Covered this week; Teens and social media, this ain’t gonna end well… How Apple Watch saved a life… Remedial customer service class for deactivated Uber drivers… Privacy is the best product Apple offers… Village Voice founder John Wilcock passes at 91… An oral history of Apple’s Infinite Loop… Behind Trump’s beef with the NFL…
September 10, 2018
Having a teen myself and another one on the cusp, social media and always on connectivity is a problem, it truly is… and the problem is only going to get worse as generations pass in terms of our collective human-ness… Technology marches on, but at what cost?
The study also dives deeper into how different groups of teens feel differently about social media. Vulnerable teens — those who ranked low on a “social-emotional well-being” scale — see more drastic effects from social media, both good and bad. They are more likely to say social media makes them lonely or depressed. But they’re also more likely to say social media makes them feel less lonely or depressed than those with medium or high social-emotional well-being.
September 11, 2018
As Apple Watch matures it’s becoming increasingly clear that Apple is focused more and more on the health applications. For most, the understanding of a wearable that’s ‘focused on health’ most likely has a peripheral definition… like it will track your workouts, etc. But the truth is, its gotten much deeper than that. This article is a bit long-winded… but the point is well taken… many of us may have underlying health issues that aren’t readily apparent without the help of some tech to suss things out… and if after reading you want to know a little more… here’s the promotional videos for the just released Apple Watch Series 4.
September 12, 2018
Although I’ve used the platform to great effect… I’d be lying if I said Uber didn’t cause me to scratch my head on many occasions when it comes to their interactions with their drivers. One side of their mouth professes that they’re all about their ‘partnership’ with drivers… but when you need help, or an issue resolved, the process can be described as painful at best.
As a result, a driver who has a slightly dirty car or talks too much to a grumpy passenger can find themself deactivated, removing them from what for two-thirds of New York rideshare drivers is a full-time job. Often, Rana says, the drivers who wind up in his class fit a specific profile: they are largely immigrants with limited English skills, unfamiliar with New York streets and professional driving, who are kicked off the app after one or two negative reviews early into their driving careers.
September 13, 2018
Privacy is the “X” factor, who woulda guessed?
Yet I no longer think this is a true statement. I now believe the best product Apple offers is intangible, yet far more valuable than a flagship smartphone. The best product Apple has–and the single biggest reason that consumers should choose an Apple device over competing devices–is privacy.
September 14, 2018
Oddly, in that the Village Voice, a publication he founded just shut down for good a couple weeks ago. John Wilcock has sadly passed. I became aware of his life and times through an ongoing comic series lovingly crafted by college buddies Scott Marshall and Ethan Persoff which you can check out here. The blockquote below will lead you to Wilcock’s obit in the New York Times where he worked for a period, here’s his obit that ran in The Guardian… and here’s Ethan’s obit…
John Wilcock, a British journalist and travel writer who played a major role in the emergence of the alternative press at The Village Voice, The East Village Other and the Underground Press Syndicate, died on Thursday at a care facility in Ojai, Calif. He was 91.
September 15, 2018
For more than a year I’ve been interviewing Apple employees, past and present, about their recollections of Infinite Loop. In their own words, edited for clarity and concision, here is the story of a plot of land in Cupertino, California, that brought us the Mac revival, the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone, and the Steve Jobs legacy.
Stories about the history of Apple are always entertaining… and considering they came back from the brink of bankruptcy to become the world’s most valuable company, oral histories such as these are invaluable, recollections of Infinite Loop, collected and reported by Steven Levy.
September 16, 2018
Trump, who now sits in the White House after a dizzying political rise, never got his wish. His repeated failure to break into the NFL contributed to an animosity toward the league that has lingered for decades.
In the Oval Office, Trump has repeatedly targeted the NFL in one of his favorite political fights, over whether players should kneel during the national anthem while protesting social justice issues. He is expected to return to the issue repeatedly during football season as the midterm elections approach, as it plays to both the patriotism and reverence for the U.S. military that stoke excitement in his political base.
Jacob Pramuk weaves a sordid tale of narcissism, hubris and pettiness… and it makes total sense.
