The admission — and the fact that Musk was spending time chatting with small-time YouTubers as his power grew in Washington — triggered a wave of ridicule in the same forums that once marveled at his gaming triumphs. “Living proof that someone can be rich and successful while still being a loser,” one user on a gaming-news subreddit said.
I’m not a fan of Elon Musk, but he has done many impressive things. That doesn’t mean he is good at everything, and it seems it isn’t as good at video games as he’d like people to think.
You can be the richest man in the world, and still desperately want to be cool.
From time to time I visit my brother in New York City. I tend to spend several hours with him, and then retire to a nearby hotel for a very quiet evening alone (thanks to Marisa for allowing me the time to get away!). The next day I wake up, and head home.
Before I head home, though, I must visit an outpost of Doughnut Plant (they get bonus points for spelling doughnut correctly). I usually end up going to the one in Grand Central Station since it is super easy to get to.
I found myself visiting my brother yesterday, which meant I was walking to Doughnut Plant this morning and I mentally bemoaned the fact that they never seem to have maple doughnuts and so I probably wouldn’t write a blog post about this doughnut delight.
Imagine my surprise when I saw the above doughnut in the case: a maple pancake doughnut! A cake doughnut with a maple glaze and a salted butter crème on top, which would soon be mine.
I paid my $5 (which is just insane for a doughnut, though that didn’t stop me from buying two) and hurried outside to devour it.
The maple and butter taste is spot on. This tasted like eating a pancake, which is an impressive feat. However, the doughnut was a bit dry which shouldn’t happen with a $5 doughnut.
The Vanilla Bean yeast doughnut is my go to order at Doughnut plant and it never disappoints! So good.
If you’re in NYC you should totally check out Doughnut Plant. I’ve been going for over 14 years!
As a doughtnut lover Philadelphia doesn’t offer up as many doughnut opportunities as does Portland, Oregon. However, sometimes this fat guy just wants a doughnut!
I’ve been trying to eat a little better as of late, but this morning I had a craving for a doughnut and I was standing outside of a Dunkin’ Donut shop.
I have nothing against Dunkin’, other than the fact that they don’t know how to spell doughnut correctly. Nor do I have an intense loyalty to Dunkin’. It is a fine option, doubly so when I’m standing outside of one with a doughnut craving.
As I walked in I was going through the menu in my head so I would know what I wanted before I got to the counter (do most people do this? Given how often I’ve been stood behind someone who seemingly has never ordered anything before I doubt it) and that’s when I saw it on the racks: the elusive maple frosted doughnut.
You know I ordered it. Then I consumed it. Now I’m writing about it.
It was surprisingly good! The doughnut itself is Dunkin’s standard offering and the frosting didn’t taste too fake maple-y which I appreciated. I think this might be my go to order when they are available (given I’ve been to probably hundreds of Dunkin’ Donuts and this is the first time I’ve ever seen this varietal I don’t think I’ll encounter it too often).
The other day I found myself at the Parkway location of the Free Library and I noticed something I hadn’t before: a new section of books!
There, in Philbrik Hall, I saw the new to me “You’re in Luck” section. These are high demand books that you can borrow for two weeks, then you have to return ‘em (no renewals, Sparky!).
I have found memories of the “Books Pronto” section of the Will Library, so this section made me smile.
And I even grabbed a book from the section which I had wanted to read for awhile, and enjoyed the contrast between that jaunty sticker and the contents of the book (nuclear war is very bad, people).
An aside: While I love the Parkway Library, I’m not a fan of the shelves in Philbrik Hall. They are very short, no doubt to maintain sight-lines and make the space airy and line. But they require that I hunch over to find anything and that’s annoying.
So long, 2024! During the last month of the year I managed to read 12 books, mostly in a futile attempt to get to 100 books read this year. I failed in that goal, but I did read some good books in December:
What’s The Worst That Could Happen? (Dortmunder, #9) by Donald E. Westlake ★★★★☆ (Read on 12/2/24) – The Dortmunder series is a lot of fun. Dortmunder is a very good burgular surrounded by a group of interesting characters and put into ridiculous scenarios. They made this book into a movie, which I haven’t seen, but that resulted in this book having the worst cover in the entire series.
