Did Apple Hoard M1 Max processors for use in the new Mac Studio?

Mac Studio
Mac Studio

Apple announced the new Mac Studio less than two weeks ago, at their Peek Porfance event on March 8th, 2022. The new Mac is powered by either an M1 Max or the new M1 Ultra processor — which is essentially two M1 Max processors stuck together. Preorders began the same day and people have already started receiving their new Macs.

Now, here’s the thing. I ordered a new 16″ MacBook Pro with an M1 Max back on February 12th to replace my aging 2016 15″ MacBook Pro. I’m still waiting. The estimated delivery date is April 13-20, two months+ after I ordered it. My wife ordered her new MacBook Pro on the same day (replacing a 2012 model) and she received hers a couple of weeks ago. The big difference — hers is an M1 Pro (not Max).

So, this has left me wondering, did Apple hoard M1 Max processors so that they would have them available for the forthcoming announcement of the new Studio?

OK, they totally got me. The Invisible Camera is a fake!

A couple weeks ago I posted a video about an amazing new project called, The Invisible Camera. As it turns out, the thing was a little too amazing. It’s a fake, and they totally got me. I went as far as signing up to be a field tester.

I was pretty disappointed, and felt a little foolish, when I read the news. But, I don’t have any ill-will against those guys (Chris Marquart & Allan Attridge). It was a good story, and they told it well. After reading their explanation as to why they did it (below), I would say the project was a success. I did indeed have a sense of wonder when I first watched the original video. Good job guys!

From the site:

It’s not polarized. It doesn’t amplify anything. It’s not bulletproof.

Sorry, it’s not even a camera.

But we did it for a reason.

We all still have vivid memories of those first times. The first time we held a Walkman, the first time we saw the Space Shuttle launch, the first time… In this day and age with daily new miracles on YouTube, it has become really hard to find a new sense of wonder and amazement and those do-you-remember-the-first-time moments seem to become less and less.

So instead of building a camera for a few lucky ones, we decided to create a story for all of you.

We did not do this to mock you. The Invisible Camera is our humble attempt to bring back wonder and amazement.

If you were one of the skeptics who unmasked the Invisible Camera right away, we applaud you for your razor-sharp smarts.

If you realized what we did and participated on your blog or with your tweets, we deeply bow to you and profoundly thank you for helping us tell the story.

If you believed in our story, congratulations on being an openminded individual who still can dream and be amazed. That is a wonderful ability to possess.

And there is no reason to feel bad, as you are in great company.

We received unexpected applications. From teachers. Pro photographers. SFX Specialists. Even scientists. We were a bit surprised. But rest assured, we won’t name names.

As much as we ourselves wish it were, the Invisible Camera is not real.

But we are. And our story is… as much as you want it to be.

We thank you for coming along on the ride.

PressPausePlay: A Film About Hope, Fear and Digital Culture

About PressPausePlay:

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent of people in an unprecedented way, unleashing unlimited creative opportunites.

But does democratized culture mean better art, film, music and literature or is true talent instead flooded and drowned in the vast digital ocean of mass culture? Is it cultural democracy or mediocrity?

This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.

This looks really cool, I would love to see it. Unfortunately the screening dates and locations are a little limited right now, and there’s been no announcement of the DVD release date. You can, however, save it in your Netflix Queue. It should be automatically added when it becomes available.

Official Site | YouTube Link | Via Quality Peoples

Is Adobe rethinking how Flash should be used?

Adobe Home Page

Ever since Adobe acquired Macromedia, just about every page at adobe.com has been thick with Flash content. Their home page, especially, always had lots of motion and giant interactive flash banners. Recently, they’ve been doing some redesign work on the site, and I was extremely surprised today when I noticed that the entire site is almost completely void of any Flash content. Flash is used very sparingly (and tastefully). And, the home page currently has no Flash at all.

Given Adobe’s past use of Flash, and their very public feud with Apple regarding the quality, stability, and usefulness of Flash, I found this new, subtle use to be very uncharacteristic of them.

Now, I’m not complaining at all. I personally think the site is better without all that overuse of Flash. But, it does make me wonder if Adobe is rethinking exactly how and when Flash should be used.

I was actually kind of surprised when Adobe starting adding all that Flash to their site in the first place. Many years ago Macromedia tried to convert their entire site to Flash, and it was a dismal failure. One which they spent months undoing. I would have thought that Adobe would learn from Macromedia’s mistake.

