Moving to mastodon /  by Jack Taylor

Towards the end of last year I created a Mastodon account. I was previously using Twitter to keep up to date with folks who interest me, but I had no following and I rarely shared anything on the platform. After Mr. Elon Musk seized control of the bird, many users jumped shipped after the way he handled various transitional events.

Personally, I think Elon is probably going to turn out to be one of the most significant people of the early 21st century, and I truly believe he is a visionary. He’s also a total dick and I feel truly sorry for those who were at the receiving end of his childish man-tantrums when he took over Twitter. This includes both former employees, and developers of third-party Twitter clients relying on the API that was switched off overnight with absolutely no warning or proper communication. In short; whilst I’m not a fan of how Musk treats his fellow humans (although he probably doesn’t consider himself human) - I certainly don’t despise the man, and in fact I draw parallels to other leaders that I find inspiring and they share many of his flaws. Unlike myself, the tech community on Twitter were clearly abhorred by his behaviour, and most of the most prominent members moved to Mastodon.

So if I love to defend Elon, why did I move to Mastodon?

It’s worth nothing that tech isn’t the only community I followed on Twitter. I used the service to touch base with conversations around tech, music, cars, and Doctor Who. My biggest loves. As it stands, the only one of these communities that are active in force on Mastodon are the tech folks*. Am I missing out by leaving Twitter? Not really - I can still check the app if I so wish or get my news from elsewhere. It doesn’t have to be so binary. Whilst I consider my limited microblogging presence to be Mastodon, I can still dip into Twitter when I so wish.

There are downsides of course, Mastodon is a bit weird, there’s no escaping that. The federated aspect is a bit of a mindfuck and as ‘techy’ as I am, the ease-of-use isn’t quite at the levels Twitter offered. There’s also the question of which instance one should join. I ended up on mstdn.social because I thought I was signing up to mastodon.social… I was not. Now, in theory it doesn’t matter which instance you are apart of, other than your username. However, by the time I realised my mistake, mastodon.social were no longer accepting new accounts (I’m still not clear why but one can only assume a huge influx of Twitter refugees were something to do with it). In the months since, I have managed to reserve a handle on mastodon.social, but I am hesitant to migrate as I will lose my post history - which I’m already precious about, for no other reason than one day I will look back at these posts and have absolutely no nostalgia for them at all, but at one point I thought I would. That point is now. Still with me?

If mstdn.social ever crumbles or mastodon.social gains some kind of competitive advantage in the fedi-verse (which I suspect it could) I will be ready with my handle and will migrate over and start again. I’m prepared, but these are simply things you don’t have to worry about when existing on a centralised social network.

The tech community is my biggest passion, and I will go where they go - but at the end of the day why have I moved to Mastodon? Because it’s new, and new is always better. It might not stand the test of time, but trying the new hotness is always the way to go, because if you don’t embrace the new, you’ll be stuck in the past forever. I’m using Ivory by Tapbots as my iOS Mastodon client, not particularly because I had any affinity for Tweetbot (I used the first-party Twitter app), but because it’s genuinely a really nice app - and when learning a new platform, it’s a great opportunity to mould one’s lizard brain and take advantage of any new client that might come one’s way.

Mastodon might turn out to be shit, but at least I managed to get a decent username.

Go follow me.

:))

*Or at least that I have found so far. If you know of any of these communities thriving on Mastodon - please let me know!

Blueinkcode turns 2 /  by Jack Taylor

Exactly two years ago today, blueinkcode.com went live and the first article was published; Apple to announce iPhone X in less than 48 hours. Here we are two years later, and the site is still going, and Apple announced the iPhone 11 lineup just hours ago. The September keynote marks the beginning of the ‘Apple year’ and fortunately the site’s anniversary ties in nicely with this.

The last 12 months have been fantastic for the site, seeing the release of Freezr 2.0 and, above all, The Blue Ink Show made it’s debut.

One year ago, I made a similar anniversary post, in which I postulated that within the next year we could have a new Mac Pro; and wow - we do.

Here’s to the next 12 months, and maybe this time next year we’ll have AirPower…

…kidding.

:))

Jony Ive’s departure from Apple /  by Jack Taylor

Last Thursday, Apple announced that Sir Jony Ive will depart the company as an employee later this year to form an independent design company which will count Apple among its primary clients. While he pursues personal projects, Ive in his new company will continue to work closely and on a range of projects with Apple.