A Galway Epiphany (Jack Taylor #16) by Ken Bruen ★★★★☆ (Read on 12/4/24) – Speaking of series, you know I love me some Jack Taylor. Another fine entry in the series, which finds Jack getting tortured yet again.
Galway Confidential (Jack Taylor #17) by Ken Bruen ★★★★☆ (Read on 12/5/24) – I enjoyed the previous book so much that I just read the next one right after it. My only complaint about this book is that it is the last available entry in the series (for now).
The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia Ozick ★★★☆☆ (Read on 12/8/24) – A very well written book that is very strange and doesn’t seem to amount to much.
The Stars Turned Inside Out by Nova Jacobs ★★★☆☆ (Read on 12/11/24) – A body is found in the Large Hadron Collider, and we need to find out who did it! A great premise for an okay book.
Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis ★★★☆☆ (Read on 12/14/24) – This is a cozy science fiction booko that I enjoyed reading, but the central “mystery” was pretty obvious though that wasn’t really the point.
The Murders in Great Diddling (Berit Gardner #1) by Katarina Bivald ★★★★☆ (Read on 12/19/24) – Murder is the point in this book, and it was fair more successful than the previous two mysteries I read. Highly reocmmend it!
Nicked by M.T. Anderson ★★★★☆ (Read on 12/21/24) – What better time to read about a group of people trying to steal Saint Nicholas’ bones than during Christmas? A lot of fun!
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen ★★★★★ (Read on 12/22/24) – Speaking of fun, this book isn’t. It is a very good creative non-fiction outlining how a nuclear war might start and what would happen (millions of people would be dead and our civilization would be over in about 45 minutes).
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky ★★★☆☆ (Read on 12/28/24) – Tchaikovsky is a great writer, but this book didn’t do it for me. I got his main point since I felt pummelled over the head by it over and over and over again. Felt like a retread of well worn territory with some politics thrown on top (even though I agree with his politics!).
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice (Finlay Donovan, #4) by Elle Cosimano ★★★★☆ (Read on 12/29/24) – This is a fun series featuring a romance writer who keeps finding herself in the vicinity of corpses with the mob chasing after her.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark ★★☆☆☆ (Read on 12/30/24) – I wanted this to be really good, and I thought the central premise was great. The actual story and execution? Meh.
2024 is almost over, so why not take the opportunity to review the year that was (for me)?
One of the advantages of having a blog is that it makes to much easier to figure out what the heck you did over the last 12 months (mostly not blogging, truth be told).
January
Every year I think, “I should write more!” So in 2024 I kicked off “The Year of the Essay.”
I failed to write 52 essays, but I think I wrote a few that were pretty good.
I also build the above Lego lighthouse using these instructions and random Legos we had. I’m happy to report the lighthouse survived the whole year, which warms my heart because it was a gigantic pain in the Fresnel lens to cobble together.
February
Sammy was having trouble breathing out of his nose, and this is the month that we found out his adenoids were the culprits (some foreshadowing: they needed to be removed, and his tonsils will also probably need to get the axe, but they didn’t want to do it at the same time).
This month also marked Sammy’s assessment to see if he had any learning (or other) difficulties. His Pre-K teacher stopped us and said she didn’t think Sammy was ready for kindergarten, which was a surpise to us. However, we leapt into action and scheduled an assessment to see if Sammy needed any help (spoiler alert: they assessed him to be a smart little boy who is very stubborn. An assessment his Pre-K teacher didn’t agree with, but Sammy’s thriving in kindergarten so that’s good!).
Also, I had a birthday. It was fine.
March
We hoped to move to Portland, Oregon this year. That didn’t work out since no one wanted to buy our apartment, but we did manage to winnow our book collection by donating thousands of books.
Sammy had his adenoids removed this month, which meant the boys stayed in a hotel for the first time. Declan was impressed with the hotel breakfast and it reminded me of times long ago (which is happening more and more as most of my life is behind me).
There was also an eclipse, which was a lovely communal experience (it looked like it was going to be overcast during the eclipse but the clouds parted at the crowd cheered).
