The UK’s still an oven. But I’ve heroically managed to avoid melting and managed to smash words into shape over the past seven days…

Published stuff

Apple Vision Pro has unsurprisingly impacted on my work. Not in the sense of first-hand experience (I wasn’t one of the lucky few whisked out to WWDC), but in terms of the device’s wider impact. For TapSmart, I outline ways in which lessons drawn from the Vision Pro interface could make iPhone and iPad feel alive again. And over at Stuff, I head ten years into the future, with ‘How Apple’s Apple Vision vision came to pass after WWDC33’.

For TapSmart, I also explored whether you should install Apple’s 2023 betas and wrote up my pick of the best music players for iPhone. (If you’d like to support our work there, please consider subscribing to our iPhone indie mag, Swipe.) And for Stuff, I celebrated the 45th anniversary of Space Invaders with a touch of snark and a look back at some of the best sequels.

If you like that piece, also check out my article on the upcoming Space Invaders Quarter Arcades (Stuff) and my interview with the game’s creator, Tomohiro Nishikado (Wired).

Upcoming stuff

I currently exist in a world of boxes as I work on pieces for Stuff. Very early next week, my Mac Studio review should go live. The Studio a lovely desktop unit, which 99% of people absolutely don’t need. For the 1%, however, it’s compelling – and my review unit was noticeably quieter than last year’s M1 Max model. That said, it’s odd to me these days when a Mac isn’t silent when idling.

I’m also about to delve into pieces on kit for creativity, specifically illustration/design and music-making. Given that these pieces demanding new (well, newish) hardware, this one’s been challenging. Release schedules for graphics tablets and MIDI keyboards are hardly hectic. And in the music realm, it’s strange how certain companies make it almost impossible to get in touch with them. (Hey, Akai! If you’re reading this, please email me…)

Other stuff

Having been mostly WFH for over 20 years, I place a lot of value in online communities. They can keep you sane when you’re otherwise working alone. But lately, it really does feel like the heart is being torn out of such places by rich white men with the temperament of spoiled toddlers.

Twitter was the first to go, with Musk making good on his promise to relegate to ‘spam’ any input from those who wouldn’t pay. My ‘For You’ feed is now at least 50% AI grifters and Tory MPs. And the number of posts from people I enjoyed hearing from has dropped precipitously. Mastodon, alas, has not filled the void, since only a smallish fraction of folks I know made the jump – but it (for me, at least) has been a largely pleasant experience. I am on BlueSky also, but have no idea what to do with that.

Reddit’s rapid implosion, though, has hit me hard. I ended up spending more time there after Twitter went splat, and crafted a great feed of uplifting and fun content. So of course a rich idiot CEO decided to set fire to everything. A long-time friend and colleague suggested with Twitter I’m finally at the acceptance stage – and I think that’s true. With Reddit, I suspect I’m pinging back and forth between anger and bargaining. Here’s hoping whatever comes next will be decentralised to the degree that one rich white guy can’t bring it all tumbling down on a whim.