I really like how the newer keyboard feels. Yes there's absolutely some fun to typing on a big old clacking keyboard with a long draw, but I find that flatter low travel keyboards are quicker to type on.
So the thinness DOES have function. Now it may be the case that you can't have a reliable keyboard that thin, but I think we have yet to prove out that theory since Apple keeps iterating and the keyboard keeps improving... and even though there are a number of people who have seen issues, I know a lot of people with the newer keyboard who have not.
the reviewers went into paroxysms of ecstacy about how thin it was
Really, who? I recall seeing zero reviews praising that aspect of the keyboard - just the overall thinness of the laptop itself.
We have a lot of recessed overhead lighting in our house, that uses rose larger flood bulbs.
I have switched to LED bulbs for other purposes, but for the overhead fill lighting I've never been able to find a good LED replacement. The main problem is that they are pretty much all way, way too directional - they shine very brightly down instead of filling an area.
Eventually they may get there with good fill lighting but until then they need to keep the standard bulbs, it's not like the go out rapidly.
How is this forced? You could keep using the current version of Xcode for quite a while.
In fact even after upgrading, nothing says you have to move to Swift 5 - you can keep compiling against the older Swift versions, and upgrade when it makes sense to you.
I've been using the beta version of Xcode off and on, and it didn't seem to break anything - I was able to compile my existing projects just fine with no changes.
Pretty sure it's actually back to iOS10 in fact... If I may ask, why do you stick with iOS7? That is a curious choice. There's a lot of benefit from newer OS versions, and they don't even include anything older than iOS9 on most iOS version share trackers I have seen...
Various versions of iOS 10 - 12 are around 90% of iOS users.
It's great that Swift has finally got ABI compatibility, the main benefit to start it an easier time distributing frameworks that can be dynamically loaded.
Another great aspect of Swift 5 is that you can still build apps all the way back to iOS 11 (maybe earlier). So you can still convert apps to use the latest Swift without worrying about excluding users that prefer to wait for a while before upgrading (though the practical reality is that after a year, almost all iOS users have upgraded).
One interesting change that happened with Swift 5 is that it switched internally from storing Strings as UTF-16, to UTF-8 - it helps performance and bridging to languages like C.
How can we possibly spin this news as bad... oh I've got it, claim that obviously that since the water temperature also lowered it must mean that water temperature and glacial retreat are strongly linked!
What's that you say the water would have to get warm again to cause a problem? Shh!!
Important life lesson for people: If someone claims everything is bad, they are often wrong about everything.
Between the two, I'm probably more excited about Stadia, though I honestly doubt I'll sign up for either,
I would as well...
An interesting point of difference as well - for Stadia the developer assumes all of the risk of converting a game to run under Stadia. I assume it has a PC base but even so that is not zero effort.
Meanwhile Apple is paying all of these game developers to make the games for Apple's service. I'm sure they also get a cut of service revenue depending on how many people play, but they have much less downside than a developer moving to support Stadia...
One more quibble, is that Stadia can't really display at full quality on everything, because it's limited by the display and network connection you are playing with. Even if the back-end is always running at full quality, you yourself may not be seeing the full effect of that. I wonder if that will cause some issues given some games optimize particular resolutions, whereas a 4K display just scaled down to a 1080p display would look different and maybe lose some detail they could have protected with a real 1080p rendering from the game.
I'd say their big competition will be Disney streaming and Netflix and... Netflix despite their strong position I see in more of a longterm downward trend from here.
Why do you see Netflix heading downhill from here? I'd agree if Netflix were spending less on content but every year they spend quite a lot more, I think they are spending way more than Apple! To me the Netflix content just keeps getting better and broader. They are starting to put out movies that are seriously more interesting than most general release movies I see previews for.
After some thought, I don't think Apple is really even competing against Netflix or Amazon. To me what Apple is offering seems a lot more like HBO (right down to a Sesame Street offering!). I think Apple might be better off than HBO but I'm not sure as even with GOT ending, HBO has some strong properties left.
They show the exact same game running on an iPad, iPhone, TV, and MacBook. And you're supposed to be able to seamlessly switch between each platform, moving the same game between them, just like Stadia does.
So what's the problem believing that? They already do this today, really well, with iCloud syncing of save game content between an iPad and iPhone for example.
Apple gets flak for some services being unreliable but iCloud sync has been really reliable, and fast, for me.
It's only a tiny bit more work for games to able to run on AppleTV from other iOS devices, it's still IOS - since they don't really use UIKit at all. Moving to the Mac is similarly very easy as well, with a compatibility layer - all the real work is done by the GPU of any given system, and Metal is much the same across all those platforms (or at least most of it is).
