Here’s a project (another 🤦🏻‍♂️😵‍💫) that I’d like to work on. I’m curious about the impacts of AI tools in our lives. In fact, I’m more fascinated by their impacts and the debates they generate than the power of the tools themselves. I’d like to spend time learning about these tools, document myself about them and forge my own take on them and their potential impacts on our lives. I’d like to work on it at the university-level research (not post-graduate, but bachelor degree-level would be a good challenge).

We used to be excited about new iOS releases, weren’t we? Even for small bug fixes releases like iOS 16.5 today, we would be drooling about any small improvements or additions to what constitutes the logic that brings the iPhone experience to life! The excitement over the slow progress bar on a black screen he behind us.

Apple's Headset — Alarming or Not?

A recent report on Apple’s upcoming headset:

Key figures including software chief Craig Federighi have also kept their distance from the headset during its development and have seemed wary of it. Apple’s senior vice president for hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, is believed to privately be a skeptic of the device, comparing it to a science project. He has warned that designing the high-performance chips that the headset requires could distract from new iPhone chips that drive more revenue. Source: Report: Apple Executives Cautious of Mixed-Reality Headset Amid Compromises - MacRumors

Everything will be fine, right? If Mr. Srouji is skeptical because the current product is too far from the original vision, I wouldn’t call this alarming. But overall, the signals coming out of these reports aren’t encouraging either. Is Apple headed in a bad direction?

On Android Switchers Coming in Drove to the iPhone

Report reveals Android users switching to iPhone at 5-year high

15% of new iPhone owners report having an Android device as their last smartphone. That’s a 4% increase from what CIRP saw last year, and 5% higher than the data seen in 2020 and 2021.

The last time new Android switchers made up 15% of new iPhone buyers – according to CIRP – was back in 2018. The highest rate of switchers in the last nine years was 21% back in 2016.

The market is full of previously-owned iPhones for sale. You can find used iPhones from 2 to 3 years ago at reasonable prices these days. People who were using an Android phone probably can now afford to buy an iPhone much cheaper than a brand-new one. Moreover, according to this chart, iPhones from the last few years can still run the latest releases of iOS with most of the features available. It’s very tempting for switchers. This is how I would explain this phenomenon. The study covers the US market. The dynamics might be different in other parts of the world.

One question: what percentage of iPhone owners who buy a new iPhone are returning their iPhone to Apple to get a credit instead of selling their iPhone themselves?

Pocket’s new features make it even easier to discover and organize content | The Mozilla Blog:

Pocket is rolling out a new mobile and web experience so you can easily find the stories and topics you care about

and

Moving forward, Pocket on iOS will be updated every two weeks. In the next few months, we’ll be bringing back the ability to create and view highlights on your saved articles, improving the quality of the articles that we recommend to you, and bringing additional functionality to our Listen feature, through which you can listen to your saved articles.

Is Pocket being “rebooted”? I recently closed my Pocket account because I didn’t use it much. This renewed interest in its platform by its owner won’t make a difference. Inoreader + Anybox are meeting my needs.

Is NATO Prolonging War in Ukraine?

Found on Reddit:

NATO has always pandered to Putin, says former officer Samantha de Bendern. “If we’re gonna help Ukraine, we have to go in and help them with as much as we can as fast as we can. Drip feeding weapons is what’s prolonging the war”

Indeed. I cannot see how, today, NATO could be more involved in the Ukrainian conflict. Politically it’s a big challenge to put boots on the ground.

On Photomator 😍

Currently using Photomator for a small project. I love this piece of software. I bought it for 99CAN$ for a lifetime purchase. I prefer Photomator design in general when editing a photo. It’s more approachable to me. Editing with masks is super easy to use, and it creates great results. The Mac version was the one last piece of the puzzle missing. Now we get the full picture (pun intended).

It makes me wonder if I will ever get out of the Adobe subscription trap. The one missing piece from Photomator is the library management. I cannot rely on iCloud Photos Library for this.

This wasn’t a review, obviously. Just a glimpse of my enthusiasm for this great Mac app.