And to explain the picture above, the boys asked me to print out a treasure map. Then they decided they wanted to replicate the Treasure Map using stuff around the house. We needed some mermaids, and like the crafty nerdy father (mostly nerdy) that I am I whipped up some merpeople.
The family headed to Queens to visit some family (my brother and Marisa’s cousins live pretty close to one another so it is two halves of the family, one car trip).
May
Our pool opened! We went swimming a lot over the summer, which is always fun.
We also celebrated Marisa’s birthday with a Flying Monkey cake. We also ate pizza in an actual restaurant with other people (something we’ve been avoiding doing for two reasons: children are awful to eat with in public and COVID is still a thing… but COVID levels were super low and our boys weren’t completely awful so win, win).
OMG. We went to see the Art of the Brick at the Franklin Institute. It was very enjoyable (though the gift shop you had to exit through featured many overpriced items which wasn’t cool at all).
We went to the pool several times and the boys “graduated” from Pre-K.
I visited my brother again (this time solo) and ate a Russ and Daughters black and white cookie (it was good but not as good as William Greenberg’s). I also stopped by the Grand Central Station outpost of Doughnut Plant. Man, I do love their doughnuts. I also saw my brother for a bit.
July
COVID paid us a visit in July. I got it first, and being the very thoughtful person I am I gave it to everyone else (we think there may be a chance I succesfully isolated myself but someone else got it elsewhere. Who knows?).
COVID sucked, and I tested positive for something like 14 days. However, we were all up to date on our vaccinations so it was mild for all of us (and if you are an anti-vaxxer I think you’re a fool).
The boys also celebrated their 5th birthday with a pretty chill party on our building’s patio. We had some folks over and much fun was had in the very humid Philadelphia weather.
August
The boys started kindergarten! The first week included a lot of crying at dropoff but they adjusted very quickly.
We also visited Fort Mifflin (without COVID!) and I highly recommend it if you’re in Philadelphia and like history (or airplanes. It is super close to the airport and you get a very good view of planes landing).
September
We went “down the shore,” as they say in these parts. Rented a house from one of my friends and spent a few days enjoying the beach. We also visited Marisa’s cousin and went on a little boat trip to see some turtles (it was fun!).
Sammy got strep throat and both the boys had pneumonia. It was a fun month.
We also went trick or treating a few times and I ranked Halloween candy (some people disgreed with my rankings. They are allowed to be incorrect). Sammy was a police man and Declan was a construction worker. The neighorhood stores were having a little Halloween trick or treat event and we had the above drawing made.
My brother and his wife joined us for Thanksgiving (as did Baby).
Oh, and I had pneumonia for most of it. That wasn’t fun.
December
Christmas! Hanukkah! New Years Eve! This month has it all.
We put together some Lego ornaments, opened lots of presents, and I ate like a crazy person. I got lots of dice and many other nice things. My office holiday party was fun and had lots of good food. And we even visted Santa.
That’s what I thought when I read the name of this shirt. It took a second for me to realize the style of the shirt is called “free swingin’” and this one has magnets.
Every year I try to cash in on the holidays by making some last minute gift suggestions culled the list of books I enjoyed reading most this year.
These are all Amazon links, and I’ll get a little bit of money if you buy one (or all!) of these books. I am fully behind you hopping in a car and picking up physical copies from your local indie bookstore. Just send me a nickel in the mail and we’ll be cool.
Here’s the list:
• Playground by Richard Powers – Great for anyone on your list who is into literary books (though make sure they haven’t read it already). Also good for that AI obsessed person on your list.
• I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle – Have someone really into fantasy but don’t know what to get them? I’m betting they’ll love this book. Trust me.
• One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson – Let’s face it, this is for the dads on your list. A lot of stuff happened in America during the summer of 1927. Like, a crazy amount of stuff.
• Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky – Someone you know loves robots, and this is the book for them! Also great for general science fiction lovers in your life.
• The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) by Nita Prose – This book was everywhere a few years ago, and for good reason! I would say the mystery lover in your life would be a good fit for this book, but they’ve probably already read it. Maybe it is good for the casual mystery fan! Or the mystery curious.
I read stuff! Though I didn’t read as much as I had hoped I would last month.
