June 2023
Hey all,
It's been a weird month. It felt like the entire world was glued to the news, closely monitoring the missing Titan submarine that lost contact with the rest of the world while diving to the Titanic shipwreck. In what can only be called an act of mercy compared to the alternative (trapped in the sub until the oxygen ran out), an implosion was confirmed after debris from the OceanGate Titan submersible were discovered on the sea floor.
These days, so much of our lives are spent in little bubbles. The news stories that rise to the surface in my world are likely different than the new stories that bubble up in yours. It's not even a politics thing, it's an algorithm thing. Depending on the websites you browse, and the people you follow, even stories that are everywhere for you might not even penetrate my bubble at all.
But sometimes there are stories big enough to break through those different bubbles and become universal news. This month, the search for this missing submarine was one of these big stories, whether you like it or not.
While it's definitely not a feel good story, I do enjoy being a part of these big communal shared experiences. It makes me feel connected to the wider society, especially at a point in history where it feels like everyone is drifting further and further apart.
-Dann
👓 Augmented World
Apple announced a new mixed-reality headset. I guess I need to talk a little bit about it, don't I?
But first, here's a six-minute announcement recap video, in case you missed it.
I went into this announcement a skeptic. I figured AR/VR was a flash-in-the-pan — the equivalent of 3D Televisions. Society had moved on, and now Artificial Intelligence was the next big thing. Virtual Reality just didn't have space anymore.
And I'm still not totally convinced that opinion is wrong.
However, after Apple's announcement, I understand how AR/VR could fit into our society.
Meta presented its VR vision years ago with the Oculus, which never really caught on. The technology was limited by the low price point, and the low price point necessary to get the device into as many hands as possible in order to enable to "network effect." Meta's VR was all about socializing with friends and playing games. The problem is, VR is a worse version of both of those things.
And that was the mindset that I think most people went into Apple's AR/VR announcement event. But it turns out Apple was thinking much broader.
It turns out Apple has solved all the previous hardware and software limitations in all the other devices (it had to create a device at a laughably-high price in order to do so, but it did). But that's the thing, Apple had to solve all those limitations in order for people to really see the bigger picture.
Here's my hypothesis: the Apple Vision Pro will be a tool for work and productivity. It won't be for everyone, but it will be fairly common in 5-10 years, once the price comes down to $1,500 - $2000. It'll replace laptops for many people.
Here's my thinking: the MacBook laptop is still a productivity workhorse. Laptops are what people use for work. iPads, even with similar-sized screens just aren't the same. In fact, productivity gets harder (not impossible, but harder) the smaller you get: laptop > tablet > smartphone > smart watch. Each smaller screen is a different computing context.
The Vision Pro headset expands your computing context to your entire room. You can put the headset on and suddenly be transported to an entire room of all the digital things you want to get done. Then you can take off the headset when you're done and completely leave that digital context.
At least, that's the reality that Apple is presenting. I don't know if it's what we'll get, but all the tech reviewers who got the 30-minute demo after the announcement seem to think so. If anyone can pull it off, it's Apple.
Further reading:
John Gruber (long-time Apple blogger) talks about his demo experience
David Smith (long-time indie Apple Developer) shares why he'll be a day-one developer
A less optimistic opinion from The Atlantic (via Avi)
👑 Game of Chimps
Chimp Empire is a four-part Netflix documentary series that follows two warring factions of chimpanzees in Uganda. It's also one of the best, entertaining, cinematic, educational, and engaging pieces of media I've ever seen. It's Game of Thrones, but real life and with chimps, complete with a full cast of characters, intrigue, power struggles, and drama.
The footage they capture is unreal. Since these chimps have been living side-by-side with researchers for 25+ years, humans just fade into the background for them. The chimps have bigger things to worry about. And the result is unparalleled access to all the high-drama of the biggest chimp colonies in the world.
Netflix also has a behind-the-scenes documentary and article, but you should watch the series first so you don't spoil anything.
🫡 So long, and thanks for all the links
I strongly believe that you should let your actions communicate your beliefs. I'm not perfect at this, but there are lots of way that I put this into practice:
I value privacy, so I pay for premium versions of free alternatives (Proton Mail instead of Gmail, Kagi instead of Google Search)
I think Meta is creepy, so I don't use Facebook and I modify my Instagram usage quite heavily
I also think web tracking is creepy, so I use Brave Browser and block trackers
I don't like what Elon Musk has done at Twitter, so I stopped using it
I'm not really loud about these behaviors (I do recognize the irony of claiming this while also listing them in this newsletter) nor do I encourage others to follow suit. But it's how I feel, so it's how I act.
This month, I'd saddened to add another company to the list: Reddit.
Even if you haven't been following the drama, you may have been pulled in anyway: a large number of subreddits (small Reddit communities) went dark to protest some upcoming changes. These days, some of the most useful Google search results are Reddit posts, which meant the impact of the protest went beyond regular Reddit users.
For me, the entire situation just makes me sad. I think everyone understood that Reddit's business model needed to change in order to monetarily support itself, and that there would be consequences to both third-party developers and users. But I can’t quite understand why these changes are so abrupt, and why they’re not budging at all in the face of all this feedback.
I guess that's what you do when you're inspired by Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. Although I'm not sure how anyone could be inspired by how Twitter was handled.
My main way to browse Reddit, the superb app Apollo, is going dark at the end of the month. And with it, the majority of my Reddit usage. C'est la vie.
🎭 Generation Avatar
Apple's Vision Pro announcement included something that I initially thought was a little weird. You can make a FaceTime video call while wearing the headset, and while you'll see your friends' faces, all they'll see is a hyper-realistic avatar of you.
Who'd want that?
But then I saw this TikTok video that made an excellent case that avatars might be just where we're heading. It's a generational thing.
Boomers use technology is a very specific way: utilizing tools like Facebook to digitally re-create the close-knit personal communities that the pre-digital world forced them to build.
Millennials, on the other hand, where the first generation online, where the internet was a dangerous place full of strangers, and posting the wrong picture online could be disastrous for college or job prospects. The result is a very curated online image.
Gen-Z is the first truly internet-native generation, which also has the trauma of the Pandemic. They were forced to be online, so they were going to just have fun with it and not take it seriously. Because to take it seriously would be a faux pas for their generation.
The theory is that the next generation will go the exact opposite of all this, and be the most privacy-focused generation of all. They'll navigate their digital world through an avatar, and it'll be cringe to have a strong online presence where your real face is plastered everywhere.
Just a hunch. But something interesting to watch out for.
🎶 Heart and Soulless
I've never been what you'd call a "music person." It's not that I dislike music, it's just that it doesn't really do much for me. The older I've gotten, and the more I've learned about how other people experience music, the more I think my brain just might be a little different.
Honestly, I think that's why I enjoyed this 13-minute 60 Minutes segment on Rick Ruben so much — it does a great job of illustrating the intangible about music. It's a must-watch. Rick Ruben is such a character, with such a huge influence on modern music, but isn't a musician at all himself.
I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the feature-length HBO documentary Listening to Kenny G, as well. One of the things the Kenny G doc does so well is explore why so many musicians feel like Kenny G's music (while widely popular) is completely soulless.
My takeaway after watching both of these documentaries: it's a good thing I never tried to make music myself, because it'd certainly fall squarely into the Kenny G camp.
End note
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I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.
Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.
Thanks for reading. Until next time,
Dann
The Dann Chronicles: June 🦟