Years ago at Macworld Expo, I chatted with a show attendee who amazed me with his Rain Man-like ability to rattle off the exact version numbers of all his software.
He knew precisely every single SemVer number (short for semantic versioning) of dozens and dozens of apps.
I was delighted — and more than a bit disturbed — as he listed them: Photoshop 19.1.9; Safari 11.0.3; Word 14.0.7211.5000, and so on.
Conversely, I can barely remember the version of iOS or macOS my devices are on.
Nonetheless, I do get overly excited at the prospect of a new OS. It’s a special treat Apple drops on us every year.
And although iOS 27 — which we’ll get a peek at in just a couple of weeks — is being pegged as a boring maintenance release with mostly bug and performance improvements, it will likely include perhaps the most consequential update ever in iOS.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Google just revealed its new smart glasses, which look pretty cool. They’re almost certainly a sneak peek at what Apple will release eventually.
Apple Watch really is morphing into a lifesaving device. If the latest rumored feature addition pans out, Apple Watch might prevent millions of premature deaths — and Tim Cook could be up there with giants like Edward Jenner (father of immunology) or Fritz Haber (ammonia-based fertilizers). Is this too hyperbolic? I dunno … there’s a good argument to be made.
As someone who never, ever deletes messages and whose archive has ballooned to a monstrous 90GB and counting, I can’t wrap my head around disappearing messages. Time to get with the times, I s’pose.
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: Woot is running another of its amazing sales in which it blows out refurbished Apple Watches and iPhones at rock-bottom prices. It’s a fantastic opportunity to pick up a perfectly great Apple Watch — or a backup watch that you wear for sleep tracking — for next to nothing. We’re talking Apple Watch Series 7 for $119.99, Apple Watch Ultra for $269.99 and similar incredible deals. Shop the sale before the deals disappear (some are already sold out). #affiliate
Yesterday’s poll asked if you were optimistic or pessimistic about Steve Jobs’ return to Apple in 1996 — and I have absolutely zero confidence in the results! Almost everyone says they were optimistic, which runs counter to my memory of the time. See below. And don’t miss the top comment, which I think accurately summarizes the prevailing sentiment of the time (except for the optimistic part!).
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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One more thing ...
There’s some notion that because I was abandoned, I worked very hard so I could do well and make my parents wish they had me back, or some such nonsense, but that’s ridiculous. Knowing I was adopted may have made me feel more independent, but I have never felt abandoned. I’ve always felt special. My parents made me feel special.
Today’s poll
How excited are you about iOS 27?
Results from yesterday’s poll:
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