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Category: Opinion

Adam Engst 20 comments

Equifax Cash Settlement Backtracking Leaves a Bad Taste

It turns out that so many people signed up to receive $125 cash instead of credit monitoring in the Equifax breach settlement that no one will receive much money. There’s nothing we can do about it, and that has many of us fuming.

Glenn Fleishman 17 comments

How To Buy Hardware That’s Likely to Last

Do you have a closet full of electronics that never quite worked out? If you follow veteran reviewer Glenn Fleishman’s guidelines, it’s less likely you’ll wind up with piles of worthless gear.

Adam Engst 98 comments

The Dark Side of Dark Mode

Apple has pushed Dark Mode hard in Mojave, and it will appear in iOS 13 as well. If Apple thinks Dark Mode is such a good idea, should you switch to it? Only if you’re more interested in being trendy than productive, since the science behind human visual perception is resoundingly against Dark Mode.

Adam Engst 21 comments

Don Norman Decries Design That’s Hostile to Older Users

If it seems like Apple products—and many of today's tech products—are designed solely for young people, you’re not imagining things. Design guru and former Apple VP Don Norman has an editorial in Fast Company calling for more inclusive design.

Adam Engst 16 comments

The Productivity Pit: It’s the People, Not the Tools

Real-time workplace communication tools were supposed to improve productivity, but they all too often have the opposite effect thanks to too much chatter.

Adam Engst 24 comments

Bad Apple #4: Reminders Stinks at Sorting

Can you believe that Reminders is almost 8 years old now and still can’t sort acceptably? The iOS version lets you sort list items only manually, and the Mac version supports only a single sort order for all lists. Bad Apple!

Jeff Porten 64 comments

Apple Card: More Than Just a Credit Card

Apple’s forthcoming Apple Card and updated Wallet app promise innovative features and consumer-friendly particulars. But Jeff Porten thinks Apple Card will have a farther-reaching impact.

Adam Engst 26 comments

Facebook Promises Encrypted Messaging (and Privacy-Abusing Business as Usual)

In a lengthy blog post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has promised to support end-to-end encryption and ephemeral content in the company’s messaging apps. That sounds good, but it doesn’t mean Facebook will stop exploiting all the rest of your data.

Adam Engst 3 comments

The Secret Lives of Facebook Moderators in America

In an impressive piece of investigative journalism, Casey Newton of The Verge has published an article describing what it’s like to work as a Facebook content moderator. Short answer: it sounds horrible.

Adam Engst 31 comments

#DeathToAutoPlay—No More Audio and Video That Plays Automatically!

It’s time to take a stand. We’re sick and tired of apps (Netflix!) and Web sites (CNN!) assaulting our ears and eyes with audio and video that starts playing on its own, without so much as a by your leave. Let’s fight back.

Adam Engst No comments

Apple in 2018: The Six Colors Report Card

Jason Snell of Six Colors has published his fourth annual report card on Apple’s performance in the last year, drawing once again on ratings and comments from a large group of industry observers.

Adam Engst 6 comments

Tim Cook Promotes Privacy in Time Magazine

Apple continues to take the high ground when it comes to user privacy, and CEO Tim Cook has penned an op-ed to encourage comprehensive privacy legislation.

Adam Engst 25 comments

Nuance Has Abandoned Mac Speech Recognition. Will Apple Fill the Void?

In the wake of Nuance discontinuing its Dragon Professional Individual speech-to-text software for the Mac, we shine a light on some ways that macOS’s built-in speech recognition needs to improve to provide a viable alternative.

Adam Engst 49 comments

What Happened to 5K Displays?

Apple keeps saying that its new hardware can drive a 5K display at 5120-by-2880 resolution, but it would seem that there’s only one 5K display available for sale, the LG UltraFine 5K Display. Why isn’t there more choice in the 5K display space?

Adam Engst 31 comments

Apple’s Termination of App Store Affiliate Payments Is Unnecessary, Mean-Spirited, and Harmful

As of 1 October 2018, Apple will stop paying affiliate fees on apps purchased through recommendation links. It’s a small-minded, unpleasant move that can’t benefit Apple in any significant way but will hurt many small publishers, although TidBITS won’t be affected.