'Oh the Humanity'
John Gruber:
Nest is an obvious exception, but Tony Fadell had a very atypical career at Apple.
...
the Nest did exactly what it promised, very well... Most importantly, Nest's thermostat took aim at replacing existing dumb thermostats, which were terrible. Nest's product really was something like 10× better than what it aimed to disrupt.
We have a Nest thermostat, which we picked over the Hive. It is fantastic and at least 10x better than a dumb thermostat.
My only gripe is the learning aspect of the Nest never hits the sweet spot for us. Either it's on too much or not enough. Not sure it has the concept of 'feels like' rather than relying on the actual temperature. Then there's 'away' functionality which is pointless because I don't want to come home and have the heating turn on. I want it to shut off when noone is home but turn back on before I return.
But the reality is that even those gripes make it so much better than we had it before. I despised our dumb thermostat. Genuinely hated it. The Nest delights 9 times out of 10.
While I'm interested in Humane's AI Pin, I didn't see as a device I'd covet. It's in the same territory as Google Glass for me. Interesting, but not for me.
Posted 18th Apr 2024 @ 08:55
More on the EU's Market Might
John Gruber:
Why not mandate that Springboard — the Home Screen — be a replaceable component?
When I last used Android, my cheap (~£100) HTC Wildfire came with HTC's own Android skin which brought a lot of bloat with it. You could turn it off, which I did, giving you the stock Android experience which was far snappier.
Then they shipped an OS update that removed the option to disable it. I ended up finding a different tool in the Play Store to manage the OS interface which was better, but I shouldn't have needed to disable or replace the OS interface at all.
On technology, the EU are getting a lot wrong. Cookie banners are pointless when they just ask for permission; tracking individuals should be illegal.
Now the DMA seems to misunderstand the operating system's role in the experience of using a phone. The hardware components specifically (phone, camera/photos, volume/power buttons and authentication modules) should remain tied to the OS which then allows other apps to leverage them.
I actually couldn't tell you what they're trying to achieve right now. Whatever it is, it's not what they think it is and certainly not what users are crying out for.
If tracking was banned and that spelt the end for Meta in Europe, I wouldn't shed a single tear. If the DMA implementation means that Apple pulls back from the EU I'd be pretty upset about that and wouldn't willingly jump to Android (assuming Google decides to stick it out in Apple's absence). Maybe being in the UK will spare me that fate but they really need to get some more informed people involved who know what they're talking about.
Posted 16th Apr 2024 @ 16:02
Hallelujah! Physical Buttons Could Make a Comeback Due to New Safety Regulations
The buttons on the dashboard of my car are close together with little separating them. They're more like toggles so I have to look at them as I would a digital button. The difference is that they consume 3D space so it's not just about tapping the right square, the square takes more space in the Z-index if we're talking about a 3D model and that alone makes it easy to use.
When it comes to something like a radio or AC controls that you might use often and build up muscle memory for then for me the physical world wins over the digital world here. Bring buttons back to cars.
Posted 20th Mar 2024 @ 16:16
★ The Ludacris Drink Champs episode
I've been a fan of Ludacris' music for years but towards the end of this interview he really cemented his place as an ultimately good force in the world of hip hop. You can watch the whole thing below or skip to
The only other episode I've watched all the way through is Pharrell on Drink Champs which is also worth a watch.
Posted 19th Mar 2024 @ 11:48
★ Vanishing Clock
via Kottke
Posted 11th Mar 2024 @ 09:53