Finally got a chance to watch the keynote and read the reactions of people who’ve tried the new Apple Vision Pro headset. Going into WWDC, I didn’t know if Apple could pull off the technology and I had no idea why I would use one. After reading everything, it sounds like they aced the tech, but I still don’t know why I’d use one.
I’m tired. But also, I can’t sleep. Sigh.
Months ago, I scheduled my daughter’s college orientation for tomorrow. Which means that instead of watching the Apple Keynote, I’ll be watching presentations about adjusting to college life.
Spending some time tonight thinking about my dissertation topic. Do I stick with the research topic that I’ve worked on for the last few years? Or venture out with a new topic? There are pros and cons to each approach. Just not sure what I want to do.
For a short week, it’s been a long week.
One of my favorite bakeries closed after a long successful run, but I found out yesterday that another wonderful bakery is taking over its location. They’ve been selling cakes at local markets and haven’t had a permanent space. It’s the circle of life, but for bakeries.
I’ve been to a lot of high school graduations over the years. And most of them aren’t great. They start late. The guest speakers and district officials give speeches that aren’t particularly inspirational. The student speakers share a bunch of inside jokes that make sense to a small slice of the graduating class. And they just last too long.
So while I was looking forward to my daughter’s graduation today, I wasn’t looking forward to the ceremony itself. (Not to mention the ceremony was held at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning.)
What I got instead was a delightful ceremony. It started right at 8:00. The student speakers did a wonderful job. They incorporated some meaningful traditions. The district superintendent delivered short and relevant remarks. The whole thing was done in 1.5 hours with around 350 students graduating. Everyone had their name read and crossed the stage. My daughter was happy and I was pleasantly surprised.
Our oldest graduated from high school today. Next stop, studying English at the University of South Carolina.
Hanging out on my deck after a long weekend of home improvements. Beautiful evening.
Saw this beautiful flower on campus yesterday.
You are currently being recorded.
Our neighbors installed a new security system a couple of weeks ago. When you walk anywhere near it – and that radius includes our driveway – a recording plays: “You are currently being recorded.”
We have great neighbors, but when I first heard it, I was a little annoyed. My wife was irritated, too. Every time we walked to our cars… “You are currently being recorded.”
A few days after this started, I was walking out to the car with my kids and the alarm system informed us that we were being recorded… and my 15-year-old daughter waived in the general direction of the camera, yelled “Hello camera” and got in the car. She repeats this greeting every day when she leaves for school, choosing to be amused instead of irritated.1
There are two lessons in this story:
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Don’t install a talking alarm system. It’s annoying. (My neighbor isn’t happy either. He says it is way too sensitive and goes off at the slightest movement.)
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We can choose to be amused instead of irritated. Sometimes, it’s best to greet the metaphorical camera and go on with your day.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
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We asked our neighbor if the camera records audio. It doesn’t. Jill knows this. She says hello anyway. ↩︎
I’m really intrigued by Adobe’s approach to generative AI. Building AI tools that assist the process of creative development, but don’t seek to replace it. The Generative Fill feature that they are building into Photoshop looks seriously useful.
Just submitted my revised journal article. I was pretty discouraged when I got the long list of feedback, but honestly, with all the changes incorporated, the new revision is significantly better. We’ll see if the editor and reviewers feel the same way.
My 11-year-old’s orchestra teacher is retiring and he’s rallying his fellow students to make a giant card to thank her. He’s working so hard on it and the whole thing is so sweet.
RE: Paywalls. I want writers and publications to make money, but I also want to share the great things that they write — often with people who would never pay to support online writing.
My favorite new coffee shop is in a restored Victorian house that was once a funeral home. The historic preservationists who worked on this project deserve an award for the amazing work they’ve done to turn the house into a coffee shop and apartments.
After being sick last week, my sleep schedule is all kinds of messed up. It’s not insomnia… I’m getting sleep. But I get tired earlier and then wake up in the middle of the night. I’m like a toddler who has their days and nights mixed up.
I have to pack up my cube to move to a new office in a couple of weeks. While I’m looking forward to having walls and a door again, I’m not ready to pack everything up. I’ve been in this spot for six years – longer than I’ve ever been in a work space before. Going to feel strange to move.
When I see people arguing about Mastodon vs. Bluesky, I realize that we need to ask an important question:
What do you want from social media?
It’s not about what service is best. It’s about what’s best for you. And that answer is going to differ from person to person.
I’ve been sick for the past few days. Pretty minor symptoms. Pre-COVID, I would have just toughed it out, but now I take even minor symptoms seriously. I don’t want to get anyone sick.
(FYI: Just got back from the doctor. All the tests were negative. I just have a bad cold.)
The rush to hype
Not everything is going to change the world tomorrow
I’m not sure when the “hot take” era started. It predates the internet1, but social media really seems to have kicked it into the stratosphere. There’s a rush to hype everything as the next disruptive invention. Wearable devices. Foldable displays. Ride sharing and self-driving cars. Blockchain and cryptocurrency. Artificial intelligence and machine learning. AR and VR. Federated social media.
While social media drives the hype train, it’s powered by money. Major companies are afraid of missing a big trend and becoming irrelevant. Small companies see an opportunity to move fast and take advantage of the new tech. VC firms are willing to gamble on the technology in hopes of a big pay day. Entrepreneurs sell grand visions with hopes of making it big. All of these entities benefit from building the hype around every new technology.
What technology really needs is time to mature. Time to work the bugs out. To discover the downsides and figure out how to address them. To build a sustainable business model. Instead, too often, the money-powered hype train moves too fast and the whole thing just derails.
I love reading about technology and learning about all the latest advancements, but I’ve been following technology long enough to know that slow and steady usually wins the race.2
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
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I’ve done some research on printing technology and let me tell you, the newspaper reports from the late 1800s about the Linotype are the definition of “hot take.” ↩︎
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Do you remember the TV show Beyond 2000? How many of those featured technologies actually became successful products? Not many. ↩︎
Taylor Swift put on an amazing show last night in Atlanta.
My daughters are making sure the whole family has appropriate attire for tomorrow night’s Taylor Swift concert.
Spending the day at the coffee shop with my daughters who are reviewing for AP exams next week. I’ve been working on finishing up the revisions to my journal article, but I keep going down rabbit holes…