My initial reaction was positive, I certainly didn’t see it coming any time soon but a sense of inevitability hit me upon reading the news. I was also happy for Jony himself, as starting his own design firm must be somewhat of a lifelong dream for him. The final thought to cross my mind was worry-free, as I could only envision this as a good thing for all parties involved, and I didn’t get a sense of doom like I did when Steve Jobs passed away.

Almost a week on, I’ve had time to think, discuss with friends, and read the various reports that have come out concerning the nature of Jony’s departure, and here are my views on his exit:

Jony’s new company is called LoveFrom. I’ve always loved the work Jony has done over the years outside of Apple, from Christmas trees to diamond rings, he’s a very talented man and I’m very excited to see what will come out of his new venture.

Both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal this week have reported on how Jony has been on the sidelines since 2014, after putting all his energy into developing the original Apple Watch. I find this believable, as I remember from the time that he was very present for interviews etc. regarding the Series 0, and since then he had effectively left product design behind to work on Apple Park. The reports also speculate that Jony was becoming increasingly frustrated with Tim Cook’s way of running Apple, as he had become far too focused on numbers rather than caring about design. Personally, I have always seen Cook as someone who is clearly operations-focused, yet passionate about the company he is in charge of. I don’t think any executive at Apple doesn’t care about product design - that’s why they’re at Apple. I would take these reports with a pinch of salt and I like to think this Cook vs. Ive spin isn’t the full story.

Ive’s departure truly marks the end of the ‘Jobs-post-Jobs’ era, as the two were jointly responsible for resurrecting Apple in the early-2000’s. This makes it a very defining moment for Tim Cook, as it is truly *his* Apple now. However, it is not entirely his show now as far as the end product is concerned - design team leaders Evans Hankey, vice president of Industrial Design, and Alan Dye, vice president of Human Interface Design, will report to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. This week, it has seemed more than ever, that Williams is being lined up to be the next CEO of Apple. Cook’s stock options mature in 2021, and whilst I’m sure the door is open to Cook continuing on as CEO past this date, I reckon he might have started to hint, at least on the inside, that he will only spend 10 years in the top job. I don’t think his departure from Apple is imminent, but I do very much feel as if we have now entered the final act of the Tim Cook era.

I don’t think Jony’s departure will have a tangible effect for a while. There are many products already in development at the company which have seen Ive’s influence. Design at Apple is also in safe hands; both Dye and Hankey have played key leadership roles on Apple’s design team for many years. Jeff Williams is a ‘products guy’ and has led the development of Apple Watch since its inception and will spend more of his time working with the design team in their studio. I truly hope this internal shift will usher in a new, more colourful (please) era for Apple, whilst maintaining the high design standards we’ve come to expect.

John Gruber wrote an excellent piece on the matter, although I disagree with his belief that Jony is, in reality, out of the door. He argues that the promise of Ive keeping Apple on as a primary client was to soften the blow. To quote Lex MacEoghain; sure, most people are either in or out of Apple, but most people aren’t Jony Ive. I’m positive Jony will keep a close eye on their new approach and his presence will be felt for many years to come: a 27-year-long influence at a company doesn’t just end overnight.

I think it's for the best in many ways, Ive has been at Apple for a long, long time. He gave everything he could to the products we care about and then some. He’s leaving Apple in safe hands, after unifying design teams in a single office he created within Apple Park. Nothing lasts forever, and it’s time for a new designer to add his or her take on these incredible products I love so much.

:))

Apple introduces the 7th-generation iPod touch /  by Jack Taylor

Today, after almost 4 years, the iPod touch finally received an update. The new 7th-generation iPod touch features the same design as the 5th and 6th generations, but now features an A10 Fusion chip, up to 256GB of storage, support for Group FaceTime and ‘immersive AR experiences’.

Starting at $199 for the 32GB model, the 128GB model at $299 and the new 256GB model at $399. For the first time the iPod touch has more storage than an iPod Classic. The new iPod touch is available today in six finishes; space grey, white, gold, blue, pink and (PRODUCT)RED.

With the release of this new A10-equipped iPod touch, could we see iOS 13 drop support for A8 devices such as the iPhone 6? We shall find out at WWDC on Monday.

:))

On the 2019 MacBook Pro /  by Jack Taylor

Today Apple announced an update to the MacBook Pro lineup, 10 months after the last update. Albeit just a spec bump, there’s two major takeaways from this product: an incredible increase in performance, and yet another improvement to the butterfly keyboard.

