Apple – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

More Thoughts On The Cook/Ternus Changeover

Honeymoon timing

Yesterday’s news of Tim Cook handing over the CEO mantle to John Ternus was news only in the sense of the timing. As I said then, it’s been expected for a while. It reminds me of any Apple rumor. It’s not true until it’s announced, even though most of the announcements turn into mostly confirmation these days. Note that Wall Street barely moved a tick on that news today. That tells you how well the ground was laid.

Apple ceo jpg.

Of course yesterday’s announcement has prompted exactly what you would expect, yielding tons of coverage on websites and podcasts. For Cook there have been accolades and brickbats, both deserved. For Ternus there has been excitement and a little caution.

Before I get to some thoughts of my own, here are a few links I found worthy of sharing because they stepped outside of the expected.

M.G. Siegler takes us on A Cook’s Tour.

Daryl Baxter saw more shock in the Apple community than I did. He reminds us that Tim Cook introduced the first Siri as part of his first iPhone event in 2011. He points ahead to this year’s announcement by John Ternus possibly poised to announce a promised better Siri. What goes around, might come around again. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 15 years to get it right this time.

And Horace Dediu looks way ahead to 2040, when Ternus himself steps down to begin the transition to the next CEO. John Ternus Has Left Big Shoes To Fill is quite a trip into the future. You’ll get a chuckle or two.

The first of my thoughts has to do with timing. Not specifically the timing of the announcement, but the timing that any new leader gets when stepping into that role. There’s a window of time in which new leaders get a bit of grace. Most call it a honeymoon. While enjoying that honeymoon it’s perfectly acceptable to foist off blame for anything that goes wrong on the last guy.

That will obviously be difficult with Tim Cook stepping into the role of Executive Chairman of the Board. Sort of like going on your honeymoon with your significant other’s father tagging along. But it will be even more challenging given the apparently well deserved narrative being hyped about Ternus’ hardware smarts and his responsibilities in recent years. He’s had his hands on much of the Apple Silicon generation of products, almost presaging the announcement of his ascension to CEO with his role in the recent release of the MacBook Neo.

Adding to the challenge is the well known and well worn narrative about Apple’s long view roadmap of rolling out new products. The story is that Apple is always working ahead on the next generation of a product as it is preparing to release the newest version. What products will we see over the next period of time were green lighted by Cook?

Ternus’s prior role in overseeing hardware also means all of the products rumored to be in Apple’s pipeline for later this year and into next year will certainly feature his fingerprints. But they will also have Tim Cook’s. The question will one day be which product can the world accept as the first Ternus only product. Does it matter? Not really. But it will be treated as if it does. Ask Tim Cook about how that went once he assumed the CEO mantle.

We also all know that there are apparently hardware products (HomePods, Apple TV, other home products) waiting to be shipped once Apple gets its act together with whatever the new Siri is, and how well that works with whatever they will call what heretofore has been labeled Apple Intelligence.

In my way of scoring, the success or failure of those products will fall into the Tim Cook column, regardless of any contributions by Ternus. Again, does it matter? And again, not really. But there is much riding on that this year. One way or the other it will be an imprint on Ternus’ first efforts, whether that’s fair or not.

As to that last thought on Siri and Apple Intelligence, that’s software. That’s software holding back the release of hardware products for Apple, which is first and foremost a hardware company that relies on its own software.

As I’ve said many times, the hardware I’ve seen the since the dawn of the Apple Silicon era is very good, if not exceptional. The software needs lots of attention and work. It’s not just the design choices, it’s the chinks here and there in the armor that sour.

Ternus may be the hardware product guy, but he’s now going to be the guy responsible for the famous and coveted “whole widget.” Obviously that includes the software. And also, the marketing of that whole widget. Software design and implementation has been a bitter bite of the Apple lately, as has some of the marketing. As Ternus expands his view, I will be watching how Apple’s software develops under his leadership with a keen eye.

That expanded view also includes services. New CEOs always like to make a bold statement when they first sit in the chair. While there’s a lot being made of the semiotics trying to show continuity between Cook and Ternus, I can think of one thing Ternus could do on September 1, that would immediately set him apart an Apple on a new course.

