Are AirPods Really Worth It?

Apple’s popular white plastic buds spurred the ubiquity of true wireless earphones. Competitive companies now make more ear-candy devices at wallet-friendly prices, offering other colors, styles, and feature-sets. So are AirPods really worth their price tag now?

Social Internet Versus Social Media

One of my favorite bloggers is computer scientist Cal Newport. I found this great quote on a podcast (at 50:42) from 2019 wherein he discussed his then recent book, Digital Minimalism. The context here is Cal’s apt distinction between the social-internet and social-media:

Sticking With iPhone 8 In 2022

Recently, the dynamic iPhone 14 Pro debuted. With it, iOS 16 released, rendering my teens’ iPhone SE and iPhone 7 officially unsupported. My iPhone 8 Plus — now five generations old — still works well. “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” I’m not immune to upgrade-itis and am trying to stick with what I have. After all, it’s an iPhone. What more is needed, right? That said, my wants are tough to moderate.

Piling Up The Role Playing Games

My RPG game time has been on pause for a while. I’ve been casually playing Minecraft and taking a break from gaming in general. But thanks to a recent birthday gift — Xenoblade Chronicles 3 — landing in my controller-hands, I’m motivated; unpause the role-playing! It’s going to take a focus on other fun for a while before I can get to enjoy XC3 though.

Apple's Not So Simple Product Strategy

I generally agree with the sentiment that Apple’s line up of tablets and phones has become more complex over time and could benefit from the minimalism Apple was better known for years ago. From The Verge:

Elon Bought A Pet Blue Bird

Maybe you noticed Twitter now belongs to Elon Musk. Some are worried, some cautiously optimistic, some are leaving the social site. Others will wait and see. I think it will be interesting to watch.