Galway Girl (Jack Taylor #15) by Ken Bruen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Read on 11/26/24) – Some Jack Taylor books stand out from the crowd, and this is one of them. I wouldn’t recommend you start with this book since it is the 15th in the series, but something to look forward to (though, yes, bad things continue to happen to Jack).
Bullet Train (Assassins, #2) by Kōtarō Isaka ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ (Read on 11/26/24) – Speaking of bad things, what happens if you’re a hired killer who has nothing but bad luck on a train full of other hired killers? Nothing good, but lots of amusing things!
The Ghosts of Galway (Jack Taylor #13) by Ken Bruen ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ (Read on 11/20/24) – I read 3 Jack Taylor books this month and boy, do the bad things keep happening to him!
Playground by Richard Powers ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Read on 11/10/24) – If you were drafting a list of the greatest living American novelist Richard Powers would certainly be on the list and this book is a fine example of why. It ties together friendship, AI, money, and environmentalism to make a heartbreaking story.
Exodus: The Archimedes Engine (Archimedes Engine, #1) by Peter F. Hamilton ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ (Read on 10/30/24) – I love Peter F. Hamilton’s books but I wasn’t sure about this one since it is some sort of tie-in with a game. I shouldn’t have worried because it has all the hallmarks of classic Hamilton (including being ridiculously long!). If you’re in the mood for a long space opera, give it a try!
Every year I buy too many Star Trek ornaments because I’m a sucker (and Hallmark knows I’m an easy mark).
I have so many Star Trek ornaments that I usually have an entire little tree dedicated to my Star Trek collection (so they don’t overwhelm our main Christmas tree).
You may recall that we are planning to move to Portland, Oregon. We packed up a bunch of stuff months ago thinking that we’d be in Portland by Christmas (probably earlier). However, selling our apartment has been tougher than we thought it would be and so we’re in Philadelphia this Christmas.
Past Scott figured he might as well pack up all the Star Trek ornaments and put them in storage so they’d be ready for their first Portland Christmas. Which means, I don’t have my collection this Christmas.
Sad.
However, I do have this year’s batch of ornaments and they are on our main tree this year (and only tree). That’s fun!
And, as I mentioned on Instagram, this year’s Hallmark releases include my favorite Enterprise: the Enterprise-B.
I have, until recently, been doing a pretty good job eating healthily. Then, Halloween brought two large bags of candy to our living room. I don’t buy candy, but if there’s a seemingly endless supply, you better believe I’ll be eating too much of it (and I stand by my rankings).
I thought it would be smooth sailing until Thanksgiving, and then a certain former President turned into our President-Elect, and I sought refuge in candy.
Now, when I stop eating healthily, I go all the way, brothers and sisters.
That’s how I discovered the wonder of the cannoli crumb cake in the bakery section of ShopRite.
When I laid eyes upon it, I knew it had to be mine. I popped it into the cart and wished I could skip over the rest of the day so I could gorge myself.
And, lo, gorge, I did. Man, this thing is flipping good. It’s a nice piece of crumb cake with that thick crumb that you can hardly get your fork through. Then a layer of cannoli cream and a splorge of cream and chocolate chips on top.
This thing is tasty. I will admit that I’m not a sophisticated dessert person. I like my desserts sweet (I’m far too enlightened to use the “like I like my women” joke these days, so please feel free to provide your own) and this thing fits the bill.
Highly recommended if you find yourself in the Cherry Hill, NJ ShopRite.
I bought a Kindle Colorsoft (as I said I would), and you know what that means: I’m going to review it right now!
First off, I think it is important for any reviewer to share how they use a product so you can have a bit of context. Here’s what you need to know:
I’m a long-time Kindle user.
I almost exclusively read fiction.
I almost never read graphic novels (or comic books as I called them when I was growing up).
Given that knowledge, it may seem odd that I bothered to buy a Kindle Colorsoft, which is the first e-ink Kindle to sport a color display. This model represents the biggest change in the Kindle for a long time, so how could I resist?
Color me softly, with this screen.
The most obvious question is: how is the color?
Whoever came up with the name “Kindle Colorsoft” deserves a raise because the color really is soft. If you’re looking for pop-off-the-page colors, you can skip the Kindle Colorsoft (and all color e-ink devices for the moment).
