Om Malik on Threads capabilities in regards to sharing and consuming photo content: Threads, Twitter, & Social Photos

The design is particularly conducive to viewing photos. The white space, the way the photos are rendered, and the styling of photo collections enhance the overall presentation. The vibe on Threads is the polar opposite. Even John Gruber, a long-time critic of Facebook, has been vocal in his appreciation of this new product from the same company. It’s surprising to see him overlooking the poor privacy-related track record of the Facebook family.

and

Still, Threads offers photos and photographers a second chance to find a home beyond a dying Instagram.

I deeply respect Mr. Malik😒, but there is zero chance that fancy web design will erase Meta’s business practices and business model. I refuse to consider Threads as an alternative to Instagram. It’s a matter of time before Threads becomes another Instagram-type platform. Just wait for it. Now, excuse me, I have some photos to post on Glass and Pixelfed. Thank you. 😜

Has putting Apple silicon in the iPad set unrealistic expectations?

The Mac feels too much like a computer that has felt too overwhelming and the iPad is like the smartphone they have already been using.

At some point in the more or less distant future, the iPad form factor will take over. Just like cars took over trucks a long time ago. Just like most people use a smartphone as their main computer or as their only computer, the iPad will eventually be regarded as “a real computer”, the only computer, if people are willing to add something on top of their iPhone. One day.

I’m spending way too much time designing the layout of my upcoming weekly creative summary😅. I decided to post it on my Ghost-based and share the document directly from Craft. It will be fun to see how it goes. 👀

This morning 🌅, inspired by @maique and @gr36, I decided to create a weekly summary of my creative work and everything that surrounds or supports it. It’s really fun to put together and helps have an introspection about the things I do and use. The first edition is going out this coming Sunday, Sept 3th, directly on Numeric Citizen Space1. Just one day before my birthday! 😃🎂🧁

  1. I will probably send it by email as a newsletter, too. So, if you prefer, subscribe now! ↩︎

Some of my Expectations for Apple’s Upcoming “Wonderlust” Event

This is going to be about the iPhone, mostly. The iPhone 15, to be more precise. Of course. Apple will probably talk a lot about the A17 because of its new 3nm manufacturing process, ensuring some battery power savings while bringing faster processing. This will be welcomed for an always-on display device since the iPhone 14 Pro performance in that respect is not as good as it used to be. Will the A17 be Bionic? Something else? I trust Apple’s marketing cracks about this.

The titanium finish on the Pro line, a first for the iPhone, but something the Apple Watch is already sporting, will get some attention too. Maybe more than the A17. I’m looking forward to it because I wouldn’t say I like the current finish on the iPhone 14 Pro1. I hate it, actually. Thanks to my iPhone case, it’s a non-issue. If the Apple invite is any indication of the upcoming titanium colour finish, I’m in love already!

But the star of the iPhone 15 show will be the Ultra with the periscope lens, bringing telephoto photography beyond the 3x optic possibilities for the first time. This is what I’m waiting for. I expect an Apple twist to it.

I expect some updates about the Apple Vision Pro2. Apple will probably talk3 about how excited developers are for the device and remind us about how it will change the world4. Something on the gaming front could be in the cards, too, thanks to the game porting toolkit introduced at the WWDC conference. Are Macs finally good at gaming? Is a software trick enough?

And then what else? The Apple Watch will get updates, but not the redesign we are starting to hear about for 2024. The Ultra 2 is probably not for me. But we will learn about it, for sure.

Macs? Crickets.

This is what I expect for the upcoming “Wonderlust” event.

  1. I hate the finish of my iPhone 13 Pro for that matter, too. Too glossy. To “chromy”. ↩︎

  2. I still think the “spacial computing” moniker should have been “spacial experience” instead. More approachable if you ask me. ↩︎

  3. Brag is probably a better term ↩︎

  4. For better or for worst ↩︎

Episode 02 — I’m an Iterative Type of Guy

While writing my next edition of the Friday Notes newsletter (#107), I realized that writing has never been a one-stretch thing for me. It takes countless writing iterations before getting things done. In this episode, I share my anxieties 😰 about writing in general ✍🏻. Plus, a few words about my expectations for the upcoming Apple Event “Wonderlust”! 👀

Links

Episode 02 — I’m an Iterative Type of Guy

Hi, this is Numeric Citizen and you are listening to the thoughts and tribulations of a compulsive creator podcast.

This is episode number two.

I am an iterative creator type of guy.

This week, I’m working on my next Friday Notes edition newsletter.

This is a newsletter that I started two years ago.

And it used to be a weekly newsletter, as the name implies.

And this is a newsletter that was inspired first by Monday Notes, which is a newsletter that used to be published by Jean-Louis Gasset, which is a former Apple employee and the founder of the Bee computer company back in the days.

And so I was inspired by this idea of creating a newsletter on a weekly basis.

And so instead of going the same way with the Monday Notes, I decided to go and set my schedule to be on the Friday Notes.

So I stopped, kind of reduced my publication pace because I couldn’t, I didn’t have enough inspiration and subjects to write about every week.

But I decided to keep it, to keep doing it.

