If a perfect umbrella stops the rain, what does a perfect smartphone do?
If a perfect umbrella stops the rain, what does a perfect smartphone do?
I got two things to talk about this month, something I done and something I am overly annoyed about.
Firstly, the good news: My project "Googless" is now in BETA, so you can go and experience the internet without Google for yourself. Currently, it's only available on Firefox because we are having a little issue getting it approved for Chrome, who would've guessed. I am also going to be presenting it along with the Googless Team at IAM Festival, which is very exciting.
Secondly, I want to ramble for a bit about Apple, tech in general and the media. I don't really know where I am going to go with this, but I want to talk about it. So it's just been what tech fans call "Techtober", the month in which technology giants have feature-length sermons for their new products. I used to love these, I wanted all the things and I wanted to talk to everyone about how great the things were, and how I wasn't an idiot for coveting those things. I was Jony Ive's perfect 'I, I really want that' customer. However, after watching these tech launch events for over 10 years, that hope and excitement has almost entirely been replaced by frustration and despair. I don't really know how to talk about this in any coherent way, so instead, I just want to lay out some things about Apple, that makes me sad about the state of technology and the culture around it at the moment.
When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4 in 2010, he told us about the new Retina display. He proclaimed that it was called the Retina Display because the upper limit for the human eye to notice pixels is 300ppi and the Retina display had 326ppi, hence this was the peak of display technology. So why should we give a fuck about, and why do they even bother mentioning, the new 'better' displays they have been launching every year since. Most recently this is the 460ppi display on the iPhone 13. By their own marketing, we shouldn't be able to tell the difference.
I might be alone in this one, but who asked for wireless headphones? They get lost, they often don't connect properly and worst of all they removed the one social politeness of listening to music in public; the ability to take out your headphones and let them dangle while you talk to someone. There was utility in the wires and I will die on this hill. However, this is about Apple, not wireless headphones, and when it comes to audio apple continue to have their cake and eat it. With the launch of the new MacBook Pro, they announced that they are adding a high‑impedance headphone jack for uncompromising audio quality, which is great, gold star. But wait, didn't they say just a couple of years ago that the 3.5mm audio jack was outdated 100-year-old technology and that wireless audio was the future? Again it seems like the truth changes depending on what the press release needs.
The last example I want to give is again related to this new MacBook Pro, and the reintroduction of both the physical function keys and various ports other than USB C, again this is great, another gold star. However, the problem for me lies in the way these features are announced. Apple does not apologise for removing these things and ignoring customer feedback for over 5 years, instead, they seek praise for 'adding' these standard features because Pros need them. THEN WHY WERE THEY REMOVED BEFORE! You're a huge design company, with huge user research teams, you must have fucking known. and now you have added them back, do we throw away all these dongles you made us buy, or should we keep them in case you change your mind again?
Sorry, I feel this has all been very disjointed and I hate being that person, the one who is cynical about everything but I much prefer being this person than the one who took Apple's marketing as gospel. I feel I could keep on going, I have so much more to say but I want to leave you with a question I think is kinda important, not just about apple but technology in general; When is a smartphone, smartphone enough? When is a laptop, laptoppy enough? What do we actually want from the technology we consume?
That's all from me, hope you have a great month.
Fred
p.s. I know I was going to talk about the media in relation to this but I think this has already got a bit long but If you want to read more about this kind of stuff, I highly recommend this.
My Website: https://www.fredwordie.com
My Book: https://www.bigdatagirl.com
My VC: https://ventually.xyz