David Sparks: ‘Apple Should Buy Anthropic (But Likely Won’t)’

There’s also an ideological alignment. Anthropic has taken a principled stance on AI safety and responsible development. Apple has always positioned itself as the company that cares about how technology affects people. Those values aren’t identical, but they rhyme.

Sparks sees alignment, whereas I see entanglement. It’s the not the $380 billion valuation that’s the deal-breaker, it’s the myriad of contracts and programs that Anthropic is involved with. Anthropic said no to the Pentagon. Apple would have rolled over.

I was catching up with my buddy, @rsilvernail, who’s the tech director for a school system in Michigan. We got to chatting about the MacBook Neo. He’s seriously considering it to replace Chromebooks in his schools. Even with AppleCare, the cost’d be comparable — but with way less maintenance! 😯

I fancied myself a Text Replacement afficiando, but after this segment in the @mpu@relayfm.social interview of @davidpogue.com, I realize I’ve been an imposter this whole time. He’s reducing whole words and phrases down to single keystrokes! You can hear @stephenrobles@mastodon.social’s disbelief. 🤯 🎙️

Jason Snell has also latched onto the absurdity that the Studio Display has a more powerful chip than the MacBook Neo — but also has a wish:

It is something to think that the Studio Display has more computing power and memory than a MacBook Neo… and yet you can’t do anything with that. Wouldn’t it be nice if it did something, like maybe offer an Apple TV mode so you could watch videos on it without needing to attach a Mac?

As someone who’s thinking about putting one of these in their spare bedroom/office, I’d be delighted to have a dual-purpose TV solution in this monitor for guests to use.

Matt Birchler blew my mind when he noted (in his new A Better Computer solo podcast) that the MacBook Neo would have cost $399 in 2010 dollars. Why is that so significant? The original iPad, released that year, was $499. The sheer value in the Neo is astounding. 🎙️

Ever need to prevent your phone from going to sleep while you’re monitoring something onscreen? Just add this shortcut as button in Control Center. With one tap, it’ll bring you straight to the Auto-Lock pane in Settings where you can set it to never sleep, and then back to the previous app.

I really can’t fathom what led to the iPhone Mirroring app using this iPhone 4-era device icon. 🙄

It’s been over a year since I mentioned it, so here’s a reiteration of my love for (new) Reeder as my Micro.blog timeline client of choice!

Just gotta reiterate that I love reading my social timeline (Micro.blog via [@sod](https://micro.blog/sod)’s experimental feeds) through the new Reeder app. Super fast, timeline position sync, great design and conversation view…it’s awesome!

Now that’s a Mac-assed settings window!

Some updates to my PCalc scientific calculator!

Consider this the "new features that should have shipped last year" release. Includes some frequently requested things like woodworking fractions, support for the Indian numbering system for separators, and three new conversion categories, "Flow Rate", "Jewelry", and "Typography".

I've also tried to unify a lot of features that were only on iOS, or only on the Mac.

Mac:
https://pcalc.com/store/pcalcmac

Everything else:
https://pcalc.com/store/pcalc

Enjoy!

mastodon.social/@jamesthomson/116217403826097920

Stephen Hackett, 512pixels.net: ‘Tim Cook, on 50 Years of Apple’

As the company turns 50, its achievements should be celebrated, and its failures should be noted. Apple’s shortcomings in the world of politics, App Store policies, and more dim the company’s light. The value of its products is often the result of dedicated app developers doing their best work atop Apple’s platforms. In the world of big tech, I think Apple still leads in many areas, including privacy, environmental impact, and the not-so-simple matter of taste.

Well said, @ismh86@eworld.social.

The Verge: ‘You can now ask Google Maps ‘complex, real-world questions’ — and Gemini will answer’

Ask Maps lets you describe your plans conversationally, including as much or as little detail as you want, and Gemini will sift through your query to provide as detailed a response as you need, often using personal details you’ve provided through your past interactions with Google Maps.

I’ve been experimenting with Google Maps (its CarPlay interface is quite good), and will be interested to try this out.

But I’m more intrigued by the fully-redesigned map that’s coming too. Examples in the post.

We’ve no lack for simple blogging platforms lately!

• Micro.blog
• Jottit
• Tinypost
• Bear Blog
• Pika
• Scribbles
• Blot
• Write.as

And that’s just what I can name off the top of my head! Manu Moreale has a more complete list with not-so-simple ones too.

Just stumbled across @simonbc’s Jottit via @manton’s post. Very cool project — as is his tinypost.blog (example).

If you just need a place to quickly publish something to the open web, Jottit seems like an ideal tool.

Here’s my kicking-the-tires post: https://jottit.org/ro72tl

🆕📝 No Face ID nor iPad apps wrenches my iPhone Duo(?) purchase plans

I hate to say it, but these flaws might be deal-breakers. But will there be a sequel next year if the first doesn’t sell well because of them?

