The Apple Tower Theater is officially open and marks one of Apple’s most significant and iconic restoration projects. The company worked alongside restoration artists and the City of Los Angeles in order to preserve the theater which was originally designed back in 1927 by architect Charles Lee.
CEO Tim Cook was in attendance of the grand opening alongside Retail Chief Deirde O’Brien. He took many pictures and selfies with attendees and welcomed the first customers into the Downtown Los Angeles Store.
Customers were excited to explore the Apple Tower Theatre and took the opportunity to snap photos of the beautifully restored arches, as well as getting their hands on the latest products like the iMac, iPad Pro and new iPhone 12.
Though many ambitions and luxurious Apple Stores have be build, including the biggest in NYC, Apple Fifth Avenue, and more recently Apple Store Singapore (see video below), the new downtown LA location is unique in that it simultaneously reincarnates an amazing former mecca for filmmaking and Hollywood glamour and also reimagines it in a compatible and yet up-to-date style.
As the company has surpassed $2 trillion in market capitalization, and is the largest of the big tech giants, the emphasis on community, yet in a beautiful, luxurious setting, is befitting of this giant, yet often underestimated behemoth.
Apple Tower Theatre will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. The Tower is located on the corner of Eighth and Broadway: 802 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014.
Marking the beginning of a new era of Hollywood tech glamour
Somehow it is slightly disconcerting to see iconic and historic movie theaters repurposed or simply demolished. The former is preferred. However, this is not just any renovation, not just any commercial repurposing.
This is a bold and strategic statement that Apple is not just the future of computing but the future of entertainment, enabler of creativity and the beating heart of digital communication.
In renovating, really rescuing the location, Apple has, seemingly, taken the deeper meanings to heart and tried, with a budget befitting the world’s largest company, to do justice to the majestic, historic landmark, even as they transformed it into a temple to all things Apple.
The link to Hollywood’s glory days is not inappropriate or hard to grasp, and there’s a nod to the innovative and pioneering spirit of those early days of film, and an attempt to draw a lane directly to the potential for Apple’s products and services to enhance creativity, entertainment experiences, and, well, life.
There’s also statement lurking in the transition, potentially a permanent one, which sees in-person pleasures like viewing a film on the big screen in opulent surroundings begin to fade into the past and a move into sales and learning nodes for devices and methods we can use to build and inhabit the metaverse.
In the press release from today the sub-head reads: “Historic theater has premiered new technology since 1927” – in an, apparently, heartfelt attempt to build a link between the technology of today and the entertainment marvels showcased at the theater during a bygone era.
The connections to Hollywood are no longer metaphoric
With Apple in the middle of a long transition away from just devices and hardware and into a service and communications company, the importance and multi-layered meaning of this location is unavoidable.
Creativity and communication, and most of all a deep bond with the emerging “creator class” that Apple itself had a huge role in bringing into being, are at the heart of the message they are sending with this location, the lavish and loving renovation and in the press release itself.
Once literally an underdog, first to IBM and later to the “evil empire” of Microsoft’s Kock-offs, Apple is still, oddly, often underestimated and misunderstood, or at least not understood until changes permeate society.
Nothing says, nay screams, that we are approaching a golden age of Apple than the new Apple Tower Theatre complex. That golden age will occur when the world catches up with the potential of having a professional film production studio in your pocket and all the other technical innovations still to come.
The great singularity of the Apple ecosystem
There is a hugely important convergence coming in the galaxy of Apple products, software and services, that is not yet halfway implemented. The next couple of years are bound to see powerful, sometimes confusing, always remarkable advances in the company’s offerings and the way that we interact with them.
And now, with the Apple Tower Theatre in LA, there is also a mecca which can be the end destination for any pilgrimage of the faithful. Also, with Hollywood creative talents literally around the corner, what better location could there be as a reminder for the power brokers that AppleTV+ is here to stay and plans to engage at all levels and intends to seek options on any deal.
Today at Apple Creative Studios will reach out to budding creativity everywhere
Strongly associated with the theater’s launch is also a enlargement and
Today at Apple Creative Studios – the project is a global initiative for “underrepresented young creatives” and is an ongoing part of Today at Apple which is hosted at Apple Stores worldwide.
As per the Apple press release:
“In collaboration with the nonprofit Music Forward Foundation, as well as Inner-City Arts and the Social Justice Learning Institute, Creative Studios LA will provide access to technology, creative resources, and hands-on experience, along with a platform to elevate and amplify up-and-coming talents’ stories over nine weeks of free programming.”
Apple: The overhead dome, which originally depicted scenes full of clouds and cherubs, had been painted over in a previous restoration. It now brightens the space with an atmospheric sky.
“Today at Apple will also offer public in-store sessions at Tower Theatre and virtual sessions hosted by Creative Studios teaching artists and mentors, including photographer and filmmaker Bethany Mollenkof, rapper and producer D Smoke, singer-songwriter Syd, and cellist and singer Kelsey Lu. Noah Humes and his mentor, Maurice Harris, two artists who worked on the mural outside Tower Theatre inspired by the spirit of Creative Studios LA, will also teach a virtual session. Everyone is welcome to register at apple.com/creative-studios-la.”
“Originally home to the first theater in Los Angeles wired for film with sound, the historic Tower Theatre was designed in 1927 by renowned motion-picture theater architect S. Charles Lee. That legacy of technological innovation continues today as the perfect venue to discover Apple’s full line of iPhone, iPad, and Mac, each of which has transformed modern-day filmmaking, photography, and music composition.”
“Upon the closing of its doors in 1988, the space has lain empty and unused. With the same level of care found in previous restoration projects, Apple collaborated with leading preservationists, restoration artists, and the City of Los Angeles to thoughtfully preserve and restore the theater’s beauty and grandeur. Every surface was carefully refinished, and the building has undergone a full seismic upgrade.”
Apple Tower Theatre Opens Thursday at 10 a.m.
The store team will welcome its first customers Thursday, June 24, at 10 a.m. Apple Tower Theatre will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, with team members ready to provide support and service to all visitors. For those wishing to order new products online, customers can get shopping help from Apple Specialists, choose monthly financing options, trade in eligible devices, receive Support services, and elect for no-contact delivery or Apple Store pickup.
Sci-fi sounding, inevitable upgrade for today’s online communications
You might have heard lately about the “metaverse” and yet that can mean a variety of different things to different people. Often, it’s a term that relates back to gaming and 3D augmented reality enhancements of networked communications.
There are even crypto and blockchain related projects using this term and concept. While all of these various factors are welcome, and potentially part of this next phase of convergence of communication via networked technology, there’s something else happening under the surface.
”The pandemic, with its requirements of physical distancing, has brought people into online digital environments for a growing range of shared human experiences.” — Wired UK from “The Metaverse is coming” by David Baszucki
The acceleration in AI application, machine learning, and converging use cases for all communications tech has created a situation where the entry-portal to the emerging metaverse is already here.
One often overlooked aspect of a transition to a more complete digital life is the need for humans to have adapted to the need and potential benefits of the idea. This is what is happening via many routes, including Apple and the constant synergistic upgrade cycles that have just gone into a new, bigger phase with the migration to a unified OS structure built around Apple Silicon.
The gradual increases in iOS functionality and user sophistication are changing how we interact
iOS15, previewed this week at the WWDC2021 is rolling out literally dozens of new features, many based on machine learning, neural networks and AI that propose a new level of highly sophisticated options to communicate with video, photos and text.