And I’m number 100 in edition 107, but I’m doing it on a sporadic basis instead.

And the theme for this week’s edition was set a while ago, but the problem I have is I’m not the guy who is able to sit down at the computer and then write for an hour and get the thing done.

I’m more, I’m more in a piece by piece, a paragraph, one paragraph at a time type of guy.

And it’s, it’s really an iterative process.

Most of my writing results come from a iterative and somewhat endless process.

I wish I could write more easily, but it’s usually a set of disjoint ideas that eventually will form a coherent piece, but the time it takes for me to write a simple newsletter or an article on my blog, it’s way more than I think I should spend time on.

I’m not, I’m not sure if I am the only one who has this challenge, but it’s not, it’s not easy for me to sit down and I’m following a lot of bloggers who seem to write, like constantly writing all day, all night.

And, but I know they have a daytime job, but they can, they can put things out there so quickly that it’s, I’m kind of a feeling that, wow, what am I doing wrong for me to take so long to write a simple piece?

It usually starts in craft and ends up in Ulysses before being published.

And I’m always, I’m getting some help from Grammarly and ChatGPD, and also the macOS built-in dictionary and teaser feature.

Because of them, I think I can move faster a bit.

And I think my, my quality, my English quality is kind of a bit better.

As you know, maybe you don’t know, but I am a French Canadian.

So writing and thinking in English, for me, it’s not natural.

So I have to spend more time than maybe other bloggers or writers.

So yeah, that’s, that’s something that I’m stressing a lot about.

And when I’m, when I think I’m not good for commenting on time-sensitive events, like there is sometimes there’s the, the Apple events that happens a few times a year, and it takes me so long to put things together that by the time it gets published, all the attention moved elsewhere.

So I’m kind of always, I’m too late for the party each time.

So yeah, it’s, I wanted to share this with you guys, if you are listening.

And speaking of which, the Apple event for September of this year has been sent today, as I’m speaking earlier today.

And the Wanderlust name they gave to this, this year’s fall event, the invite has been sent.

I wasn’t invited.

I wonder why.

Maybe my English is not good enough.

I don’t know.

Yeah.

So I’m, I’m really looking forward for this event because first this year, I’m going to upgrade my two years old iPhone.

I have a iPhone 13 Pro and I will go with the Ultra this year.

If this is the name they decide to put on this iPhone, I’m going to the big phone.

It’s the first time I’ll be using the biggest phone.

And one of the reasons for that is to get the, the better telephoto lens and also a better battery life.

So yeah, I’m going to, I’m in for an upgrade this year.

I’m trying to skip a generation.

So yeah, that’s, that’s my year this year.

And I can’t wait for that to, to, to, to watch the, the event.

And also I’m expecting that we should get an updated version of the Apple Watch and the Ultra, the Series 9.

But I, I do expect to have an update on the Apple Vision Studio.

I think they will try to, to put a message that the developers are excited about this new platform.

So yeah, we should be getting an update about the Apple Vision and I can’t wait to see what they are going to talk about.

So yeah, this concludes the episode number two, already two episodes.

Don’t be shy and share your thoughts and comments on microblog, mastodon, or on blue sky, where this is cross-posted thanks to microblog’s cross-posting feature.

Thanks for listening and please, in this challenging world, in constant crisis and state of emergency, take care until the next episode.

Bye.

Waiting for the iPhone 15 Ultra

I’m really looking forward to the iPhone 15 Ultra👀. Coming from the iPhone 13 Pro, I skipped the 14 Pro1; I expect the camera improvements to be tangible. The telephoto lens could see the most significant improvements driving sales of the Ultra to new territories2. Using a periscope architecture, telephoto could jump from 3x to 6x or more. This could be the last thing that makes me sell my Nikon D7503. The softer and rounder edges and titanium finish might make this iPhone the best design of all time4. And, finally, USB-C will certainly simplify charging the damn thing! I wonder if I’ll still be able to use my Lightning Lavalier microphone using a Lightning-to-USB-C adaptor.🤔

It will be my first “Max” iPhone. Apparently, I’m on a stretch of going for the bigger screens5.

  1. I skip a generation to limit my consumerism habits. It’s an environmental issue here. ↩︎

  2. Kuo’s rumors about periscope lens. ↩︎

  3. I depend on a 70-200mm zoom on my Nikon which is very useful on a trip. ↩︎

  4. I still thing the best design was the matte black iPhone 7. ↩︎

  5. I recently upgraded from the 13-inch MacBook Air to a 15-inch version. ↩︎

Finally Settled on Blog Post Visual Attributes

After so many years of blogging, I think I have finally settled on the styling of each blog post. 😅 I like to emphasize key words with bold, making it easier to detect what this post is all about. Next is the use of emojis to make things a bit less serious and more approachable.🙂 Next is the selective use of Micro.blog’s post title for longer and more significant posts.1 😜 More recently, I started using footnotes because they add another dimension to the reading experience and are displayed in a nice popup on the site.2

  1. This blog post is such an example of using a title. ↩︎

  2. Footnotes are far easier to create in Ulysses than in the web interface, tough. ↩︎