Another day in which the opportunity to complain was nearly absent as I spent it by myself, shopping and walking and listening to music and having a bubble bath and otherwise being mellow (or chill, if you prefer).
Would someone stranded on a desert island for more than 21 days be considered complaint-free after being rescued? I guess it depends on what they say when the boat/plane/blimp arrives.
Complaint-free:
Rescuer: We’ve come to save you. Desert Island survivor: It is most appreciated. How I have missed my cat, Mr. Winkles.
Maybe not complaint-free:
Rescuer: We’ve come to save you. Desert island survivor: About bloody time. I’m sick of coconuts!
I’ve been on my own today and have had no interaction with anyone else, so there’s literally been no chance to complain. It feels like cheating, but I’m okay with that.
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:40 am
Distance: 10.05 km
Time: 58:51
Weather: Rain
Temp: 5ºC
Humidity: 91%
Wind: light
BPM: 168
Weight: 163.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 4415 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8
I was bad and did not run during the week, so this was my first run since last weekend’s 10K. The good news is I’m still in decent enough shape to continue running 10Ks.
I dressed today expecting rain: two layers on top, nipples secured and shorts instead of running pants as the temperature was hovering around 5-6ºC.
Surprisingly, the walk to the lake was dry, though the sky looked somewhat ominous (the forecast called for winds up to 70+ km/h in the afternoon as a storm over Vancouver Island made its way east, but I was confident I’d be finished my run before it hit).
Also surprisingly I didn’t have to immediately relieve myself upon arrival at the lake. I set my music, started off…and the first few drops of rain began to fall. I pressed on, unconcerned. Within a few km it was a downpour and remained as such for the rest of the run. It was fine, really, though running in the rain is not my favorite thing.
The only issue was the condition of the trail. I’d noted on the river trail that the river was perhaps the highest I’ve ever seen it. It looked almost menacing. At the lake the trail had a lot of water on it. In the areas resurfaced over the past few years it wasn’t too bad but elsewhere there were plenty of trails-spanning puddles and mini-lakes. It felt more like a technical run, often having to carefully choose the rout forward. Or maybe it was more like a jumping puzzle in a video game. It kind of sucked in the same way that most of those do, too.
My pace still ended up slightly faster than last weekend, 5:51/km vs. 5:53/km and the iPhone 8 still seems to be messing up distance, though this week it was maybe a touch better. Still not sure what’s up with that. My BPM was also up (possibly due to the effort needed to maintain pace while navigating the puddles) but still below the 170 threshold at 168.
My knee didn’t bother me, possibly because my legs were sort of red and numb by about the mid-point of the run. The knee still didn’t hurt after I got home and thawed, so it seems the lack of running and walking in general may have given it some time to heal. Oddly, it got a bit creaky when I was slumping in a chair at home, but I shouldn’t have been doing that, so I consider the knee just acting as an EWS.
Overall, I am content with how the run went. Conditions were not nice, but I pressed on and got through without any problems.
Another day in which opportunities abounded (The Rains, co-workers complaining at length to me, a meeting in which further complaints were aired) and yet I felt less tempted to join in as the day progressed. I’m beginning to think being negative requires more energy than staying positive, so in a way it’s easier to push the negative stuff aside, and gets even easier as you keep doing it.
Or I’m just lazy, which I’ve mentioned before.
Also, our meeting was sans donut. Normally this lack would inspire revolt or at least prolonged lamentations. Today I really didn’t care at all.
Which will also have a positive effect on my waistline.
Today, I actually had to make a couple of calls on whether I had committed a technical complaint infraction. In one case I made the observation of “Dumb” in response to a TV show where some but not all faces were blurred in a segment about a robot programmed to navigate public spaces. I quickly amended that comment by saying it wasn’t dumb that some people wanted to hide their faces, just that I would not do so.
It was negative, but was it a complaint? I don’t think so.
Earlier in the day, through my own error/miscommunication, I ended up waiting to meet someone for the third time and grew frustrated after 15 minutes, thinking the person had just started a meeting even though we had scheduled to meet. It turned out I had the offices mixed up, but before learning this I told another person that I couldn’t stay any longer as I had more work to do (which was accurate). Was I complaining or just stating facts? It was more the latter but my tone was on a very fine line between just imparting information and getting kind of whiny about it.
Still, I think I stayed on the side of not complaining.
The rest of the day went by without issue and even complications later on did not ruffle my imaginary feathers.
As with most anthologies, the quality of the individual stories varies in Lost Signals and while a few didn’t do much for me, the collection overall is well worth reading if you enjoy horror.