While this mixture of “basic” media has been the staple of our current modes of online communication, particularly via social media, the incredibly increased depth of new options and functionality of iOS15 and iPadOS15 and MacOS Monterey will make all modes of communication feel completely new.
In the evolution of online media and enriched communication (OMEC to coin an 80s sounding acronym) the slow and uneven progress is based on many factors. #1 is always user adoption and sophistication.
Second is the quality of the hardware devices and software upgrades each user around the world has access to. In the case of iOS (iPad, iPhone & macOS) the immediate adoption of upgrades is a large factor on the plus side, helping new innovation to arrive in general use more quickly.
The last factor, a huge one, is access to fast ubiquitous internet data connections, and, in the US at least, this is less consistent than ever (or our expectations are rising faster than the build out).
However, particularly in Asia, 5g is beginning to make a dent. Satellite broadband, like Starlink, should also start to be a factor as early as 2022. Government infrastructure build-out funding and subsidies in the US is on the way in 2021.
Augmented 3D features are still growing but will merge with 2D
The upshot of this topic is that “2D” factors and increasingly sophisticated manipulation and interactive features that are already coming in iOS15 will bring us all closer the entry-portal stone-age version of the metaverse.
We all depend more and more on communications and using our devices – work from home, personal, business and hybrid activities (such as the emerging content creator class). Often, as a result, we have fewer options to go offline for “organic” RL (real life) interactions.
The increasingly sophisticated capabilities available are beginning to make even face to face communications, particularly in work situations, feel “un-enhanced” as we become accustomed to and dependent on the digital enhancements and potential of a full media rich interaction.
This is an example, one could say, of the subtle encroachment of the emerging metaverse onto the “real world” and how the boundaries are blurring and even beginning to disappear.
Rather than a sudden “jump” into a metaverse, similar to the cliché sci-fi plots from films like “Ready Player 1”, what is happening is a nearly imperceptible transition to metaverse-like experiences that will become commonplace, initially in a primitive form, and then eventually become the norm. Similar to the proverbial Frog in pot, with warm water temperatures that increase so slowly that the Frog doesn’t even notice, until it finds that it is swimming in pot that is already boiling.
The misconception that a “killer app” or sudden shift into an online, virtual reality world, is the future, and that a big leap will happen nearly all at once, is harmlessly superimposed on the real transition that has already begun.
When Apple’s 2007 launch of the iPhone changed communication forever: the journey began
The new “Digital Legacy Program”, also announced at WWDC2021, is another hint that we are already living in an extremely primitive version of the metaverse. Our online identity, data, and even behaviors and experiences are so essential and all pervasive that it has become necessary to keep a digital key to access the huge trove of personal data we will leave behind to pass on to our living loved ones, after we are gone.
The metaverse, that means, is not only creating a parallel digital universe for us to live in, in an ever more complete and sophisticated way, but we are also already setting up the eternal storage of our virtual life experiences to be passed down to future generations.
Though nearly invisible while in such a relatively primitive iteration, the concept, an example of overlapping advancements in innovation, is a tiny step towards digital immortality.
The metaverse could help to save us all
It’s not just professional and work related communication that relates to the gradual increase in the depth of networked communication options, but, even more so, casual and leisure communication and interaction is key.
TikTok and other video communication trends are at the forefront of of user evolution and metaverse activity expansion. When people feel motivated to find new and better ways to communicate using richer media and augmented techniques for fun, and to gain more recognition in online societies, that advances digital sophistication.
This process of the evolution of user comfort and sophistication, while existing and interacting in the metaverse, is the fastest way for the augmentation to become more effective.
There’s a mostly unseen benefit and need for this, otherwise seemingly pointless, global development
The challenges that the world faces, encroaching, devastating fallout from global warming and excess carbon in the atmosphere, political corruption and inequality, disinformation and cybercrime, and so on.
Ultimately, unlike at any time in human history, we are facing a challenge. The survival of our species and even the planet are at stake.
In the years and decades to come it will become more and more obvious that there are only two paths possible. One path toward a kind of Utopia, or another one that will lead, inexorably to Oblivion.
Though the metaverse is scary in many ways, and does not always appear as a way to a better life, augmented and enhanced communication is one of the most desperately needed ways that solutions could eventually be discovered and implemented.
And that would put this progression and evolution of tech more in service of Utopia, and could be at the heart of a rescue plan to prevent Oblivion, before it’s too late.
For what seems like a long time many of us have been living inside our iPhone, immersed in a metaverse of our digital lives.
And the deeper into Apple’s walled garden we are submerged, the more monumental the yearly OS upgrades become. That’s because, when you are in a digital life, we’ll, lots of things are worse than the “real” world. The sensual experience is built of fractions of the full sensory bandwidth of life.
But there’s one thing about the metaverse, the fact that, since it’s artificial and human engineered, it can, and does, improve.
In the case of Apple’s universe, the yearly upgrades and constant, sometimes nearly imperceptible changes in a thousand different parameters add together, over time, and suddenly, the world comes alive with vibrant, super sensual satisfaction …
Sure, the weather animations just got sent to a 3rd convolution level of better-ness, that’s true. But add this to all the thousands of better feelings and deeper interactions with yourself and the spirit of ourselves, and you will find: the future
Photo credit: Apple
WWDC 2021 was a pure upgrade fest with a lot of detail to sift through
We are in the middle of our ongoing coverage of the Apple event and all that was revealed. There are so many features and so many important details and interdependent uses for this features that it can be more easily digested in bites.
What we are witnessing is the growing interdependence and interoperability of iOS 15, iPad OS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey, particularly with the built in apple apps they all have built in.
Safari, though still with slight variations between the three OSs, is becoming more powerful everywhere, FaceTime got a huge upgrade in the new systems, and utilities connected to iCloud such as the Find My network are also extensively revamped.
While some find the sheer width and breath of Apple’s hardware, software and services conceptually off-putting, it is, at this early stage of the monumental changes that are being wrought by Apple Silicon, a wonder to behold how all the various products and underlying software for those products is evolving in a way that is constant and deep.
As put forth in articles published by Lynxotic years ago the changes that are underway are vast and were conceived and put into motion based on Steve Jobs’ core concepts for the future of Apple many years ago. And Tim Cook and the rest of Apple have not deviated from that vision, in fact are reaping benefits on behalf of users that could barely be imagined a decade ago.
One bite we’ve started to delve into is the dual and interdependent features from macOS Monterey; Airplay to Mac and Universal control. It turns out that compete interoperability for Airplay to Mac is still in the future, the list of the various models and vintages that it functions on is as follows:
2018 or later MacBook Pro or MacBook Air
a 2019 or later iMac or Mac Pro
an iMac Pro
the 2020 Mac mini
As you can see this is a fairly exclusive list. What is most conspicuously missing is the possibility to use and older mac, such as a 2018 27” 5k iMac to take advantage of the beautiful screen.
Universal Control, meanwhile appears to work with most devices that run on iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey. It allows you to a single mouse and keyboard and flow from iPad to Mac and back, pretty much as you would imagine using the cursor and keyboard for either, and, thankfully there is no setup required.
FaceTime just got a Facelift
FaceTime’s big jump ahead is somewhat more complex since the iPhone, iPad (various models of both) and the mac each have a UX and screen size that varies, as well as different computing advantages. One interesting note on the various technical enhancements, pretty much across the board from what was announced at WWDC 2021, M1 chips and Apple Silicon based devices get the biggest boost from all the new capabilities.
