Joe Muscara's Blog

The rains we’ve had this week in Houston have been great, but at the same time seeing them give a good soak for so many dead trees and shrubs from this summer’s drought has been a little disappointing. It’s like seeing the rescue arrive after the victim has died. I can only hope* that we continue to get reasonable rain for the rest of fall and winter and not have a summer like that again.

*Hope, but not expect. There’s a lot I could go into about the subject but won’t right now. I’ll just say I try to let go of expectations. I know what I’d like to happen, but I know life can go a different way.

Houston: The Birthplace of Rock and Roll.

(Goree Carter’s Rock Awhile, recorded in 1949.)

I’ve been saying for a while that I thought there was no Apple Car, that it was just the full dash CarPlay integration that Apple showed. However, after seeing the report from Mozilla about the data ALL the car companies are collecting, I sincerely hope I’m wrong and Apple ships a car that respects my privacy.

So far, I am NOT liking the replacing of the Dock with the App Switcher in watchOS 10. I could control the apps and their order in the Dock. I haven’t seen where I can do this with the App Switcher, nor if apps will get replaced as I use others.

I’m not seeing a way to control what information is shared with NameDrop. It looks like everything in your contract is shared. If I’m missing something, please let me know.

I’m really glad to see the way iOS/iPadOS 16 have separated the Upgrade to 17 from the Update section. Now it’s obvious that the Upgrade isn’t required and won’t be done automatically even when Automatic updates are turned on.

First, I think Apple’s efforts towards the environment are excellent. The use of recycled materials, lowering carbon footprints, etc. are all things I am happy to hear about, and this is part of Apple’s DNA.

As far as the iPhone and Apple Watch product announcements themselves, nothing blew me away. I think it’s because most of what they’ve done is incremental. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot they’re doing that I would like to have, but nothing I’d replace my Series 7 Watch and iPhone 14 Pro for yet. Like when I went from the iPhone XR to the 14 Pro, I think these new upgrades are great for those who are a few versions behind and are ready for a new model. But for me, I’m more ready for the new features in the forthcoming OS upgrades, like a Snoopy watch face!

If a headline includes a phrase like “here’s what you need to know,” I am likely to say out loud, “no, I don’t!” and move on. If the introduction to an article says something like, “read on to find out more” I probably won’t.

Now get off my lawn.

Every time there is an Apple Event, I wish they would prove the assumptions in rumors wrong, like the name of the next iPhone. They usually announce more and better stuff than the rumors though. I don’t really pay much attention to the rumors. I’d rather get the right info from the source when it is ready to be announced by them.

I have had an Apple Watch since the first version (and Series 3, 5, and 7 after that), and I have yet to find a Watch face that I *love.* Some can be cool, some are nice, but nothing that blows me away. Which surprises me, as great as Apple generally is at design. Maybe watchOS 10 will improve that, I do like the Snoopy/Peanuts one and the better use of the full face overall might improve things.