An unexpected side-effect of the MacBook Neo release on my purchase plans is that going with an M5-MacBook Air, I would rather select a 13-inch format instead of the 15-inch, saving some money that I would rather put on more RAM, instead (24 GB or even 32 GB instead of 16 GB). I think 13-inch is the perfect size for a travel companion. I get the portability of the Neo but the power of the M5 chip. But, I’m not there yet. Still rather happy with my M2 15-inch MacBook Air.

Gruber’s reaction to Hacker News Discussion on Shubham Bose’s ‘The 49MB Web Page’:

One of the most controversial opinions I’ve long espoused, and believe today more than ever, is that it was a terrible mistake for web browsers to support JavaScript. Not that they should have picked a different language, but that they supported scripting at all. That decision turned web pages — which were originally intended as documents — into embedded computer programs.

It’s hard to imagine the web without JavaScript, only as a collection of static, linked documents served by essentially passive file servers.

A Little Rant about LinkedIn

Rant of the day: Why is Microsoft not caring about making the LinkedIn app a better app, a better mobile experience? Aren’t they using designers? UX specialists? Even AI? Aren’t they taking care of their brand and image? I mean, using this app on the iPad is such a displeasure.

If someone from Microsoft and / or LinkedIn responsible for this app: have tried it once for real on the iPad? Are you ok with this? Really? If you aren’t, and obviously cannot do anything about it, why are you still working there?

Rant off.

The iPad Pro on The Road for Office Work

Finally, I configured my personal iPad Pro with all my office tools. I certainly wish my job would allow me to use a Mac, but no.

The iPad is very good in this scenario with all the M365 apps (bleh). Battery life is 20 times better than my HP laptop, without the always-on noisy fans. I understand this device is way more powerful than the MacBook Neo, much more compact, three times more expensive for an inferior software experience. That is quite a paradox.

Today, I’m going to the administrative head office, a three-hour drive, using the office’s business bus, specially designed for workers on the road (sure, the Corporation wants always-productive employees!).

Life of an IT worker.

The iPhone 5 and the MacBook Neo

One of the best iPhone design, the iPhone 5, is now obsolete for Apple, which means is no longer serviceable. It was one of my favorite design of all the iPhone partly because of the tech context it was living. But iOS 6 on this was pure beauty.

As a side note, it’s funny to see reviews of the MacBook Neo where none of them mention macOS as being part of the machine. What makes a Mac is not only the hardware, but the software. I guess tech pundits had to exclude macOS from the equation. Or is it because the Neo design is so unique, so enchanting that the software story has to be sidelined?

I’m so anxious for Apple to fix macOS.

★ Squashing:

The Alan Dye leaving for Meta thing, that was unexpected, and, to some degree, turbulent. But I have yet to speak to a single person within Apple, nor a single UI designer outside Apple, who thinks it’s anything but good news for Apple that Dye jumped ship for Meta. Not just that Dye is a fraud of a UI designer. Not just that he and his inner circle have vandalized MacOS, the crown jewel of human-computer interaction. Not just that he and his team are given — or have taken — credit for innovative, high-quality work on VisionOS that really belongs to the interaction team Mike Rockwell put together for VisionOS. Not just that Dye left Apple for a rival company, period — something unheard of amongst Apple’s bleed-in-six-colors executive ranks. But that he left for Meta, of all fucking companies? That’s the proof that Dye (and his urban cowboy magazine-designer cohort) never belonged at Apple in the first place.

Ouch.

It’s uncertain whether Apple will keep Liquid Glass unchanged in iOS 27, and it’s premature to conclude. The latest iOS 27 build reportedly doesn’t update Liquid Glass, so no definitive judgment should be made. If iOS 27 is a Snow Leopard release, significant UI changes are unlikely. Gurman should be better than that.