And the only way you can pull that off is with streaming.
Simply not true, syncing game state in save files is a totally legit way to do it. I wouldn't say it would be AS seamless as streaming, but for most games very close and really more than close enough.
Apple seems to be desperate. Launching so many services with either paid subscriptions or captive market models in an attempt to gain revenue.
Although I agree it's an attempt to gain revenue, to me it makes sense to launch these all together since they are in a way competing for the same space.
This is just like how Netflix was saying the real competition they had was simply for attention. Apple is launching News+, TV+, and Arcade all together because they are all facets of ways people spend time, Apple is trying to do what they do best in any space - offer a really premium experience. If you like to read news, how about a way to do that with no ads? If you like TV, here's.... well an HBO clone (was going to say Netflix but after some thought the efforts Apple has are not broad enough to compete with Netflix properly) with a bunch of big Hollywood names who have not been arrested yet to hopefully lure you in.
You like to spend time on games? How about a bunch of really unique games you can throw time in on whenever, on whatever Apple device you have handy.
To me it's a simple extension of what they already do with hardware and other things like photography. It makes a ton of sense to launch them all together - the only one that was kind of strange to include was the Apple Card, probably would have been better to wait until it was ready to go. But I guess there they want to phase people in via mailing list.
That was a pretty good onion article - it's why my Apex Legends score is one victory, one loss, and shall probably stay that way. Only sharply downhill from there.
A plethora of awesome single player focused games I can spend 30 minuets on? Yes please!
One of the first times I agree with you. Thanks for being honest this time.
If you look deep enough, you'll find I am honest 100% of the time... it's just that other times you may disagree with my findings or my preferences.:-)
If you watch this part of the announcement video, I thought that almost all of the games they were hinting at (not enough to call a preview) looks really interesting. I love the idea of a service that helps support alternative game ideas that simply cannot make money from in-app purchases or subscriptions on their own, to me having a field of potential games all with very unique gameplay is really exciting.
An interesting side note is they mentioned all of these games would work on an AppleTV as well, so I assume that means they will all mandate controller support to make that really possible.
My only gripe is we have to wait until fall to see the service arrive, it will mean a pretty good selection at launch though as I'm sure they'll be promoting this to game developers at WWDC this year to produce more content for.
I wasn't expecting an announcement like this about games but I was really happy to see it.
So basically this is what Google just announced in Stadia
Actually it's the opposite.
Not just because it's IOS only (though Apple TV is included). No, because these games are all playable offline (in fact they even through a little shade at Google during this segment by saying unlike streaming games you could play these with no network connection).
It also means a much more stable experience though, that is truly portable - Stadia doesn't seem like a thing that would work well outside a really strong wifi connection and would eat your mobile plan for lunch.
My friend wants the Apple Card and justifies getting yet another credit card by saying that the average American has five credit cards. He only has one.
That's actually a really good reason. What if one is stolen? It's great to have a backup.
It also improves your credit score to have another account open, even if he never uses it.
Sounds like he's pretty smart about this, you should not ridicule him.
There's one more big one to come (Apple Arcade), Slashdot seems to be spreading out the stories a bit so as not to flood the feed all at once. Apple had a busy morning, for announcing things you cannot get anytime soon...
The missing part of the summary is that the Apple "TV" app (distinguished from the Apple TV hardware), is going to be going into a bunch of smart TV's, but also Roku and Amazon TV hardware.
So you'll be able to see this content on pretty much anything (also iOS).
Only thing I'm not sure of, as if there will be an Android app... I would say, probably.
I'm not sure about this effort, one of the few things of all the shows and collaborations they announced that seemed at all appealing was the Spielberg bringing back "Amazing Stories".
To me all the big names is kind of a turn off. Not only did that part go on FOREVER and was way to thick on the celebrity worship for my tastes, but to me the bigger names just seem devoid of really interesting ideas, I feel like I have got a lot more unique and interesting content from Netflix.
I wish them luck, but it's a pretty rough field to be launching a new TV service into, what with both Netflix and Amazon hammering out new shows at a prodigious rate.
I'm just wondering why apple, a technology company, needs to charge for information dressed up by others.
I see what you are saying now... I think in large part is because they honestly do want to forward a world where there can be reporting that is supported by something besides ads. That was a strong motivation for the other thing they announced, Apple Arcade...
I wonder if they want to make available, news that fits their ideology.