A lot of enjoyment comes from how the authors make use of the broad theme of the book, with the inevitable stories about weird radio transmissions, and others that get even weirder, darker or both. There are references to the Cthulhu mythos, Twilight Zone-ish dead people calling on phones, jovial electronic devices that seem to enjoy killing, time displacement and enough electrical discharges to put your hair permanently on end.
“All That You Leave Behind” is a haunting tale by Paul Michael Anderson in which a couple experiences the sorrow of a miscarriage and the surreal joy of birth simultaneously. Keeping with babies, Damien Angelica Walters’ “Little Girl Blue, Come Cry Your Way Home” will make you look twice at baby monitors.
David James Keaton’s “Sharks with Thumbs” (apparently you needed at least three names to get into this anthology) nearly lost me up front as it’s written from the second person perspective, but the off-kilter story of a man and a fly that acts as a supernatural transmitter is so daft the unusual choice of perspective ends up working.
While I normally don’t give much thought to the actual order of stories in a collection, I had expected the long “All That You Leave Behind” to be the concluding tale, but it’s followed by a rather glib tale presented as an epistolary of a video game that inspires many of the children in a small town to kill themselves. The quiet, powerful conclusion of “All That You Leave Behind” would have been a nice conclusion for the book, but “somethinginthecode” feels like an attempt to abruptly lighten things up (weird, I know, given the plot of the story). It’s a minor thing, and others may react differently (or indifferently).
Overall, the range of styles and subject in service of weird horror and the specific theme are strong and varied enough to warrant a recommendation. Just be advised that the tinfoil hate probably won’t help.
Not much to add here, just that I got through without issue. Nothing seemed especially complaint-worthy. Or maybe I was just too lazy to actually complain. Either way, I win!
I managed another day sans complaints. Most days it’s actually pretty easy to do. The likeliest place to slip up is talking about the weather but I’ve just switched my brain over to the logical position of “there is nothing I can do about it unless I win the lottery and buy a private jet and always fly to where it’s sunny so stop grousing about how it’s raining again and also I live in Vancouver, of course it’s raining. Do people in the Sahara complain about sand?”
I don’t actually know if people in the Sahara complain about sand. Some of them probably do.
(My previous look at Apple’s line-up was done in August 2016 and can be found here.)
Today is the 10th anniversary of the MacBook Air, so it is perhaps appropriate to take stock of Apple’s product line as we look back at the debut of the laptop that ushered in many of the design choices (thin, light, etc.) Apple still follows today.
In recent times Apple has faced criticism from a couple of fronts: neglecting certain devices, abandoning standard ports, raising prices to new extremes, introducing “gimmicky” tech and so on. Are the criticisms fair? In some cases yes, in others it’s more complicated.
Here’s a breakdown of where every Apple product is at.
Disclaimer: I am not an industry insider, Apple evangelist, tech guru or even a love guru. I’m just someone who has long been fascinated by Apple and its products, decisions and impact on the world of consumer technology.
I’ve gone from owning a single Apple device–an iPod Classic–to the following (I’m excluding obsolete devices like my iPod nano, may it rest in peace):
Phone 8 (just acquired)
iPad Pro 10.5″
MacBook Pro without Touch Bar (2016 model)
Apple Watch Series 2
Apple TV 4K
Basically I own nearly everything Apple currently sells. I don’t have a Mac Pro, but I do have a 2011 iMac 27″ from work I use for PD.
On to the products:
iPod
As expected, Apple killed off the iPod nano and Shuffle last year, leaving the iPod Touch as the only iPod (which got its last significant hardware update in July 2015). I will boldly predict the Touch will get the axe in the next year or so, finally ending the iPod line.
iPhone
The bulk of Apple’s revenue continues to come from the iPhone, now over a decade old. I remember when we had fuzzy 3.5″ screens–and we liked it!
Last year Apple made the controversial move to eliminate the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, even as the rest of the phone was just an iterative design on the previous 6s, which was an iterative design on the 6. Some phone manufacturers have followed suit with the jack removal, notably Google with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. It remains to be seen if the rest of the industry follows through. My prediction is the headphone jack will be a scarce thing on most smartphones within two years.
Meanwhile, Apple released three new phones last September. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are again iterative designs, with some tweaks, like glass backs to allow for wireless charging, along with the usual processor and camera improvements. More attention was given to the iPhone X, a near bezel-free design that forsakes the home button and Touch ID for Face ID, introduces an OLED display and, of course, adds animated poop in text messages. The most controversial part was probably the price–$1,000 (over $1300 in Canada with exchange rate).
