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A letter from Om Issue #07/2023
Hi! In case you are new around here, I’m Om. In this letter, I share my latest thoughts, articles worth reading from around the web, my recommendations & occasionally, my photography.
In this issue, I address the following:
- (Why I am) Spaced out on Spatial
- Five of my recent writings
- 5 good reading Recommendations.
(Why I am) Spaced out on Spatial
When tech guys stop talking about tech and instead focus on politics and political endorsements, you know their time has come and gone. The “new new thing” from Apple is coming at a time when those who supposedly gave us the “social web” are busy trying to become statesmen, instead becoming caricatures of the classic middle age rich guys trying to find a purpose. I have so much to say, but I will shut my mouth. And instead, focus on what is exciting.
Ideally, I would and should have a lot to say, and this would be a long newsletter — but instead, it is short and sweet. I have already written about the why of Vision Pro, but that was before I got to use the device and experience it firsthand.
When I was experiencing it, it felt as if Apple had finally invented the future of TV. It felt as if they created this thing I had written about in my piece about the future from 2019. Even after a brief 30-minute firsthand experience under the eagle eye of Apple’s hall monitors, I can only say that it is severely underhyped. In the words of Cheshire Cat (from Alice In Wonderland): “I am not crazy; my reality is just different from yours.”
The focus on its price and its design challenges misses the point. The predictable negativity of the technology press is no different from the skepticism and naysaying at the launch of the iPhone. When Steve Jobs showed “the pinch and expand” feature on the iPhone touch screen, it was clear something was different. I felt the same way when I lightly pinched my fingers to open an app on Vision Pro. Just as the iPhone-triggered “mobile computing” in the end turned out to be just “computing,” what Apple is calling “spatial computing” will turn out to be the natural evolution of computing.
We have been marching towards this new visual computing — we didn’t stop to think about it. I have been working on a long essay on “spatial computing” and what it means, the opportunities it presents, and its challenges. Hopefully, I will get this wrapped up by the end of the week. It has also slowed down my work on a couple of other longer pieces, including a piece on Google & its challenges.
My Recent Writings
- The Why of Reddit Protests. Why platforms don’t learn from the mistakes of the past.
- Wait what? Did Apple Watch save the Swiss Watch industry?
- Media helps create monsters by giving them unwarranted attention and exposure. Clickbait does come at a cost.
- We are to blame for our future dystopia. Apple is happy to cash in on it.
- My ten big takeaways from WWDC 2023. Yeah, there is a lot of stuff about Vision Pro, but other fun things too. (Warning: It is long.)
Worth reading
- Longreads has a great collection of articles about Cormac McCarthy, who died recently.
- Streaming is broken. And Hollywood doesn’t know what to do about it.
- Where do weather apps get their data? (via)
- Can tires become less of an environmental nightmare? I don’t think so, but there is hope on the horizon. (Also, why tires are so expensive.)
- Chatbots are not the future. (But chat is)
Etc:
I wanted to spotlight three books I am currently reading (including one which is going to be released later this month.) Winner Take All by Jason Del Ray, Flawless by Elise Hu, and Awe by Dacher Keltner.
This edition of the newsletter was created listening to the music of Anna Savage. Her album, inFlux, is just fire.
PS: Visit the blog, where I occasionally post short blog posts with links and nuggets of goodness about tech, science, and life in general. You can find my essays, interviews, and photos on Om.co.