Juan Pablo Vazques has an article in Harvard Business Review about how Apple Pay’s reliance upon credit cards is ultimately iterative, but not disruptive. He writes: Apple executives could have negotiated with retail banks, just as it did with the recording labels, to launch Apple Pay. If it had, Apple Pay would have been a … Continue reading Apple Pay’s Credit Card Reliance
Wired has a solid review of the new Macbook. Their conclusion is spot on: Much like that first Air, the new MacBook is for the future. It’s a vision of our next computer, the one we’ll buy when our Airs or ThinkPads can’t keep up anymore. The MacBook is a work in progress: The processor and … Continue reading Reviewing the New Macbook
I love the flippancy of this part of Mick Jagger’s brief interview with Rolling Stone: Does retirement ever cross your mind? Nah, not in the moment. I’m thinking about what the next tour is. I’m not thinking about retirement. I’m planning the next set of tours, so the answer is really, “No, not really.” Continue reading The Stones
Looks like Samsung has come around to Apple’s design language, what with the headphone jack placement and all. Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S6
Jay-Z recently revealed his plans for Tidal, a high-fidelity music-streaming service. The key differentiators are: Tidal will have no free tier Tidal will have a $10/mo compressed quality option, and a $20 CD-quality option Tidal will offer equity stakes in the company to artists I’m a little skeptical that Tidal will succeed. Spotify and Pandora are … Continue reading Tidal
In 2013, Facebook tried and failed to create its own phone. Now Facebook has come back with a more considered vengeance, and announced today at F8, its developer conference, the inception of Messenger Platform, which will play nice with third party apps, and ultimately, I believe, achieve some of the results Facebook sought back in 2013. Facebook seems … Continue reading Facebook Messenger: The Trojan Horse
Facebook recently announced the rollout of a payments service which will be embedded within its popular Messenger app, leveraging its already-vast user base. This move was obviously a long time in coming, and it follows on the heels of Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and, most similarly, Snapchat’s Snapcash feature. I am certain that, down the line, Facebook … Continue reading Facebook Messenger, Now with Payments
The new Macbook took me by surprise: I didn’t expect it to come back, or at least not in its current incarnation. More specifically, I expected it to replace the Macbook Air on the lighter (and cheaper) end of Apple’s computer offerings. But given its $1,299 price tag, I think Apple will hold off for … Continue reading Pricing The New Macbook
We had a half of a Fairway baguette lying around the kitchen. Needless to say, my wife makes excellent croutons. Continue reading Croutons
Apple is running much-heralded ad campaign, showcasing the iPhone 6’s powerful camera in advance of the release of its new Photos app. This campaign fits with Apple’s larger advertising motif of demonstrating not so much its products, but what you can do with its products: Contrast this with the Android’s advertising equivalent of “speeds and feeds” — … Continue reading Shot on iPhone
Silicon Spatula 