However, I am surprised at how much I actually like having color on a Kindle. It is fun to see a full color cover displayed when the device is locked, and I thought that comics looked pretty good (I downloaded a few to see what it would look like).
The Colorsoft offers two “color style” settings: standard and vivid.
Tip: Tap the upper left and the lower right corner of your Kindle to take a screenshot.
I couldn’t really tell the difference between the two if I’m being honest, but I also have pretty poor to middling color vision, so your mileage may vary.
Here’s what a comic cover looks like with the brightness set all the way up:
Looks pretty good to me! And you can, of course, pinch to zoom in if you like. The resolution drops as you’re zooming and then snaps back to 150PPI:
The Kindle interface is now in color as well, which is nice, and you can even highlight text using four different colors (this is a screenshot, not a picture):
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the color on the Colorsoft. I wasn’t expecting “slap your face colors,” and the colors I got are pretty nice (I like that my face remains unslapped).
Reading on the darn thing
I got the Kindle Colorsoft at the start of the month, so you might wonder why it took me so long to write this little review. Well, I like to read an entire book on a Kindle before I share my thoughts, and the book that was next in my queue just happened to be 908 pages long (Exodus: The Archimedes Engine).
Having read those 900 pages on this Kindle I can say that it is a fantastic ereader. It is light, feels good in the hand, and is very fast at turning pages.
It doesn’t have page-turn buttons, but I don’t care. I mostly read with my Kindle resting on a table, so I’m moving my hand to turn the page even if there are buttons.
The construction is solid. No cheap feeling flex unlike on some other ereaders I’ve tried. And the soft plastic material it is made of just feels nice to hold.
The screen, as you might expect, is great. I should point out that many (all?) Colorsofts have an issue with a slight yellow bar at bottom of the screen. Mine probably has it, but I can’t really tell. You might be more sensitive than I am, so you should be aware.
I still find having the power button on the bottom of the device to be annoying, but such is life. USB-C is great, and having the option of wireless charging is nice (I used my iPhone charger to just see if it would work, and it did!).
Writing on the wall for the Scribe?
Before I got the Colorsoft my daily Kindle was a Kindle Scribe, which I love. Amazon did update the Scribe, but there were minor revisions, and it didn’t make sense for me to upgrade.
But has the Colorsoft replaced my Scribe as my go to Kindle?
No, and this picture sums it up:
The Scribe’s superpower is that it is flippin’ huge. The screen on the Scribe is larger than the entire Colorsoft device. I can’t go back to a smaller Kindle at this point, but I know I am not representative of the ereader public in this regard.
The Scribe is large and can be a little awkward to hold. It was very nice to pop the Colorsoft into my back pocket when I was walking about.
Should you buy one?
You should probably just get the updated Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition if you’re in the market for a Kindle and have reading habits like me. The Signature Edition is basically the Colorsoft without the color, and the color in the Colorsoft is nice, but it’s not worth the extra money at this point.
It is worth the extra money, however, if you read lots of graphic novels or you love color-coded highlighting.
The Colorsoft is a great product and represents a big change for the Kindle lineup.
I will say that I’m ordering a color Kindle Scribe when they become available, and I wasn’t expecting to like the color that much. I’ll miss it when I read my next book on the Scribe, but then I’ll gaze lovingly at the Scribe’s HUGE screen, and thoughts of soft colors will be banished.
Bonus Change
One change in all the 2024 Kindles that Mac users should be aware of is that you can no longer just plug your Kindle into your Mac and have it show up as an external drive. You need to download the latest version of the Send to Kindle Mac app, which includes a USB File Manager app. Once you have that installed you can sideload books and get screenshots off your Kindle as always. The old way still works for you Windows users out there.
I’m hopeful that the arc of history is still going in the right direction but worried that most people in the country’s “right direction” is very different than mine.
Recent vintage iPhones have the “Dynamic Island,” one of the best examples of taking lemons and making lemonade in mobile tech. Apple wanted to crow about the amount of screen on their phones, but also needed a place to cram a bunch of sensors. Most phone makers solve this by having this black blob at the top of the screen, which doesn’t do much.
Apple did the same thing, but also thought, “why not put some notifications in there as well?” And the Dynamic Island was born!
