Welcome to Soundbyte – in this issue:
- May Meeting – Cast off the shackles – workflow automation!
- From the frying pan to the fire! – Apple’s new CEO
- Do more with your Mac!
- iPhone Air – a good product?
- Adapting to Artificial Intelligence
- Tiny things
- Robots are coming…
May Meeting – Cast off the shackles – workflow automation!
Join LMUG, this Monday May 11 at 7pm BST to learn about Raycast and how it could automate your workflow, boosting your productivity. Did you know you needed this? Seeing it in action can help you decide if could help you.
We’ll start the evening with Newsbyte and the latest news from Apple. This month we will also have an extra presentation for those with older intel Macs. Can you keep using them once Apple drops support? Maybe – let us explain!
Check the email this newsletter came in for the link to the Zoom meeting. You can also find the link in our Slack Meetings Channel.
From the frying pan to the fire! – Apple’s new CEO
It turns out the 50th anniversary last month was something of a swansong for Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. Not long after, Tim announced he was promoting himself to Executive Chairman, to deal with politics and governments. This didn’t leave the CEO spot empty as at the same time, Apple’s Vice President of hardware was elevated to CEO. This transition will happen in September and it will be: John Ternus!
Don’t say who?! He was a leader in the Apple Silicon transition, and delivered Apple’s best new products, the slim MacBook Air, the astonishing iPhone Air and the MacBook Neo. In particular the last two highlight what’s possible. Tim Cook was an operations expert, not a product designer. Steve Jobs was a product designer, so is John. Some people are making logical leaps and getting excited. This video is from before the CEO announcement.
A successful Apple CEO is more than having a vision, and good taste for great products. They also need to ship products on time, and Ternus is inheriting an almighty crunch. Soundbyte readers – this is serious, it’s hit already and it’s getting worse. It’s due to our favourite feature – Artificial Intelligence. I have talked previously about the trillion dollars being spent by companies to develop and train AI. A lot of this money is being spent buying up all the chip and ram capacity…in the world, and Apple is not immune. There was a theory that Apple’s high price for RAM upgrades was a hedge to insulate them from price volatility. Whatever the truth was, its run out.
The other problem is one of success. The acclaimed MacBook Neo is so popular (my niece adores her blush one) that Apple is running out of the binned iPhone chips that power it. Cook has that dealt with for now.
Let’s hope the Neo and Air are a sign of great products to come from real artists that ship! Good Luck John!
Do more with your Mac!
We’re talking this month about Raycast in our meeting, but there is so much more that’s possible. Windows is famous for having millions of programs and games. Mac is famous for great apps. It’s not just the iPhone. What’s new and great on the Mac? Have a look at the video below from Snazzylabs for a curated list:
Mac is also infamous for dongles, and this is quite an odd one. If you have a use-case for this, let us know in Slack (details above)!
iPhone Air – a good product?
The middle iPhone model (mini and plus) sales have fallen between the cracks of huge iPhone and iPhone Pro sales. The iPhone Air is meant to provide a distinctive experience with enough delight to give us a choice so tempting we might actually buy it. We’ll see, but there are some long-term reviews out. Let see a considered opinion [I’m hoping, even if it fails, that it becomes the model for future regular iPhones – ED].
Adapting to Artificial Intelligence
Companies are having to re-think how to design their websites for e-commerce. The reason is that many people are using AI to search for them. AI is built directly into our Google searches – we ask a question and get an AI overview containing hyperlinks. That might include your company, or not. How do you get your company on that list so you don’t loose your customers? The BBC investigated that here.
From one problem to another. Put down that chatbot! It turns out that some chat bots have been engrossing their users so much that it has warped their minds into delusion. This horrible dystopia has claimed a number victims and AI companies are…saying, they are taking action as a result. Get the lowdown from the BBC here.
Tiny things
Before sharing this, your Editor wants to remind all readers of the importance of safety when charging our devices. The best charger is the one that came with your device or recommended by the manufacturer. Next best is a trusted third party. But sometimes you need to trust in order to get an advantage and size could be one of them. Have a look at this remarkable charger development below and read about it on 9to5 Mac:
Next a tiny electric Kei car with some remarkable features, from Honda, that’s coming to the UK.
Robots are coming…
And finally, yup, Robots are here and ready to take over. Really though? Maybe not really. Let’s have a look at the state of things. Appearances may deceive.