Thoughts
I think the MacBook Neo presents a dilemma, what is the worth of really good physical construction of a laptop if the computing capabilities inside may not be as valuable over the long haul? I think people considering buying the Neo need to consider how they will feel if after just a few years they will want to replace it with a more performant computer. At the root of this is the question of whether or not one thinks $599 is a lot of money.
Most likely what the Neo is really about for Apple is increasing cash flow from Macs. Previous Macs tend to be useful well beyond five years after release, which makes it hard for Apple to convince people to buy their new models. I think Apple hopes that today’s Neo owner will replace their Neo next year or the year later at the latest.
Boox has released second generation of their 10.3-inch Go series e-Ink tablets that appear intended to compete with the Remarkable 2. There are two versions of this generation, a $400 without a front light and a $450 model with a front light. A major negative, in my opinion, is that Boox has replaced the Wacom EMR stylus support with their InkSense capacitive stylus is that is less accurate and requires charging. I would not buy this tablet due to this choice by Boox.
I would wish that Boox would release an 8-inch e-Ink tablet with Wacom EMR support but that appears to be less likely to happen as time passes.
My thought this morning is that we have entered the equivalent of COVID in Trump 2.0. It should not be a surprise that a global crisis would be poorly managed if not triggered by administration that demonstrated this ability when it was last in office. Voters in the U.S., despite claims to the contrary, have to accept some responsibility because it was us who put this man in office after what he did before and said plainly what he would do once in office.
Which is a better value? The 13-inch M5 MacBook Air for $1,099 or the new MacBook Neo for $599? The M5 Air probably has up to seven years of good life ahead, what about the Neo? The Air has a better processor, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of storage.
Reading Craig Mod’s description of the accounting app he has written for himself with the assistance of Claude Code give’s me a “back to the future” vibe. Personal computing began with the idea of one writing their own software and the idea of buying software didn’t really exist. People shared software they wrote, but requiring payment for it was a big against the unwritten rules.
The 2026 iPad Air M4: Early Impressions:
The second change is memory. The M4 brings 12GB of unified memory, up from 8GB on the M3 model. More RAM means better multitasking and more headroom for demanding tasks. Transcription in Voice Memos and background removal in Pixelmator happen almost instantly. I feel it in Lightroom as well.
My primary concern about the MacBook Neo is that I don’t think the 8 GB of RAM is enough in the current AI era of personal computing. While the quote above is about the new iPad Air, I think the point about the benefit of moving from 8 GB to 12 GB is apt.
Later in his post Om also ponders whether the Neo is a better value than the Air given it includes a keyboard. I do wonder whether Neo will affect iPad sales.
I think the whole idea of the MacBook Neo comes down to one question, is $599 a low price?
It occurs to me, that the MacBook Neo is essentially the often desired iPad that runs MacOS.
To me most of the AI coming from the BigCos is fluff and eye candy. Google is really guilty of this, adding AI flourishes to their Pixel phones that I don’t see as useful. I tried their AI Wallpaper generation that I don’t think produces anything interesting and I have to wonder whether their new custom icons will be any different.
The U.S. Men’s hockey team won the Olympic gold medal beating Canada in overtime, 2-1. The last time I saw the U.S. men’s hockey win gold I was 14 years old.
I got to admit that I am going to miss the Olympics after it concludes tomorrow. I’ve been in the habit of turning on the TV in the morning with the events going in the background as I do my morning routine.
An observation. Learned about this directory of independent journalists, and notice that newsletter - Substack is the top platform, Instagram is second. Website is fifth with 87. Can’t help but notice that what appears to me to be newer sites usually do not have RSS feeds. Most sites do have a Subscribe button that is for an email newsletter.
I really hate how streamers create horrible user experience for the sake of commercials. I am watching the Olympics on Peacock and using the “Top Events” multi-view mode to watch a hockey game, when the period ends I want to check in on the other events but cannot switch because Peacock disables navigation during commercials. How do they think people use multi-view?
A benefit of retirement is that I am able to watch the 2026 Winter Olympic events live during the afternoon and because of that I am seeing much more of the Olympics than ever before. In addition to having the time to watch, technology, particularly Peacock, is helping by putting all of the U.S. coverage in one spot. To be honest, I am not constantly watching but I have it on in the background as I sit here at my desk.
Sadly, the 250th “birthday” of the United States feels less a celebration and more like a wake. I don’t know how anyone associated with Trump, particularly his enablers, can profess the ideas that are part of our founding when they are actively working against them. Perhaps we have always truly been the land of the not yet free and brave for all. I would like to see someone start leading by making strong contrast between what is happening right now and how it started. The real issue is not the individual acts, it’s the sum total of them all in context to what the United States is supposed to be about.
In an essay that I wrote in 2010 titled The iPhone Way, I ended with the following. Although then I was talking about Apple, what I describe has expanded to multiple companies in an apparent “soft” conglomerate headed by the Executive.
I find myself living in a time when people are willing to give up control (see education in the U.S.) and freedom (see airport security) because it makes their lives easier and safer. However, by allowing other people to make decisions for you, which giving control to others is really about, is giving up freedom. When one company controls the means of how you get information, will they allow access to any information that company does not want you to see?
People who are captivated by the Apple ecosystem ought to be concerned about how cozy Tim Cook has been with the Trump regime.
Accountability
Turns out that when you arm a group of men who has no accountability, and the people who do the arming have no accountability, you get anarchy. The first rule of supremacy is there is no accountability of the ruling class, just appeasement. The Supreme Court institutionalized our current state in declaring Presidents have “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority.” In other words, the President is above the law.
I am sure SCOTUS would say that Presidents are accountable to Congress who can impeach them and ultimately to the citizens who cannot vote for them. These are a form of accountability, but I ask, is an act that can only occur three years in to the future truly accountability? Seems to me that for true accountability it must occur in time of closer proximity to the event at which they are to be held accountable, which I would think is the purpose of criminal courts!
To really fix what is wrong in the United States there needs to be an overturn of several Supreme Court rulings through additional amendments to the Constitution.
I follow Amanda Nelson on Instagram and she said something recently that I have not been able to get out of my head, which is that the United States has been in a “cold” civil war for many years. I think it obvious that what we are experiencing today has been simmering for a long time, perhaps since the end of the Civil War. I also think this “cold” civil war became more organized when Republicans and Newt Gingrich took over the House because Gingrich initiated the switch of the purpose of Congress from governing to “us versus them” in which compromise is not allowed. Since 1995 the battle lines between factions of the powerful have been clearly drawn, with American citizens as pawns.
I just took a walk outside. According to Accuweather, it’s 5 degrees but the RealFeel is 17 degrees thanks to the sunshine and lack of wind. With the proper clothes on it’s actually pretty nice given the sunshine.
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
For years people have been ignoring the full text to the second amendment as if there is no consequence to ignoring its purpose. In my opinion overlooking the beginning of the amendment exposes originalists for who they are, hypocrites. I think we are seeing the consequences of neglecting the idea of “well regulated” in Minneapolis right now.