The Washington Post (I have access via my employer, so please don’t tell me to cancel my subscription or take this as support for their recent boneheaded move) said, “Gee, that’s a nice Dynamic Island you have there. Let’s make it a stressful hellscape by using it to post live Electoral College tallies in there so you can see them no matter what you’re doing on your phone to distract you from the possibility of another Trump administration.”
Neato.
I do like the illustrations of the candidates they include:
I set a reading goal of 60 books this year, and I’m at 75. I’m thinking I might be able to hit 100 by the end of the year (though I just started reading a 900 page book, so probably not).
Last month I read 9 books and I liked all of them!
Echo of Worlds (Pandominion, #2) by M.R. Carey ★★★★★ (Read on October 30, 2024) – I didn’t even realize this was out until Jason mentioned it somewhere. I then devoured it as quickly as possible (and I also smooshed a banana onto it by accident. Sorry, Free Library of Philadelphia!). So good, and the whole series is only two books, which is unusual in this day and age. Read them both if you haven’t!
Purgatory (Jack Taylor, #10) by Ken Bruen ★★★★☆ (Read on October 27, 2024) – A tech billionaire comes to Galway, and you know that’s not good news for Jack! I can’t stop reading these.
Wordhunter by Stella Sands ★★★☆☆ (Read on October 26, 2024) – Did you know that they no longer teach kids how to diagram sentences? I was shocked. However, the protagonist in this book is a sentence-diagraming fool! The book is a pretty standard modern cop/not-a-cop story with the twist of the sentence diagramming.
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei ★★★★☆ (Read on October 24, 2024) – This is a quick, fun read about a heist set in the backdrop of space opera.
Those Beyond the Wall (The Space Between Worlds, #2) by Micaiah Johnson ★★★★☆ (Read on October 20, 2024) – Another sequel I didn’t know about! I wasn’t feeling the first 1/3 of this, but based on the strength of the first book I kept reading and I’m glad I did.
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton ★★★☆☆ (Read on October 11, 2024) – Turton sure likes high-concept idea! This one mostly worked, but it wasn’t as mindblowing as I think he wanted it to be.
Green Hell (Jack Taylor, #11) by Ken Bruen ★★★★☆ (Read on October 07, 2024) – I told you I couldn’t stop reading these. This book introduces a character who also appears in the next book (and includes a cameo by the author). You think bad things happen to Jack Taylor and then you read the next book on this list and you think back to the fun times he had in this book.
The Emerald Lie (Jack Taylor, #12) by Ken Bruen ★★★★☆ (Read on October 06, 2024) – Life is tough for Jack, and in this book, it just keeps getting tougher. But these things are like candy to me!
This week, Apple announced lots of new Mac stuff, which is always fun. The new Mac minis look great, and are just cute as a button. I mean, look at that darn thing! Don’t you just want to pinch it?
Lots of Apple nerds are talking about the new Macs, as you might expect, but the Mac mini’s power button, in particular, has been a topic of conversation, which is slightly unusual. Almost as unusual as the placement of the button itself: on the bottom of the device.
This is the bottom of the new Mac mini, and that’s the power button.
Let me preface the rest of this post with a few things:
I haven’t used one of the new Mac minis, but I’m sure they are fantastic Macs (it is the Mac I’d probably buy for myself if I were in the market for a new Mac).
In the grand scheme of things, the placement of this power button isn’t a big deal.
Most people don’t turn off their Macs that often, so who cares?
Furthermore, the Mac mini itself isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
With that out of the way, I hope I’ve saved you the effort of sharing those thoughts in response to this post and me the effort of not caring.
Comcastic
Most Apple products do not make me think about my time as an employee of Comcast (they’re a local company that provides telecommunication services to folks and owns NBC Universal), which is probably a good thing.
One of the most surprising things that I encountered while working at Comcast was how happy the people working at Comcast are to be working at Comcast. I, too, was generally happy to be a Comcaster for most of my tenure.
I mention this because it explains an odd thing that happened in a meeting I found myself in during my Comcast years. I was working in the Corporate Communications group (PR), and a PR person said, with a straight face, “I don’t get why people don’t like Comcast.”
I was certain they were making a joke and chuckled. Reader, they were not joking.
