David Emery on Why Apple's MacBook Neo makes Steven Sinofsky sad - 'No acceptance for the non-stop reliability/security problems with Windows, eh?'
on Mark Gurman: Foldable iPhone opens into an iPad mini running iOS - 'The past year’s price action in LiquidMetal’s stock price may indicate a sturdy hinge mechanism.'
on Apple not on Iran's hit list - 'US misadventures in the Middle East… Has it ever panned out as expected? This time there are no adults in charge.'
on Apple not on Iran's hit list - '”This President’s “friends”, the hydrocarbon oligarchs of the world, are quite pleased to see their profits increase out of this badly-managed “war”. ” And how would you know this is being badly managed? Is it because oil prices have increased? The stock market doesn’t think so. Starting in early September (long before the start of this war) through today’s print, all three US Indices have traded in a very constant channel. Is it the number of civilian deaths? As regrettable as they are, the number pales in comparison to the number of civilian deaths attributable to Khamenei, or even during the action that forced Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia, or the number of civilian deaths caused by Putin (using Iranian drones) in Ukraine. Or is it because this action was commenced by Trump? That could be a legitimate response, except that Iran’s proxies are responsible for far more in the recent past. Iran IS striking back. Thinking they wouldn’t is just stupid. But having destroyed vast stockpiles of Iranian missiles and nearly all of the launchers needed to fire what is left, and destroyed its ability to replace them, not to mention what has been done to Iran’s civil and military leadership and its ability to sell oil on the world market, I think this war is moving in the right direction and rapidly. Iran’s blocking of the Hormuz Straight hurts Iran far more than it does us. With the Straight closed Iran can’t sell 90% of what it used to, while an increase in oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, North Sea and Indonesia and others could make up what is lost from curtailing Iranian shipments. There is no oil shortage, only profiteers taking advantage of the war to raise prices. The oil producers welcome the US and EU’s draw down of strategic reserves because they were created when oil sold for much less than it did just a month ago (before this war started), and will be replenished with more expensive oil when this war is over. Without a sufficient inflow of cash the Iranian economy will completely collapse in short order. Russia can’t help Iran. Its own economy, about the size of Italy or Spain, can’t do it without oil revenue. Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s shadow fleet, coupled with EU tanker seizures are doing more to stop the flow of Russian oil than our sanctions. China can’t help because their financial interests are tied irrevocably to the West, its own economy is struggling from mass mismanagement from 20 years ago, and it has recently lost two valuable providers of oil (Venezuela and Iran). China is headed to energy self sufficiency with nuclear power they just aren’t there yet, and won’t be for at least 25 years. Venezuela would have liked to help, but alas Maduro is in a US jail, and no longer in control of Venezuelan oil revenue. Who’s left to help Iran? Not its traditional Muslim neighbors, who now feel betrayed by Iran’s missile strikes against them. Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis are struggling after Israeli kicked the stuffing out of them in the past few months (Hezbollah continues to feel Israel’s wrath). So where is the “mis-management” of this war coming from, other than your own dislike of all things Trump? BTW, I share those feelings with you, just not to the extent that I’m prepared to criticize an action that should have occurred long ago.'
on Apple not on Iran's hit list - 'This President’s “friends”, the hydrocarbon oligarchs of the world, are quite pleased to see their profits increase out of this badly-mannaged “war”. Heck, even his buddy Putin is getting fed at the trough: “The US is temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil, a key pressure point for the Kremlin’s war chest By Matthew Loh and Huileng Tan The US is lifting its sanctions on Russian oil for about four weeks to relieve surging prices. ” Excerpt From “The US is temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil, a key pressure point for the Kremlin’s war chest” Matthew Loh, Huileng Tan Business Insider https://apple.news/AQmPqii3US2WFzghtmcNLGg This material may be protected by copyright. Anyone thinking this wasn’t part of the plan – I have a very nice bridge in Brooklyn that I’m selling cheap…. And then there’s the military/industrial complex: Money on the hoof!'
on Mark Gurman: Foldable iPhone opens into an iPad mini running iOS - 'If I had a foldable phone, I might break it like the Transformer toys I used to own as a kid.'
on Apple not on Iran's hit list - 'We know that he had a lot of help from a very few people who stood to gain from his election. Putin, Manafort, etc. The real problem is that the propaganda served to certain vulnerable DTS (Deranged Trump Supporters) is that they will eat the shit sandwich of lies if served with a generous topping of salted chopped liver. The democrats seem to be generally fine with this because they are politicians first and Americans second. I get the former because they are selfish and want to win, but the latter is caca pretending to be in opposition with the Caca Real served by traitors.'
