Sticking with the Apple history theme, Designed in California is a new podcast from the team behind Upgrade that breaks down the last 50 years of Apple. If you’ve listened to any of the Rest of History podcasts it’s in the same style, part story, part chat, and a great listen.
I backed the Kickstarter so had a drop of seven episodes to burn through. Some series I’ll listen weekly, but the most recent one on Apple’s Mac OS Crisis was so good I burned through all seven on two long walks. If YouTube is more your thing then you can watch/listen there too.
The series took me back to the days before I was a Mac user but was aware of BeOS and NeXT thanks to skinning Windows 95 with backgrounds and icon packs to make it look better. I had a real fondness for the yellow pop from BeOS thanks to WindowBlinds. The icons were pretty good too.
Looking forward to the next series which will time jump to mp3’s and the launch of the iPod. In the meantime, I’m off to change some Mac icons.
20 years ago today I took receipt of my first Mac. The next day I blogged about it.
I loved everything about that Mac, apart from the mouse, and 20 years on I wouldn’t swap to Windows or Linux despite some of Apple’s missteps.
I’d bought an iPod in 2003 and almost since day 1 and experiencing iTunes on Windows I hankered after a Mac. I’d used Mac’s at Glasgow Uni and looked on enviously at some of the Mac apps at the time with their skeuomorphic designs and large indie developer community that didn’t really exist within Windows.
A few months on from the iMac I picked up a Macbook Pro, then a few years later upgraded to a new iMac and replaced the Pro with an Air as the iPad got more usage. Roll forward to today and the Mac Studio with an M1 is still going strong and likely won’t see an upgrade until the M7 launches? And by that point I may be back in a Mac Mini world thanks to ramageddon or a touch driven Macbook Pro.
Little did I know in 2006 that less than four months later the iPhone would be announced, that almost every year I’d find a good reason to upgrade the phone (but not this year…yet ;)) and we’d be seeing iPhone prices outstripping many laptops. I also didn’t think 20 years later Apple still wouldn’t be able to make a decent mouse. I wonder how different the Mac’s of 2046 will be?
I’ve been quiet for a couple of months. I enjoyed publishing weeknotes but something had to give a few weeks ago and this was one of the things that got paused. Still not sure if they will return, or I move to more frequent shorter posts. Unclear, but I’m still here as someone did reach out to check in that I was still alive…well, something like that.
So why the break? Work. Fell into old habits of working all the hours. I’ve hardly gamed in the last 4 months either which is criminal given the consoles and games available to me but I pushed it to back burner which is really unhealthy. I’ve had the last week off work and done a bit of a reset as health issues have also been kicking in. I have kept my daily walks going though and listening to podcasts as that’s still my favourite way to unwind. Day 3449 of my move streak – 10 consecutive years are in sight!
A couple of topics that are bubbling around at the moment that I wanted to mention. First, the unexpected drama around MacStories. I’ve enjoyed MacStories for years due to the app’s they surface and the depth that Federico Viticci and John Voorhees often go into not only in the Apple world but in retro gaming. I’ve been a paid subscriber for almost 10 years as the path they were on wasn’t chasing news and clicks and I was happy to support them. I also applauded their principled stance to come off Meta and X platforms and do so publicly. It made it all the more disappointing this week when it was revealed that Macstories and also Viticci and Voorhees had returned to X and also were paying members. This was also done without talking to the rest of the Macstories staff. Clumsy at best and a real misstep.
There was a lot of blowback in the small Mastodon community I follow and little public acknowledgement of why. It was really painful to see the reaction of some of the staff. Roll forward a couple of days and Viticci posted an explanation via a Craft document. Odd. I’m sure they both have their legitimate reasons but it doesn’t stack up for me. Its also sad to see their about page now reduced to just the two of them as contributors have walked away from the site…maybe that was the plan all along. With their ongoing pivot to AI and less on Mac coupled with their move back to X I decided it was time for me to also move on and cancel my subscription. I was convinced that was the right move when within minutes I got a 15% discount offer to resubscribe. Uggghhhhh.