Rather than being a marketing ploy, at least so far there’s no evidence of that kind of approach, this is an organic by product of the underlying “big picture” goal – to unify the experience and potential of the three device categories even as they cross pollinate one-another.
All the various, and gradually hard to list, OS flavors, macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, watchOS 8 and all the various accessories that benefit from the upgrades such as AirPods pro spatial audio, HomePod mini liaison with Apple TV 4k and tvOS 15, as well as SharePlay where FaceTime can allow multiple users to share streaming audio or video content for a synchronized experience.
Please stay tuned for the many articles to come that will further dive into the changes and improvements that are on the way, free of charge, for Apple users with this massive roll-out that will culminate in fall 2021.
As per Apple:
Redesigned Weather and Notes Apps
Weather includes more graphical displays of weather data, full-screen maps, and dynamic layouts that change based on conditions. Beautifully redesigned animated backgrounds more accurately reflect the sun’s position and precipitation, and notifications highlight when rain or snow starts and stops. Video animation below:
Notes adds user-created tags that make it easy to quickly categorize notes, and mentions allow members of shared notes to notify one another of important updates. An all-new Activity view shows the recent history of a shared note.
Notes adds user-created tags that make it easy to quickly categorize notes in line with relevant content:
This is a feel-good story if it works and then it’s Hallelujah!
Ok, other than to be a benign stalker or to monitor your girlfriends actual ETA, do you even use the Apple “Find My” network? Were you aware that it applies to people, devices and now “items” using air tags? And that you can also find yourself, in case you don’t know where you are?
Well, all that has been expanded into a new realm, at least for those that want to hang onto expensive audio gadgets as long as possible. You guessed it, Apple has now added AirPods Pro and AirPods Max to the devices list.
This was announced at WWDC2021 but it is not, I repeat, not, something that you need to wait for a software upgrade to make use of. It’s live now if you have iOS 14.
Above: Photo Credit / Apple
Why the jubilation? I think because so many of us suffer from extended anxiety, even early symptoms of PTSD from the thought of losing those $250 or yikes(!) $549 babies.
Losing both or even one of these could be a life changing event, triggering depression and doubt and sadness. And Apple appears to understand this, indeed, they assure us that, not only is the Find My network supposed to geolocate your AirPods, they even have a new feature called “Separation Alerts”.
They specifically describe this feature thusly: “Separation Alerts notify a user if they leave an AirTag, Apple device, or Find My network accessory behind in an unfamiliar location…”
“Separation Alerts”, admittedly, sounds like a term for childhood trauma but, again, if you walk out of a Starbucks on 5th Ave. in NYC and you get a notification that you are sans your AirPod Pros, hallelujah, all is not lost, instead, you are running back in to grab those babies, STAT! (From the Latin word statim, meaning “immediately.”)
These subtle, free and unheralded improvements are seemingly the wave of the future, if you are an inhabitant of the Apple ecosystem, which is on the verge of turning into a kind of pre-metaverse training ground for future digital life pioneers.
Hardware Schwardware updates, who needs ’em?
WWDC2021 was, perhaps cleverly, devoid of hardware news or release announcements. This trick worked like a charm. Various top and sub-top media outlets spent the weeks ahead of the show and keynote, touting leaks, speculation and sources regarding, mostly, what turned out to be non-existent hardware updates.
Those will no doubt still be forthcoming, just not at the WWDC2021 keynote, as that ship has sailed.
Instead, and this is a good thing, we can all begin the journey to learn more about what is in store for the annual pilgrimage to the next generation of software enhancements for the Apple ecosystem, meaning macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and all the rest too numerous to name here.
See our latest posts from the show for more details.
As per Apple release:
”Find My introduces new capabilities to help locate a device that has been turned off or erased, as well as live-streaming locations for family and friends who choose to share their location. Separation Alerts notify a user if they leave an AirTag, Apple device, or Find My network accessory behind in an unfamiliar location, and the Find My network now supports AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. A new Find My widget offers an at-a-glance view directly from the Home Screen.”
The “Pro-Vlogger” look popularized on YouTube now available to all…
Above: The stunning Portrait mode from the Camera app is now optimized for video calls in FaceTime. Photo Credit / Apple
If you are a prolific FaceTime user or if you don’t use it as much as you would if the aesthetics were a bit better (read: more flattering selfie styles) you are in luck. In a twist which takes advantage of tech that was initially created to make portrait mode a reality in the iPhone camera app is now coming to FaceTime on iPhone and also on iPad.
The maturation of features across platforms is paying big dividends
Portrait mode was added to the camera app as a way to get a DSLR style “prime lens” look with “bokeh” which is a Japanese term for the beautiful background out of focus blur that a long lens focused on the subject in the foreground will produce.
The computational fireworks required to produce this effect are nothing short of…. well check out Apple’s description:
” It’s a depth-guided, people-focused segmentation mask generated from a proprietary Apple neural network trained to detect people. It separates an individual in the foreground from whatever is in the background, with greater detail and clarity than with the depth map alone. It achieves this clarity in part because the matte image has higher resolution than the depth map.”
So this effect, which has been in the iPhone camera app since iOS 12 is now, likely due to the ever beefier potentials of the proprietary Apple neural network can now, starting with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 be applied to video. Live.
New features in FaceTime help users look and sound their best. – credit: Apple
This, like so many other upgrades revealed today at the WWDC2021, is a great idea. High end YouTube videographers know it’s a great idea which is why they buy special DSLR camera with prime lenses just to get the very beautiful and flattering effect of a sharp subject in the foreground and a compressed, blurred “bokeh” effect in the background.
New features in FaceTime help users look and sound their best.
Not only visual but also audio upgrades are coming
They are also adding another obviously useful feature “spatial audio”, which creates the effect of having the perceived source location of each speaker match where they appear on the screen.
This is combined with “new microphone modes” which can reduce background noises and audio interference when in a chaotic sound environment and, alternatively when appropriate pickup an entire soundscape all at once.
All in all these improvements to both the visual experience, and the audio are a much needed change from the often ugly reality of bad-webcam zoom style meetings we all endured during 2020.
And with the front facing camera, lighting and software beautifications constantly getting better, we can, at least those with great internet and high end devices, look forward to a much more sensually pleasing level of FaceTime interactions.
Additional new upgraded features for FaceTime include, but are not limited to:
A new grid view that makes it possible to do a “zoom” like stack of equal size boxes.
SharePlay which is a somewhat odd sounding option to share “Apple Music, watching a TV show or movie in sync, or sharing their screen to view apps together”. Additionally, sharing can include anyone using an iPhone, iPad or Mac and if shared playback controls are active any of the parties that are sharing can play, pause or jump ahead.
Users can now share experiences with SharePlay while connecting with friends on FaceTime, including listening to songs together with Apple Music, watching a TV show or movie in sync, or sharing their screen to view apps together. SharePlay works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and with shared playback controls, anyone in a SharePlay session can play, pause, or jump ahead.
There’s an expanding list of sources that can be used, including, of course, Apple TV, but also third party services that opt in, and currently, according to Apple the list already includes: Disney+, ESPN+, HBO Max, Hulu, MasterClass, Paramount+, Pluto TV, TikTok, Twitch, and many others
Among the avalanche of new features and upgrades to iOS, iPadOS and most of all macOS 12 Monterey, there were two that were like a dream come true for anyone who has used AirPlay with AppleTv or “SideCar”, which originally came to the mac with macOS Catalina, and wished for one bold step further.