Now, you and I know there are many reasons that might lead one to not be the biggest fan of Comcast. Several popped into my mind during that meeting, but I felt it really boiled down to the kinds of interactions people most often had with Comcast.
Most interactions with Comcast, at that time, were some variation of:
Using the Guide to find something to watch. This was the time of the really bad blue-and-white guide that felt like a DOS prompt. It wasn’t pleasant.
A monthly bill that was seemingly ever-increasing and included any strange “fees.”
A phone call or tech visit because something wasn’t working.
None of those are what I would call “positive interactions.” Sure, when the service worked, that was a positive, but you don’t thank your cable company when you can successfully watch Bravo. You pay for it to work.
All of these little unpleasant interactions accumulate and result in people not feeling all warm and fuzzy about their cable company.
Sanding down the edges
That’s what bothers me about the placement of the power button on the Mac mini. Apple does many things well, and its greatest advancements grind down the sharp edges of annoyance and make things “just work.”
Chances are you’ll only reach for the power button on your Mac mini when something it isn’t “just working,” but stuff has gone really wrong. You’re already annoyed at your computer, and now you have to flip it over like a turtle to remember which dang corner has the power button so you can hold it down for 10 seconds just so you get attempt to pick up where you were before you were so rudely interrupted.
Trust me, that fumbling only adds to the annoyance one feels towards their Mac at that moment.
How do I know this since I’ve not used one of these new machines? Because that’s what happens when I need to use the power button on my Mac Studio (a computer I love).
The Mac Studio’s power button is on the back of the computer. No need to poke its bottom, and yet someone at Apple thought it would make sense to have the power button be flush and feel like the rest of the back of the computer.
No matter how often I graze my Mac Studio’s backside with my finger I can never feel the dang button. I always end up doing that thing where you press your head against the wall in the hopes of getting just the right angle so you can see behind an object and catch a glimpse of the button. This works about 50% of the time.
Unslightly face acne
Some may suggest that the Mac mini is just so dang tiny that they couldn’t put the button anywhere other than where it is. This, of course, ignores that fact that Apple employs a rather impressive number of very smart people who create things like the Vision Pro. The Vision Pro is another Apple product no one seems to want, but everyone agrees that it is a technological marvel. I’m sure, if they really wanted to, the people who created glasses that allow you to open a spreadsheet on the moon could have put the power button somewhere else on the Mac mini. They decided that the Mac mini looks cooler without that button in a place where you can see it.
I’ll tell you where I would have put that button: on the front. That sound you just heard was an industrial designer hovering in a white void in Cupertino fainting. Yes, I know, that’s crazy! A button in a place where it is easy to see and use? Madness.
The Mac Pro (which no one buys but is still a product in Apple’s lineup) has its power button on top. That seems to be a much better place for it, so I know Apple is capable of such things.
Placing the power button on the bottom of the computer seems emblematic of that other side of Apple: form over function. It is an informed decision to make turning on and off the computer slightly worse because someone thinks a power button is unsightly. Certainly, Apple has more experience making computers than I do, but these tiny bits of annoyance erode goodwill over time.
Power Buttons I have known
I thought it would be fun to end this post talking about the best Mac power button I’ve ever experienced and the worst. Let’s start off with the good stuff:
This was a bad Mac. The coating flaked off and the case on my ended up slightly warped (also, I had to install an AirPort card in mine so I could use WiFi, as you do. I purchased the laptop and the card at the same time. When I got them both in my hot little hands I went about installing the card. The installation required taking a cable from the laptop and plugging into one end of the card. The cable had a little give and it just about fit, so I pulled it a little harder and ripped the cable right off the machine. That PowerBook never knew the joys of wireless networking).
The rest of this computer was crap, but the power button on this thing was a work of art. I often idly stroked it as I read something on the laptop screen. It was shiny and finely etched, and the action when you pressed it was pretty satisfying.
Did the G4 Cube even really have a power button? It had a glowy touch area on the top of the machine that serviced as the power button. It looked super cool, and would pulsate when your Cube was asleep. It would also put your Mac to sleep whenever anything got vaguely near it. Thumbs down (though the Cube is a work of art and I have mine on display because that’s the kind of nerd I am).
