A Proactive Siri
First, just a few notes about my Siri usage. I use Siri daily, many times a day calling on “her” from every iOS device I own. I’ve always wanted the pervasive, ever present computer from Star Trek. Siri is one of my favorite iOS features. I tend to activate her via a mix of “Hey Siri” and tapping the AirPods and the keyboard on the iPad. Most of my usage is Homekit-related, adding calendar and to-do items, music control and a good number of informational queries such as conversions, spelling, and factoid searches. But with Siri, and to my knowledge, all other voice assistants, the user makes a request first. It occurred to me that there are two times a day when I would like Siri to initiate a “session”.
Imagine starting your morning with a new, more pro-active Siri. Essentially, I’d like a Siri wake-up greeting. Combine the iOS morning alarm, perhaps couple of chimes followed by Siri offering a few configured options such as weather, calendar review, and the morning news. Eve better, what about “Siri Scenes” integrated with the Home App? Add a light or other devices to the above scene?
Then again, imagine a Siri “Goodnight” scene. Because night time might vary a bit more this might be scheduled and again, start off with a couple of gentle chimes and then Siri would ask if I’m ready for bed. At that point I might say in twenty minutes which would set a reminder. 20 Minutes later again the gentle chimes followed by Siri reading the forecast for tomorrow, events, reminders, turning off lights, etc. Then end with “would you like any music?” Or perhaps I’m the only one in the habit of going to bed to music? So this would be a set automation which would kickoff at my usual bedtime but which could be delayed by anytime I respond with. If I’m working late I might say “give me 30 minutes” or check back at 10.
Wake-up and bed-time are two times a day when we have fairly consistent, repeatable routines and it seems an idea opportunity for Apple to dip into the possibility of offering a new level of Siri engagement. I think it would be a great experience.
It’s too late to stop it. We can only hope to adapt and mitigate. But if we don’t all take responsibility every single fucking day then we’re lying to ourselves about how we care (assuming we make such pretension).
EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. WE. MAKE. CHOICES.
And when climate change intensified things happen, be they increased wildfires, more intense hurricanes, we all send prayers and wring our hands at the devastation.
BULLSHIT. WE ARE DOING THESE THINGS TO OURSELVES.
We keep waiting for government to regulate our lives and tell us how to live. We see that it doesn’t. We shrug our shoulders and continue flying, driving, buying. In short, we are BURNING IT DOWN.
And we act as though we are helpless to stop it.
BULLSHIT. COMPLETE BULLSHIT.
I see many talking about the starving polar bear video. We all see the wildfires in California. We know that climate change is real and happening now.
WHEN WILL WE ALL CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE OUR LIVES? WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR US TO MAKE THE EFFORT TO REDUCE OUR OWN IMPACTS?
It’s December and right now, in Missouri, we have wildfire warnings. We’ve had months of drought and low humidity. Sure, totally normal. We’ve had 3 very mild winters and I expect this will be no different. I now regularly see insects during winter months. Climate change is now.
Ice flower. For those that may not know, this is the result of water freezing inside of plant material, usually thick plant stems left over from the fall. Upon freezing it bursts through the stem creating very pretty, delicate curves that look like flower petals.
Enjoyed my first day browsing around micro.blog. Has a very functional, clean feel. No cruft. Will be interesting to see how the community evolves when it opens to the public. Currently it feels very exclusive which will change as the door is pushed open.
A few days ago I came across this post on Instagram.. Gut wrenching. Most weeks I only get in a car one time. It’s very intentional restraint with the goal of only burning the fossils fuels I must. But still. It’s too much.
15° this morning. I celebrated with the first bird feeding of this winter. Many feathered and furry friends are partaking.
The iPad Laptop
That said, as much as I’ve enjoyed using the Smart Keyboard I’ve got to admit I’ve been longing for Apple to make a keyboard like the Brydge. Others have written about the Brydge which is often described as very similar to an Apple laptop keyboard. Most recently Jason Snell wrote an excellent piece on Why Apple’s next laptop should run iOS. He’d previously written a review of the Brydge and mentions it again:
The problem with the iPad Pro is that it’s literally not a laptop: You can’t comfortably set it in your lap and get work done. (Yes, you can kind of balance the Smart Keyboard on your lap, but it’s not the same as using a laptop—in terms of stability or adjustability.) This year I’ve been using my iPad Pro with the Brydge keyboard, a Bluetooth keyboard with two clamps that turn the iPad Pro into something that looks an awful lot like a laptop—albeit one with no trackpad.Seeing his mention of it and the accompanying photo sent me off to have another look. The only reason I’d previously held off were the many reports of hit and miss quality. Lots of folks report getting units that had to be replaced, often more than once. Yikes. By chance I happened to look around Thanksgiving and they were running a Black Friday sale so I finally bought it and have been using it for about a week.
The Brydge arrived in perfect condition. It is, as reported by many, very similar to typing on the keyboard of a current generation MacBook Air or the previous generation of MacBook Pro. Which is to say, it’s excellent. It is very nearly the perfect iPad keyboard. I can slide the iPad into the hinge connectors easily but not too easily. They grip it well so it feels secure. I really only have two complaints.
The top, outer edge of this keyboard is very sharp. It almost feels like a knife blade. Second, the iPad rests deep enough in the hinges that the bottom edge of the screen is just level with the back of the keyboard which means using my fingers to pull-up to activate the dock and multitasking of iOS 11 is very difficult and often results in misses. Very frustrating. If I put the iPad into the hinge brackets but don’t push it all the way down it still sits above the back of the unit and activating the dock is easy. If it just sat 1-2 millimeters higher, access to the dock and multitasking would be much better.
