Hello photography. It’s been a while

The Social Media End Times

Casey Newton in Platformer at Meta Connect: ⁠⁠It went all but unmentioned on stage, but Meta says it is beginning to test content “imagined for you” by Meta AI on Facebook and Instagram. Meta will use your likeness and interests to generate photos and videos with AI, and you’ll

No Hallucinating, That’s An Ad

Marty Swant of Digiday has seen the Perplexity pitch deck for building an advertising business: > According to a copy of the pitch deck obtained by Digiday, the plan is to integrate ads within users’ queries and answers When the idea of using an LLM as a search engine started

There’s Both Too Much And Not Enough Attention

Charlie Warzel writing about his toilet theory of the internet: > I have precious little time to hook a reader with whatever I’m trying to get them to read—but also that my imagined audience of undistracted, fully engaged readers is an idealized one. It says a lot that

There Is No New iPhone

Let’s just say it: there is no new iPhone. Every September, Apple rolls out the red carpet, the tech world holds its breath, and yet here we are, staring at what feels like the same device dressed in slightly different clothing. Sure, the branding is slick, the presentations are

The No Action Button

When purchasing the iPhone 15 Pro, I was completely convinced this small upgrade to the device was going to prove immensely useful. Switching the mute switch for an Action Button seemed like a genius move, as I just put my device on silent anyway and never take it out. Now

What Is Keeping Me Here

Every so often I get itchy feet. A yearning for something different in my tech life, and I begin to question why I use Apple products. It doesn't help there are so many interesting Android devices being launched, and that I feel more than a little squeezed by

Engagement Farming For Reward

Ben Werdmuller writing about Threads trading trust for growth: > If X has fake news, Threads is assumed to have fake views: engagement by any means necessary. I did not know that Meta were incentivising engagement bait, but it now seems obvious. Despite my initial thoughts on liking Threads as

Short Review Periods

For many years, I’ve had an issue with professional reviewers and the number of devices they cover. The smartphone market is ever-growing with what seems like hundreds of devices each year, leaving the period between first use and review desperately short for many people who can and does present

Are All Distractions The Same?

I wrote this note on my phone when first considering buying a Boox Palma. I wasn’t convinced that replacing my social media action with reading was necessarily the best option, but in the sort term, I can't see any other way. Like a smoker that needs to