TidBITS 2020 Holiday Hiatus—See You in 2021!

This week marks our final email issue of TidBITS for the year. We’ll continue to watch industry happenings for the next two weeks, covering on our site any that merit your attention. The next email issue of TidBITS will come out on 11 January 2020.

In the meantime, we’ll be descending into holiday hibernation until 2021 rolls around. This year that means that Tonya and I will be staying home the entire time. There will be no trips to visit far-flung family as is often the case, and we’ll probably see Tristan and our parents in person only for occasional walks, weather permitting. But so be it—there’s no one I’d rather spend my time with than Tonya, and we have plenty of food and fun planned. While very few anticipated a global pandemic, it’s the hand we’ve been dealt, so it’s up to us to distill from it whatever goodness we can.

With regard to TidBITS, we have no noteworthy plans for 2021 other than to continue bringing you an issue every Monday, week in and week out. What we cover in each issue changes, of course, but we hope that 30 years of a regular publication schedule gives you something tangible to hold onto in a time of so much upheaval.

We are also grateful to the people who make TidBITS possible:

• TidBITS members: To the nearly 3750 people who support us through the TidBITS membership program, thank you so much! TidBITS could not survive without you. It means the world to us that you value our efforts to create practical, useful information.
• TidBITS sponsors: We’re always grateful for our long-term corporate sponsor Smile, makers of the essential TextExpander and PDFpen utilities. The other company that supported TidBITS in 2020 was MinuteHound, which is run by a long-time TidBITS fan and makes a zero-contact biometric time and attendance tracking solution.
• Staff and contributing editors: Tonya and I are thankful for the highly competent and amiable assistance of Josh Centers, Agen Schmitz, Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Glenn Fleishman, Michael Cohen, Rich Mogull, Jeff Carlson, Jeff Porten, and Lauri Reinhardt. You’re all terrific, and while we try to express our appreciation regularly, we wanted to thank you here in public as well.
• Guest authors: Funding from TidBITS members enabled us to commission numerous articles again this year, and big thanks to the authors who brought new voices to TidBITS: Ivan Drucker, Dave Kitabjian, Connie Laubenthal, Charles Maurer, David Shayer, Jenna Tsui, and Klaus Wirtz.
• Translators: Our gratitude goes out to the diligent volunteers who translate TidBITS into Dutch and Japanese each week and distribute their translations to several thousand people who prefer reading in their native tongue. (Both teams could use some fresh eyes, so if you’re looking for a new hobby and some new friends, see “New Dutch and Japanese Translators Wanted!,” 13 November 2020.)
• The TidBITS community: Our increasingly vibrant TidBITS Talk forum has become a great place to bring your Apple questions and contribute answers from your own experience and expertise. And while our SlackBITS chat group doesn’t see as much regular traffic, we enjoy having hundreds of TidBITS readers join us to watch and comment on live Apple events.
• Readers like you: Finally, even if you haven’t become a TidBITS member, left a comment, or participated in TidBITS Talk, we very much appreciate the fact that you’ve found the time to read what we write. That’s what’s most important.

Thank you, one and all, and here’s hoping that you and all your loved ones stay safe and healthy throughout 2021!