In an office environment, like our newsroom, being able to beam an iPad or mac on to a large conference style TV is great, but springing for the $ it takes to get a high resolution computer monitor large enough for group viewing is not such a great treat.
A fantastic compromise, one that many have wished for but never seen is the new option cogently called “AirPlay to Mac” which, just as the name implies, allows you to bean your phone or iPad (or I presume one mac to another) for paired or group viewing. (there were times when I, for one, forgot that this feature did not yet exist and tried to connect a mac screen using airPlay, to no avail).
AirPlay brings the Mac to life in all-new ways.
Even with tiny bugs that might arise at first when trying to get multiple macs to act as screens for a single source, once this is mature it should revolutionize meeting of small groups of colleagues all armed with trusty macs but wanting to do a group think and discussion session. (At a digital publisher meeting, like at Lynxotic, we might be looking at analytics data for the past week and all want to see the same data across all screens, for example.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that sound, just as in “regular” AirPlay, is included in the bargain. So even if it’s audio only that you want to share (like force feeding colleagues your favorite song) that is going to sound great on built in iMac speakers etc.
This seems instantly like something that is so obvious and intuitive that it could be one of those things, like AirPlay itself, that once entrenched and bug free, would be hard to live without.
Apple’s marketing copy:
“With AirPlay to Mac, users can play, present, and share just about anything — from the latest movies and games to vacation photos and presentations — from their iPhone or iPad right to their Mac’s stunning Retina display. The Mac’s high-fidelity sound system can also be used as an AirPlay speaker, so users can play music or podcasts on their Mac, or use their Mac as a secondary speaker for multi-room audio.”
Universal control, which sounds somehow ominous is, hopefully, just a simple way to more easily migrate live from device to device (of the same owner)
Though the mechanics of this feature were not explained in detail at the Keynote for WWDC2021, this is another feature that seems mind-bendingly obvious as a boon for any Apple device power user, it also seems strange that it did’t exist all along.
As shown with one example in the video below, it involves having a single mouse or trackpad control multiple devices. Or the same set up for a keyboard, or both. While there are some unanswered questions – such as would the keyboard designated as being the one to “universally control” another device automatically turn off the control on the remote devices native keyboard?
Perhaps this is a naive question since it appears that it is presumed that any device being universally controlled is owned and being used by a single human.
In one way this seems to have the best use when using, say, an iPad pro for a drawing task and then moving across to the mac to process the drawing in photoshop, illustrator etc. Honestly, sometimes it’s interesting to see each device as connected to a “chair mode” – iPad for a chaise lounge, iMac or MacMini for an office chair, iPhone or iPad mini for freedom from any chair, and switching from the more human-centric modes (chaise lounge) to get down to serious business on the biggest baddest screen and most powerful CPU seems like a utopian dream, with this feature activated and working without a glitch.
The ways this could be integrated into a workflow, and the permutations of how this could be useful, seem infinite, assuming it operates anywhere near as seamlessly as in the demonstration by Craig Federighi in the video. Being able to drag and drop, as he did, across three (3!) separate devices at will is pretty incredible, if not only for its simplicity and elegance.
As per Apple: “Universal Control lets users work more seamlessly across their Mac and iPad. Working across Apple devices is now better than ever with new Continuity features:
Universal Control lets users work with a single mouse and keyboard and move between Mac and iPad for a seamless experience, with no setup required. Users can even drag and drop content back and forth between devices — great for sketching a drawing with Apple Pencil on iPad and placing it into a Keynote slide on the Mac.
New Braided Solo Loop & Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop announced via Apple Newsroom
Apple first launched the Apple Watch Pride Edition in 2016. The company’s unique bands have been a visible illustration of the ways in which Apple supports, and is proudly made up of members of the LGBTQ+ community. On on May 17th, 2021, the New Braided Solo Loop and announced with the subheading that it “represents the breadth of LGBTQ+ communities and experiences”.
The reactions on twitter were all over the map, to say the least. Many were sniping about the high price of the special band. Others seems to just be sniping as anti-Apple folks will do, but there were also plenty of defenders of the empire and Tim Cook himself.
Some of the criticism, sad and hilarious at the same time, was from people knocking Tim Cook as a presumably “straight-white-male” and defenders felt the need to remind them in a reply that he himself, is in fact publicly gay, giving him a different perspective on the LGBTQ+ movement and it’s importance overall.
“Apple's commitment to support the ongoing work toward equality.” More like, “ Apple's commitment to support the ongoing work toward fill up our pockets” Give the money made to a charity, then we talk.
There also seemed to be a lot of confusion over finances. The fact that there were associated donations to charities and pro-LGBTQ+ orgs seemed to be widely misunderstood or not recognized by would-be detractors. Again there were defenders who came to the aid of the reading-impaired:
There are obviously further questions people can ask about how much of the money goes to LGBT+ supporting organizations, or whether the organizations are the correct ones to support or whether there are better ways to support people.
Another aspect of the special product launch was the timing: “On International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), Apple debuts the new Apple Watch Pride Edition band and dynamic watch face, both of which incorporate a broader set of colors inspired by multiple Pride flags that have represented the diverse LGBTQ+ community throughout its rich history.”
In case the explanatory text above was not 100% clear the following is also spelled out in the Apple press release:
Apple donates all the proceeds to International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (IGLA), The Trevor Project, and LGBT+ youth charity GLSEN.
The 2021 edition of the Apple Watch Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop includes black and brown strips that symbolize Black and Latinx communities, in addition to those who have passed away from or are living with HIV/AIDS.
The light blue, pink, and white stripes represent transgender and nonbinary individuals.
Cook, who in 2014 became the first chief executive of a Fortune 500 company to publicly come out as gay, also added the following:
Black, Brown and transgender activists have always been at the heart of the LGBTQ+ movement. The new Apple Watch Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop honors their legacy and reaffirms Apple’s commitment to support the ongoing work toward equality.
Tim Cook / Twitter
Thanks for the visibility and for taking actions, so proud to have you on the LGBTTTQIA+ community 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
New challenges as the two “try” to get their way to parenthood
The Apple Original series, which in Season 1 followed Nikki, played by Esther Smith, and Jason played by Rafe Spall, as a London couple. Unsurprisingly, as the title gives away, they are trying and having some difficulty conceiving. With the realization that maybe adoption is the only route for them to raise a child, the two are put to the test and experience a rollercoaster of emotions along the way.
Season 2, which is set to release to Apple TV+ users on May 21, will continue to follow the journey to the next level as the two have finally been approved to adopt and take the huge step of welcoming a child into their home. This leads to challenges, such as finding a child they connect with and making a decision between a girl or boy. Juggling all the adoption events, school visits, all while also maintaining work schedules, wannabe family life soon becomes a whole lot more to deal with than Nikki and Jason anticipated.
The cast will also include the return of the Season 1 primary ensemble including: Imelda Staunton, Oliver Chris, Ophelia Lovibond, Darren Boyd and Robyn Cara.
Check out the below official trailer for “Trying” Season 2: The first two episodes will debut globally on May 21 and the remaining six episodes will be released weekly every Friday.