If the design were tweaked these are issues that could be fixed without too much difficulty and they really should be.
Back to Jason Snell who posted a follow-up article on the idea of an iOS laptop, this time addressing the critiques of his initial article. In the follow-up, The case against building an iOS laptop—and why it might happen anyway, he writes:
I use my iPad with external keyboards all the time. Sometimes it’s clipped into a keyboard case, so it’s shaped exactly like a laptop. Sometimes it’s on a table with a Smart Keyboard attached. Other times, it’s in a stand on a table with a USB keyboard attached via Apple’s USB 3-Lightning adapter...I’ve been using mine like this too. My only disagreement is that I think the current iPad is the iPad Jason is describing. I don’t think Apple needs to do much aside from build a proper keyboard. Just tweak the current Brydge a bit and give it the usual Apple fit and finish. Perhaps fix the orientation of the Apple logo on the back of the iPad to reflect a primary horizontal orientation. If Apple could create a hinge with the Smart Connector and a magnetic lock-in we would have the tablet/laptop combination.If I were doing something that didn’t require typing, something that involved intense tapping and swiping on my iPad, the Zombie Arms experience would start to come to the fore. On the iPad, that’s when I would disconnect the keyboard and hold the tablet more naturally. (That’s why I think an iOS laptop would ideally be a convertible laptop, so you could fold back the keyboard entirely when it isn’t needed.)
As is I think the Brydge does this right now though it is bluetooth based whereas an Apple solution would use the Smart Connector. I’ve only had a week with the Brydge but this combination feels nearly perfect. It’s a laptop when I want a laptop, a tablet when I want a tablet. The effort required to switch form factors is simply to lift the iPad from the hinges or to place in back in them.
What’s a computer
In one of Apple’s latest iPad ads we see a student exploring the city and making great use of an iPad in various locations. It’s a fantastic example of the many ways an iPad can be used. I think this is my favorite iPad ad to date. It’s a tool for exploring and creating. Good stuff.
Apple Watch Series 3
I never write reviews. There are plenty of folks doing that sort of thing. But I often post a few brief thoughts on new purchases.
I’ve not been a watch wearer in many years. And with the iPhone felt even less of a need to have one. I don’t need a watch given that I always have the phone with me. Since it’s release the Apple Watch has been only a slight interest for me, primarily in terms of it’s health application. But with Apple Music and AirPods the interest grew. The prospect of being able to get out for walks and still enjoy music and track steps without the phone was appealing.
I finally decided to give it a go with the Apple Watch Series 3 and I’ve not been disappointed.
I bought it with LTE but haven’t used the LTE much. I’m on Sprint and the signal here is a bit weak and so often times the watch doesn’t have an LTE signal. Not a big problem. I usually have the phone with me anyway. I do a lot of walking and outside work around the cabin and the watch continues to work as fitness tracker and for the Apple Music with our without a cell signal or nearby phone.
As a fitness tracker the watch is great. I’d expected that having the rings would be an additional motivator and that’s true. I didn’t have a problem getting in 10,000 steps on a regular basis but I knew that that was not the complete picture. The rings also provide a nice tracker of intensity, particularly the green ring. Turns out I can get all the steps and fill the red ring but not fill the green because 30 minutes of exercise requires a certain intensity, a higher level of exertion. So, now I don’t just get my steps I also make sure to quicken my pace for some of my walks. I’ve also learned that cutting grass with my electric push mower burns a lot more calories than I realized due to increased intensity.
Nice.
Music on the watch with the AirPods is excellent and honestly, LTE is not required. The watch easily syncs music when plugged in and attached to Wifi. By default it syncs Apple playlists such as New Music, Favorites, and Chill as well as any recent/often listened to music. I can also add any playlist I want. The result is that I have yet to need streaming when playing from the watch. The watch also works as a great remote if I happen to be playing music from the iPhone.
I’m not using many apps aside from Music and the fitness related apps. I’ve got Carrot Weather which is nice and I’ve found Messages pretty useful.
Last is Siri which probably could have come first. I use Siri a lot. Many times a day and Siri on the Watch is fantastic! Very fast and accurate. Possibly better than any other Apple device. A very pleasant surprise. I’ve now got Siri on my wrist, my phone and two always on iPads. Whether I’m scheduling an event, fast forwarding a podcast, creating a reminder or turning off the lights it is rare that I do not get the response I want.
As I wrote above, I’ve not been a watch wearer in a long time. But I am a Star Trek nerd and honestly, when I saw this LTE equipped watch in the keynote a couple months ago my brain just sort of tweaked. From the iPhone to iPad, we’ve had several years of amazing technology that seems like it belongs to the future. This watch is another part of that ecosystem, even smaller and less obtrusive than it’s larger siblings.
I think wearing a tiny computer on my wrist is a habit I’ll be getting used to.
Catching Up
Wow. It’s been on my mind that I’d not posted to either of my blogs recently. September 29th since my last here. Jeesh.
A few things I’d like to address in upcoming posts. A few thoughts on recent Apple tech purchases, namely the Series 3 watch and the iPhone X. Oh, and I finally took a chance on the Brydge keyboard for the 12.9” iPad. Thus all three have proven to be excellent choices though it’s still early. More soon.