Monthly Archives: June 2015

A Windfall for Executive Greeters

From Noam Scheiber, at The New York Times: President Obama announced Monday night a rule change that would make millions more Americans eligible for overtime pay.The rule would raise the salary threshold below which workers automatically qualify for time-and-a-half overtime wages to $50,440 a year from $23,660…This reminds me of a Simpsons quote where-in Homer […]

Be Together, Not Consistent

From Ron Amadeo, at Ars: OEMs try to “brand” the software by changing the colors and icons, which usually makes things look worse and really only serves to make things harder for new users… [it] would be nice if all the designs and buttons on those devices looked the same. And wouldn’t it be nice […]

Exercises vs. Experiments

From Clifford Levy, at The Next Web: Over at The New York Times, staffers received an email letting them know the desktop site for The Times — you know, the site they all write for — would be blocked. To view www.nytimes.com, they’d have to do so via a smartphone or tablet…In addition to underscoring […]

Bothersome Prerequisites

From Dieter Bohn, at The Verge: Looking across the updates in El Capitan, the story is clear: Apple is making life way better for people who live in its ecosystem. But if you don’t live in Apple’s garden, the benefits are less clear. As services for cloud storage and syncing have become a core part […]

Speaking of Avoiding Change

From Recode, talking about the challenges of Android One adoption: Central to the company’s mission with Android One is getting more devices on the latest version of its software. But the hardware manufacturers have little incentive to help this — they sell the phone and move on.

Phil Schiller Likens Ports to the Floppy Drive

My favorite moment from John Gruber’s excellent interview was when Schiller likened the single port MacBook to killing off the floppy. …why don’t we design a product that’s around this wireless world that has really no physical connection that you need. You can get by without ever needing that. Wouldn’t that be a better world? […]

Streaming Music Service Lock-in

The ongoing lack an Apple streaming music service would undoubtedly (and rightfully) draw criticisms about iTunes’ growing irrelevance in today’s increasingly stream-heavy music landscape. Now that Apple is supposedly on the cusp of announcing a streaming music service, we instead get this gem of a headline from The Verge. Apple Music and the terrible return […]

AltConf Barred From Streaming WWDC

From MacRumors.com: It is not clear why Apple has decided to crack down on AltConf’s plan to stream WWDC content as AltConf has been able to do so in the past. This is the first year that AltConf has offered a $300 paid ticket option, but AltConf’s organizers do not believe that is a factor […]

The Apple Watch

Like many other Apple enthusiasts, my owning a first generation Apple Watch was inevitable. I fell in love with the Mac in the 90s, owned a first generation iPod, and waited in line to get my original iPhone. Each of these products at the time that I first used them not only had the benefit […]