on Mark Gurman: Foldable iPhone opens into an iPad mini running iOS - 'Apple is “under pressure.” Spare us the hyperbole…'
on Apple not on Iran's hit list - 'You assume this administration is capable of analysis and foresight- neither exhibited thus far'
on Why Apple hasn't released a glucose monitor - 'Quantitative analysis of glucose in the blood is really, really difficult using some sort of non-invasive technique with lasers. It is possible to detect glucose with Raman spectrometers, quantitation is much harder. Normal glucose levels are only around 0.1%. This measurement is not performed in distilled water, this is in blood which contains all sorts of other molecules which can skew results. I did see some interesting research on blood pressure. As I recall they correlated the arrival time of increased blood pressure in the capillaries after measuring a heart beat electrically. This is a promising way to non-invasively measuring BP. I imagine long before we see devices like these in the Apple Watch we’ll see some sort of armband to measure things and transmit them the results to either the Watch or iPhone.'
on Why Apple hasn't released a glucose monitor - 'Heart attacks are usually not related to high blood sugar levels. The worse case scenario is a diabetic coma, whereas a coma actually puts less stress on the heart than a body up and walking around. But if a heart attack accurs in close proximity to high blood sugar levels, it does create a correlation. And a correlation is all the lawyers want, even if the correlation is not related to any cause and effect.'
on Why Apple hasn't released a glucose monitor - 'This case of incorrect readings from a glucose monitor and the resulting lawsuit is an example of just one of the issues Apple has to consider when navigating the legal minefield of medical measurements on their devices I don’t think it is the only reason they have for slowly adopting these features. In general Apple is a deep pocket for someone to target for a lawsuit of almost any kind so they probably plan for a certain amount of this. Without knowing the “state of the art” of glucose monitoring in the technology Apple already has in the Watch it is hard to say if Apple is holding back or hasn’t satisfied itself that their solution is worth the potential hassle or just not good enough. Maybe the best technological solution is not an easy legal one. Same thing with Blood Pressure readings. I see Apps which promise blood pressure readings on an Iphone using an app and the camera but no similar Apple product. Maybe they like the shield of someone writing an independent app or they don’t see the value add of providing their own version yet. I think they are rightly gun-shy at releasing a new feature which makes them vulnerable to a whole host of legal and patent issues so they really have to nail down all of these things before they take the leap. Just look at how difficult the Blood oxygen measurement fight has been. Personally I blame the legal system. But at some point if it is worth it Apple will navigate these issues and provide a solution if they believe in it.'
on Mark Gurman: Foldable iPhone opens into an iPad mini running iOS - 'David: “I think a foldable iPad Mini that expands to the size of an open paperback makes more sense, specifically as an easy to carry book reading device.” The product you’d like will be introduced two years out from the iPhone Fold. It will be called the iPhone Fold Max. Don’t tell Gurman, OK?'
on Tim Cook's letter to Apple's 2.5 billion 'crazy ones' - 'AI on the edge is part of Apple’s “thinking differently” from the mainstream. An article I found on Macworld talks about Perplexity using Mac mini’s for local AI use. “Perplexity’s Personal Computer is a Mac mini running an AI OS Macs are quietly becoming the AI agent PC of choice.” From the story: “On Wednesday, Perplexity announced Personal Computer, an AI agent that “runs continuously, merging your local applications with Perplexity Computer.” The system runs on Perplexity’s “secure servers,” but what hardware does it all run on? An M4 Mac mini. Perplexity explains that its Personal Computer “works in a secure environment with clear safeguards. Sensitive actions require approval, and every session includes a full audit trail. A kill switch gives users immediate control.” The platform was built on Perplexity’s existing foundation and ensures that every query runs in its own “secure sandbox.” It’s not the first time Apple’s tiny PC made headlines as an AI tool. In January, social media was overrun with people running the free, open-source AI assistant Clawdbot on stacks of Mac minis before Anthropic killed the buzz. Perplexity calls Personal Computer “more powerful than any AI system ever launched.” We don’t know yet which Mac mini it will be running on, but we assume it has the maximum RAM (64GB on the M4 Pro) model and a giant hard drive. It’s also unclear whether Apple is supplying the company with Mac minis or whether Perplexity is simply using off-the-shelf units.” It’s a big Mac Mini they require, true, but it IS a Mac mini. Next year, it might not need the fully loaded model. ***I’d share a link, but I can’t seem to comment at all in a post in which I tried sharing a link earlier, so you’ll have to go find the article.'
on Why Apple hasn't released a glucose monitor - 'Hi David. For serious riding I do the North Shore (called “the shore”) in North Van – then Whistler (think “Lord of the Squirrels”) and the bike park. On Vancouver Island it’s the mountains near Victoria and Sooke. Some of the riding is easier and some it downright scary.'