Sadly that is ALSO demonstrably true.:-( It would be great if Apple were also neutral on the content they would support, but it sure does not seem like they will be.
We all know people who are life-long learners, who have changed what they do successfully mid-life and go on to great success.
How could any of that really be possible if it was not possible to essentially re-wire your brain?
What I do think it true is that if you don't keep a focus on learning, on creating new connections, that like the rest of your body the brain can start to become rigid and inflexible and maybe truly loses the ability to create new neurons. But it's not true for everyone and just like even modest exercise helps the body, a modest amount of learning can keep the brain pliable.
However, in my decades of credit card usage, I've never paid a late fee>
Neither have I but I know credit card companies make a bundle on various fees. That's why I say the Apple Card is such an awesome product, it's not that it changes my life much in terms of card use, but I think it could overall help a ton of people out from being skimmed by credit card companies, all of the people who sometimes pay late (which I don't) or those people who carry a balance (which I almost never do).
In a way it's almost an educational tool about using credit cards because it displays so much information so clearly about what is going on. It's a bit like letting everyone have a fancy business card with improved visualization features, but also training them how much interest really affects what they truly pay, and encouraging them to pay more often to reduce it...
I honesty believe it will be a transformational product, in that it will affect how other credit card companies do business eventually. It will force some movement for the better in an industry that has hardly changed in decades.
To me, the Apple Card was by far the best new product they announced today... followed closely by Apple Arcade.
I have to say, I don't read Apple News much today, and Apple Plus interests me even less being a glorified magazine stand.
Not only that, but it's mostly the crappy magazines you'd get in any of those mail offers that let you subscribe to a hundred magazines for a nickel or whatever.
Even the better ones they do have, like the WSJ, will not include all content (they said they'd not have the full science/technology section for example).
At least it is ad free, maybe that is enough to get market. But given how I can't be bothered to read magazines I already get in the mail I can't see spending money on this service. It's not like Apple Arcade or anything that is a must-have....
Slashdot Mirror
when appearance is prioritized over function.
That's not at all the case though.
I really like how the newer keyboard feels. Yes there's absolutely some fun to typing on a big old clacking keyboard with a long draw, but I find that flatter low travel keyboards are quicker to type on.
So the thinness DOES have function. Now it may be the case that you can't have a reliable keyboard that thin, but I think we have yet to prove out that theory since Apple keeps iterating and the keyboard keeps improving... and even though there are a number of people who have seen issues, I know a lot of people with the newer keyboard who have not.
the reviewers went into paroxysms of ecstacy about how thin it was
Really, who? I recall seeing zero reviews praising that aspect of the keyboard - just the overall thinness of the laptop itself.
We have a lot of recessed overhead lighting in our house, that uses rose larger flood bulbs.
I have switched to LED bulbs for other purposes, but for the overhead fill lighting I've never been able to find a good LED replacement. The main problem is that they are pretty much all way, way too directional - they shine very brightly down instead of filling an area.
Eventually they may get there with good fill lighting but until then they need to keep the standard bulbs, it's not like the go out rapidly.
Oh sweet, another forced Xcode upgrade
How is this forced? You could keep using the current version of Xcode for quite a while.
In fact even after upgrading, nothing says you have to move to Swift 5 - you can keep compiling against the older Swift versions, and upgrade when it makes sense to you.
I've been using the beta version of Xcode off and on, and it didn't seem to break anything - I was able to compile my existing projects just fine with no changes.
Pretty sure it's actually back to iOS10 in fact... If I may ask, why do you stick with iOS7? That is a curious choice. There's a lot of benefit from newer OS versions, and they don't even include anything older than iOS9 on most iOS version share trackers I have seen...
Various versions of iOS 10 - 12 are around 90% of iOS users.
It's great that Swift has finally got ABI compatibility, the main benefit to start it an easier time distributing frameworks that can be dynamically loaded.
Another great aspect of Swift 5 is that you can still build apps all the way back to iOS 11 (maybe earlier). So you can still convert apps to use the latest Swift without worrying about excluding users that prefer to wait for a while before upgrading (though the practical reality is that after a year, almost all iOS users have upgraded).
One interesting change that happened with Swift 5 is that it switched internally from storing Strings as UTF-16, to UTF-8 - it helps performance and bridging to languages like C.
Glaciers growing again?
Ocean cooler than predicted by a lot?
How can we possibly spin this news as bad... oh I've got it, claim that obviously that since the water temperature also lowered it must mean that water temperature and glacial retreat are strongly linked!
What's that you say the water would have to get warm again to cause a problem? Shh!!