Scuttlebutt suggests the X sold very well in the first month, with sales falling off notably after, mirroring what happened with the original iPhone in 2007. Back then Apple responded with a price cut. Would they do it again? There’s certainly enough of a gap between the 8 and X to allow for one. Apple hasn’t been cutting prices much lately, though.
Also, the iPhone line-up is a bit bonkers right now. Apple is selling:
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
iPhone SE
iPhone X
No iPhone SEX yet, though.
That’s still eight models to choose from. I expect the 6s and 7 to be culled when the next phones come out in September. There are rumors the SE will be updated, which seems entirely plausible.
I think Apple will forge ahead with its iPhone plans regardless of sales for the next year or two. Price cuts are possible, but I think they’ll only happen if sales begin to fall off significantly.
iPad
Last year Apple made the difference between the regular and pro versions of the iPad more distinct, by introducing an iPad (called…iPad) that was in some ways better than the iPad Air 2 (faster processor) but in some ways worse (the screen, size and weight are closer to the original Air). The big change, though, was the price. Instead of the usual $499, it now sells for $329. Apple refreshed the iPad Pro 12.9″ and ditched the 9.7″ Pro, replacing it with a 10.5″ model that is only slightly bigger, thanks to slimmer bezels. The Pro iPads can in some cases equal the performance of decent laptops. The refreshed 2017 line-up saw the first increase in revenue and sales in years, though the difference between revenue and sales gains suggests more people were buying the $329 model.
The overall line-up has been simplified, too, down to four:
iPad
iPad mini 4
iPad Pro 10.5″
iPad Pro 12.9″
For the first time, each iPad offers a different size.
I don’t anticipate any dramatic developments for iPads this year, though Apple will continue to push the Pro models as replacements for laptops. I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance the mini will get killed, It hasn’t been updated since 2015.
Apple TV
Apple introduced a 4K version of the Apple TV last year, alongside the current model. It costs a little more and is the priciest Apple TV to date. Unless you’re deep into the Apple ecosystem and have a lot of media purchased through iTunes, there remains little reason to pay the premium when other streaming devices can do what the Apple TV can at much lower prices.
The app store is somnolent. Not dead, exactly, but not particularly alive, either, but it is Apple TV’s biggest differentiating factor compared to other streaming boxes.
Apple Watch
The watch went from an ill-conceived fashion accessory to a fitness-focused device and in the process has claimed most of the smartwatch market, setting companies like Fitbit back on its heels. Last year Apple introduced the Series 3, which includes LTE, making the watch more independent of the iPhone. Overall, the Apple Watch has found its niche and is doing well after a slow start.
I don’t expect any big changes this year, but a redesign is a small possibility. Additional sensors may be added, but I’d expect those to come in 2019 or later.
HomePod
Originally scheduled for December 2017, it’s been bumped to early this year. Many are already declaring it a failure in the making, overpriced ($349) compared to the competition and saddled with inferior voice recognition (Siri vs. Amazon’s Alex or Google’s Assistant). I tend to favor this view. I think the demand for a premium speaker with voice activation is even more niche than something like the watch. It’s kind of like Apple TV–you’ll pay more but if you’re deeply invested in Apple products, the high price might be worth it.
I’m hedging on a prediction here, but leaning toward flop, with a retooling within the year or quiet exit from the market. Then Apple will buy Amazon. 😛
And the Macs:
First, my one BOLD Mac prediction: Laptop Macs will support touch no later than 2021.
Mac mini
Nothing has changed since my last overview in August 2016. These aging machines are still selling at the same prices as they did when they were actually new, an embarrassing low light in a line-up that has mostly seen updates over the past year. Apple’s made vague comments indicating support, but nothing more.
I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance the Mac mini will be killed off in the next year. If not, I’d wager on a radical redesign (even smaller and completely sealed).
Mac Pro
Last year Apple admitted the “trashcan” Mac Pro was a mistake–a cool-looking design that was self-defeating because it couldn’t properly dissipate heat. So not so cool after all. They have promised a new modular Mac Pro, but so far no specs or release dates have been forthcoming. The current Pro has seen price reductions but it still isn’t exactly cheap.
iMac
Apple made a few improvements to the iMac line last year, updating processors, displays and including new options in some standard configurations, such as a dedicated graphics option for the 21″ model and fusion drives as standard for the entire 27″ line. The core design remains unchanged and was last updated in 2012.
I’m not expecting any big changes this year, but I am reasonably confident that sometime before the end of 2019 the iMac will get a full redesign–and be even less user-accessible as a result.
iMac Pro
Who wants a $5000 all-in-one? Apple thinks professionals will, so they’ve stuffed professional-grade components into the standard iMac case. It’s only been out for a month, but one retailer has already offered a $1,000 discount, which seems a bit ominous for a new product. Also, unlike other iMacs, users can’t upgrade the ram themselves, it now has to be done by a dealer.
