The new iPads are once again mind-blowingly amazing hardware showcases, hamstrung by software and an extractive App Store gatekeeper that limits what users can effectively do.
There is now such a large overlap of prices between iPad and MacBooks that we’ll probably never see a touchscreen Mac, because it would be a superior choice over iPad in most cases.
What I want, really, is macOS running on desktop, laptop, and tablet form factors, with a relatively open software environment not solely owned by the App Store.
I think Microsoft actually got it right with Windows 11 (minus the #enshittification ads). If only they pushed more strongly on the Surface lineup…
@felyashono I think macOS-style window management will always suck in tablet mode, and porting UIKit code back into an AppKit app may both be easier and better than seeking a unified holy grail.
@drahardja That’s reasonable with SwiftUI, but seems next to impossible with AppKit. Does Microsoft manage to do that with all legacy apps?
@drahardja But on the flip side, macOS with an on-screen keyboard and too many touch-sized buttons can also become unusable. I guess where we differ is whether that’s more easily fixed with an enhanced AppKit app or by providing an alternate UIKit UI…
Can’t help but notice some anemic comparisons in the #iPad announcement:
M2 “nearly 50% faster” than M1
M4 “50% faster CPU” than M2
The M1/M2 are no slouch, but sounds like #AppleSilicon CPU performance is plateauing. If the new iPads are not compatible with old ($$$) keyboards, that could further dampen the urge to upgrade.
Hmmm. Write Z80 first, then port to 6502? Write 6502 first, then port to Z80? Write 68000 first, then port to both Z80 and 6502? Write a bytecode interpreter on both 6502 and Z80 and then code to that bytecode?
I guess I'm looking for an excuse to think about writing code instead of, you know, actually writing code.
@schwa At my first job, the company gave out foam bricks at an event. The official metaphor was that we were all bricks with which the company would build a house.
You know, just in case you think the “cog in a machine” metaphor was not dehumanizing enough, we don’t even think of you as a moving part that needs lubrication.
Has anyone made a C64-in-emulation with a built-in keyboard and screen? Maybe it’s nostalgia for my youth, but I really think I got something out of being able to understand a whole computer down to the registers from an early age
Blender folks: I have a 180° frame from YouTube that I want to stretch inside a half-sphere to make it 180° immersive. The image is rectangular, so I'm struggling with the UV map since unwrapping a sphere cuts the corners off, and scaling it up loses the spherical effect. How would you reconcile that?
Here’s an idea I can’t get out of my head: a combination terminal and finder app. Changing the working directory in the terminal would automatically update the folder view.
I wonder why Apple still hasn’t released a podcasting app. I mean you can do it with GarageBand but they don’t tell people that and it’s pretty basic, just like iMovie.
With automatic transcription now available on the Podcast app it feels like having it on GarageBand, which can also work for text oriented editing, is a given. Shove an LLM into GarageBand, boom! Power move. Watch people use it for all sorts of non music recording. https://social.podnews.net/@podnews/112155977487670815
My guess is that, like me, a lot of #Apple (ex-)employees have known that the #antitrust lawsuits were just a matter of time. I don’t think Apple did anything as blatantly illegal as 90’s Microsoft giving Windows license discounts to OEMs that didn’t pre-install Netscape, but it’s certainly been arrogant and careless in various ways.
I hope against hope that Apple seizes the opportunity to find a path forward that truly benefits users and partners.
#Apple operates with much smaller teams than you think. Productive engineers plus focusing on the right features lets them deliver products that are competitive in the real world against much bigger teams.
Apple will also (almost?) never admit that they didn’t do something because the teams didn’t have enough time. Marketing wants to preserve the magic smoke.
So the #PWA decision is actually not that hard to imagine as an ex-insider.
Springboard: “This is hard and we have lots of other work. Can we punt?”
Legal: “Doesn’t seem mandated by EU regulations.”
SVP: “Doesn’t hurt Apple, punt it.”
Small addendum to my previous code question, how do I use an @Observable as a binding if the object I want to bind is optional? In this case, the object might not be immediately available as it comes in async, but once it comes in, I want it selectable
This code compiles, but the selection is never saved
There's probably a better way to structure this too, in that case I'm all ears!
#Sunnyvale#sfba residents: where the heck do you go to #recycle plastic shapping bags? The recycling bin says they don’t accept them. I know Target and other department/grocery stores have receptacles, but they are often full and I don’t want to bring a bunch of bags just to have to put them back in the car.
Does the Sunnyvale Smart recycling center take them?
Poll: I'm going to be writing equivalent code for a variety of targets (essentially porting code to a bunch of targets). How should I organize my code in git?
@jbqueru Different targets as in x86, x64, ARM, etc, or as in 6502 Apple ][, 6502 C64, etc? If the former, I’d say different directories in a single branch so they’re easy to cross-reference. Branching the latter case might make sense if you foresee merging some changes across platforms.
Wouldn’t you want a top-level Makefile that could build all targets though?
@jbqueru I guess it depends on how many of the future commits could be trivially merged across the targets, versus just copy-pasting.
My gut feel would be single branch with directories for each target, plus maybe a directory for each CPU for shared code. Especially considering the root Makefile to build/test all targets.
Speaking of #iPhone 4 and FaceTime, I was a newbie who just joined #Apple in 2009. At that time almost the whole apps & frameworks team were entirely in one end of IL2, 2nd floor. A few higher-level engineering managers (I think it was TP, and HL, but I forget exactly who) were wandering the hallway outside my office with an iPhone 4 prototype playing with FaceTime. I was curious enough to poke my head out, and they let me try it out. “This is great!” I said, “but the front-facing camera focal length is too long. If we put in a wider-angle lens, this would be so much better, because people are going to hold the phone at less than arm’s length.” The managers just…stopped, looked at each other, took the phone back, and walked away.
Anyway, the next iPhone 4 prototype came with a wider-angle front camera, and it shipped with it. I’m not going to take credit for that choice, but maybe I was one of the voices that made that change.
@drahardja This would never have happened if you had been working from home, and the iPhone would’ve shipped with a shitty FaceTime camera, dooming the feature and the entire product line.
@dimillian Just so you know, acknowledgement of the issue is as much as you’ll get from outside. Apple engineers are not allowed to promise that the problem will be fixed, much less when.
WebMD’s parent company, Internet Brands, released a cringey and abusive internal video threatening their employees to #returnToOffice. “We aren’t asking or negotiating at this point”, the CEO says. “Don’t mess with us”, the video reads at the end. The video features employees dancing and celebrating RTO (at gunpoint? or at least under threat of firing by HR?).
I know corporate videos are all kinda crappy, but this one is…spouse-beating levels of terrible.