Important life lesson for people: If someone claims everything is bad, they are often wrong about everything.
Between the two, I'm probably more excited about Stadia, though I honestly doubt I'll sign up for either,
I would as well...
An interesting point of difference as well - for Stadia the developer assumes all of the risk of converting a game to run under Stadia. I assume it has a PC base but even so that is not zero effort.
Meanwhile Apple is paying all of these game developers to make the games for Apple's service. I'm sure they also get a cut of service revenue depending on how many people play, but they have much less downside than a developer moving to support Stadia...
One more quibble, is that Stadia can't really display at full quality on everything, because it's limited by the display and network connection you are playing with. Even if the back-end is always running at full quality, you yourself may not be seeing the full effect of that. I wonder if that will cause some issues given some games optimize particular resolutions, whereas a 4K display just scaled down to a 1080p display would look different and maybe lose some detail they could have protected with a real 1080p rendering from the game.
I'd say their big competition will be Disney streaming and Netflix and... Netflix despite their strong position I see in more of a longterm downward trend from here.
Why do you see Netflix heading downhill from here? I'd agree if Netflix were spending less on content but every year they spend quite a lot more, I think they are spending way more than Apple! To me the Netflix content just keeps getting better and broader. They are starting to put out movies that are seriously more interesting than most general release movies I see previews for.
After some thought, I don't think Apple is really even competing against Netflix or Amazon. To me what Apple is offering seems a lot more like HBO (right down to a Sesame Street offering!). I think Apple might be better off than HBO but I'm not sure as even with GOT ending, HBO has some strong properties left.
They show the exact same game running on an iPad, iPhone, TV, and MacBook. And you're supposed to be able to seamlessly switch between each platform, moving the same game between them, just like Stadia does.
So what's the problem believing that? They already do this today, really well, with iCloud syncing of save game content between an iPad and iPhone for example.
Apple gets flak for some services being unreliable but iCloud sync has been really reliable, and fast, for me.
It's only a tiny bit more work for games to able to run on AppleTV from other iOS devices, it's still IOS - since they don't really use UIKit at all. Moving to the Mac is similarly very easy as well, with a compatibility layer - all the real work is done by the GPU of any given system, and Metal is much the same across all those platforms (or at least most of it is).
And the only way you can pull that off is with streaming.
Simply not true, syncing game state in save files is a totally legit way to do it. I wouldn't say it would be AS seamless as streaming, but for most games very close and really more than close enough.
Gives everybody six more months of nauseating hype before the disappointment. Call it the Apple *Mueller Report*.
Hey now, at least Apple will deliver something people can use.
Apple seems to be desperate. Launching so many services with either paid subscriptions or captive market models in an attempt to gain revenue.
Although I agree it's an attempt to gain revenue, to me it makes sense to launch these all together since they are in a way competing for the same space.
This is just like how Netflix was saying the real competition they had was simply for attention. Apple is launching News+, TV+, and Arcade all together because they are all facets of ways people spend time, Apple is trying to do what they do best in any space - offer a really premium experience. If you like to read news, how about a way to do that with no ads? If you like TV, here's.... well an HBO clone (was going to say Netflix but after some thought the efforts Apple has are not broad enough to compete with Netflix properly) with a bunch of big Hollywood names who have not been arrested yet to hopefully lure you in.
You like to spend time on games? How about a bunch of really unique games you can throw time in on whenever, on whatever Apple device you have handy.
To me it's a simple extension of what they already do with hardware and other things like photography. It makes a ton of sense to launch them all together - the only one that was kind of strange to include was the Apple Card, probably would have been better to wait until it was ready to go. But I guess there they want to phase people in via mailing list.
That was a pretty good onion article - it's why my Apex Legends score is one victory, one loss, and shall probably stay that way. Only sharply downhill from there.
A plethora of awesome single player focused games I can spend 30 minuets on? Yes please!
One of the first times I agree with you. Thanks for being honest this time.
If you look deep enough, you'll find I am honest 100% of the time... it's just that other times you may disagree with my findings or my preferences. :-)
Thanks for hunting down the link, I should have done that myself - I saw the names I listed mentioned in the video, so you can also find it there.
If you watch this part of the announcement video, I thought that almost all of the games they were hinting at (not enough to call a preview) looks really interesting. I love the idea of a service that helps support alternative game ideas that simply cannot make money from in-app purchases or subscriptions on their own, to me having a field of potential games all with very unique gameplay is really exciting.
An interesting side note is they mentioned all of these games would work on an AppleTV as well, so I assume that means they will all mandate controller support to make that really possible.
