WEEKLY WHEATIES #2346
Apple Convert, OpenAI Shakeup, Famous Pictures
In this newsletter:
Post: Confessions of an Apple Convert: Embracing the Blue Bubble
ICYMI: Change of Leadership at OpenAI
POTW: The Stories Behind 8 Famous Photos
Confessions of an Apple Convert: Embracing the Blue Bubble
Two weeks ago, Nothing Phone announced their new phone will offer a version of iMessage in their Nothing Chat app. Essentially, this is a themed version of Sunbird - which is a software similar to one I’ve used for a while now - Beeper. While all of these options provide Android and PC users with the ability to have a Blue Bubble, they still don’t offer quite all the features iMessage does. These services may also have privacy issues, as some may use your Apple account to log in to a virtual Mac on a server farm outside the US. Just last week, Sunbird (and the Nothing Chat app) were both removed from the Google Play Store to investigate security concerns.
Then, last week, Apple announced RCS will be coming to the iPhone in 2024. RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is the new standard across most mobile providers taking the place of traditional SMS and MMS text messaging. On an iPhone, if someone is messaging with a non-iPhone (or an iPhone not using iMessage), the texts are green indicating they are using SMS and/or MMS. If messaging another iPhone and using iMessage, the texts are blue. iMessage offers a ton of features not offered through RCS, much less SMS or MMS. One indication is the degrading quality of pictures or videos when sent over MMS. There are also security concerns of SMS.
Enter the Blue Bubble and Green Bubble debate. Users on iPhones typically dread texting with green bubbles as you can’t guarantee the message has been received. The quality of MMS is always an issue as mentioned, but in some cases, multimedia may not even go through allowing either user to know something was even sent. If you frequently message someone on an iPhone or Android, opposite of what phone you have, it’s almost guaranteed one of you has sent the other a message that was never delivered. This has been an issue for years, and the complaints you’ve heard are not in vain. It’s also a major issue in regard to bullying in schools. According to a survey by Piper Sandler, 87% of teens own an iPhone. Whether you agree or not, the issues are real.
With an iPhone supporting RCS, it will not stop a non-iPhone from being “Green” (at least from early reports), but it will absolutely help with message delivery, group texts, and more. iPhones and Androids will be able to send high quality media, see bubbles while someone is typing (if turned on), and have read receipts.
Regardless, there will still be two sides to this debate whether we want there to be or not. Some will want to stick with an Android for arguably better cameras, more speed, more space (including removable storage), longer batteries, and more. Some will want to stick with an iPhone, join the Blue Bubble revolution, and have other quirks. Either way, there are alternatives, and the phone is simply a tool. On the House Dads Podcast, in the 7 Things Your Realtor Wants You to Know episode, number 6 is to simply “Use an iPhone!” It’s all in fun, but this shows the pain comes over to the business side of things if using a mobile phone for texting with customers, clients, or co-workers.
Now, I didn’t originally switch to Apple devices 3 years ago due to the Blue Bubble controversy, but I will admit - it’s nice. Now that I’ve been converted to what some call the dark side, I will tuck my tail and agree with what I’ve heard from many others over the years. Being all in with Apple is nice. Everything plays well together, and most issues are user-initiated. Very seldom does the software or hardware cause an issue that a simple restart can’t fix. And when I say I’m all in, I have mostly Apple products now. The major products that matter (for the purposes of this) include: my computer, phone, and TV.
There are a few things I’d like to talk about that are not normally considered when looking at Apple products. Especially when talking about things that “just work.” And I put just work in quotes, but as easily as I write it, these features do essentially just that, they - just work. If one of the features doesn’t, it’s typically a setting or a Wi-Fi issue. They include: AirPrint, AirPlay, AirDrop, FindMy, and FaceTime.
As much as I hate printers, being able to print wirelessly from my phone or computer to any printer that supports the feature is nice. Yes, I said any printer. If I come to your house, join your Wi-Fi, and you have a printer that supports AirPrint, I can print to it just as easily as sending a text.
AirPlay allows you to share what’s on your Apple phone, tablet, or computer to your Apple TV or other devices that support the feature. This allows you to “mirror” anything on your devices’ screen to the TV. It can also be used as a second monitor if need be. The use cases are essentially unlimited. And the wireless aspect is the icing on the cake.
Along with the text messaging debate, AirDrop lets you wirelessly send any file from one Apple device to another, assuming they are both on the same Wi-Fi and have Bluetooth enabled. This is a quick and secure way to share files with other devices you own, or if it is a larger file that is not easily shared over email or other messaging services. It also functions much quicker than shared drive storage platforms, because those require an upload, and then a download. AirDrop does both at the same time, and in many cases much quicker, too.
FindMy allows anyone part of an Apple Family to share their location. This also works with any Apple hardware that has location features with Bluetooth or internet connectivity, not necessarily only phones. For example, the Apple Watch, iPads, AirPods, and AirTags.
Lastly, FaceTime is an easy way to video chat with others. Any contact on your device that has another Apple product with a camera and speakers can benefit from this. This obviously includes phones, but also works with tablets, computers, and even the AppleTV now.
All that said, I realize many of these same features can be offered on Android devices, too. The main problem is there are multiple manufactures trying to do their own thing. Google tried to create their own version of a universal printer with Google Cloud Print, but it was shut down. Samsung has their version of just about every default app. Life360 acquired Tile trackers to offer a similar network to FindMy. I’m sure we’re all aware of Zoom and other video chat apps that became popular during the pandemic.
All of these apps have the same issue - it’s another app to download. The old saying is still true, “There’s an app for that!” You can do anything you want with an Android (or non-Apple products), and it will all work great. The problem is having to mix-match apps and items, and then converting your close friends and family members to use the same apps. Because when you want to talk to them, share a file, see someone’s location, or anything else, you have to download the app they are using.
With Apple, it just works. And sometimes that’s enough.
ICYMI: Change of Leadership at OpenAI
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and DALL-E, has gone through a change in leadership over the last week. On the afternoon of Friday, November 17th, they announced a change in members of the board, along with a firing of their CEO Sam Altman. It was noted the firing was “not…in response to malfeasance or anything related to financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices.”
During the weekend and days to follow, hundreds of employees across OpenAI either quit or threatened to quit if the board did not rehire Altman. Many of them planned to move to Microsoft, where Altman agreed to lead a new advanced AI research team. With Microsoft having a major stake in OpenAI, this shows they may have not fully agreed with the decision of the board and wanted to make sure some of the tacit knowledge of the company was accounted for in some way.
With further discussion back and forth about bringing Altman and others back to OpenAI, it appears there were talks about merging with Anthropic - the company who also has a major investment from Google. As the value of OpenAI is up for debate, it appears other major players involved decided to bring Altman back as the CEO with new board members in tow. OpenAI functions a bit differently than other Silicon Valley tech companies. They are founded as a non-profit, which gives the board a bit of power. However, arguably their decision to fire Altman seems to have done more harm than good, and the power from a minority shareholder like Microsoft may have more sway than originally thought.
Follow the full timeline at TechCrunch.com.
POTW: The Stories Behind 8 Famous Photos
There are tons of famous pictures floating around the web that come up from time to time. Mental Floss gave an insight into the background on how eight of these photos came to be. This includes a picture of Elvis and Nixon, the “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper,” and Einstein’s Iconic Tongue-Out. If famous tongues are your thing, consider checking out the story behind the designer of The Most Famous Tongue in History.
