Apple seems to be on a streak of really questionable decisions regarding the App Store and the developer’s community in general that will take years for them before they can say: oh gosh, we fucked up. But it might be too late when they do because developers will be doing their things elsewhere. I’m looking for the day Apple more openly admits it is doing wrong.

Must Have Public Mental Health Disclaimer

I’ve been reflecting on blogrolls deeply in recent days and started writing an article on that subject. While doing so, an idea came up and I decided to write something that I think anyone who builds and shares a blogroll should add on it as an introduction. I’m reproducing it here.

This is my blogroll. This is a list of blogs that I visit often for different reasons. If you are a blogger and you don’t see your blog in this list, don’t be sad or offended. But I want to say that I’m sorry if you feel that way. Now, why not get in touch with me and share about your blog. I love to discover new things. hello@numericcitizen.me

Never Tamper Someone's Desire for Creative Tools

My wife gave me a surprisingly mildly negative reaction this morning when I shared with her my intention of getting a Nikon Zf mirrorless camera before going to Croatia this summer. Not because it’s not the best camera for this situation, no, because I already own an iPhone 15 Pro Max and a Nikon D750. 😩 But, I could get rid of my D750 or keep it but bring the Zf with me instead. I find it a bit sad that someone can put a break on someone else’s desire for creative tools. I’ll talk to her tonight after work.

The future doesn't belong to optimists or pessimists. It does what it wants. Here's what's plausible to me: Apple has a lot of brains, brand loading and market power... So AVP will find its place. To me, this didn't change everything. The iPhone had that effect. On top of that, the device doesn't have the usual Apple fetish character. It doesn't say "You want this, don't you?" **It doesn't make you look good and part of a cool tribe. From outside makes you look confused, foolish and sad.**

Oliver Reichenstein writing about his experience with the Apple Vision Pro. Emphasis is mine.

When my sons got old enough, I offered them their first email address on Gmail. That made them happy. They didn’t have an iPhone to use it but they could sit down in front of a computer and start writing emails. I wonder if I came up with an empty but ready-to-use blog if they would react the same? Probably not.

AI Training: Ethics or Coverage?

Some authors on the internet are against using their content without permission to train the models behind generative AI. As a blogger, this question often comes to my mind. On one hand, I believe that training without permission poses an ethical issue. I am unsure if we have genuinely addressed this question as a society. On the other hand, I question the danger of many authors wanting to silence their voices by blocking the training process to access their online content. Now more than ever, I feel that all voices are essential in ensuring that model training reflects our diversity as much as possible. I don’t want bots and haters to win the race. We, as authors, need to offer resistance. I’m not sure how this challenge will be solved, if ever.

One Big Regret of My Digital Life

One of the things I regret the most is not having had the idea of creating a blog in the 90s (and keeping it until today). Surprisingly, I learned about HTML, web servers like Apache and Netscape when it became popular1. I didn’t click with the idea of owning a small portion of the Internet to share what I was becoming at that time. What a missed opportunity.

  1. It’s not exactly true. I used to have and maintain a website about a subject that I still find fascinating: meteorology, circa 1994. ↩︎