The death of Jason Arday was an avoidable death. If Arday was white the pile on would never have happened and likely he would still be here today. There are some questions to answer around Arday’s claims he made throughout his life but there are professors accused of far worse. Where are the daily articles from the right wing press about this case? Indeed one of the academics who criticised Arday, Nathan Cofnas, is a self defined “race realist” who himself is now suspended and whose role at Cambridge was terminated after saying that black people would “disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment”. We really do live in unpleasant times.
Glasgow feels like a city in decline at the moment. Susan Aitken rightly took some flak from doing an interview last year which was seen through rose tinted spec’s. Three massive city centre fires haven’t helped but the avenue projects haven’t improved the city in my opinion, the littering challenges haven’t been dealt with and there’s a number of other day to day issues that the council just haven’t tackled. However this weeks BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme, Welcome to Glasgow, while highlighting challenges in the city centre which are clear to see – crime, drugs, mental health and immigration – also did little to offer a balanced view nor actually investigate the why. Who is driving and funding the right wing protests in the city? Are the crime rates better or worse over the years? What about the good that is happening in the city? While Glasgow has taken a step back in recent years this was a really poor hit piece. Do better BBC.
Anyway, to finish this not a weeknotes post, some linkage:
Don’t be a meat proxy – I still fear the day of being questioned at work via copilot…and me reaching to copilot for responses. Bullshit on bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving running out of credits daily on both Claude and Codex as I vibe code some apps but switch on your brain when either talking or replying to people – don’t copy LLM text verbatim.
Bond Filming Locations – love this, no doubt vibe coded but who cares when its this good
Hot week. We never got above 29 so it was bad but not as bad as South of England and Europe…anyone saying climate change isn’t a thing needs to be muted and ignored forever. Idiots.
Lots of frustration around work and life at the moment, and it’s showing up in the usual health impacts that I’ll need to manage…been a long weekend. Have binged half of the last season of The Bear – will miss spending time in this world, something about it just clicks for me.
Ahhhh….the World Cup. All the usual cliches apply particularly it’s the hope that kill’s you. Steve Clarke and the team did so well to qualify directly, rode their luck and then took the opportunity against the Danish at Hampden last year. Despite saying he and the team had learned lessons from the last two Euro’s, the team fell at the first hurdle yet again. Going into the Brazil game the focus was on sneaking a draw or keeping it to a 1-0 defeat. Ha. Ropey defence coupled with individual howling mistakes in the Moroccan and Brazil games undid us.
This resulted in a three day wait until Scotland were confirmed as failing to make the last 32…and also for Steve Clarke to confirm his resignation. Surprising as he’d just signed a new 4 year deal, but feels like it’s the right decision for all. He’s done so well to take Scotland to three major tournaments and given the team as a whole has fell short at each one it feels the right time to change manager. Not at the moment but given time he’ll be remembered fondly as improving and succeeding with the national team which many have struggled to do. The players have a lot to answer for though, some didn’t show up, some made too many basic errors. Feels a year of rebuilding and bringing in some fresh faces…and finding some defenders.
We knew it was coming but the price rises announced by Apple this week were much larger than I, or probably anyone, was expecting. Seeing them laid out as percentages made it even more stark. A four year old Apple TV, already expensive, is £199 or £249 if you want one with ethernet. Thats extortionate. Desktops also impacted by 25-25%. To buy an equivalent Mac Studio to the one I’ve got will cost around another £1000. iPad’s already were expensive and the price increases catch the breath. Not included so far…iPhones and AirPods. I thought we’d have seen an increase ahead of the new models in September but maybe Apple are waiting to that event. How expensive will the fold/ultra be?
Sad news this week in the tech blogosphere with the news that Om Malik had died at the age of only 59. I’ve followed his journalism and writing for years and he was always on the pulse of tech. In later years its was his personal writing and his photography that I admired more. There’s been so many great posts from people who knew him but it was John Gruber’s heartfelt post, with photo’s no less, that summed up why Malik was so loved. He’ll be missed.