My only gripe is we have to wait until fall to see the service arrive, it will mean a pretty good selection at launch though as I'm sure they'll be promoting this to game developers at WWDC this year to produce more content for.
I wasn't expecting an announcement like this about games but I was really happy to see it.
So basically this is what Google just announced in Stadia
Actually it's the opposite.
Not just because it's IOS only (though Apple TV is included). No, because these games are all playable offline (in fact they even through a little shade at Google during this segment by saying unlike streaming games you could play these with no network connection).
It also means a much more stable experience though, that is truly portable - Stadia doesn't seem like a thing that would work well outside a really strong wifi connection and would eat your mobile plan for lunch.
My friend wants the Apple Card and justifies getting yet another credit card by saying that the average American has five credit cards. He only has one.
That's actually a really good reason. What if one is stolen? It's great to have a backup.
It also improves your credit score to have another account open, even if he never uses it.
Sounds like he's pretty smart about this, you should not ridicule him.
There's one more big one to come (Apple Arcade), Slashdot seems to be spreading out the stories a bit so as not to flood the feed all at once. Apple had a busy morning, for announcing things you cannot get anytime soon...
Will it be locked to Apple hardware?
The missing part of the summary is that the Apple "TV" app (distinguished from the Apple TV hardware), is going to be going into a bunch of smart TV's, but also Roku and Amazon TV hardware.
So you'll be able to see this content on pretty much anything (also iOS).
Only thing I'm not sure of, as if there will be an Android app... I would say, probably.
I'm not sure about this effort, one of the few things of all the shows and collaborations they announced that seemed at all appealing was the Spielberg bringing back "Amazing Stories".
To me all the big names is kind of a turn off. Not only did that part go on FOREVER and was way to thick on the celebrity worship for my tastes, but to me the bigger names just seem devoid of really interesting ideas, I feel like I have got a lot more unique and interesting content from Netflix.
I wish them luck, but it's a pretty rough field to be launching a new TV service into, what with both Netflix and Amazon hammering out new shows at a prodigious rate.
I'm just wondering why apple, a technology company, needs to charge for information dressed up by others.
I see what you are saying now... I think in large part is because they honestly do want to forward a world where there can be reporting that is supported by something besides ads. That was a strong motivation for the other thing they announced, Apple Arcade...
I wonder if they want to make available, news that fits their ideology.
Sadly that is ALSO demonstrably true. :-( It would be great if Apple were also neutral on the content they would support, but it sure does not seem like they will be.
LA Times isn't news?
Given the LA Times has over years refused to air video of Obama at a meeting with a bunch of known racists and terrorists, they are actually the opposite of news.
As the twitter saying goes, the role of modern journalism is to cover important stories - with a pillow, until they stop moving.
We all know people who are life-long learners, who have changed what they do successfully mid-life and go on to great success.
How could any of that really be possible if it was not possible to essentially re-wire your brain?
What I do think it true is that if you don't keep a focus on learning, on creating new connections, that like the rest of your body the brain can start to become rigid and inflexible and maybe truly loses the ability to create new neurons. But it's not true for everyone and just like even modest exercise helps the body, a modest amount of learning can keep the brain pliable.
However, in my decades of credit card usage, I've never paid a late fee>
Neither have I but I know credit card companies make a bundle on various fees. That's why I say the Apple Card is such an awesome product, it's not that it changes my life much in terms of card use, but I think it could overall help a ton of people out from being skimmed by credit card companies, all of the people who sometimes pay late (which I don't) or those people who carry a balance (which I almost never do).
In a way it's almost an educational tool about using credit cards because it displays so much information so clearly about what is going on. It's a bit like letting everyone have a fancy business card with improved visualization features, but also training them how much interest really affects what they truly pay, and encouraging them to pay more often to reduce it...
I honesty believe it will be a transformational product, in that it will affect how other credit card companies do business eventually. It will force some movement for the better in an industry that has hardly changed in decades.
To me, the Apple Card was by far the best new product they announced today... followed closely by Apple Arcade.
I have to say, I don't read Apple News much today, and Apple Plus interests me even less being a glorified magazine stand.
Not only that, but it's mostly the crappy magazines you'd get in any of those mail offers that let you subscribe to a hundred magazines for a nickel or whatever.
Even the better ones they do have, like the WSJ, will not include all content (they said they'd not have the full science/technology section for example).
At least it is ad free, maybe that is enough to get market. But given how I can't be bothered to read magazines I already get in the mail I can't see spending money on this service. It's not like Apple Arcade or anything that is a must-have....