Casey Liss

So for topics, we have some somewhat breaking news from a little less than a week ago. Apple has come out of left field and has bought Pixelmator, which I don't think I certainly didn't see coming. I don't know that anyone really saw it coming, but there's a release on Pixelmator's website saying,

In part, it reads, Pixelmator has signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval. There will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time. Stay tuned for exciting updates to come.

Yeah, I mean, I think the obvious answer is to suck some of particularly Photomator into photos, but I don't know. I don't know what this is about. And I don't think I've used Photomator, but a couple of times. I definitely do use Pixelmator as my image editor of choice, but that being said, I almost never, ever, ever edit images, so...

I don't have a whole lot of experience with their stuff, but I will say that the experiences I've had is that they are, as you said, Mac-assed Mac apps. Like they really, really are Mac apps. And I could imagine it as an Aqua hire, but I don't know. It seems like a whole lot of money to pay and a whole lot of effort just to get people to work on Macs.

Meanwhile, Apple is still throwing money out the window because they apparently have put $1.1 billion into GlobalStar's satellite network. And that includes an ownership stake. So reading from Six Colors, Apple satellite partner GlobalStar has disclosed changes to its deal with Apple, including a new influx of $1.1 billion from Apple tied to capital improvements and $400 million in equity.

which gives Apple a 20% stake in the company. This is quite a bit of money, but it's not necessarily a huge surprise. There aren't that many companies around with these kinds of capabilities, and by locking down investment, GlobalStar, Apple insures bandwidth and access. This is the company that they use for the satellite texting, satellite emergency stuff, etc.

Yeah, I mean, this makes a lot of sense to me, and I don't blame Apple for doing it, and certainly the idea of this satellite features remaining free is appealing, and it seems like it would be crummy.

Not, you know, Apple's not above it, but it seems like it would be crummy to be like, well, we're perfectly happy to save your life if you're out, you know, boondocking or, you know, hiking in the middle of nowhere as long as you pay for Apple One. Like, that's not That's just not a great look.

There's been some new rumors and rumors about changed plans for future Vision Pro hardware. Apparently, Apple hasn't totally given up on it. And according to Ming-Chi Kuo, production of a cheaper Vision Pro has been delayed beyond 2027. This means Apple's only new head-mounted display device in 2025 will be the Vision Pro with an upgraded M5 processor.

Additionally, Mark Gurman writes, I also continue to hear that Apple is seriously considering a device that offloads the computing components to an iPhone and serves as an accessory for watching movies. That's something that would be roughly akin to the glasses offered by companies like Xreal.

Well, right.

Yeah, I don't know how I feel about this. I don't think that Apple wants to admit defeat on the Vision Pro. I don't think they want to go that much simpler because when they simplified the Apple Watch, the hardware was largely the same and actually got more complicated. It was the software that they focused. And

I agree that using the Vision Pro as a computing platform, in my personal experience, is trash when you don't have a TV, when you don't have a keyboard connected. And it's not stellar when you don't have a keyboard connected. And for me, the only time the... The only time the Vision Pro was really great as a computing platform was when it was simply a monitor for my Mac.

And I have not yet tried this new version of the display where you can get wide and I think ultra-wide versions of your Mac's display. It sounds incredible, but it requires a beta of macOS, which I am not going to be messing with, as well as the beta of VisionOS, which I would mess with. But...

The only time that the Vision Pro has really been a productivity tool for me was as a monitor for my Mac. And a lot of that is probably because I'm an old man who just prefers using the Mac. But I think a lot of that is because it's an imprecise tool. It's just not as precise as a Mac is or an iPad or an iPhone.

And so embracing what it is or what it's best at, which is to say a really, really nice screen that you happen to be able to strap to your head, I get that, but I just, I don't know.

I find it hard to believe that Apple would completely and totally get rid of basically all the smarts and just have a dumb display, which makes me wonder, okay, well, what's the Apple way of doing a display such that it's smart, but not quite as smart as a Vision Pro? And I don't have an answer for that. That's why Apple is Apple, and I'm just talking about it.

All right. Let me start by reminding everyone, this is going to be group therapy for the three of us. If you're not interested, that's fine. If you disagree with the way we feel about this election, that's fine, I guess. You don't need to tell us about it. That's fine. You can skip this chapter. This is why chapters exist. just move right along.

But I think the three of us need this for the three of us. And hopefully maybe it'll be a little cathartic to at least one of you. Um, last night I was watching the coverage and as early as like eight, eight 30 Eastern, I was like, this doesn't feel good. And by nine 30 Eastern, which is when the first real big batch of polling started coming in properly, um,

Aaron and I looked at each other and we were like, I don't think I want to stay up for this. Like I was planning to stay up for me because we typically go up on a school night at like 10-ish at the latest. And I was thinking I was going to stay up till like 11 or maybe midnight and just ride this baby out and watch it come in. And I was mostly excited for it, to be honest with you.