🔗 Links
Xbox Is Increasing Console Prices For A Third Time – The gaming market is screwed thanks to AI and Ramageddon. This is the third price increase for the XBOX, Sony have had to do the same, and if you want to buy RAM or storage right now its eye wateringly expensive. Many firms also predicting it will increase in 2027 and it could be 2030 before we see any drops in price.
The Steam Machine – Valve delayed the release of The Steam Machine and it’s priced over $1000 which, again, thanks AI. This isn’t for me but it will be very interesting to see how it sells and performs over the coming months.
GTA VI was finally available for pre-order this week. £70 and £90 are the options for both digital and physical versions of the game. Just don’t expect any media in the physical edition. Sigh.
The Case for Physical Media Ownership – timely given the GTA VI news and also the shutdown of more digital services removing content that you’ve paid for.
Frozen by the challenges of power: how Starmer turned triumph into tragedy – While Steve Clarke was clearly the biggest resignation of the week, Starmer stepping aside lays out a path for Andy ‘king of the north’ Burnham to take over as PM in just a few weeks. All the parties are clamouring for another general election, but the Tories and SNP have form for not doing the same and like Brenda said, we don’t need another one.
Snap’s AI Specs – WTAF are these. The reviewer skewers them and rightly so.
Despite the horrendous pricing, dubious politics and the downright annoying hydration breaks which are really just a not so subtle way to introduce more adverts…I’m really enjoying the 2026 World Cup. I didn’t enjoy Scotland’s result against Morocco but the tartan army invasion of Boston was joyous and I loved the many many pic’s and vid’s from Jobi Liquors.
The timing of games isn’t ideal but the quality has been excellent. Next up, its only the number 1 rated side in the world, Brazil. In both games we’ve not really turned up so here’s hoping we’ll rise to the occasion on Wednesday.
Scotties in the City launched in Glasgow this week. 40 large Scottie dogs have been placed across the city and I stumbled on two this morning. There’s one at Devonshire Gardens and the details on it are amazing. So much to read. The other I found today was at the Botanics and looked fantastic in the sun. Looking forward to finding more…and I do hope they remain graffiti free but seeing the state of Gt Western Road and other bits of the west end recently I have the fear.
🔗 Links
Moments – Instagram is so far removed from a place to share photo’s now and while there are many alternatives, Moments launched in the last week and I like it. Will it stick? No idea, but you can find mine here.
I Love the Computer – this struck a chord. From tinkering on my Amstrad 464, my first Escom PC all the way through to Mac’s, gaming PC’s and my recent custom NAS. I too love the computer.
Tim Cook Says Apple Price Increases Are ‘Unavoidable’ Due to Memory Costs – this was inevitable but it will be interesting to see just how much iPhones and Mac’s rise later this year. Cook also taking one for the team as he stands down on September 1st, so he’s owning some bad news when he could have stayed quiet.
A tale of two browsers – looking forward to seeing just how much Safari is improved later this year. Firefox now my default and it’s been fast and stable unlike Safari. I gave in and installed iOS 27 on the iPhone. Working well so far.
The AirPods Effect – I bought AirPods when they first released and lucked out given the low stock. At the time they looked odd and I can remember staff at the underground asking about them and amazed at the price I’d paid. Now they are everywhere alongside so many alternatives. Changed days.
A quite miserable fortnight thanks to a cold/flu/covid bug. Last few days have felt much better but my sleep has been all over the place which hasn’t helped. Thank goodness for the World Cup which against the odds has been an antidote to much of the negative days to day news
Scotland top of the table
It might not last so let’s remember this moment – Scotland top of their World Cup ground after the first round of games. It was a must win game and after a bright start and but for a few good moments Haiti had better chances and Scotland rode their luck…but they did it. What a fantastic result.
Was also great to see the tartan army out in force and enjoying themselves. Social media was full of the Boston invasion and the noise when Flower of Scotland was sung at the game was one of those spine tingling moments. SO much emotion.
While we didn’t play well let’s be honest – it doesn’t matter. Previous tournaments we’ve been unlucky losers, playing well and not getting results or just being pish. To get off to the best of starts is such a relief. Next up – Morocco which I think will be our toughest game. Let’s go.
