This week during a work meeting with my office colleagues, one of them was using a “remarkable” tablet to take notes. I was sitting right next to him and could see the tablet in action. I must say I was impressed. It’s certain that a “remarkable” tablet offers very limited functionality compared to an iPad, but it raises the following question: Should Apple consider going back to creating single-purpose devices? For example, the iPhone killed the iPod, but I think if Apple re-entered the market with a new line of iPods, it would be very popular. Continue reading →

This whole Apple Car didn’t make any sense to me. It’s not Apple. A car is not a personal device. A personal device is a phone. A computer. Or a bike. One positive byproduct of this car journey is probably the birth of CarPlay 2.0, which was probably worked within the Apple Car project. But then, what else? AI? Maybe. I’m reading that the AI portion of the project will be folded into the other AI team(s) within Apple. Continue reading →

💡 Today, I want to share the newest addition to my digital publishing space: my metablog, hosted on Micro.blog. This isn’t entirely new; another version is already in place, but it is hosted as a series of Craft-shared documents. What I’m sharing today is hosted on Micro.blog using the recently introduced increase in the number of blogs you can have with a single premium account1. From this migration, my metablog will gain RSS feed support, enable POSSE, and be closer to my online community here on Micro. Continue reading →

It’s Sunday, and you know the drill: it’s time to share my latest edition of the weekly creative summary. It’s mostly complete, so this week’s edition partially follows the “build in public” movement. I wonder if I should start sharing the document at the beginning of the process so that you can see the whole creation process as I’m working on the current edition. What do you think? I’ve been doing these summaries since last September and enjoy putting them together. Continue reading →

We let Putin’s regime invade Ukraine in 2014, and we did nothing. In 2022, Ukraine and the world, to a certain degree, paid the price of our inaction by letting Putin’s criminals do it again, but on a much larger scale. Today marks a sad anniversary and reminds us how costly our hesitation in providing what Ukraine really needs to make a dent in this conflict. I feel sorry for the Ukrainians, and I feel frustrated by our slow and timid reactions. Continue reading →

As I wrote earlier today, I’ve been wondering about a possible use case for Scribbles1. It took me about 5 minutes to get my idea, and it is called Blips, Numeric Citizen Blips, to be more precise2. Blips will enable me to share… short blips of my digital life. I should be fun, noisy at times. But not too much. Enjoy. Or not. 🙃 Straightforward blogging service that is absolutely a joy to use. Continue reading →

I have been a happy user of Apple Safari for the last decade. If possible, I prefer using Apple’s browser, thanks to its privacy protection and features. If something doesn’t work in Safari, I will try Firefox. I’ll do everything possible to skip Google Chrome. I use Microsoft Edge because of its integration with Microsoft 365 at work. But Safari is never too far, just in case. It’s now my fall-back plan. Continue reading →

When I look at the Apple Vision Pro, I see a device with many software and hardware technologies that Apple took years to create, develop and refine. They did it in plain sight with the iPhone, the iPad and the Mac. Each of these devices played a significant role as a test bed for what would come next, a portion of what we can find in the Vision Pro. I can see many examples: windows management introduced on the iPad via the Stage Manager paved the way for window management on the Vision Pro, Three-dimensional and object placement in an augmented reality view in the Apple Store app when placing a virtual Mac on a physical desk, LiDAR Scanner with FaceID paved the way to Personas, continuity on all Apple OSes, and so much more set the playground for a robust ecosystem that takes all its meaning in the Vision Pro. Continue reading →

I just completed recording my next YouTube video (my YouTube channel), which will come out early next week. It’s probably the one I’m the most proud of at many levels. The release will match the release of a new version of an app that I like a lot 🤫. Technically, the sound is good. I’me using Bezels to demo the app on the iPad and the iPhone, a first for me. Continue reading →

Of all people who reviewed or are now active users of the Apple Vision Pro, some are mentioning, rightfully, that this is not about AR1 but 95% about VR2. Apple doesn’t want to admit it, but this is a VR headset. Why is that? Is is because it is “easier”3 to recreate something from the ground up (the virtual world enabled by visionOS) than taking the reality and adding meaningful and useful stuff to it? Continue reading →