The Keyboard

Seeing as it’s the most controversial part of the current generation MacBook Pro, which first shipped in 2016, let’s start with the new keyboard. The design has been slightly tweaked again - Apple says that it is using “new materials” in the switch mechanism that should significantly reduce the occurrence of double and missed key presses. This new keyboard is found on both the 15-inch and 13-inch 2019 MacBook Pro models, but Apple remained quiet on whether it would use these new materials on the other MacBooks currently on sale, such as the 2018 MacBook Air. I suspect we will have to wait for the Air to receive a 2019 or 2020 refresh before this happens. Apple are also keeping quiet about what these new materials are other than to say it “substantially reduces” the issue of double or missed key presses. We will have to wait until iFixit tear one of these apart to know for sure. Interestingly, this is not a fourth-generation butterfly keyboard, rather a revision to the third-generation keyboard found on the 2018 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. This is similar to what happened when the 2017 MacBook Pro shipped with an update to the second-generation butterfly keyboard.

2018 MacBook Pro and Air customers that bring in their keyboards for repair will actually have their keyboards replaced with ones that have these new materials, according to Apple. Again, similar to what happened when the second-generation keyboard got an update a couple of years ago.

Speaking of keyboard repairs, Apple also announced an update to its keyboard repair extension program today. All MacBooks equipped with butterfly keyboards - almost every MacBook since the 2015 MacBook - will now be eligible for the program. This means both the 2018 MacBook Pro and Air are now eligible, along with these new 2019 models. Apple is not extending how long that program lasts — it’s still 4 years after the first retail sale of the unit. As we’ve discussed on The Blue Ink Show, the MacBook Air has been far from exempt from the issues that plague the butterfly keyboard and it’s good to see it getting extended repair coverage.

Will this revision be the one that finally fixes the butterfly keyboard? We asked the same question last Summer and today we’ve effectively received confirmation that it didn’t work. Only time will tell, but it looks like the next major design to MacBook Pro is destined for at least 2020, not 2019 as some thought.

Performance

Moving away from keyboards, and onto something the MacBook Pro does very well - power. From Apple’s press release:

Apple updated MacBook Pro with faster 8th- and 9th-generation Intel Core processors, bringing eight cores to MacBook Pro for the first time. MacBook Pro now delivers two times faster performance than a quad-core MacBook Pro and 40 percent more performance than a 6-core MacBook Pro, making it the fastest Mac notebook ever. These new processors, combined with powerful graphics, the brilliant and colorful Retina display, super-fast SSDs, the Apple T2 Security Chip, all-day battery life and macOS, make MacBook Pro the world’s best pro notebook.

These 2019 MacBook Pro models are around twice as fast in performance compared to the outgoing 2018 models. The 15-inch MacBook Pro now features faster 6- and 8-core Intel Core processors, delivering Turbo Boost speeds up to 5.0 GHz, while the 13-inch MacBook Pro features faster quad-core processors with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.7 GHz.

Pricing remains unchanged and the new MacBook Pro is available to order from Apple today. If anything it is good to see Apple consistently updating MacBook Pro on an yearly basis, but I would not be surprised if this is the final revision to the current design, especially if the rumours of a 16-inch MacBook Pro are true.

:))

T.B.I.S 13? /  by Jack Taylor

Due to technical difficulties, episode 13 of The Blue Ink Show will be released towards the end of this week - keep an eye out for it in your podcast player of choice or check back here. Episode 14 will resume normal scheduling and will be out on Tuesday April 23rd at 10AM BST.

:))

AirPower is Dead /  by Jack Taylor

Apple has killed the AirPower project after months - almost years - of speculation. In a statement released to Tech Crunch, Dan Riccio - SVP of Hardware Engineering at Apple - said:

“After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward.”

Apple announced AirPower alongside iPhone X in September 2017 with a ship date of 2018. Of course, that never happened, and conflicting reports of progress and setbacks swirled around rumour sites. Most recently, it was generally believed AirPower went into production in January and the launch was imminent, following the release of the 2nd-Generation AirPods last week.

Whilst AirPower was an incredibly complicated product, this comes across as Apple being unable to deliver a charging mat - something many other companies sell for little expense. Of course - AirPower was far more than that, and nobody else has been able to pull off a similar product to date, but this can’t be anything but bad publicity for Apple.

At the end of the day, I’m very disappointed, and Apple will hopefully go back to announcing products when they are ready rather than being unable to deliver. I’m very glad, however, that rather than ship a broken and potentially dangerous product, Apple instead called it quits on this one.