It was also great to see Lewis Hamilton win today for the first time in two years and also get his first win with Ferarri. Slight fortune with a safety car but likely he would have won anyway. Also a British 1,2,3 on the podium for the first time since the 1960’s. So good.
WWDC 26 felt different. Shorter keynote, bit of a reset on things promised but not delivered and a tad more honest? The fixes/back to basics on Liquid Glass, especially on the Mac, are really welcome. So much of the Mac looks a mess thanks to the half baked decisions in Tahoe. Golden Gate is also a much better name. I switched off a bit during parental controls – they look well intended but also a reaction to legislation across the world rather than something Apple believed in deeply. If they did this should have been in place for years.
Apple Intelligence was the biggest reset. What they showed looked similar to 2024 except this time they showed it actually working including the normal delays you expect when using a chatbot. If it lands as demo’d it will be a useful step forward for Apple who are massively behind on AI capabilites. It might even make Siri useful. The one major negative is that WatchOS 27 when it launches won’t support my gen 1 Apple Ultra. That feels unusually aggressive from Apple and is turning my watch into subscription hardware. Do not like.
US Gov asks Anthropic to ban ‘foreign national’ access to Fable, Mythos – This is the threat that comes from America and China being at the forefront of AI. Europe, and UK needs to join them, needs to build its own sovereign AI capability. Whats stop America deciding a country or firm n longer has access based on his whim.
A hot week which ended with manflu for me. Nothing worse than a summer cold. Domestic football season is over but all attention now on the World Cup. Sad news that Billy Gilmour won’t be there after picking up an injury in yesterdays warm up game and its pretty remarkable that Tyler Fletcher is his replacement. In Steve Clarke we trust, but that’s some call.
📺 Media
Race Across the World came to an end and what a glorious series it was. Spoilers ahead….but I was so pleased that Jo and Kush won not only the game but also were the team that really grew on me through the programme. Felt the most real of all the teams though none were in any way bad. Producers of that show really know how to select the right pairings and also produce an amazing series to watch.
The Boys came to an end and it was all a bit of a damp squib. The first two series stand out as by far the best and the last episode was a bit of an anti climax. For All Mankind also finished this week and I found season 5 to be the weakest so far, especially the last episode with some all to convenient loose ends tied up.
Loved Project Hail Mary and 28 Days Later: The Bone Temple and good to hear they’ve green-lit another 28 Days film to wrap everything up.
🔗 Links
Disney erased FiveThirtyEight – An act of internet vandalism. While the original author look to bring the content back, there’s good work being done to establish a full index here.
Celebrating Doodles – Google Doodles are an art form and this is an amazing searchable collection of every doodle.
A packed week at work, always struggle the week after a holiday – no time to catch up on the mails from the previous week and a back to back diary. Can’t quite believe Starmer has held on – a caretaker PM now. What I really enjoyed this week was the morning walks – glorious. Not so glorious – some micro power outages at home. Had a handful over two days, not unique to me but happening to others in the area too. Glad I picked up a UPS for the NAS.
Also enjoyed a cracking brunch at Sunny Acre, the southside of Glasgow has some great places to eat.
Finished watching Season 2 of Daredevil which was pretty good, and The Cage on BBC was excellent. All caught up on The Assembly which is such a special programme – Nicola Sturgeons episode was funny, emotional and ended with a great version of Dignity.
Yellowkey – some of the cyber vulnerabilities being disclosed right now are amazing. This one could lead to real breaches of personal and corporate data.
You can make an app for that – Claude and Codex really do make app building pretty straightforward. How much waste is there though from people running almost identical apps but built and deployed independantly.
Halt and Catch Fire – a wonderful TV drama (if you haven’t watched it then find and watch it immediately) but I never thought much about the title – this post explains it all.
A week off work – much needed. Lots of tinkering, house chores and downtime. Also stumbled on two cracking Post Box toppers, one celebrating Star Wars day!
Found these on my daily walks, now on day 3344 of consecutive walks of at least 30 mins…but the weight is still growing!
Politics unavoidable this week and Labour, particularly Keir Starmer, are in a right mess.