I’m wondering about this upcoming Micro.blog “big new feature” quite often. What new feature could require its own section on the left sidebar? What could mandate the release of companion apps on iOS and Android? Let’s try to think about it for a minute. So, MB already covers text (as blog posts), more generic content (as pages), photos, books, newsletters, and podcasts. What’s missing here? Videos? Movies? Something else? Could Podcast be more explicitly exposed where the Transcript section becomes Podcast? Continue reading →

I have this thought right now as I’m watching the first reviews of the Apple Vision Pro: it is utterly fascinating to see all the basic technological elements (both hardware and software1) that are at play here and put together in this headset. Besides a product still looking for its use cases, I find this product to be the most ambitious one to be launched by Apple to date. Bravo for trying. Continue reading →

Choose your subdomain name1. 2) Create a CNAME pointing to it2. 3) Switch to your full custom domain. 4) Write content3. 5) Install a few plugins4. 6) Create pages in the navigation structure to organize content5. 7) Create page footer6. Voilà. 🔥 abc.micro.blog (must be unique to Micro.blog). ↩︎ Done on your Domain name provider, not on Micro.blog. Must point to abc.micro.blog. ↩︎ Markdown supported. Insert images using Uploads and “Copy HTML” option, then paste into page. Continue reading →

Numerous applications and services now incorporate AI features. For instance, consider Notion Q&A or Raycast AI. Companies view this as an opportunity to boost revenue by offering these additional features for a fee. However, I recently pondered the possibility that if Apple integrates generative AI into Siri, as rumored for iOS 18, they may not charge for it. This could give Apple a significant advantage, as the revenue from iPhone sales could cover the associated costs. Continue reading →

The notion of “avoiding vendors lock-in” in information technology is interesting. I would argue that it’s impossible to completely be without some sort of vendor lock-in1. At some point, there is always a required commitment level. You commit to open-source software. You commit to a cloud vendor. You commit to a platform. I often give the example of a company building an application internally with a team of developers. In that scenario, the company is committing to something: the application, the data tied to it and its operational model. Continue reading →

Following the publication of “What If” by Maique, an avid blogger on Micro.blog, his post prompted me to write my own. But before, here’s a summary of his post (thanks ChatGPT): Micro.blog has been hosting maique.eu for years, but there have been some technical issues. Despite some annoyances, the community and features make it worth the cost. However, there are also cons such as lack of proper notifications and support. Continue reading →

I just visited the photography challenge site GuruShots, where I used to play quite a lot a few years ago. I even wrote a few articles about this game ("GuruShots Tips, Tricks and Cheat Sheet","Tips & Tricks 2021 Edition, Part 1", “Tips & Tricks 2021 Edition, Part 2” and “How to Become a Guru at GuruShots”). I had a friend who was playing with me. He still does. Apparently, he is so advanced that there is only one explanation: he has a serious addiction. Continue reading →

If Mark Gurman is correct, the rumored sale process for the Apple Vision Pro is rather complex and lengthy. Watching a 20-minute video to learn about a product indicates many things: Apple is nervous, and the product has a novel approach requiring potential customers’ education or training so that they fully “get the experience” before deciding to put the money on the table. Also, I guess someone willing to pay the high price merits some special attention, too. Continue reading →

As reported by MacRumors, Apple will have 80K Apple Vision Pro available on day one. Now, how many scheduled demos can Apple provide to customers in the first ten days of the availability of the Apple Vision Pro? Let’s try to find out. 243 Apple Store will have the headset. Let’s say there are 6 six guys in the store dedicated to supervising scheduled demonstrations. Could be more, could be less and might vary from store to store. Continue reading →

I’ve extensively used Apple TV (the physical device), Apple TV+ and the Apple TV app during the holidays to play music, videos, movies and series. One thing is clear: tvOS 17 is a regression in terms of usability, for me anyway. I especially don’t like the new left sidebar in the TV app. Navigating back to the home screen is cumbersome, requiring too many “<” back clicks. I often wonder if I’m in the Apple TV app or the Apple TV+ service. Continue reading →