Announce an increase in the base amount of iCloud storage users get for free. 5GB hasn’t cut it for awhile. Cut and run from that legacy and begin making a bold new path.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. This site does not use affilate links.

Tim Cook Steps Down As CEO, John Ternus Steps Up

Ch…Ch…Changes in Cupertino

Change is in the air. Many would say finally. Some would say that really loud. Tim Cook is turning over the CEO reigns to John Ternus and Cook will become Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Here’s the link to the Apple Newsroom post.

Apple John Ternus Tim Cook_Full Bleed Image.jpg.large_2x.

Both Cook and Ternus made statements.

Here’s Cook:

It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world. John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future. I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman.

And here’s Ternus:

I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward. Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another. I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in the years to come, and I am so happy to know that the most talented people on earth are here at Apple, determined to be part of something bigger than any one of us. I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century.

As to the timing, Ternus takes on his new job on September 1 leaving his job as Chief Hardware Officer to Johny Srouji who gets promoted to that role effective immediately being responsible for product design, system engineering, and reliability and durability testing.

It doesn’t take a PhD in tea leaf reading to know that the transition at the top has obviously already been taking place. It can now move into a higher gear with the public knowledge. The timing will be interesting as Ternus takes charge on September 1, shortly before Apple makes its biggest product announcement for new iPhones and other possible new offerings each year.

It will also be interesting to see what is said in and around WWDC in June. The timing of the announcement points to a clearing of the decks for a new voice during that annual developer’s conference.

Personally, I feel it’s time for change. You can’t deny Cook’s efforts in growing Apple into the behemoth it has become. You also can’t deny that many are dissatisfied with a number of political moves he obviously felt were necessary. Cook, like many in this era, has become tarred and scarred by Trump. There’s also a strong current of dissatisfaction with a number of Apple’s policies.

Ternus is a hardware and product guy, and there is a lot of excitement around his ascension to the top job. Although curiously, it comes at a time when Apple’s hardware is largely viewed as exceptional, and it seems the issues needing focus are mostly on the software side.

There are certainly other issues, including developer relations, that will be waiting to greet Ternus in his new role. The thinking is Cook will use his new role to continue dealing with some of the issues surrounding the current U.S administration, China, and all of the other government and regulatory entanglements Apple is involved in.

For Apple fans, it’s going to be an interesting next few years. Keep in mind, change can mean a break from the past, but it doesn’t always point towards better times.

Just different.

(Image from Apple Newsroom.

Thoughts On The MacBook Neo

A palpable hit

The MacBook Neo is a nice piece of kit. If you’re in the market the price is right, the build is very good, and in my first impressions the laptop is a delight. Any of the complaints and concerns you’ve probably read or heard from those who own more kitted out Macs can be easily dismissed. At the moment. I’d venture to say that for the vast majority of everyday computer users the MacBook Neo will be a nice fit.

One of the folks I support reached out and said they wanted to obtain one, so I picked one up and did the drudge work of installing the OS update and some of the initial setup last week. We later spent some time together getting it set up the way they like. Moving from an M1 MacBook Air bought in 2022, they opted for a Citrus colored 512GB model with TouchID. The good news is there’s no real learning curve for this client when it comes to features and using the device. There is no bad news.

When I say “in the market,” my client is what I consider one of the perfect customers for the MacBook Neo. A retired senior that began using a computer later in life, later jumping on the iPhone train with the iPhone 5.

They do most of their computing on an iPhone and use a laptop for email, messaging, shopping, FaceTime, and some occasional writing. Occasionally they use Photos on a MacBook Air to manage photos, but still do most of that on an iPhone.

Of the fancy new features Apple has released over the last few years the only one they really rely on is seeing notifications from their iPhone on their laptop screen when they are using the laptop. There’s a currently a problem with that, which I’ll address later.

Given their computing needs and desires, they could probably get by without a laptop, but due to decreased finger flexibility, they feel more comfortable using a laptop for apps like Messages and Apple Mail when they are home. The only thing they connect to a port is power.

