Weeknote: 13 January 2024 – ask again from your iPhone

Just Press Record, Siri and Paku Paku

Published stuff

‘Based on a true story’, as they say in the movies, my Stuff column this week is I swapped an Amazon Echo for an Apple HomePod and found Siri is dumb as a rock. It’s sobering to see how far behind Apple is in basic conversational interactions with smart assistants. For Stuff, I also updated my best browser games piece, and have since hit the dizzy highs of 7954 on Paku Paku.

Over at TapSmart, the excellent Just Press Record was added to my classics series. More of those coming up over the next couple of months.

And for this blog, I wrote Pen computing didn’t fail – it just evolved into something else.

Upcoming stuff

More retro pieces on the way, because a certain mag has asked me to delve into the best bits from a trio of once-popular gadget makers. That should be fun.

Other stuff

CES came and went, and I for a second year in a row largely ignored it, bar reading coverage over on Stuff. But if you fancy reading a couple of previous pieces that have held up rather well: How smart-home technology at CES 2014 ushered in the end of the world (“You might have thought the Terminator looked tough on your TV screen, but you’ve not seen anything until you’ve experienced the sheer horror of Android-powered smart tweezers leaping at your face, screaming DEATH TO ALL HUMANS”) and The CES 2024 I want to see – and the one I’ll probably get (“This new curved display is so wide it’s actually a loop!”)

Natch, I probably should have foreseen ‘AI in everything’ for the second of those articles…

January 13, 2024. Read more in: Weeknotes

Comments Off on Weeknote: 13 January 2024 – ask again from your iPhone

Pen computing didn’t fail – it just evolved into something else

I recently spotted an interesting post by Benedict Evans on Threads. He argued people spent 20 years dreaming about pen computing, but now Apple has a flawless pen computer, it’s “pretty much useless for anything except actually drawing”. He therefore concludes: “Pen computing didn’t happen. I do wonder how far that is applicable to voice, natural language processing and chat bots – the fact they didn’t work was a trap, because even now that they do work, they might be a bad idea.”

I have a different take. If people did once dream ‘pen computing’ was the next step, it feels more like Apple subverted this by removing the need for a specific input device. Instead, you just use your fingers. ‘Pen computing’ became a subset of that, for people who needed more control and precision. Arguably, then, ‘pen computing’ is a massive success, because what it evolved into is how the majority of people use computers – that is, touchscreens on smartphones.

The takeaway here for me isn’t so much that Benedict is wrong nor that I’m right. It’s that you cannot predict the details of the next big thing. We don’t know with any certainty how things will play out, even when the broad brushstrokes become obvious and later largely come to pass.

So with voice, will it work? Quite possibly. But not necessarily in the specific ways we currently imagine it will.

January 13, 2024. Read more in: Opinions, Technology

1 Comment

Weeknote: 6 January 2024 – whiplash

Amazon messages

Published stuff

My first column of the year for Stuff: The latest Amazon Prime update brings TV kicking and screaming back to the 1990s. Yes, it’s about ads. And, no, I don’t see how any streaming telly is sustainable, at least in being able to retain profits for those making it, and both value and a quality user experience for those watching. Still, it was nice while it lasted.

Meanwhile, over at TapSmart, I wrote Why don’t larger iPhones display more information – and should they?

Upcoming stuff

CES shortly, which I’ll be blissfully avoiding in a real-world sense, but undoubtedly living vicariously through a billion press releases. No reviews on the horizon at this point, but that could all change.

Other stuff

It’s been an odd start to the year. I’ve been feeling really down and anxious, and I’m not sure why. We had whiplash with our school bafflingly having the kids go back the day after New Year’s Day. I think everyone could have done with another day off. The children were like zombies. It’s also been grey, rainy and cold – which it often was over the break. But now the break’s over and reality’s returned.

I feel so silly – ungrateful and perhaps guilty – for feeling like this. After all, my family is fortunate. At present, we can afford food, heat, clothes and entertainment. Although my physical health isn’t great, others are in a much worse boat. Hopefully as it gets warmer and lighter, I’ll snap out of it.

In the meantime, maybe I should start looking for some comedies. I could do with a good laugh.

January 6, 2024. Read more in: Weeknotes

Comments Off on Weeknote: 6 January 2024 – whiplash

Weeknote: 1 January 2024 – let’s do this

Weeknote 2024

Published stuff

For Stuff, I delved into Apple’s previous year and looked ahead to the coming 12 months: Apple’s 2023 in review: the good, the bad and the bubbly and Apple in 2024: what Stuff wants to see.

Over at TapSmart, my 2023 app awards and game awards were published, along with a piece about using your iPhone to stick to New Year Resolutions.

Other stuff

Despite it being cold and grey outside, this day is often one about personal renewal. As I look back over 2023, I realise I have started to infuse new habits into my schedule – and bin unhealthy ones.

The best shift has been my thinking about streaks, which my Apple Watch shook up by messing up. I’ve decided I don’t care about perfection – instead, I’m keener on meaningful streaks as a way of tracking wellbeing.

As someone with certain OCD tendencies (and I use that in a literal sense – I don’t use the term as a synonym for ‘fussy’) this was a big deal for me, and I’m glad it appears to have worked out. I’ve also taken to more morning walks, to boost mental wellbeing during darker months.

One thing that was lacking during 2023 was giving myself permission to do things for me. I too often fell into the trap of deciding time had to be ‘productive’ either in terms of earning a living or doing family things. No wonder I so often felt exhausted and also ended the year with no progress on some key personal projects.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to turn that fully around in 2024, but I’m going to try. I did at least start writing more for myself again, thanks to this weeknote format. But finishing new music for the first time in years is going to be a much bigger commitment in terms of time and energy. However, while you could cram the number of albums I’ve ever sold into a reasonably small box, music for me was never about money. It’s good for my soul. I need it to be happy. And so I know I’ll be happy if I finally get new music into the wild in 2024, clearing the decks for whatever’s next.

Now I just need to make it happen.

January 1, 2024. Read more in: Weeknotes

1 Comment

Apple’s 2023 in review

Over at Stuff, my traditional Apple end-of-year review has been published: Apple’s 2023 in review: the good, the bad and the bubbly. From the highs of the iPhone Pro’s greatness… to the lows of the same iPhone Pro overheating!

See you on the other side.

December 31, 2023. Read more in: Apple

Comments Off on Apple’s 2023 in review

« older postsnewer posts »