Winners – Greens, Lib Dems and Reform. Also SNP but on a reduced vote share and number of seats. Losers – Tory’s and especially Labour given just two years ago they were probably favourites in Scotland.
Seeing narrative that Scotland has moved more right wing – certainly more obvious due to Reform but 31 Tory seats in 2021 now read as 29 right wing seats.
More nationalist supporting MSP’s than union supporting for the first time in a while. SNP said if they got a majority they’d move to have a referendum. That’s quickly pivoted to saying it was a manifesto commitment despite not having a majority hence they will move to have one.
Also seen a few comments that until independence is settled SNP will always be largest party. What does settled actually mean – Scotland is independent? It’s probably more likely given Wales and Northern Ireland are all now being run by nationalist supporting parties. But settled assumes a split in the union, and although number of MSP’s tells one story, opinion polls still suggest 50/50 split and a quick tot up of number of votes from Thursday shows independence supporting parties got around 1.87M votes vs 2.57M for union supporting parties.
Given rise of Reform and the number of MSP’s that were standing down there’s going to be a fresh look in the Scottish Parliament. Not convinced there’s any increase in talent.
Will we see Labour use their majority in the UK Parliament to actually do something? I expected a more radical government but they’ve been shackled by committing to Tory spending plans despite the world being on fire and events causing massive impact. Unless Starmer pivots quickly, which is unlikely, then he and Labour are toast.
Sticking to a manifesto is noble but futile…especially the left is called out when they want to deviate from a commitment but nobody actually holds parties to account on failed manifesto pledges. SNP pledges from 2021 are part fiction as an example, but was hardly a topic in the latest election.
And speaking of holding to account, given the rise of Reform, will journalists actually do their job now and hold them to account? If they don’t like the questions and threaten to walk away…let them.
🔗 Links
Why You Take Notes But Never Get Smarter – I felt seen reading this. Lots of notes, tons of bookmarks, when do I think and learn? So doing a lot of cleansing as I moved to Obsidian and rethinking working week to bake in more thought time.
The era of AI malaise – For all the benefits of AI I can’t be alone in finding it tiring. Breathless release after release, constant threat of upending jobs. And how can I forget – the constant slop on social media.
Taken – god, this is eye opening. What a website knows when you visit…and stores. Nothing is for free especially on the internet.
Dusk – It’s 20 years since the release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the GameCube…and you can now play a much enhanced version on PC and Mac plus iOS and Android. Love it.
Maybe it’s AI and my constant tinkering via Claude and Codex, maybe it’s because I’ve had some time off from work and wanted to change some app’s. Maybe it’s because I’ve so fecking tired of Safari crapping out on the Mac in some form…but I’ve finally switched a few of the default app’s I’ve used for years.
First up, it’s bye bye Safari and hello Chrome. Well it was until I used Chrome for a day and realised Google has neutered ad-blocking. So after trialling Brave I’ve settled on Firefox as my default browser on the Mac. Fast, great extensions and so far no major issues after a few days of use. Safari was always complaining about high memory usage, had rendering issues and every so often some extensions just failed to work properly. I’ve got Firefox setup on iOS and iPadOS as well but will likely stick with Safari on those platforms as it’s faster.
Next up, Apple Notes. The app has improved greatly over the years and although I’ve not really had any sync issues, I wanted a bit more control over the note-taking experience and I also wanted something that could talk easily via Claude or Codex. Considered Notion but settled on Obsidian. I’ve sued Obsidian in the past and liked it, the challenge will be settling on a view that I like and with limited amount of plugins but its almost impossible not to keep tinkering in the first few days of use.
I’ve cleaned up the notes in Apple Notes and migrated over only what I needed – so much legacy cruft that I just wasn’t using. So far, all working well and syncing across platforms.
And the final change is to ditch Day One for journalling and move all 7000 odd entries into Obsidian. Not as slick an interface in Obsidian but one less app that I need is where my head’s at right now.
Will these changes stick? Hope so as I want to simplify my app’s down but not trade that for less functionality or a drop in stability but already seen an improvement in that front now that I’m no longer hitting daily Safari issues. Whats next?