Hardware

As to the device itself, it feels great and a bit whimsical. As a MacBook Air user (13-inch, M4) I have to say that I’d love to see the guts of the Air in this form factor. They weigh the same, and the Neo is slightly smaller, but it feels tinier and more totable. You give up a bit of screen real estate with the slightly smaller display, but there is no notch. Apple may have cut features now considered defaults on the MacBook Air, but it didn’t skimp on the look and feel quality. In my opinion that and the price point are what sells the device.

We’ve long since reached a point where computing devices, whether in traditional form, or smartphones and tablets, all come with so many features that even power users don’t need or use some of what’s possible. Innovation has always curved towards adding more possibilities, as it should. In my opinion, it’s a good thing to flatten the curve a bit, offering products that don’t need all the bells and whistles.

Color

Apple is taking larger steps towards bolder color choices these days, and the Citrus color scheme for the Neo certainly is another big stride into that orchard. I personally wasn’t that attracted to it when it was unveiled, but after having the Neo around for a bit, I have to say that it not only adds to the novelty, but makes the tool feel a bit more fun. At night under a desk lamp the damn thing gives off an almost otherworldly glow.

One of Apple’s trends of the last few years is to match up UI color schemes and themes with the color chosen for the hardware. Highlights, buttons, and some text reflect and complement the color of the shell. The tinted keyboard of the Neo takes that a further step forward on the fun factor scale. That said, the citrus Neo’s color scheme, bold as it is, often leaves some text harder to read, certainly for older eyes.

We settled on choosing the dark version of the Citrus wallpaper for my client to solve this.

Another example of hard to read text with this theme.

The A18 Pro Chip

Apple raised eyebrows announcing and releasing this new laptop powered by an iPhone chip. An older and binned A18 Pro chip. In my limited time with the Neo I haven’t noticed anything but good performance.

I’ve heard and read others state that the setup process was slower than they have experienced on M-series Apple laptops. That wasn’t my experience. Things moved along readily enough If you count the number of times you have to accept and click on permission popups as something that’s desirable in an out-of-the-box experience. But that’s unfortunately true of any of Apple’s computers.

Again, I’m experiencing this only through setting up and doing a few tutorials for my client, but the performance I’m seeing feels more than adequate to met their needs.

One thing I did notice throughout my hands on time is that the Neo takes longer to connect to a WiFi network than either my MacBook Air or iMac (both M4 devices.) In fact, it feels very much like how long an iPhone sometimes does connecting to WiFi when rebooting. That makes sense on a smartphone when a device immediately connects to a cell signal, but in an age when everything is expecting an Internet connection one way or another, (on setting up a new device one of the first things required is to establish a WiFi connection) it seems like there should be a way to not start reaching out on a previously set up, non-cellular device until after a connection is made.

Battery Life

Setting up any new computer or smartphone puts a load on battery life. That continues during the first day or so after initial setup as things sync up. After performing the first OS update I didn’t use the Neo much until after my client was with me, but even after continuing setup and tweaking a few things there was 68% battery life left. Time will tell how that goes, but given my client’s usage I don’t anticipate them having battery life issues.

Memory Management

Much was also made about the one size fits all 8GB memory cap, regardless of the storage model one chooses. My client doesn’t run a heavy load of applications or keep many tabs open, so I’m not the best judge of how good the swapping out of memory to the SSD works. Apple’s Unified Memory Architecture seems to be working as designed in my limited view. I do wonder how well it does with devices that only have a 256GB SSD if they contain a lot of data.

Screen Size

I prefer the More Space option on displays I use. My client prefers the default view. Even with More Space selected, the Neo feels very much like a one app at a time computer to me, which generally lines up with my client’s needs. I always set up a Hot Corner Shortcut with Mission Control to make window navigation easier, and that feels more necessary on the Neo in the default display mode.

