scampercom

The question isn’t whether you adore Clinton (which I do not… but that’s irrelevant). It’s whether you want an administration whose tech platform backs Apple’s positions on encryption, privacy, innovation. That was the question, and that, I do.

I’ve written three novels on mine, and it’s been the perfect companion. For writing, I demand the tiniest, lowest-specced laptop I can get, stripped down to only writing-related software. Granted, my needs are pretty uncommon, but I’ve loved my MacBook. Now I guess I’ll be keeping it until it quits on me, because I’m not about to upsize to a hulking 13-inch lummox. (Kidding … but seriously.)

I’m an absolute Apple fanboy, but my AppleTV is the worst Apple product I’ve ever owned (as was the one I owned before this one). Episode lists for TV shows routinely take 30 seconds to load, or time out completely (and it’s not a WiFi issue). The controller is pants (and everyone knows it). And the straw that broke the camel’s back: apparently Apple has just removed Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Am I supposed to sit there with my iPad in my lap comparing titles to RT ratings manually? Why not remove thumbnails and descriptions while they’re at it, force people to select movies by title alone! I don’t know who’s running the ATV group, but, speaking as a UX designer myself, they need to do a better job. I’m now on the market for alternative boxes, because the AppleTV is a real chore to use.

My experiences only, YMMV.

I’ve never been forced to use Word before, but in the old days I used Nisus Writer. Still, I’d never attempt to write a novel using a word processor any more than I’d use BBEdit for UI design. Scrivener is for novels (and other long form written works) the way Sketch is for UI, and it’s easily one of my favorite apps. I’ve only written two novels in Scrivener (so far), but I’d never fall back to a generic word processor for something complex and structured.

Note: if you have misophonia, ASMR may be like knitting needles in your ears. It baffles me how this has caught on at all. Then again, if you have synesthesia too, then your perceptions are already altered compared to most. (I have both, and I like em.)

Why bury this option and make it a toggled “mode”? Simply ask what quality I want to send an image at the time of attachment. Some images work well at low resolution, and others require detail to be maintained. Eventually Apple will come around, I’m convinced — they got it right in Mail.app, after all — but this little stopgap seems like bad UI design.

“iPhone owners must use a nano-SIM for their primary line…”

My hope was that I could move my primary line to the eSIM “slot” (since that won’t be changing), so that I could use the physical SIM slot for prepaid SIMs when I travel. Having it the other way around is pretty inconvenient. Or maybe there’s something I’m not getting. Shouldn’t the physical slot be the one that travelers would keep open?

Hm. Maybe you’re right. I’ll try not pressing anything. But I don’t get to knock stuff over or hit anyone then.  

They need to make this for the Pro iPads. Smart Connector + function keys? Is there another third-party cover that features those (and isn’t thick n ugly)? I don’t need backlighting.