I like my polishing cloth. It feels good on my hands, it completes its task quite well, and I’m so delighted I’ll probably buy another one to whip out at Starbucks.

Mocha-Chocha that.

Modify.

So I’m typing this blog entry on my iPad Pro, but I’m using the case designed for my old 2018 iPad Pro. The camera hole doesn’t fit right, but that doesn’t prevent the keyboard from working as intended, I just can’t use this old keyboard setup as a carrying case.

I’m good with that.

I’m strongly considering asking Chris and Mike to use the laser cutter to make the camera hole bigger in as clean a fashion as possible. That would make things fit like it’s suppose to and would revive this case that’s been gathering dust in the back of my “tech drawer”.

I like recycling old tech.