Apple has a feature that allows you to click the wallpaper and move all open apps off of the screen. You can choose to do this all of the time, or only in Stage Manager. I don’t recommend Stage Manager to my clients, and I typically recommend turning off the click wallpaper to show desktop feature. In this case my client likes this fly away feature, and sees it as a bit of whimsy. Even though they prefer to keep the Dock and Menu Bar always visible. So we’ll leave it on.

Trackpad

The Neo has a different trackpad than other current MacBooks. From what I’d read previously I expected to feel more of a difference between it and the trackpad on the MacBook Air. There’s a difference certainly, but it doesn’t feel like that big of one to me. I moved back and forth between the two devices without even really thinking about it.

Notifications from iPhone

I mentioned an issue earlier with iPhone notifications flowing through to the MacBook Neo. This is a feature I use myself. It’s set up through iPhone Mirroring, which you have to open at least once in order to set up.

One of the nifty things about this feature is that you’re allowed to pick and choose which notifications flow through and those you block either on your iPhone, or on your Mac. If you choose to use this feature and set it up, you’ll see an option in your Mac’s settings to allow these notifications.

CleanShot 2026-04-15 at 16.49.

If you click on Allow Notifications from iPhone, you’ll be taken to another screen. Below the three Allow options here, you’ll see a list of any notifications you’re allowing to flow through or not from your iPhone, and whether you’ve turned them off on your iPhone, or they are coming through from an app installed on your Mac. As a reference, the screenshot below is from my iMac.

CleanShot 2026-04-15 at 16.48.

On my client’s Neo, no apps appeared initially. The section above that begins with Acme Weather is blank on their Neo. There shouldn’t have been many. Regardless none were there. We called Apple Support and opened a ticket. Luckily on the first call we got a senior advisor who understood the issue. After doing some checking the situation turned into something Apple is really interested in tracking down. These are a new line of devices after all. So we were off into the land of running sysdiagnoses. We’re expecting a call back on Friday with any discoveries or solutions Apple may have come up with. Fortunately we have time still left in the return window.

At the Moment

In the opening paragraph of this post I also used the phrase “At the moment.” Two thoughts there.

First, as I’ve described my client, they are not a heavy laptop user. Those who might be looking into the MacBook Neo who are, might have a different experience in both the short or long term. I’ve never yet met a computer that doesn’t slow down over time. I doubt the MacBook Neo will be any different. The difference in any performance degradation between the Neo and other Mac laptops is yet to be seen. My hunch is this first MacBook Neo will still be a winner for at least a few years, certainly if you’re a not a heavy user.

Second, the rumors are that the Neo is such a success that Apple might be running out of the binned A18Pro chips it’s using to power the MacBook Neo. Speculation on what happens if that’s true is rampant, and who really knows. Current demand has already caused a delay in shipping times, and I know that secondary retailers Walmart, Target, and Best Buy have plenty of signs, but very limited or no stock. My hunch here is that Apple will be selling MacBook Neos for quite some time, even though it might take you a while to get your hands on one.

Summing Up

To conclude, let me say that I’ve thought since Apple’s announcement of the MacBook Neo that it would prove to be a hit and a palpable one to the laptop market in general. In my brief experience setting up this one for my client and seeing their delight at the form factor, coupled with the high demand, I’ll more than double down on that thinking.

Personally, as I anticipate my computing needs becoming less in the more quickly than I’d like years to come, I could easily see myself relying on a MacBook Neo in the future.

Apple and Google Still Generating Profits from Grok’s Sexualized Image Generation

It’s my rule. I’ll break it if I want.

Rules are made to be broken is the cliché. That’s a theme that’s running louder and wilder through much of life these days. Build complicated and successful things. Create rules to protect what you’ve built. Mass enough power and then bend or ignore the rules when they become inconvenient.

That theme surfaces frequently enough that it’s almost a meme. In politics it happens every day, enough to make a mocking myth of things like the rule of law and the constitution. We see it in religion. We see it in business, too frequently in the business of tech. When you’re big enough that you have to, and can create rules to protect what you’ve built against others, and yourself, you substitute the convenience of adhering to the rules for the inconvenience of principle.