Scorsese’s latest and long awaited big project, titled “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” has been in development under Paramount since early 2019. The Apple Studios film started Production in April 2021 in Osage County, Oklahoma and no release date has yet been announced.
The film is an adaptation of the 2017 book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” by bestselling author David Grann. The book follows the federal investigation into the series of “accidents” and murders of Osage County Native Americans in 1920s Oklahoma, which later became known as the “Reign of Terror”. It’s a slow burning true story that will lend itself well to Scorsese’s hardboiled, historical take on narrative film.
In a statement announcing the official start of production, Scorsese said:
“To be able to tell this story on the land where these events took place is incredibly important and critical to allowing us to portray an accurate depiction of the time and people. We’re grateful to Apple, the Oklahoma Film and Music Office and The Osage Nation, especially all our Osage consultants and cultural advisors, as we prepare for this shoot. We’re excited to start working with our local cast and crew to bring this story to life on screen and immortalize a time in American history that should not be forgotten.”
–– Martin Scorsese
The all-star cast to includes Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, Native American actress Lily Gladstone as his wife Mollie Burkhart. Robert De Niro as William Hale and Jesse Plemons as Tom White. In addition, the cast includes: Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, Jason Isbell, Louis Cancelmi, Scott Shepherd, Sturgill Simpson and many others. The film will include multiple indigenous actors in order to provide a respectable and honest representation relating to the movie’s sensitive subject matter.
Another “credible” leak sited by MacRumors now predicts possible new iMac color palette
According to Mac Rumors, a Reliable leaker whose twitter handle is @L0vetodream hinted, via the juxtaposition of the classic “like a rainbow” images of the, then-state of-the-art, G3 iMacs alongside the colorful “Spring Loaded” graphic that accompanied the initial announcement of the April 20th event.
The obvious implication is that Apple may debut its rumored redesigned and colorful iMac at its “Spring Loaded” event on Tuesday.
This comes after a previous story which also cited a credible source, where the new iMac were said to likely not only have an “M series” chip, which everyone by now expects, but would also be “really big”, that is, a size larger than the current max 5k versions.
In the above tweet, the leaker posted an image of Apple’s logo used for marketing the upcoming event and an image of the retro rainbow Apple logo alongside the colorful lineup of G3 iMacs.
As can be seen from the image concept render above, and the MacRumors concept for colored iMacs below, there is a lot of excitement building for this announcement in particular and the event in general.
With the additional rumor of a larger size in the mix also, it’s worth tuning in on Tuesday to get the full skinny right from Apple, in real time.
Above: Apple Spring Loaded Event Poster Credit: Apple
“Loaded” is a loaded concept and let’s hope it rings true
After weeks of fits and starts, and even a bizarre siri advance confirmation leak, it’s finally official: Apple will be hosting a product reveal event on Tuesday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.
Naturally, as with all event scheduled this year so far this will be digital only and streamed live from various platforms including the Apple events page.
The event is expected to reveal new 2021 product updates and more, and the rumor mill has been busy so there’s a lot of potential for both news that’s been hinted at, as well as surprises.
Highest on the list of anticipated possible reveals are; iPad Pro models, a new low-cost iPad and a new iPad mini.
Less expected but also very much in the realm of possibility are refreshed iMacs, the endlessly rumored AirTags and more updated news on chip development as will as advance information ahead of WWDC2021 and the fall big show where typically new iPhones appear.
Apple will be streaming live on its website and with the Apple TV app starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, April 20.
Possible Pro Display XDR-like Screen Real estate up to 32”
Well known and previously credible Apple leak-meister l0vetodream added credence to the wildly rumored concept that a high-end newly designed iMac will feature a “really big” screen, larger than the current max for iMac of 27 inches (5k).
With the iMac Pro already out of production and only the “standard” 21.5 inch and 27 inch models remaining an update, definitely this year, is an obvious prediction.
However, since the iMac Pro itself never had an option for a larger higher resolution screen, and in the mean time the $5 to $6 thousand 32 inch 6k Pro Display XDR setting the standard for ultra large high quality screen design it is also not unlikely that some of the technology of that product could trickle down into a high end iMac without adding the cost of such a colossus.
Above: 6k Pro Display XDR Credit: Apple
Further, there’s a slightly less credible but interesting rumor out regarding a new iPhone design based on the “cheese grater” style of the new Mac Pro and Pro Display. Though a bit mind-blowing to imagine, a matching set of gear with cheese grater styling for my iPhone 13 Pro, and a new high end iMac is a bizarre pleasant (but perhaps a bit macho) daydream.
It’s not likely that this new machine would surface as soon as WWDC 2021 but, it is not entirely off the table either (nothing is out of the question with Apple’s secrecy history)
Since the iMac outward design has not had a total makeover since 2012 (!) the possibility (probability?) of a new, higher end, iMac with new styling (perhaps with bezels and edge styling like the iPad pro of late), faster, upgraded performance (M2?) and a bigger and better screen than the current 27 inch model would be just fine, thank you.
Apple TV+ announces new original documentary special
As a way to take some of the doom and gloom away from reporting and documenting climate change and global warming, and to celebrate Earth Day 2021, Apple will showcase three new earth related programs.
First, ‘The Year Earth Changed’ narrated by Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning broadcaster David Attenborough will go live on April 16th. In addition, both documentary series “Tiny World” and “Earth At Night In Color” will return for second seasons.
The hour long documentary special release will focus on the way a world-wide crisis, in this case the global pandemic of 2020, can impact human behavior, travel restrictions, closed beaches and lock-downs, which then in turn, surprisingly in this case, led to positive adaptations by wildlife around the globe.
“During this most difficult year, many people have reappraised the value and beauty of the natural world and taken great comfort from it,” said Attenborough. “But the lockdown also created a unique experiment that has thrown light on the impact we have on the natural world. The stories of how wildlife responded have shown that making even small changes to what we do can make a big difference.”
David Attenborough
All three productions also highlight the commitment of Apple TV+ & the respective production units (BBC Studios Natural History Unit, along with director Tom Beard for The Year the earth Changed) to the highest quality visuals and using the uplifting images to inspire through the beauty of the natural world.
It is being called “a love letter to planet Earth, highlighting the ways nature bouncing back can give us hope for the future” in Apple’s words.
Above: Original Trailer for ‘The Year Earth Changed’
In an educational and entertainment corollary to other green initiatives Apple is using its resources to influence positive change
Seasontwoof “Tiny World”, which was narrated and executive produced by Paul Rudd (“Ant-Man”), used high-end macro filming techniques to capture 3,160 hours of rarely seen “ant’s eye views” of over 200 species. The resulting final edit gives the viewer entry into a fascinating miniature natural world that is otherwise unseen all around us.
Paul Rudd’s participation is not without note, since he is literally known as “Ant-Man” and therefore in a unique position to narrate and executive produce “an illuminating the ingenuity and resilience of the planet’s smallest creatures”.
Above: Original “Behind the Scenes” Trailer for ‘Tiny World’
As per Apple: “Returning for season two, “Tiny World,” narrated and executive produced by Paul Rudd, grants viewers a unique perspective into the natural world, illuminating the ingenuity and resilience of the planet’s smallest creatures. With over 200 species filmed and 3,160 hours of footage, the six-episode docuseries shares surprising stories and spectacular cinematography that spotlight small creatures and the extraordinary things they do to survive.”
Above: “earth At Night In Color” Credit: Apple
“Earth At Night In Color” is also returning for a second season with six all-new episodes narrated by Tom Hiddleston (“Avengers”).