Parker Ortolani sees Apple’s leadership, style, and product lineup as perhaps turning a corner for the better:

The MacBook Neo is a new kind of product for Apple, unveiled in a new way, with new materials, by an array of fresher faces. These new products being unveiled at the same time the faces of the company are beginning to change feels like a turning point. You could argue Neo is one of, if not the first product of this new Apple. I am far more excited about the future of the company now than I was a year ago.

This launch was fresh. I hope he’s right, but I’m not holding my breath.

Adirondack Explorer: ‘Saranac Lake scraps plan for Flock surveillance cameras after public backlash’

White introduced a string of amendments to the original resolution. The first directed the village manager to immediately terminate the contract with Flock, while the second prohibited future agreements with the company.

The third amendment directs village staff to provide a report detailing the procurement process used, the timeline of decisions, and the individuals who authorized the agreement. All three amendments were passed.

Proud, again, of my fellow hometown residents.

It’s not lost on me that if you plug a MacBook Neo into a new Studio Display, your monitor will have more CPU oomf and RAM than the computer plugged into it. 🙃

But @siracusa@mastodon.social also notes that the A18 Pro powered more pixels when in the iPhone 16 Pro Max than it does in the Neo. 😳 🎙️

Like me, Gruber hopes an ultra-thin MacBook returns. It’d even help Apple’s MacBook lineup to mirror their iPhone one:

If I had my druthers, Apple would make a new svelte ultralight MacBook. Not instead of the Neo, but in addition to the Neo. Apple’s inconsistent use of the name “Air” makes this complicated, but the MacBook Neo is obviously akin to the iPhone 17e; the MacBook Air is akin to the iPhone 17 (the default model for most people); the MacBook Pros are akin to the iPhone 17 Pros. I wish Apple would make a MacBook that’s akin to the iPhone Air — crazy thin and surprisingly performant.

John Gruber, in his iPhone 17e review, regards the iPhone 16/Plus models as overshadowed by the strong iPhone 17 lineup — even for budget buyers:

I suspect Apple is on the cusp of completely moving away from the strategy of selling two- and three-year-old iPhones at lower prices, and updating their entire lineup with annual speed bumps.

It would be hard for the finance and operations teams, guided by Tim Cook hand, to give up that bonus margin from selling years-old products. But the extra manufacturing capacity, bulk component pricing, and simplified sales flow should soften the blow.

My favorite review so far of the MacBook Neo has been from Tyler Stalman. He really shows off how impressively powerful that little laptop is by simultaneously opening every single app and then testing his video editing workflow in Final Cut Pro. And it’s totally workable, even with only 8GB of RAM!

I’ve finally perfected my Songlinker shortcut to easily share song.link and album.link URLs! They’re nicer URLs with links out to all the music services and YouTube — a more considerate way to share music links.

It took diving into the API rather than trying to parse and match text from the webpage. 😅

Joseph arrived ready to learn and soaked up everything I taught. He was able to dial in great technique from the start and will be ready for even bigger ice flows next time! Always a great day out when you’re with a stoked guest. 🤘

Re: MacBook Neo; @gruber@mastodon.social noted it’s the first A-series product with two USB ports, and that it was a technical challenge:

But on the other hand, the Neo is the first product with an A-series chip that Apple has ever made that supports two USB ports.1 It was, I am reliably informed by Apple product marketing folks, a significant engineering achievement to get a second USB port at all on the MacBook Neo while basing it on the A18 Pro SoC.

However, I think the 1st-gen Studio Display actually holds that title. It had an A13 chip, and featured a Thunderbolt 3 and three USB-C ports.

Sean Hollister, theverge.com: ‘Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out’

Last week, my colleagues discovered that Superhuman’s Grammarly had turned me into an AI editor, using my real name, without ever asking my permission. They did the same to my boss Nilay Patel, my colleagues David Pierce and Tom Warren, and — as Wired initially reported last Wednesday — many authors far more famous than us. Grammarly’s new “Expert Review” feature uses our names to give its AI suggestions credibility that they don’t deserve.

That’s super gross, Grammarly. 🤮

The Color Czar approves! From Jason Snell’s MacBook Neo review on, appropriately, Six Colors:

Yes, there’s a standard silver that will allow the Neo to blend in with almost every other MacBook out there. Indigo is a somewhat lighter cousin to the Midnight MacBook Air, a dark blue that will satisfy those who prefer their devices to be on the darker side. The more interesting choices are blush, which adds a pink pop to the traditional silvery MacBook look, and citrus, a bright yellow gold that’s undoubtedly the most aggressive laptop color Apple has made since the days of the tangerine iBook.