Back in January, (damn that seems so long ago), Elon Musk’s Grok released an AI image editing feature that allowed users to create nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes. It was ugly and disgusting.

As with all new things tech, it caught on like wildfire, and then X took fire from many quarters including some governments. (Not ours — caterwauling congress critters no longer count.) Apple and Google also took hits for continuing to allow the app on their respective App stores in violation of existing rules. There were calls for both Apple and Google to follow those rules and take the app down. Something both companies have done for other rule violating apps with and without public punity.

That didn’t happen.

Yesterday, a report from NBC revealed that Apple, in a letter to U.S. Senators, claimed that it worked behind the scenes of the public uproar to demand that the developers “create a plan to improve content moderation.” According to The Verge,

Throughout this covert back-and-forth, Grok and X appear to have remained live on the App Store, a drawn-out process that may help explain the confusing, haphazard rollout of moderation changes announced in real time. This included limiting Grok on X to paying subscribers and attempting to stop Grok from undressing women. Our investigations revealed that neither were particularly effective beyond making the tool a bit harder to access. Later interventions, like X letting users block Grok from editing their photos, are also easily circumvented.

Despite Apple’s approval and xAI’s claims it has tightened safeguards, Grok still appears to be able to generate sexualized deepfakes with relative ease.

So, essentially nothing of any real effect happened. Scratch that. Something did. X and Grok put the feature behind a paying subscription. One that Apple also reaped profits from and still does. As does Google.

The one rule this era has taught us is that if you’re big and rich enough, and can weather the storm of public scorn, you can essentially ignore the rules. Even those you’ve written yourself. With impunity.

MacBook NEO: Had To Happen Eventually

New adventures

As I mentioned when Apple first introduced the MacBook NEO, it wasn’t going to be the laptop for me. I also mentioned that at a point sooner or later, one of the folks I support was going to want one, and I’d end up purchasing and setting it up for them. Today was that point.

I’ll do the drudge work (OS updates, etc…) of getting it up and running this afternoon and we’ll set things up the way they want this weekend.

Should be interesting.

Taking Flight On A Glasswing

With the fragility of egos as a pilot

Every time I hear the warnings about the current or next big thing in Artificial Intelligence, I’m reminded of the Surgeon General’s warnings that are printed on packs of cigarettes. I’m also reminded of every new fad I’ve seen in my lifetime, that might have inched over into a trend, but eventually ended up waiting for its turn on the nostalgia wheel of time.

Claude mythos.

As the world was holding its breath from the civilization destroying threats that sprung forth from the mind of the U.S. President, and then exhaling as they turned into the latest episode of “Bluff, Bluster, and Bullshit,” we were learning about a new AI leap and threat from Anthropic, potentially as dire, called Claude Mythos Preview. To get ahead of any damage this coming attraction might visit upon us Anthropic created Project Glasswing. Given that the raving lunatic in the White House came to power a second time with a civilization destroying manual in hand called Project 2025, I’m more than a bit leery of anything with a title that leads with the word “Project.”

From what I’ve read, Mythos is the latest innovation in Anthropic’s flavor of Artificial Intelligence. It is so powerful that it has sought out and found vulnerabilities in so much of the software the world runs on, that Anthropic is only releasing it to a hand full of companies (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Broadcom, JPMorganChase, the Linux Foundation, NVIDIA, and more.) That’s Project Glasswing. Tech overlords uniting to protect us from their sloppy software. (The lawyers will have a field day.)

Anthropic, having been declared by the U.S. as an unacceptable national security threat and supply chain risk, nevertheless is also working with the same U.S. Government looking ahead to the threats. Somehow security and existential threats always seem to become negotiating partners with their foes when money is at stake. Also occasionally when global annihilation is knocking on the door.

The way I interpret the idea behind Project Glasswing is that these companies, and presumably governments, might use Mythos to seek out all of the vulnerabilities, and perhaps obliterate them (I use that term in the Trumpian and Hegsethian sense) before they can filter down into things like power grids, banking systems, and consumer use. It can supposedly do this at a scale humans can’t. Note that Mythos discovered problems in every operating system and, on a level both big and small, the constantly updating browsers we use on our computers.