This seems very much like a stop-gap until the revised Mac Pro debuts. I predict the iMac Pro will never see any updates and will be killed off sometime after the new Mac Pro debuts (in Apple time this could still be years).
MacBook Pro (non-Retina)
This was finally killed off, long after it had become outdated. This was the last Apple laptop to ship with an optical drive.
(Old) MacBook Pro (Retina display)
Only the 15″ model survives, the last Pro with a non-butterfly keyboard. I expect it to be axed from the line-up within the year, joining its 13.3″ brethren in the Mac graveyard.
MacBook
Still the only Mac available in four colors. Get your Rose Gold fix on here. Not much has changed with the MacBook, though it got an improved version of the butterfly keyboard. A processor update and optimizations added another hour of battery life.
I don’t expect any changes in design, though processor updates seem to be happening on a yearly basis, provided there is an appropriate CPU available. This will be the eventual MacBook Air successor (see below).
MacBook Pro (2016/2017)
In October 2016 Apple introduced an all-new design for the 13.3 and 15″ MacBook Pro. The changes:
dropped all legacy ports in favor of USB-C
added an OLED Touch Bar to replace the function keys on all but the base 13.3″ model
changed the keyboard, using an updated version of the butterfly mechanism featured in the MacBook, with firmer keys and very little travel
the usual display and processor updates
thinner and lighter
touch pads the size of the landing deck of an aircraft carrier. In the case of the 15″ model, two aircraft carriers.
Both models were refreshed less than a year later with newer processors, but no other notable changes.
The revamped models have been controversial. The Touch Bar has its advocates, but seems underwhelming 15 months after its introduction. The new keyboard mostly inspires love or hate (I find it strangely unsatisfying to type on–not bad, just kind of joyless).
Apple is unlikely to retreat from any of the design choices made (USB-C, for example, is now on nearly all notable PC laptops, albeit often with a legacy port or two still included), though dissatisfaction with the revised keyboard, as well as production problems plaguing both the 2016 and 2017 models may lead Apple to further revise the butterfly mechanism.
The Touch Bar may live on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets quietly dropped in a few years.
MacBook Air
Today, the MacBook Air is 10 years old and it’s been almost that long since its last update, ho ho. It did get a minor speed bump last year (some believe this only happened because the slower CPU Apple was using was no longer available), but has seen no significant updates since 2012. Most assume it lives on in the line-up as the “affordable” MacBook.
It will likely linger on until Apple is willing to drop the price of the MacBook. The difference is currently $999 vs. $1299. It seems unlikely Apple will reduce the gap soon. Maybe by the end of 2019? There’s also the possibility Apple will just kill off the Air and force people to move to the $1299 MacBook (or $1299 base MacBook Pro).
Other stuff
There are no strong rumors regarding other new Apple products, though they continue to work on Augmented Reality and the retooled car project (shrunk down from an entire Apple car to merely making other cars more Apple-ish).
Summary Apple updated a lot of their devices through 2016 and 2017, to the relief of the faithful, but many of the updates came with controversy and some products still linger around as reminders of the bad old days (hello Mac mini).
Apple’s next quarterly call is coming in a few weeks and while they should report record revenue and profits, it seems likely it will come in the shadow of slowing iPhone X sales. Apple has raised the prices of almost all of its devices–the iPad Pros cost more, the phones cost more, the new MacBooks cost more, the iMac Pro requires you to sell body organs–leaving me to wonder how sustainable it all is, especially when there are indicators that people will scoop up more affordable Apple offerings (the new iPad) while largely staying away from ones that offer poor value vs. the competition (Apple TV).
My hunch is that Apple is poised for a downturn. Nothing like the near-bankruptcy that preceded Steve Jobs’ return in 1997, but something significant enough to prompt the company to react. How it will do so–or if such a downturn even happens–remains to be seen.
I had multiple complaint vectors open up to me today (though not the weather–it was nice and rather mild), but I resisted. I paused when I wanted to say something and let each moment pass. I muttered silently to myself from time to time, but made it through.
Maybe I’ll read up on meditation next or just make up something that seems meditation-like. Meditation is bound to make me even less likely to complain. Unless the meditation goes horribly wrong. I have no idea if that’s even possible, but you never know.
For now, I bask in the modest success of Day 2 (again).
