hmurchison

The scary part is this. 

I don't have to use Apple products.   There is very little that keeps me in the Apple fold but encapsulated in that "little" competitive advantage is more respect for my privacy, generally more thoughtful user interface interactions, and forward thinking (sometimes too forward) design. 

I could buy a Windows or Linux based PC or an Android phone and meet 80 % of my needs if not more.   They say "the extra mile is rarely crowded" and Apple will typically go that extra mile.  

This is just mostly about pure Politics in that  I'm being fleeced fleeced in so many ways that are relevant to my quality of life yet the Magician in DC tells me my problem is large corporations like Apple.   

This existed before Elizabeth Warren and will continue long after she's decaying bones in the Earth.    Citizens simply do not have a viable mechanism to advance the issues pertinent to them.  Representative Governments only only representative in that they are human and citizens and so are you.  Brass Tacks ...your needs don't really matter unless you're coming with enough currency to get a seat at the table. 

Tik Tok is just Vine reheated. 

I've got to echo JDW's comments.   One of the reason why I like longer form content is that I've got to commit more time to it and because of this I seek out higher quality content and presentation.    Tik Tok has created a constant dopamine hit with short form content missing a lot of protein thus it becomes junk food ingested. 

Now I read over the Tik Tok bill and the subtext is very clear.   It is about granting the Gov the authority to penalize anyone that is assisting a Foreign Adversary Controlled Application.   This means to me at the worst case scenario is I'm providing Internet services to a foreign national company and suddenly I'm told I need to shut their service off or be fined because they are producing content that is at odds with whatever Gov entity official message is. 

It has nothing to do with protecting citizens.  My wife and I got beat on a home, foreign investor came in with a cash offer.   US Citizens are competing against other citizens AND foreign investors for access to US resources but we're being told Tik Tok is a a foreign threat?  Make that make sense given I can look at who's manufactured the last ten items I've purchased and 7 of those will be likely manufactured in China.   They cannot be the problem with so many of our C-Class Executives depend on China's low labor costs to warrant their exorbitant salary. 

Echoing JDW again ...what's nefarious about Tik Tok that isn't equally annoying from FB Stories or YouTube shorts.  You know these are bad when 

1.  They remove playback controls making it harder to get out of the video and often slam you right into the next video. 
2. You cannot remove them.  If you do a search on YouTube it now returns 70 % Shorts.  YT Content Providers were "urged" to make shorts which is another way of saying "If you want to maintain your place in the algorithm you better be creating Shorts" 
3. Facebook is now trying to insert pre-roll or interstitial adds onto Stories.  So you want me to watch a 30 second Short and a 10 second advertisement? 

I'm encouraged by the younger people I meet.  They know the Politicians are full of %^&*,  that affordable housing is a bigger issue than anything coming over a Wide Area Network and that Media is co-opted.  

How is a "Browse for me" going to yield any different results when the problem with browsing is SEO abuse and algorithmic nonsense? 

Browsing today gives you trash results and the AI Browse for me will simply give you automated paths to the trash results. 

Remember Siri wasn't just a voice enabled system.  It was a voice assistant bolted to a domain based back end for unstructured data and that portion of 
Siri failed colossally as the web moved to endless wall garden fiefdoms.  

"Governments, please stay out of our Businesses" 

Signed by every tax paying owner of a Businesses small or large. 

Nextgen Thunderbolt 5 Dock features I'd like to see more of. 

1.  Dual Computer inputs with KVM functionality 
2.  Dual SSD NVME slots  
3. 10G Ethernet  
4. CFExpress Cards 
5. Less USB-A ports.  I feel like current Dock vendors have engaged in "Port Wars" as a marketing tool. I have no desire to have 18 devices with their wires running into a box. 

iVANKY is on the right path.  There's nothing wrong with a high end Dock but people that can afford a $500 dock are looking for faster I/O more than more legacy I/O