By John Moltz
July 14, 2023 5:00 PM PT
This Week in Apple: Driving Mr. Brimley
This week we wish a happy birthday to the App Store, dip a toe in the the warm waters of the beta pool, and try to remember what those shows our friends have recommended but we never go around to watching.
Wanna feel old?
Why? That kind of self-loathing isn’t healthy. But, if you still do, just know that the App Store has now crossed the “Wilford Brimley gets his learner’s permit” line.
That is so a thing.
Yes, this week marked the 15th anniversary of the release of the App Store, an event that Apple Fellow Phil Schiller marked by using his meaty paws to post on Mastodon:
Happy 15th Birthday App Store 🎂
And now, much like the groundhog of the same name, he will disappear from Mastodon for another year. Schiller’s seemingly reserved tone might be more appropriate for Mastodon’s nerdier population, which may bend a little more to the developer side of things than that of the well-heeled middle man. (Schiller is reportedly more active on Threads, which is the perfect place for well-heeled middle men.)
For its part, Apple celebrated the App Store’s birthday by… adding more ads to it! Yayyy.
“App Store turns on newly announced ad slot for Today tab”
You really know how to throw a birthday bash, Apple.
Take a bet on a beta
Public betas of Apple’s upcoming operating system versions were released this week, allowing those who like to live dangerously to take a walk on the wild side, computationally speaking. So, if you’re the type to very carefully use a knife to open boxes that clearly warn “DO NOT OPEN WITH SHARP EDGE”, these betas may be for you.
Apple’s enhanced password features seem to be of particular note in these updates, but if you’re more of an awkward stickers person, don’t worry, they’ve also got you covered.
Most reports seem to indicate these public betas are perhaps a little more reliable than many previous iterations, but remember that things don’t always go according to plan. Earlier in the week, Apple had released—in retrospect—a public beta of a rapid security response but had to pull it after it was found to break certain sites in Safari, sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Zoom. It was unclear how this was not considered a feature rather than a bug, but the patch was re-released later without the error.
Strike that
Hope you have some series left in the queue to watch because the Screen Actors Guild has now joined the Writers Guild on strike.
Here’s a quick primer if you’re wondering what the unions are asking for:
Among SAG-AFTRA’s demands are increased minimum pay rates, increased streaming residuals (neither of which have kept up with inflation)…
Let’s just suggest that this is not an effect studio CEOs like Disney’s Bob Iger have had to worry about. Iger—a man who makes $25 million a year, has a net worth in the hundreds of millions, and just extended his second tenure in the top job through 2026—says that the guilds’ demands are “just not realistic”.
What are some of their other unrealistic demands? Well, a lot of it has to do with AI. The writers don’t want to be replaced by large language models that will likely get their story ideas from online code examples and racist Reddit threads. Whatever, “artistes”!
And the actors? They are asking for a:
Groundbreaking AI proposal which protects performers’ digital likenesses, including a requirement for performer’s consent for the creation and use of digital replicas or for digital alterations of a performance.
These are the requests that Iger says are “very disturbing”. Requests the studios would rather see actors lose their apartments over. If you get a part in a Disney production, Bob Iger thinks the company should be able to make you dance like an electronic monkey until the heat death of the universe. For free.
Quick question: has Iger watched any of the movies his company puts out that feature cartoon villains? Just curious.
[John Moltz is a Six Colors contributor. You can find him on Mastodon at Mastodon.social/@moltz and he sells items with references you might get on Cotton Bureau.]