During our testing, we found that Mythos Preview is capable of identifying and then exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in every major operating system and every major web browser when directed by a user to do so. The vulnerabilities it finds are often subtle or difficult to detect.

I think of it this way. Announcing the existence of Mythos is akin to living the moments of terror those responsible for our safety have in House of Dynamite, once they realize the gig is up, misses are inbound, and the interceptors have failed. I’d call it an “Oh, shit” moment.

If you ask me Mythos is also exposing more than a few myths as well as vulnerabilities. The sound you hear is PR slide decks about security enhancements in the latest releases of current software being furiously redone.

As M.G. Siegler puts it,

Historically, many vulnerabilities have been fixed only after someone exploited them in some way. Again, that’s because the incentives are in favor of the attacker versus the defender. If and when Mythos-caliber tools are put in the hands of hackers… yeah.

That’s obviously exactly why Anthropic isn’t releasing Mythos to the public and also why they’ve set up Glasswing. While the company may be first to such capabilities, they won’t be the last. They probably don’t even have long to try to get ahead of the situation. While I generally dislike the nuclear weapons analogy for AI, I must admit, this all does feel a bit Manhattan Project-y. The good guys are racing against the clock to implement a new technology before the bad guys catch up. But they will. They always do.

Yeah, that sounds problematic.

Paul Krugman took a break from agonizing and writing about the situation in the Middle East and weighed in with this,

The good news is that Anthropic discovered in the process of developing Claude Mythos that the A.I. could not only write software code more easily and with greater complexity than any model currently available, but as a byproduct of that capability, it could also find vulnerabilities in virtually all of the world’s most popular software systems more easily than before.

The bad news is that if this tool falls into the hands of bad actors, they could hack pretty much every major software system in the world, including all those made by the companies in the consortium.

So, there’s plenty of doom floating around, along with the now clichéd approach to all things AI, that there’s good tech behind all of the bad things that the tech can do. Note that the profits from tobacco helped found the U.S. and twisted science and politics into knots trying not to end up on the ash heap.

I’ve largely stayed away from playing with any of these AI tools and toys, but I follow the news of the advances on all fronts, and those who do play around with it. Like it or not, those who run the world have decided this is our future.

I’ll be honest. Hallucinations aside, I don’t know enough rather or not to trust the software. I have my doubts and I do have fears about the tech. Project Glasswing might be a noble effort. Yet, with a clear mind, I do know enough not to trust any of the humans running the show. Frankly, it feels like they don’t know enough to trust the software either, much less to protect their and our systems from being destroyed by some kid in a basement.

As Natasha MH puts it, not writing about Mythos specifically, but about Artificial Intelligence in general, AI didn’t make you stupid. You were already getting there.

Sunday Morning Reading

A basket of good writing to share

For those who celebrate Easter and Passover, and all who do not celebrate either, may you find some bit of peace on this Sunday morning, however you see yourself and the world. I’d like to say this week’s edition of Sunday Morning Reading is filled with Easter eggs, but instead it’s just the usual basket stuffed with links to interesting topics and stories that I like to share. Enjoy.

It’s good to be seen, certainly the way you see yourself. When seen by someone who doesn’t know you, that’s eye-opening. Check out Natasha MH’s The Taxi Driver Knew.

The war that isn’t a war in Iran continues. Whatever that story is, it is still being written. Given that this might be heading to the culmination of a conflict that has simmered, and occasionally boiled over, for decades if not longer, there are a few stories out there that offer preface. He Helped Stop Iran From Getting The Bomb by David D. Kirkpatrick is one worth reading.

JA Westenberg’s The “Passive Income” Trap Ate A Generation of Entrepreneurs is also one heckuva a read. There’s nothing passive about this take.

Seva Gunitsky takes on The Incel Global Order. Somebody needs to.

As the technology we use advances, in some spheres some are stepping back. Joshua Cohen takes a look in Sweden Goes Back To Basics, Swapping Screens For Books In The Classroom.