Once again, the production values are designed to wow and elicit awe, “with the use of cutting-edge cameras and a revolutionary post-production process, “ the series seeks to reveal “nature’s nocturnal wonders with striking new clarity.”
Further, as per Apple;
“Some never-before-seen behaviors of animals after dark, captured using low-light cameras and light from a full moon, include elephants battling hyenas around starlit waterholes and kangaroos embracing under the cover of darkness to find a mate.”
Other animals in the new season include pumas, polar bears, manta rays, and tiny planktonic life at night in the ocean. “Earth At Night In Color” is produced by Offspring Films. The series is executive produced by Alex Williamson and series produced by Sam Hodgson.
As big a splash as last year? Predictions are affirmative
Apple revealed its schedule for this year’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). To take place in an all online format on June 7th through 11th there will be a large audience due to the unlimited size of the venue (virtual) and, as was the case last year, the software and app developers event will also be an opportunity for Apple to highlight plans for new hardware designs.
As is customary, of course, the keynote address will thoroughly update the progress on the upcoming OS versions; iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8 and tvOS 15. Rumored expectations of hardware such as the highly anticipated iPad Pro, possibly a new MacBook Pro, new iMacs and the new Apple TV that is overdue and oft talked about.
Any or all of these, as yet unconfirmed, predictions could be upended by a prior release date, the iPad Pro for one, is rumored to be likely to get an announcement before June.
Above: Photo / Apple
The bulk of the conference is devoted to the software and if the upgrades are anywhere near as substantive as they were in 2020 that will be a lot to dive into.
The new year means new shows plus the debut of new seasons
Apple launched a new YT video, giving Apple TV+ watchers a glimpse of what to expect as the coming year unfolds. It’s a lot! The video breaks it all down with an exclusive preview of new TV shows, as well as films coming to the platform very soon.
There are now so many streaming platforms: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Discovery+, with a new one launching on March 4th, Paramount+ (Teaming up with ViacomCBS).
Apple TV+, although live for some time now, can be viewed as one of the newcomers in the streaming game. With that, it’s not always easy to decide if you should jump aboard to pay for yet another monthly subscription if you aren’t already a user.
For those that do not currently have Apple TV, subscription starts at $4.99 per month with a 7 day free trial. For that low of a price and the handful of new TV shows and movies coming this year, it may be a perfect time to try. However, if you are a buyer of Apple products such as an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac, it includes one year of Apple TV+ for free.
The two minute clip unloads lots of titles. New shows and movies: Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry, Cherry, Foundation, Lisey’s Story, Losing Alice, The Mosquito Coast, Mr. Corman, Palmer, Schmigadoon!, Physical and many more.
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In addition, there will be returns of successful shows included: Central Park, Dickinson, For All Mankind, Ghostwriter, Home Before Dark, The Morning Show, Mythic Quest, See, Servant, Trying, and Truth Be Told.
Here’s a taste of some of the full trailers for most of the upcoming titles to be hitting the streaming service in in the next several weeks.
Billie Eilish Documentary – February 26:
Cherry with Tom Holland – March 12:
The Mosquito Coast – April 30:
Mythic Quest Season 2 – May 7:
Foundation – Fall 2021:
Most titles will be premiering late Spring and Summer 2021. From the previews alone, it seems that all the different titles will be well worth the wait. Apple TV+ even gave a teaser video of the highly anticipated adaption of Isaac Asminov’s “Foundation” sci-fi novels.
Easily share access and see version history on mac and iOS
According to Adobe, in its blog post, shared about the collaboration:
“Starting today, we make collaborating with others when working together on Photoshop and Illustrator documents much easier with the new Invite to Edit feature. This is a huge time saver for teams working on shared projects. Plus, we introduce Preset Sync in Photoshop.”
The new update to Adobe using its invitation to Edit feature within Photoshop, Illustrator and Fresco, will allow users to edit unsynchronized edits among various platforms: desktop, iPhone, and iPhone (Fresco). That also means, collaborative work can more easily be edited as a shared cloud document, one at a time.
By saving your Photoshop (.PSD) or Illustrator files (.AI) as cloud documents, you can send invitations for others to edit. Also possible, you can edit filed that have been shared with you. Cloud documents can be accessible via assets.adobe.com as well as on the Creative Cloud desktop application.
Now you can sync your Photoshop presets wherever you use Photoshop. This includes brushes, swatches, gradients, patterns, styles and shapes. Preset Sync is shipping today in the desktop version on Mac and Windows, and synced brushes will be coming soon on the iPad version. You are now able to turn preset syncing on and off, and your preferences — the folder structure, the grouping and order of your presets are retained across devices. Any management you have done will be synced — set it and forget it!
Getting more buzz daily and sign-ups continue to accelerate
Clubhouse is a fast growing “new” social media sensation that is growing at an amazing rate. It is also constantly morphing in an endless kaleidoscopic experience that comes from an amazing new technology: the conference call.
Exploring the paradox that having no gifs, no photos, no memes, not even a string of text is now the most added social app with the biggest buzz is as good a starting point as any.
Imagine you are unable to text, unable to send or post a photo, unable to speak unless you are called up or invited to be on on stage, need to use your real name for sign-up and must adhere to the specified topics and protocols of each room.
Sounds restrictive right? But it is this very contrast with other forms of social media that seems, for many, liberating, even transcendent. Once you realize that you are in a room with, in some cases, 12 or so people on stage and thousands of people listening in the audience, its a bit like a panel discussion, but in a smaller rooms it’s like a small gang in Philly circled around an oil drum fire chatting (or conspiring as it were) while they rub their hands together to keep warm.
Next, imagine, in a few years, when apple’s “Animoji” capability is added, perhaps with a body, the ability to walk around with some scenic backgrounds and you have “Ready Player One” in real life.
Obviously gaming platforms approximate this but for non-gamers, as the tech sophistication advances, it becomes more viable and interesting. And it’s the enthusiasm from the public exploding for the speech only version of this that could be key in hastening the realization.
On the other hand, clubhouse users are raving about, while others are lamenting, the intense intimacy that comes with speaking to, or sometimes whispering in, each other’s ears. The ASMR version of a conference call. With an audience.
There are also music rooms and a music mode – a higher fidelity version of a room where singing playing instruments and more is possible. The idea is to eventually do concerts (possibly paid) and even live collaborations and more.
The phenomenal nature and accelerated adoption since the launch is is perhaps just as much a reaction to the chaos and collisions that are so ubiquitous on platforms like Twitter, Instagram and others, as it is a fascination with the “new-yet-old” options enabled by the Clubhouse technology.
Add to all the the perfect synchronicity of the first lockdown phase of the pandemic corresponding to the initial public launch in March, 2020 and you have a historic paradigm shift that may well carry forward for years or even decades. Adaptation to new ways of communicating as a necessity and a natural next step.
How to get your account set up and what’s what in the app
For a basic breakdown: the app is audio only. Once you are invited (or get on the waiting list and are let in by a sponsor) and ready to set up your account you will be prompted for the usual things, user name, real name, bio, phone number and so forth. You can also direct connect a live link Twitter and Instagram accounts, which is where the “DMs” have to happen since the app has no built in messaging.