So, is Adobe rethinking it’s position on how Flash should be used, or have the Flash designers simply not caught up with the web designers, and all that Flash will be back eventually? Only time will tell.

iPad 2: Thinner. Lighter. Faster.

iPad 2: Thinner. Lighter. Faster.

iPad 2: Thinner. Lighter. Faster.

Despite being on sick leave, Steve Jobs took center stage today to unveil the all new, iPad 2. The new model has been totally redesigned, and will be available March 11th.

  • Available in black or white. Unlike the (mythical) white iPhone, the white iPad will be available from day 1.
  • New 1GHz dual-core A5 chip. Apple says it will have the same 10 hour battery life, but have double the overall performance, and 9-times the graphics performance as the original iPad.
  • 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter.
  • Front and rear-facing cameras.
  • HDMI-out through a $39 adaptor.
  • Same price and storage-capacity options as the original iPad
  • Same 9.7 inch, 1024×768 display

Apple also announced a nifty new Smart Cover, and versions of Garage Band and iMove for the iPad. There’s a couple of great videos on Apple’s iPad page that really give a sense of just how cool the iPad 2 and Smart Covers really are.

I would be a liar if I said I didn’t totally want this! But, I already have the original iPad (and I love it), and I just can’t justify the upgrade right now. I can’t say I’ll be able to resist upgrading until iPad 3, but I probably won’t be running out anytime too soon.

Request Files from Non-Tech-Savvy Clients with Dropbox and AirDropper

AirDropper

Dropbox is an awesome web-based service for syncing and sharing files, but despite how good it is, I’ve never really found a way to get it into my workflow.

I’m an independent freelance designer / developer, and I only use one computer, so I don’t need the ability to sync files across multiple machines. I also have my own server, so sharing files with others is very easy for me. But, the one thing that does often come up is the need to collect (large) files from clients who are not necessarily too tech-savvy. That’s where AirDropper is going to be very useful.

AirDropper is separate web-service that allows you to use your Dropbox account to collect files from others, who don’t have an account with either service.

Basically, you link your AirDropper account to your Dropbox account, and then simply generate a file-request through the AirDropper website. An email is sent to your recipient with a link to an upload form. They upload files, which are uploaded into your Dropbox account, and sync back down to your local machine. It’s extremely simple and straightforward.

It should be noted that the upload form is single-use, meaning once the person you sent a request to uploads some files, the form can’t be used again. This is actually an important feature. Since the files being uploaded are being synced (downloaded) to your local computer, you wouldn’t want that form to become public, or used some time in the future when you weren’t expecting to receive files. If you need more files from the same person, simply send a new request.

There are, of course, no shortage of file sharing services out there on the internet. But, it seems like most of them either require your client to sign up for an account, or the cost is a bit too high. In contrast, both Dropbox and AirDropper have free accounts available, and don’t require your client to do anything.

AirDropper is currently in beta, so we’ll see what final pricing ends up being. For now, this is the cheapest, and most convenient way I’ve found to collect files from others.

It should go without saying that you don’t have to be a freelancer to use these services. Anyone can use them to request files from anyone else.

Thanks to The Graphic Mac for the tip!

UPDATE: I just noticed that Dropbox has a referral program. If you sign up for an account using my link, we’ll both get an extra 250MB of space added to our account for free. Yay!

Tumblr Feeds Still Not Updating

I subscribe to several hundred RSS feeds. Until yesterday I didn’t realize just how many of those feeds are from Tumblr blogs.

On December 5th, Tumblr had some “routine maintenance” go horrible wrong, resulting in countless blogs going offline.

Yesterday I read that the blogs themselves were back online, but I’m noticing today that none of my (Tumblr) feeds are updating. It appears as though their feed system is still down.

I did a quick search and didn’t find too many people talking about this, so this post is just to reassure others performing similar searches that you’re not crazy… Tumblr feeds are indeed broken. Hopefully they’ll be back soon, as I have no desire to start visiting hundreds of sites to get their latest posts.

[ UPDATE 12/08 – 9:45pm ]
Four days after the incident, some (not all) of my Tumblr feeds have started working again. In the real world four days isn’t a lot of time, but in the world of web services, it’s an eternity. Lets see how long it takes before everything is working properly again.