AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Notes: visionOS is Apple's first step walking to the world of VR. An apt comparison is the Oasis from Ready Player One by Earnest Cline The Oasis is a platform that is a world itself that hosts thousands of other virtual worlds. It is highly unlikely visionOS will evolve into the Oasis. We can see how Apple operates the app store for the iPhone and iPad to get an idea of how users are likely to access apps and content.  The Oasis is an immersive environment. Everything you see is virtual. Apple wants to provide a mix of virtual as well as reality-based experience.  First! I am calling it. As far as I know, no one else has compared Apple spatial computing and the OS powering the Apple Vision Pro, visionOS, to the Oasis from Ready Player One by Earnest Cline. It is one of my favorite movies that I download onto my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook so I can watch it any time I want. I also have the ebook and audiobook download on my iPhone and Apple Watch. As I watched the keynote event ...

The Gist: I was charging my Apple Watch on and off during my three days to Mammoth, California. With the Apple Watch Ultra, I think I would not have been so worried about running out of battery. Plus, there are other Ultra features that could have come in handy. But I'll wait for the next Ultra upgrade. In a hurry to beat the rush hour out of Los Angeles on Memorial Weekend, I had not paid attention to how much battery I had left on my Apple Watch 6 which currently is running at 80% capacity. That means, I charge my Apple Watch intermittently on any given day. Any given "normal" day. I can afford to do that because I have a charge at home, in the car, and at work to juice up my Apple Watch whenever I feel the need to do it or when it is running near empty.  Friday was obviously not a normal day. I had expected to leave work early to begin the six hour drive to our lodge but unforeseen issues came up, which is a fact of life, you know? I rushed hone, put the stuff in the c...

I'm waiting for the M3 chip to come out before I pull the trigger on a new MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. I'm still secretly hoping for a 12" version but it looks more and more unlikely. So, I'm focused on the MacBook Air instead. Watching Youtube videos on the newly released MacBook Air with a bigger 15.3" screen versus the regular Air with 13.6" (why isn't it called Mabook Air with 14" screen since you would round up?), I'm realizing the 15" Air is now the flagship MacBook for the consumer. Eventually, the Air will get upgraded to the M3 chip. The prevailing assumption is both versions of the Air will get the M3 ship. I'm going to step a bit back and ask what if Apple keeps the 13" Air with the M2 chip and lower the price from it's currently $1099 to $999. It may even keep the M1 version around where an even low price point could widen Apple reach. Will it happen? I'm betting it could depend on one main factor: Apple's ch...

I've lost about 15 pounds in the last twelve months and have managed to keep it off all thanks to my Apple Watch. It is not much but for someone who has struggled with weight on and off, it's great to have such a device that is so capable of helping me through this journey to become fit and, more importantly, stay fit. Let me stress this important point: Apple Watch is helping me keep the pounds from coming back. I could have rushed headlong into losing 20-25 pounds in months but that had not yielded the results that I wanted which was to keep it off. Because the few times that I have managed to do that, the pounds slowly came back. Lose five here, gain six back. Lose fifteen and see ten or twelve come back weeks laster.  Apple Watch is a great companion that allowed me to keep track of my movements, calorie counts, and reminders to get moving. I work in an office environment. I think many folks who work in offices also know how easy it is to just want to sit there and get lost...

The question though is when will Apple unveil its own car effort and what that will do to the market. We recently bought a Nissan Ariya and offered to give our Fisker Ocean reservation to a friend. I think we are are done with getting a new car for a while. Only Apple Car will get me trade in my current car sooner than I normally would.  Prior to the Ariya, I was driving a 2014 Lexus RX330 - its transmission finally gave out. It did not have a lot of mileage (less than 180,000 miles) but it is what it is. The timing on the Ariya was fortuitious. I had made the reservation more than a year ago. The RX330 gave out and the Nissan dealership in Glendale, California called me a month later to let me know my Ariya is here.  One of the reasons I held onto the RX330 longer than I would have like is because I was hoping to that Apple would have at least announce that they were getting into the market. But now, it does not look like an electric vehicle from Apple will be coming any time...

I value portability in today's computing devices. It's why I have not owned a desktop since my college days. I'm pretty sure that most college bound students who need to get a computer probably went with a laptop. Maybe even a small number of them might have opt for an iPad.  So out of the blue, I asked Bing Chat whether I should get a MacBook or iPad that I can use to code. Not surprisingly, Bing told me to go with a MacBook. Essentially, Bing found MacBooks to be more versatile when it came to the number of tools available for coding and development. It does think that the iPad has potential. The other issue it brought up is cost. I specifically asked if I should get an iPad Pro but it seems to suggest that there is no difference between a regular iPad and an iPad Pro given that the apps that are available for coding on the iPad run on all current iPads. So, if cost was an issue, the iPad would be the way to go.  On both accounts, I agree here just as I agree with another...

When Apple release the iPad mini 7, Apple should continue to keep the mini 6 on the market with a price drop. There are many reasons why Apple should make this move. I'll outline the reasons below.  Before I get into that, I want to note that I am currently on the iPad mini 5 and my wife got the iPad mini 6. While I always like having new things, I can't say that I am jealous of my wife's iPad mini. My mini 5 has worked so well for me since 2019 when it was first launched. I'm coding a bit on it and with the Apple Pencil, I'm drawing much better. I eagerly want to see what the iPad mini 7 has in store for us. Will it be enough of an upgrade for me to make the jump? We will have to see. Meanwhile, I hope that when it is finally released, Apple will consider keeping the iPad mini 6 around. Why it would be advantageous for Apple to having iPad mini 6 on saleon the iPad mini 7 is released? Here is why: Apple can lower the iPad mini 6 price by $100. It will help APPLE co...