Social Media is under the microscope again after two recent court verdicts against Meta. Chris Castle takes a look with The Social Media Verdicts Are In. Now Ask The Hard Question: Where Was The Board? Counting the money, I imagine. Hat tip to Stan Stewart for this one.

In the category of no easy answers, Mathew Ingram also examines what’s going on in social media with Social Media May Be Bad For You But The Remedy Could Be Worse.

On the Artificial Intelligence front there are always interesting topics cooking as the AI purveyors cook the planet. I wrote about two fascinating pieces yesterday, and today I’m highlighting Angela Fu’s An AI Company Set Out To Fix News Deserts. Instead, It Copied Local Journalists Work. Something tells me we’re going to be seeing more of this going forward.

Apple is, I assume, winding up its week celebrating its 50th Anniversary. So much has been written on that topic because there is indeed much to celebrate and much history to contemplate while looking ahead. Here are four pieces that caught my eye, the first three primarily because they are more personal than historical, the fourth is a look ahead.

John Moltz gives us Missed Connections: Me and Apple.

James Thomson is one of my favorite Apple developers. His Apple At 50: Gonna Be, Gonna Be Golden is indeed a personal journey.

Adam and Tonya Engst have been writing Tidbits since 1990. I started reading it shortly thereafter. What Apple’s 50th Anniversary Misses is certainly different than most, but one that mirrors the thoughts of many on this anniversary.

And Marco Arment, looking ahead, has penned A Letter To John Ternus, the guy everyone assumes will don the CEO mantle in the future.

Baseball is back. And every team and their fans are dreaming of a championship. David Todd McCarty spins a bit of fiction that’s baseball adjacent, but rooted deep in dreams in The Taste Of A Dream.

To conclude this week, this story by Audrey Pachuta very much sums up the contradictions we’re living through at the moment. Check out A Student Set A Goal To Run Every Street In Chicago And Inspired A City. Now He Must Leave The Country.

May you find peace however you can.

(Photo from the author.)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Looks Like Thaw Will Be A Good Menu Bar Manager Solution For Mac OS 26

Melting the Ice

I use a lot of Menu Bar apps on my Macs. It looks like I may have found a new solution to managing those apps.

I had previously used Bartender to manage those, especially on the MacBook Air with a notch. But since the release of macOS 26, Bartender had run into some difficulties. I gave macOS 26’s new way of handling Menu Bar items a try, and that just didn’t work for me. I experimented with a few other Menu Bar managers and for a while settled on Ice.

Like Bartender, Ice also had its issues, and its developer has since halted updates. Turns out there’s an app that melts those issues away. It’s called Thaw.

Thaw, created by stonerl, is an open source fork of Ice, so much of what it offers is familiar and you can import your Ice settings. This article by Jannis explains why Ice, and I presume Bartender, ran into difficulties managing Menu Bar items.

So far things are working as expected. The idea is to hide Menu Bar icons that I don’t access frequently, yet make them available with a quick cursor flick to the Menu Bar.

As a side note on this, with the debut of macOS 26, it appeared Apple made was beginning to shift users away from using Menu Bar apps, favoring the Control Panel instead. I could easily get on board with that shift, but very few apps I use actually make Control Panel access available without creating a Shortcut to launch the app. That seems like a waste of time, but perhaps more apps will make accessing them through the Control Panel possible when we move to macOS 27.

Yo! Companies on the Web: Find The Courage To Say Never

Always say Never

Years ago when Apple and others started allowing websites viewed in a browser to send notifications I knew we were headed to the mess things eventually turned into.

CleanShot 2026-03-31 at 14.26.

Sure, you can turn off notifications from individual websites, and I do. But in reality that’s just another wack-a-mole game that takes advantage of most users not having the time or wanting to do the necessary pruning. Whether websites are asking you to subscribe, or receive notifications it doesn’t really matter. Website notifications are just another fart noise on the enshittified web that stinks up the joint.

You’d think that website publishers would actually want to know who they turn off with their tactics, but that’s probably too much truth to handle. “Hey, boss. The majority of our users never want to see a notification from us.”

