OctoMonkey

Ofer said:

Sadly, even with this new tool, Apple is still the best game in town as far as user privacy is concerned. I’m a big fan of the company and have been using their products since the very first computer I’ve owned (anyone remember the Apple IIgs?). However, if they continue in this trajectory, I may have to start researching other options.

InspiredCode said:

I agree with Apple on this. Tracking cookies have been abused for too long

dewme said:

The term “AI” is the current generation’s universally applicable adjective equivalent to the previous generation’s “digital.” The Digital Age spawned crazy notions like the Digital Economy, Digital Ecosystem, and my favorite, the Digital Divide. No, the Digital Divide is not the line of demarcation between the free flowing, non quantized, infinitely divisible notions of the Analog Universe and a much different universe defined by ones and zeros.

The good news is that you don’t need tools like ChatGPT to transport yourself and your new work into the buzzwordy coolness of the new AI Age. All you need is the Search & Replace feature of your favorite human driven generative tools, aka word processing and presentation programs, and simply replace all occurrences of “Digital” with “AI.” 

Welcome to the AI Economy, the AI Ecosystem, and my brand new favorite, the AI Divide. Just make sure you’re living on the right side of the new divide. You don’t want to be left behind.

dewme said:

OctoMonkey said:

dewme said:

Yet again a clever proof of concept. He’s basically created a “magic shoe” for the Magic Mouse that allows the mouse to be used while charging. It works. But it’s pretty obvious from the implementation why Apple never chose to go down this path. It’s design and aesthetics are okay from a mouse-in-a-shoe perspective, but Apple (at least with Jony Ive at the helm of the design team) would never have allowed this to be labeled as an Apple product. It’s too large, bulky, and reminiscent of mouse designs you can get from many other vendors for $29.99.

Whether you liked Jony’s approach or not, he always stuck to his guns and saw that his vision for a product met his design and aesthetic goals. Anything that deviated too far from what he envisioned was seen as a failure. One can argue that what comes across as a single-minded and arguably narrow focus on the primary functionality, like using the device and how it feels in the hand, led to functional compromises when it came to ancillary functionality, like charging the device. The Magic Mouse is imo pleasant and efficient to use, but yeah, there is no getting over the clunky recharging scenario. The rationale must have been something like “you obviously only recharge the device while you’re not using it.” This makes perfect sense only until it doesn’t.

Not a mouse in a shoe.  Rather than being inserted into something (like a foot into a shoe), the mouse is pretty clearly separated in half with a center section added, which also encompasses the lower half.

His design philosophy of form over function is the reason I don't care for his designs in general.  He was a good (not great) product designer when kept reined in, but a disaster when let loose.

One thing I still wonder about is why more wireless mouse and trackball designers have not gone after using an inductive charging mechanism. Perhaps it has something to do with the need to periodically park the mouse exactly on top of a charging coil built into the desk, desk pad, or a mouse pad. Perhaps as far-field wireless power transfer technology becomes more mature and widely available it can be used in conjunction with precision UWB localization to allow all of the wireless devices sitting on your desk, or even all wirelessly charged devices in a room, to be charged simply because they are within line-of-sight proximity to the charging station or broadcast beacon. Seems doable in the not too distant future.

Wesley Hilliard said:

bigcountry said:

So... what good does this do when most iPhone owners have their phone in a case that has very poor thermal conductivity?

Getting the heat off of the battery and the processor is the first priority. After that, it's not that big an issue. The graphene heat sink is more important for getting heat away from critical components, which will be more efficient than what's there now.

dewme said:

I haven’t picked up a CD, DVD, or Blue Ray disc in 5-6 years. Like others have said the SuperDrive doesn’t play well with non-Apple devices. I still have a Samsung alternative that seems to work okay with other platforms. It’s sitting in a drawer, snuggled right up next to my SuperDrive. Tech ballast.