Links
A Four Day Work Week? Yes, Please!
Japan gov't backs 4-day workweek, but experts split - The Mainichi
Japan's government plans to encourage firms to let their employees choose to work four days a week instead of five, aiming to improve the balance between work and life for people who have family care responsibilities or need more time
Links
Having Our Advertising Cake
Bloomberg: Three-Quarters of iOS Users Opt Out of Tracking — Pixel Envy
The online advertising industry has been telling us for years that consumers overwhelmingly prefer personalized ads and are only too happy to give up private information. What a crock of lies. The ad tech industry has been relying on a lack of transparency
Links
All Your Digital Eggs in One Basket
How Do I Know if the Grass Is Greener?
By being fully immersed in the Apple ecosystem, I’m saying to myself that I want every decision regarding my personal computing, whether it be the mobile computer, laptop computer, or the computer on my wrist, to be dependant on the ideals and decisions of one
music
I Turned Off Spatial Audio (but it’s okay if you love it)
After a bit over a month with Spatial Audio in Apple Music, I turned it off on my iPhone and I’m happier for it. Some songs sounded pretty good, while others sounded terrible, but something I noticed whenever doing side-by-side comparisons was that I never, and I mean never, liked the spatial
Safari's redesign is either brave or reckless…or maybe both (Birch Bark #76)
I'm once again posting this week's Birch Bark here since I mixed up the format a bit and couldn't help myself. I won't do this every week, so if you like this post, subscribe to the free newsletter version today!
The Big Links
Why Are Apple Media
Bich Bark Issue #75
I'm cross posting this week's Birch Bark newsletter here as a reminder that you can get some fun links and videos in your inbox every Friday! I even do a music issue at the end of every month. If you're at all interested, I'd love it if
Links
What We’ll Remember from the iPhone 12
Comment: After nearly a year of use, MagSafe is the defining feature of the iPhone 12 - 9to5Mac
In recent years, there have been two “takes” I’ve made on a quick judgment. They were that the AirPods wouldn’t be a product hit and that MagSafe was a solution in search of a problem. I
4K is Almost Never 4K These Days
Yesterday I got thinking about 4K and it really hit me how hard is is to actually do anything in 4K and how the term “4K” is largely a marketing term at this point. It isn’t always, but I wanted to hit on a few situations where “4K” is a big selling feature, and
The Switch Needs to Lock Down 1080p Gaming Before it Tackles 4K
Nintendo announced a new Switch model today, and it's not the Switch Pro that's been rumored
Apple
Concept: Using Maps to Fix Safari on iOS 15
It would be fair to say I'm pretty skeptical about Safari's new design. There are issues
Game
Mario Golf: Super Rush Review
Mario Golf is back, and I tend to play these games for 100+ hours. The story and novelty modes don't matter to me at that point, so I'm looking at the core golfing experience and how I think it will hold up in the long run.
Apple
It’s a Game Console, it’s a Theme Park, are You Getting It?
Part of being an iPad fan over the past year has been dealing with people comparing your chosen computing platform
Apple, Microsoft, and the Percentage Wars
Aaron Tilley writing for The Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft said it won’t require developers to use its payment system, drawing a contrast to Apple, which typically takes a 30% cut on sales made through its iPhone App Store.
And:
App developers still need to pay Microsoft a 15% fee on sales if they want
How I Keep Track of More Than Just Calendar Events in Fantastical
From the Flexibits blog…I say:
How do you add new tasks in Fantastical? The same way you add calendar