Once is you will see there are “rooms” and “clubs”. Rooms are always available and can be joined or created by all members. If you join a “live” room you are, as default, put into the “audience” which has two sub-sections: the “followed by the speakers” section which gives you a kind of front row seat, and the “non-followed” regular audience. The audience members have no microphone button and cannot speak without it.
To become a speaker you can click on a “hand” symbol which activates “raise your hand” allowing any “moderator” (designated with a “green bean” asterisk icon) to invite you to the “stage”, which is where the speakers reside.
The moderators do have the power to interrupt a speaker or even kick a speaker back to the audience, thereby removing any speaking privileges.
The magic of the app is in this structure, clubhouse etiquette, and the ability to have multi-minds from all walks of life that, generally, choose a topic for the room and then, with the guidance of the moderators, get input from various speakers on stage.
“Clubs” are like permanent rooms that also have signed-up members (some have thousands or tens of thousands of them) and these often have scheduled sessions, weekly, daily or otherwise, in advance.
Apple gets serious about exploitative surveillance business models, and it’s about time
Six months ago when we first published “Cracks in The Wall: Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook Silently Declare Wars Against Each Other” we were worried. Although we firmly believed it was a just war, and that the time was at hand for the rotten underbelly of the internet and, more than anything else, for the business model of Facebook to be excoriated out in the open, using the term “war” in conjunction with Apple seemed over-the-top and even inflammatory.
We stuck with the title and now, looking back, it was accurate if not 100% polite. After new privacy features in iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur were made public, Facebook and Zuckerberg took it as an attack on its tracking-first-business model and fought back with some rhetoric about how Apple was going to harm small businesses.
The first feeble attempt at fighting back was a full page ad in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other outlets, where Facebook alleged: “these changes will be devastating to small businesses” with the supposition that small businesses depend on Facebook’s darling invention; tracking-based advertising, and need it to build their brands and to sell products.
Missing from this self-serving logic is the price of this form of targeting and data collection – in dollars, literally billions of them charged to those same small businesses, and in the cost to virtually all “users” who’s privacy is sacrificed with little to no consumer benefit and many, many potential detriments.
This is not just some sort of scrap between rival companies, it’s all our futures at stake
With the salvo of clear and decisive comments made by Tim Cook at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference, and in interviews with various magazines, the righteous and timely battle against demonstribly evil internet business models is for real now, with the unnamed but obviously targeted Facebook at the top of the list.
The quote from Tim Cook in the title above exactly captured the current reality: the excellent documentary titled ‘The Social Dilemma’ did not go nearly far enough in exposing the danger of surveillance based business models that should not be allowed to exist
As if Facebook has ever been a friend to small business. The concept that has been clear for many years is that the surveillance capitalism, for the most part invented by Facebook, that Apple is now declaring war against, was always an obscene and disastrous one for every person on the planet, other than Mark Zuckerberg.
“If a business is built on misleading users, on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform,”
Apple CEO, Tim Cook, speaking at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference
However, with a vast power over almost all digital advertising (sharing, with Google, more than 70%) and no competition to speak of where anyone could go for “social media” access, 3-5 years ago it was hard to imagine how anything could slowdown, let alone stop, Facebook’s inexorable rise.
In what will be a huge theme for this decade, only giants can fight and hope to win against other giants.
Right now, as of Tim Cook’s declaration of war on the “data-industrial complex” and with numerous anti-trust and other legal actions against Facebook pending, it suddenly seems plausible that a real change, a much needed change, could finally come in the way that human beings communicate via that immense network of devices we call the internet.
“Technology does not need vast troves of personal data, stitched together across dozens of websites and apps, in order to succeed.”
— Tim Cook
In an exclusive interview with Michael Grothaus at Fast Company Cook stated: “In terms of privacy—I think it is one of the top issues of the century, we’ve got climate change—that is huge. We’ve got privacy—that is huge. . . . And they should be weighted like that and we should put our deep thinking into that and to decide how can we make these things better and how do we leave something for the next generation that is a lot better than the current situation.” (emphasis mine)
This statement, though perhaps hyperbolic to some, is at the heart of our coverage of Apple, Google, Facebook and “Big Tech” in general over the last few years. In fact, this idea can go further and deeper as… “privacy” is just the tip of the iceberg and the predatory infrastructure that the data-collection and exploitation business model enables is even more dangerous and is a threat to the entire economy.
Of the new “Big 5” (Apple, Musk, Facebook, Google, Amazon) only Apple and the affiliated Elon Musk enterprises actually have proprietary products or products and services that benefit humanity in a concrete way.
Elon Musk has sustainable energy and sustainable transportation as stated goals of Tesla, while SpaceX, has reaching Mars (to give earthlings a second planet available in case we screw this one up) and, now with Starlink, building a second broadband internet backbone in space.
Apple, while on the one hand being inadvertently responsible for both Google and Facebook in different ways (more on that soon in a subsequent post), is at the heart of the real reason why internet business models and structures are key to our survival and to humanity’s ability to survive and reverse global warming by evolving, enhanced communication.
Apple is no longer just an electronic device maker. Software, hardware, A.I., possibly an electric car, and services are all merging and reaching what we call “Apple Singularity”. Apple has the potential to trigger a monumental shift in the ways we communicate online – networked human communication – away from the trash-filled nightmare of the present day – where three obscenely massive companies: Facebook, Google and Amazon, have built business models that do not rest on innovative products or services but on predatory systems that enslave users, gouge small businesses and do very little in adding benefit to humanity as a whole.
“At a moment of rampant disinformation and conspiracy theories juiced by algorithms, we can no longer turn a blind eye to a theory of technology that says all engagement is good engagement — the longer the better — and all with the goal of collecting as much data as possible. It is long past time to stop pretending that this approach doesn’t come with a cost — of polarization, of lost trust and, yes, of violence”
Tim Cook
What the three massive deadbeats do is make a small handful of individuals and shareholders very rich. Fortunately, the issues with these business models are finally being questioned. But this is only the beginning.
The unthinkable is now at least possible to imagine: a world where Facebook does not have unlimited power to take, and profit from, our data
Once a real understanding of the degree of inferiority of these models, when measured by the costs vs. the benefit to humanity itself, becomes clearer, the government regulation and involuntary changes forced by the market will begin and quickly accelerate.
It is the combination of the lack of substance or concrete contribution by firms with a predatory business model casing the harm, in ways that are partially invisible, up until now, and make them so dangerous.
The danger is social, political, and in then end affects our economy and the lives of nearly every person who uses the services of those companies. Which is very nearly the entire population.
The economic damage that is being caused by the business models invented by these companies is, much like global warning, so massive that it threatens the entire planet, but the lack of attention we are giving it is based on ignorance of the magnitude of the danger.
Apple and Tim Cook’s perspective is extremely important and key to lighting a spark to ignite fires that will burn away that ignorance. The “big-tech” world that Apple, led by Steve Jobs, had a huge hand in creating, desperately needs a shake up and it needs to start now. This has nothing to do with a handful of huge companies fighting over control of the internet – it’s not about one winning, it’s about further damage being stopped, and a new, better internet being allowed to emerge.
Now, Tim Cook and Apple are beginning a long battle to make that happen on behalf of all of us.
Following leaks and rumors, a more definitive statement from Hyundai
In December 2020, a Reuters story cited sources with knowledge of the project to confirm the existence of the long rumored “Project Titan” otherwise known as the “Apple Car”. Now, based on a statement from a Hyundai spokesperson, “AppleCar” is moving forward in the form of discussions with potential manufacturing partners.
