Category: Apple

Google, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter should be regulated

On By Rick McIn Apple, Facebook, Google, government, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

Great article.

Al Franken:

Last week’s hearings demonstrated that these companies may not be up to the challenge that they’ve created for themselves. In some instances, it seems that they’ve failed to take commonsense precautions to prevent the spread of propaganda, misinformation, and hate speech. …

… we can’t trust the companies to get it right …

… as has become alarmingly clear in recent months, these companies have unprecedented power to guide Americans’ access to information and potentially shape the future of journalism. It should go without saying that such power comes with great responsibility. …

ProPublica recently revealed that up until two months ago, Facebook allowed advertisers using the company’s self-service ad-buying platform to target more than 2,000 people who expressed interest in the topic of quote “Jew hater” and other antisemitic themes. …

As it stands now, Google and Facebook control 75% of all internet news traffic referrals …

Currently, Amazon controls over 83% of e-book sales, nearly 90% of online print sales, and almost 99% of digital audio sales.

Amazon has since used its unprecedented monopsony power to force publishers to agree to contract terms and conditions that the publishers say have stalled price competition …

… how do we ensure transparency and accountability from them going forward?

We must not let big tech threaten our security, freedoms and democracy

my AirPods

On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, music, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’ve cursed Steve Jobs 10,000 times for not perfecting wireless headphones.

The new Apple AirPods are good and bad.

The good? No wire tangles. They fit. They don’t fall out. Battery life is excellent. You can tap them to start and stop play.

The bad? Bluetooth is not 100% reliable. Audio cuts out quite often. There is no volume control without Siri. They are expensive at US $160. And … not everyone thinks they look cool wearing them. 🙂

Audio books and podcasts are important to me. I’ll get good value out of that $160 over the lifetime of the AirPods.

Still, I’ll normally use them in preference to my regular headphones.

Click PLAY or watch the Johnny Ive pitch on YouTube.

Here’s a real world review. Good and bad. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The fit and sound exactly like Apple earbuds.

Rick is downsizing

On By Rick McIn Apple, gymnastics, movies, music, philosophy, things getting betterLeave a comment

What, you ask? A smaller backpack?

ALL my cassette tapes, reel-to-reel and VHS are headed for Value Village. A few CDs, as well. Software. Old electronics.

img_3887

Even that romantic mix tape. img_3890

I’ll donate at least 75% of my old clothes. Less is more. 🙂

related – my philosophy of Voluntary Simplicity

AdBlock or Adblock Plus?

On By Rick McIn Apple, economics, ethics, Facebook, Google, internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I hate 99% of advertisements. All businesses that rely on advertising dread me.

Google and Facebook hate guys like me. Apple and Amazon don’t much care.

All companies should evolve to be less reliant on advertising. Micropayment are the best alternatives still, I think.

My online life is greatly enhanced with extensions that block advertising. Right now I have AdBlock installed on Safari. Adblock Plus installed in Chrome.

AdBlock vs. Adblock Plus: The Ultimate Comparison With Pros & Cons

AdBlock-vs-Adblock-Plus

I don’t really have much of a preference between the two.

new WordPress app

On By Rick McIn Apple, blogsLeave a comment

I love WordPress and recommend it to one and all.

But like pretty much every veteran user, I hated their new “Beep Beep Boop editor” when it was introduced.

Fish of Gold explains why:

There was so much outcry that WordPress kept in the old editor as an alternative. I use the old editor.

Click PLAY or watch it on the WordPress blog.

The CEO Matt:

The interface, however, has been a struggle. …

an incremental approach wouldn’t give us the improvements we needed …

Instead, they decided to launch an app. On Mac first. Here are the highlights:

click for larger version
click for larger version

This is my first post using the WordPress.com app for Mac. Seems to work quite well. 🙂

on American poverty

On By Rick McIn Apple, economics, education, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

In his book on the American South, Theroux is very critical of the Clinton foundation. Bill Clinton is from Arkansas. Yet seems to have done very little as a philanthropist to help his home State. Some people in the American south live in worse poverty than some in Africa.

PAUL THEROUX:

… China has been enriched by American-supplied jobs, making most of the destined-for-the-dump merchandise you find on store shelves all over America, every piece of plastic you can name, as well as Apple products, Barbie dolls or Nike LeBron basketball shoes retailed in the United States for up to $320 a pair. …

… if there was one experience of the Deep South that stayed with me it was the sight of shutdown factories and towns with their hearts torn out of them, and few jobs. There are outsourcing stories all over America, but the effects are stark in the Deep South. …

When Mr. Cook of Apple said he was going to hand over his entire fortune to charity, he was greatly praised by most people, but not by me. It so happened that at that time I was traveling up and down Tim Cook’s home state of Alabama, and all I saw were desolate towns and hollowed-out economies, where jobs had been lost to outsourcing, and education had been defunded by shortsighted politicians. …

Some companies have brought manufacturing jobs back to the United States, a move called “reshoring,” but so far this is little more than a gesture. It seems obvious that executives of American companies should invest in the Deep South as they did in China. …

The Hypocrisy of ‘Helping’ the Poor

Deep-South-Four-Seasons-on-Back-Roads-copy-350x252

California has a poverty rate of 23.8%, the highest of any state in the country …

The US Census declared that in 2010 15.1% of the general population lived in poverty:

9.9% of all white persons
12.1% of all Asian persons
26.6% of all Hispanic persons (of any race)
28.4% of all black persons.

wikipedia

If you are in the poverty demographic, you should certainly campaign against the Republican Party. Those people (in general) try to move as many dollars from the poor to the rich. 😦

American companies will eventually reshore factories. When it’s financially advantageous. That could be soon.

Apple – the most profitable company in the world – has made some attempts. Those have been problematic, so far.

new MacBook – impressive

On By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsementsLeave a comment

One arrived today – April 16th – at a BestBuy I happened to be visiting. It’s much more impressive than I expected. Very thin. Very solid. Entirely metal.

I don’t need an Apple Watch. And I don’t need this hybrid cross between an iPad and an ultra light laptop. But it’s worth checking out in person, when you get the chance.

Here’s the Apple cool-aid.

The new MacBook – Reveal

The new MacBook – Design

If interested, check the iMore review first. It’s not inexpensive. And the adaptor for the new (very cool) port costs $80.