In my opinion, there’s an easy way to do so if companies have the guts to face the truth. Just add a button on any of those drop down notifications that says “Never.”

Sunday Morning Reading

There be dragons, dogs, and humans. Trust the dogs.

Time for some Sunday Morning Reading.

There’s a great lyric and greater question in Lin-Manuel’s musical retelling of American history, “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” Control is a crazy concept. We strive to control what we can, while we’re around. Too often we delude ourselves into thinking we control more than we actually do. No one wants to define themselves or be defined as lacking control, much less under the control of others. We may think we’re masters and mistresses of our own universes and control our own narrative. Yet too often, when we do have control and things go askew, we foist the responsibility (blame) off on others. That may be essential to surviving on the paths we choose. But it’s not easy to control the reactions a dog may have to who’s good or who’s not, a dragon, or much less the demons of our own making.

Shutterstock 1766228261.

Kicking off this week is Natasha MH asking the question, What’s The Best Story You’ve Been Told About Yourself? There be dragons.

The Guardian published an editorial on the ‘unmasking’ of anonymous artists in the wake of the second unmasking of Bansky and the reveal of a hoax surrounding the death of Italian novelist writing under the nom-de-plume Elena Ferrante. Regarding Banksy, The Guardian opines that “his mask is his art — let’s not destroy it.”

I don’t often link to book reviews in this column, but this one struck my fancy. A.O. Scott’s A Treacherous Secret Agent, examines How Literature Spoke Truth To Power During The Red Scare. I’m looking forward to reading this.

Jason Perlow’s The Well We Never Tapped is a sequel to an earlier piece he wrote about the future of science fiction. He argues that in the runaway world of big sci-fi franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars the answer to controlling the future of these and other properties isn’t retooling or reimagining, but perhaps to stop for a while.

Speaking of science fiction and stopping, on the Artificial Intelligence front a number of things happening in that wannabe industry that can’t really find a purchase beyond the flimflammery of the financial markets and bean counting boardrooms, have been prompting some interesting writing of late. kstenerud on the yoloai blog writes Why Your AI Agents Will Turn Against You. There be lobsters and dragons.

Kevin Baker takes a look at how AI Got The Blame For The Iran School Bombing. Follow that up with Anna Moore’s piece Marriage Over, €100,000 Down The Drain: The AI Users Whose Lives Were Wrecked By Delusion. Makes one suspect that we’re not looking for ways to better exert control over our lives, but to more easily avoid taking the rap when things inevitably go wrong.

Big news last week got kind of mushed about in wish casting about Facebook killing off the Metaverse. That sort of did and didn’t happen. Regardless, Neil Stephenson’s My Prodigal Brainchild caught quite a bit of attention.

Apple is celebrating its 50 year anniversary and there’s lots being written about its history and it’s present. Everyone’s vying for control of that story. Harry McCracken’s How Apple Became Apple: The Definitive Oral History Of The Company’s Earliest Days is worth a read.

So too is David Sparks’ The MacBook Neo’s Unfair Advantage and the Stephen Sinofsky piece he links to, Mac Neo And My Afternoon Of Reflection and Melancholy. The damn thing hasn’t even been on sale for a month, yet we’re already trying to define its legacy.

Two political pieces to conclude with after all of the good feelings surrounding yesterday’s No Kings Rallies. (Watch for the comical battle to control the narrative over that moment this week.) Lydia Polgreen says what I’ve been saying for over a decade now. It’s Not Trump, It’s America. It’s hard to come out from under the burden of a myth.

Mike Lofgren’s How Trump Fits The “Great Man” Theory of History — Sort Of, taps into Hegel, Asimov, and the wisdom of dogs. He concludes his piece with:

History as we experience it at the sharp end is the aggregation of moral choices made by individual human beings. When those choices become corrupted by fear, resentment or inexcusable stupidity, and then amplified by mass suggestion, we get a creature like Trump, the reflection of a people’s image.

I’ll leave it at that this week.

(Image from Daniele Gay on Shutterstock