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Apple Harvests its Logo

If Apple’s streaming music service launches tomorrow at WWDC and is branded with the company’s name/logo, look for broad naming changes ahead. My guess, and it’s only that: the lower-case letter before products like iMac or iPhone will disappear; over time. Under CEO Tim Cook, the branding strategy differs from Steve Jobs. That’s sensible considering where the company is today compared to 1998 when the cofounder introduced iMac.

Apple Watch foreshadows the new nomenclature. Contrary to months of iWatch rumors before launch, the device is identified by sound as Apple Watch, but what you see is the company’s logo, which is one of the most recognizable brand icons ever created. If Apple Music turns out to be more than just streaming, but the replacement for or displacement of iTunes, consider that as sign of future naming conventions to come. If I am mistaken—well, Apple should do what I predict. 

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Flickr a Day 156: ‘Street Lads’

Some pics jump from the photostream and demand to be chosen, as is the case with today’s selection. Simon Evans shot self-titled “Street Lads” on Sept. 20, 2014—around the time that he started blogging—using Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon XF 27mm F2.8 lens. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 800, 1/450 sec, 27mm.

The pancake lens makes the Fuji mirrorless camera a relatively smaller shooter—well, compared to bulky dSLRs—while offering dramatic benefits of hybrid optical and digital viewfinder. Motion more typically describes Simon’s street shots. The Day Maker is rare exception. “This is what happens when you give in and ‘spare a bit of change'”, he jokes. 

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Coachella 2016 Presales Success

My daughter can attend Coachella for the third time, but Weekend Two. I snagged Weekend One tickets for this year and last but not next. Pass presales for the 2016 music festival commenced at 11 AM PDT today. The advantage of buying now is making monthly payments rather than one sum up front.

Timing and luck make the difference securing any pass, particularly the earlier (April 15-17). Last round, I got in three minutes before official start time. Ironically, or not, at 10:57 the Coachella app on my Nexus 6 popped up a notification that sales had started. But every time I clicked the purchase button for Weekend One, Coachella redirected to the sales start at 11 page. 

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Apple’s Moral Marketing Charade

Nine years ago, a NPR interviewer asked me about Google and other U.S. companies censoring search results in China. The question was one of morality—to which I gave an answer she didn’t expect. That response, or my recollection of it, is appropriate for rather ridiculous and self-serving statements that Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly made three days ago.

“We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy”, Tim Cook said, Matthew Panzarino reports for TechCrunch. “The American people demand it, the constitution demands it, morality demands it”. Oh? What is moral? The answer I gave NPR in 2006 applies: There is no moral high ground in business. The high ground is quagmire, because all public companies—Apple surely among them—share a single, moral objective: Make profits for stockholders. Plain, pure, and simple. 

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Tidal gets My Reprieve

My third month as a Tidal subscriber started yesterday, but nearly not at all. Last week I prepared to cancel the pricey, streaming service after encountering a disastrous functional flaw listening on either Nexus 6 or 9. Songs skip to the next track part way through playing, which is unacceptable behavior—made more so because of expectations that higher pricing and loftier monthly subscription fee set.

I would have stopped subscribing on May 31st, at the billing cycle’s end, if not for Tidal offering a free month of service. Whether or not our paying relationship continues depends much on the music streamer resolving an app problem. “There is a bug with Nexus and Sony phones with Android 5 unfortunately”, according to a tech support specialist, “We are working on fixing this. Mostly after 26 megabytes have been streamed, it skips. So for now we do not have a solution yet”, 

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Flickr a Day 153: ‘Birkenhead Lake View’

Travel photographer James Wheeler takes the Day with an evocative, wish-you-were-there view captured on May 17, 2015, using Nikon D600 and 17-35mm f/4 lens. Vitals: f/11, ISO 100, .5 sec, 17mm. I picked the pic mainly for composition and color; the red canoe to the left set against the lake looker to the right makes the shot—without even considering the majestic mountains framing the foreground.

James describes self-titled “Birkenhead Lake View”, visited over the “Victoria Day long weekend” (ended May 18 in 2015 and on the 23rd in 2016). “It is a bit far from Vancouver but is an amazing place to go camping for a long weekend. We had relatively good weather for May and will definitely go back next year”.