Hyundai also confirmed to CNBC that discussions with Apple has begun, but added the caveat that they “understand that Apple is in discussion with a variety of global automakers, including Hyundai Motor. As the discussion is at its early stage, nothing has been decided.”
This hesitation could stem from the possibility that the initial statement may have been interpreted as hinting that an agreement could be imminent, sending Hyundai’s stock 23% higher. The surge in the price followed a report by the Korea Economic Daily which had implied that Apple suggested the tie-up and Hyundai Motor was reviewing terms.
Apple doing what Apple does
Even after the Reuters report in December, many were still skeptical, and today the time frames being discussed are very conservative mentioned a 7 year time horizon, even while the Reuters report mentioned at least the possibility, however remote, that 2024 could see an actual release onto the consumer market.
It is historically established that Apple often enters established markets for specific products and, in may cases, makes a ultra high quality, uniquely “Apple” version. EVs are now firmly established as the future of individual sustainable transport, but with Tesla having set the quality and popularity bar as high as it has, Apple will have a challenge ahead of it to produce a likely self-driving fully realized electric vehicle to match the state of the art in 2024 and beyond.
At CES 2020 Hyundai unveiled new technologies they already have in development, such as EVs, driverless and even flying cars.
The fact that Tesla founder Elon Musk is now the richest man in the world, after removing that title from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is not a factor in the “race” to build the best software and hardware for the future of EVs, but is an added dramatic fact that serves as a backdrop to the intrigue.
And hey, wow, imaging having a variety of non-polluting, sustainable energy vehicles to choose from by the worlds top manufacturers and with Apple and Tesla battling it out at the high end to provide the best and most desirable.
Apple had a big year – but how big will first become apparent in 2021…
By now, it is not unexpected for the latest iteration of the iPhone, iPhone 12 in this case, to do well and even best the competition across the board in any given year. While it is nearly an automatic ritual that doubt will be cast, and the demise or at least diminution of the iPhone and Apple are predicted, nearly every year the opposite in the case.
This year was different. There was plenty of doubt – but the surprise announcement of the M series of chips for mac and the even more surprising benchmarks and performance improvements pretty much obliterated the doubters.
Not only that, but a layer beneath that headline news was a secondary layer of innovation and areas where long planned improvements came to fruition.
The first steps into a massive multi-year system software transition, one that will eventually merge the mobile operating systems of the iPhone, iPad, Apple watch, etc with the mac, moved seemingly ahead of schedule, with the huge improvements in iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur.
And all the various services such as Apple TV+ and many other offerings made huge strides as well.
As a matter of fact, a list of all the upgrades, added features and new services and products would be so long and varied that the transcription is beyond the reach of a simple article such as this one.
However, that alone is not where some of the biggest changes and most surprising evolutions have occurred. The real “action” so to speak is in the integration and unexpected by-products of the merging and deepening of all the new features and settings.
Take for example the macs that feature the M1 chip. It is not the chip itself, not even the new operating system that has the most impact on the performance or usability of the machines.
It is the integrated functionality of the various elements of the chips – Apple M1, the first ARM-based system on a chip – composed of several different components including the CPU, GPU, unified memory architecture (RAM), Neural Engine, Secure Enclave, SSD controller, image signal processor, encode/decode engines, Thunderbolt controller with USB 4 support, all of which are made more powerful by the continuously upgraded software system.
This – a kind of invisible interactive and synergistic ecosystem – not only has at it’s heart the “whole widget” philosophy legacy of Steve Jobs, but also a new and insanely futuristic definition of “whole” which now includes these proprietary Apple chips (CPU, GPU, NE), plus A.I. / machine learning and system core operating as one continuously evolving and reinforcing “unit”.
The future is already here, we just don’t see it like fish, maybe, never heard of a thing called water…
This new concept of the constantly increasing potential advancement in efficiency and power is not only the new standard basis for what constitutes computing technology at Apple, but will emerge as the ultimate re-definition of what “power” in computing means at all.
Similar to the internet – where the evolution and development is at stone age levels compared to where it will (and must) eventually reach in decades and even centuries, computing (or “personal” computing as it was dubbed in the last century) is also in very early and very primitive stages of evolution and this next step represents an early beginning, not a destination or accomplishment of a goal.
Even Apple has stated that the initial transition of a unified operating system shared by mobile and desktop / laptop devices, iOS / macOS, will be years still in development and implementation.
Meaning, in 2024 we may see the first real life trails and dissemination of a new kind of computing system, and, more importantly, computer assisted communicating, made possible by the complete integration of these hardware, software and A.I. advances.
Just in time, because the threats of global warming, pandemics, political upheaval and economic disaster need, more than anything, enhanced learning and communication that can be aided, we must fervently hope, by improved digital tools. A better bicycle, so to speak.
Fortunately, Apple has our back on this. And in 2021 more, much more will be revealed, if 2020 was any hint, of an exciting future not just for technology, but for the creative uses of it for the betterment of humankind.
Above: Apple Ad in Berlin’s KuDamm – Photo / Lynxotic
Rumors of “Apple Car” a.k.a. “Project Titan” jumpstarting its production dates
Reuters exclusive story quoting a variety of unnamed sources appears to have some validity
Starting on Sunday December 20th rumors began to fly citing one source that claimed an Apple Car, long in R&D would burst on the scene in “late 2021”. That batch of speculative information came from a Taiwanese report from the Economic Daily News, where an “insider” claims that there has been a ramp up of supplies for the production of components for the Apple Car, with a launch potential for third quarter of 2021.
Then, on Monday, the Reuters story debuted with more realistic time frames and at least a few tidbits that appear plausible. The sources contributing to the story say that there is an Apple passenger vehicle in the works, under the long known codename “Titan” and that it will be aimed at the consumer market.
This is, in and of itself, if true, a significant fact as speculation has revolved around a possible retreat into a software only realm or a foray into self-driving systems for commercial use, for example.
Clearly an actual Car sold directly to consumers as an Apple branded product would be the most ambitions possible route into the space and also the most exciting.
Rather than the obviously crazy 2021 timeline, however, the new report indicates a far more realistic 2024 projected launch and even mentions the likelihood of an even longer timeline due to complications arising out of the pandemic.
Even at this early stage, innovative details are being leaked
Other details put forth by the various sources included a new battery design (Apple does have some experience in the battery production area) that could “radically” lower battery cost while at the same time increasing the range of the vehicles.
“Central to Apple’s strategy is a new battery design that could “radically” reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle’s range, according to a third person who has seen Apple’s battery design.”
—Reuters
The battery design, according to one source, is based on a “monocell” system which will “free up space inside the battery pack” by getting rid of pouches and modules that hold battery materials.
Based on this, and presumably other innovations, the car will have a longer range due to packing more active material inside the battery. LFP – lithium iron phosphate also may be used and would be inherently less likely to overheat and therefore be safer than traditional lithium-ion designs.
Other details revolved around “lidar sensors” which are both being used in various self-driving systems and, coincidentally, are also present in iPhone 12 models. The sources say that Apple is both reaching out to companies that specialize in lidar tech and also continuing R&D on its own sensor designs.
A project of this size and magnitude will surely engender more details and leaks going forward. Although seeing an Apple Car on the street may not be in the cards before 2024-2025 it is nevertheless a tantalizing idea to watch unfold, even if only via leaks and speculation at this point.