My first thought is: I’m too young for dementia, followed quickly by: But I’m not too young to be hearing things. I grab the phone and shove it into the same pocket with my glove. I leave the glove there because I know if I try to take it out and put it on, it’s going to just plop into the snow, guaranteed.
I stand upright and turn around toward South Street to face who or whatever is walking toward me, even though I know there is no way someone could have come from that direction without me seeing or hearing them.
There is, of course, no one there. The footsteps stopped as I turned.
My mind is playing tricks on me. I don’t like this. It’s happened before and it will happen again, but it’s annoying and also I know my great-grandmother actually had dementia, so there’s a history of it in the family and every time something like this happens it terrifies me a little, because it reminds me that the same fate could await me in my later years.
It’s too cold to be thinking about such things. I put the glove on and resume the trudge up to South Street and, hopefully, a firmer entry back into the world where phantom footsteps do not occur.
You know what happens next.
The footsteps resume behind me, coming from the original direction. For a moment this is oddly reassuring. The reassurance is tossed aide quickly and replaced with annoyance. No fear, no terror, just plain annoyance. I’m moving through the five stages of something. I don’t stop. I don’t look back. I just walk. South Street is only a minute away, less if I continue my imitation of The Little Snow Plow That Could.
The wind abruptly picks up and whips in from the east, blasting my face. It’s cold enough to take my breath away. I pull my chin in and adjust the collar of my jacket up. The wind almost sounds like it’s chuckling. Mocking me. And freezing my ass off.
The gust dies down as suddenly as it started and the air is so still and quiet I realize I have stopped moving.
The footsteps have stopped. Not just mine, all of them. Good.
The collar of my jacket flutters. The wind is picking up again. Probably a fresh storm moving in. I seem to recall hearing that on a radio playing somewhere. Time to get moving and get out of here. I resume my seemingly eternal trek to South Street, ignoring the creepy chuckling sound the wind makes. That’s not true, actually, part of my mind is wondering how the acoustics can produce something that sounds so near to a human voice. Maybe the same thing that makes phantom footsteps.
Stupid access road. Next time I’m sticking to the nicely shoveled sidewalks, even if it adds another kilometer or two to my walk. At least I won’t get home sopping wet from the knees down and wondering if my senior years will feature my mind turning into pudding.
I reach the small hill leading up to South Street and begin my ascent, imagining I’m scaling the peak of some mighty mountain. Not Everest, I’d die about ten times on the way up. But still, a mountain of some sort.
I slip and nearly fall. I shoot out my hands for balance and stop to adjust my grip in the snow. I look up and around, flakes are starting to fall again. Even though the rest of the way is plowed and shoveled, home and hot chocolate feel a long way off.
I take another step and this time my foot lands on an ivisible, ice-covered banana peel. My arms pinwheel fruitlessly, though no doubt it would look hilarious to a passerby, then I land hard on my back. Because I’m on a slope the effect is enhanced and I feel that sick whump as the air is knocked out of me. I lay there on my back, flakes gently landing on my cheeks and melting, then make my first attempt to get back up and slide a bit back down the hill. This would still prove hilarious to a passerby, I’m certain.
I’m not hurt, but the disorientation is making it difficult to focus. The wind switches back to roaring and the gentle snowflakes turn on me, pelting into my face.
This is when the chuckling I hear in the wind starts sounding more like a person and less like a byproduct of acoustics. It sounds like it’s coming from behind my head, which is currently smushed down in the crumpled snow made by my footsteps. I see a shadow fall over me. I’m not sure what to think. It’s too cold to pee my pants, so I hold my bladder tight.
Today I’m back to Day 1 of my 21-day challenge to go complaint-free after all the complaining and whatnot yesterday.
I ran, found my inner Zen (I’m not sure what an outer Zen is, actually) and despite encountering multiple dogs off-leash I said nothing, continued on my way, had a good run, enjoyed the sun and ended the day feeling relaxed and rested.
Considering I woke up with a headache, this is even more impressive. The headache was remedied by both Advil and a bubble bath. It’s hard to feel negative when you are reclining in warm water and surrounded by pleasant-smelling bubbles.
I’m stocking up on bubble bath.
On to Day 2 (a Monday–dun dun dun!)
And a digression: Is my Bad Design category on this blog just another way to complain? Yes, it is! Will I be removing it? No, I won’t! But why? Am I making crazy and arbitrary exceptions? No. Instead, when I highlight something that I feel is a bad design, I’ll point out why and suggest ways in which it could be improved. My point in these posts was never to just rant about things, but to examine why certain design decisions end up being poor or sub-optimal and pointing out better ways. Also, I do point out good design, too, especially when it notably stands in contrasts to similar but poorer designs.
