Even though the OP-1 has been around for a while, I’ve only become aware of it recently, and it is amazing.

It is also pretty expensive and spectacularly hard to get hold of (it used to be on sale on MoMA), which is sad–I’ve been spending a few of my evenings lately watching YouTube videos of what people can do with it (Red Means Recording has some amazing tracks made on it), and would love to get one for Xmas.

The benchmark results are interesting, and the mini would go well with an external GPU. I’m a bit curious as to the display situation, though, since dual 4K would work, but which 4K panels?

Nilay is completely on point here. The lack of a filesystem is always going to be off-putting to Pro users, and having the Files app not do anything with external storage is completely ridiculous at this point.

It’s an easy fix, and yet such a hard mindset to change at Apple.

At this rate, we are never going to be able to use Apple Maps in Europe.

Although Apple Maps have improved markedly (and worked OK during my recent trip to Edinburgh) there are still loads of things missing (landmarks, streets, transit info), and have stayed that way for years, whereas Google Maps are sometimes corrected within days.

I wish Google would bring back their Apple Watch app, which has been MIA for a year or so…

1475 days.

That’s how long it was between updates, and I’m still somewhat annoyed at having had to buy an iMac instead.

Having a quieter and (much) smaller machine with my choice of displays is still my sweet spot, and it will now be a few years before I can justify going back to that kind of setup.

At this rate, that iMac better last me at least 1475 more days. But I suspect my last mini’s eight year record will not be surpassed by any current (or future) Apple hardware.

Apropos John’s roundup, today I went into a store to try out the XR thinking there was a 70% chance of walking out with one, and was shocked at how large, heavy and unwieldy it actually is compared to my iPhone 6, even with its aluminum and glass body.

Pics don’t do it justice, nor does Apple’s comparison page—I can’t hold it comfortably to take a call single-handed, never mind using it for anything more complex, since it is much larger, thicker and heavier than the 6/8 form factor.

I find it telling that most reviewers (except Nilay Patel, who specifically singled out the size) never mention how big the thing is on absolute terms and only compare it to the other X models–they are clearly out of touch with regular folk, who weren’t exposed to the X series over the past year and will be looking at the XR based on price and the opportunity to buy a new phone after over two years of using a much smaller device.

Maybe everyone in the US just has bigger hands (well, not everyone, but I’m not going to go into political jokes here), but I think many of those upgraders are likely to be disappointed by the lack of a “normal” sized iPhone.

Looking back, I still think the 6 was too big to begin with, and that the 5/SE form factor was Apple’s best design ever. So I am now at a crossroads regarding getting an XS (which actually fits my hand but is insanely expensive), taking a bet on the XR (which feels like a Chicco phone decked out with a fragile glass back) or just sticking to the 6 for a while longer and praying for a comeback of the SE.

The most telling thing, though, is that I carry a Samsung S8 for work (with a folio cover), and the XR handled worse. And I can’t even begin to imagine how bulky it would be with a case…

Considering the way things are going for IBM in general, my knee-jerk reaction was to hope they won’t drag down Red Hat with them. My second thought was that they have an unusual definition of “hybrid”…

Then again, they are still huge (hence their downfall having been in slow motion, and likely preventable) and Red Hat is the centerpiece for most enterprise Linux deployments (supporting Oracle and SAP workloads, to name a few), so there’s plenty of business there. Also, Ansible and OpenShift are tied up in this…

It’s also worth noting that with SuSE’s recent acquisition by EQT, Canonical (which is an arguably more cloud-friendly disto anyway) is likely to be next–which I’m positive Mark Shuttleworth will have strong words about… Right?

Update: Here’s Mark’s take.

This is the kind of voodoo that I really wish wasn’t necessary this far into the “future”. If you think about it, it’s been twelve major iterations (even if iCloud came along in its present form about halfway through) and bits of the system (especially anything related to syncing, in whatever form) still seem to be tacked on to each other with duct tape and designed for optimistic scenarios.

The original article title is a bit daft, really, because those goals are not wholly dependent on the Dialog acquisition. Their IP is an enabler, but it was being used before.

But it is notable that they are acquiring UK assets to further their vertical integration strategy, and it seems like a sound play.

I like the slate most of all (it’s where Chromebooks should have been a couple of years back, I think) but keep wondering if Google will ever manage to figure out how to sell hardware worldwide.

Because until it does, Apple is going to keep steamrolling their branded hardware sales, and this generation feels like it might be up to par.

I’m not excited by the new look (the Surface Pro 4 I have has a dark grey/black keyboard, and that is much more relevant than case color for me), but I am interested in the upgrades.

Bit sad that USB-C didn’t make it, and that the Studio is still essentially made of unobtainium, since I would very much like to try one out for a few months alongside my iMac.