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In 720p resolution, unfortunately. Sorry about that, but youâve got to take what YouTube gives you, I guess. ↩︎
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Along with the great Jon Batiste. However, his work doesnât appear in the opening sequence. ↩︎
- Thereâs no more ungainly bulge on the back of the machine.
- It has a spacious 24â 4.5K Retina display.
- It comes in six vibrant and joyful colors, plus a silver option.
- Thereâs finally a 1080p FaceTime camera!
- The M1 processor makes this thing move at screaming speeds.
- The audio situation is phenomenalâits six-speaker system makes for immersive music and video watching. Heck yeah it can do Spatial Audio!
- 5G!!! 5G 5G 5G 5G 5G…
- A Thunderbolt/USB 4 port.
- An Ultra Wide front camera with a new Center Stage feature. Have the camera automatically follow you around when youâre on a FaceTime call.
- A new Magic Keyboard color: white!
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Seriously, Apple. We need some pro apps on this thing, and not just whatâs provided by developers who are picking up your considerable slack. ↩︎
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Although, what is there to possibly be embarrassed about? Theyâre absolutely wonderful performers. ↩︎
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Iâm going to put aside the baffling issue of a telecommunications company deciding to purchase a visual media company for now. Nonetheless, itâs a strange pairing. Should the quality of the content available on HBO Max begin to degrade, surely this business arrangement will be the culprit. ↩︎
Title Card: Soul (2020)
Soul was written by Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers, and was directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers. It was released in 2020. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios. The title designer was Laura Meyer.
A down on his luck jazz musician named Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx, gets the opportunity of his lifetime. Heâs invited to play in The Dorothea Williams Quartet, and would have been able to if he didnât immediately fall into an open sewer and die. But he doesnât want to miss out on his big break, so he escapes the âGreat Beyondâ and falls again into the âGreat Before.â Joe is mistaken for a mentor to the new souls in the Great Before and assigned to the incredulous Soul 22, voiced by Tina Fey. At that time, he has no luck in helping them find a passion. With the help of the eccentric soul, Moonwind, voiced by Graham Norton, Joe locates his body back on Earth, but accidentally takes 22 along with him. Instead of returning to his body, 22 lands in it, and Joe inhabits the body of a nearby cat. The pair need to find a way to get Joe back into his body before his big show that night.
Gosh, thereâs a lot that goes on in this film. Itâs hard to keep the synopsis condensed. Suffice it to say, this film has a lot of depth. It is 100% worth seeing. I was enamored of Onward, Pixarâs other 2020 film, so I was hopeful that Soul would be able to match the bar that the other one set. After watching it, I can say that Soul is undeniably the better film, and I loved Onward. I may not be a jazz musician, but I think anyone, especially those with an artistic inclination, can relate to both Joe and 22. Weâre all looking for our purpose in life. Weâre all looking for our calling. The lucky ones are able to find it. Those who can help others find their calling are truly special people. My goal in life is to find the satisfaction that Joe achieves at the end of this film. Do I need to be rich and famous? No. I mean, I wouldnât mind being rich, but thatâs not whatâs going to make me happy. Feeling content with my life, and being able to inspire others, is a journey worth going on.
Iâd love for you to take a look at the opening sequence.1 The combination of music from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross2 with the stark, black and white animation gives it a chilling, lonely, awe-inspiring feel that completely took me aback. Witnessing this instantly sold me on the movie. I had to rewatch this bit several times. I was thrilled to be seeing a true piece of art. đ
There are few things that hurt worse than waiting like a foolish fool to purchase a domain name only to have it bought out from under you.
Guess Iâve got to go with âdomainname.biz.co.paris.comâ.
Spring Loaded
On April 20, Apple hosted their âSpring Loadedâ event, in which they debuted several new devices and services. Some offered peculiar iterations, while others are helping to lay the considerable track ahead of Appleâs future.
Much like every other event theyâve held in the past year and change, this one was pre-recorded. It had an extreme amount of polish, an efficiency to their information (its running time came in at about an hour), and some humor and fun were sprinkled throughout. I love the style of these events, and I hope they continue them for a long time to come.
This one was not nearly to the scale of other events they hold throughout the year. It was no WWDC. It was, however, one of a handful of smaller events they typically hold in which they talk about new hardware. This one was no exception.
i. Quick bits
Thereâs an updated Podcasts app. It includes their new Channels feature, which can collect the various shows of a podcast network under a central banner. Creators are now able to offer subscriptions to premium shows.
Thereâs also a lovely new purple iPhone 12. Iâve been using and enjoying a silver iPhone 12 Pro Max, but a color like this purple is making me reconsider my choices. Why canât the pro phones feature colors like this? Do pro users not like color or personality? Gold just doesnât cut it!
ii. AirTags
The oft-rumored product is finally here! Iâm happy this one didnât turn into another AirPower type of fiasco.
I donât know if Iâll ever have a use for theseâI tend not to lose things very oftenâbut there are a few people in my life who could benefit from them.
At just over one and a quarter inches in diameter and weighing in at measly 11 grams, theyâre quite discreet. Theyâre not the sort of thing to add extra bulk to your key ring or bump around in your bag. Theyâre so small that itâs a good thing theyâre full of helpful tracking technology. These AirTags themselves could be pretty easy to lose!
They were designed from the beginning to work with the Find My app. This means youâll be able to locate them on a map whenever you open the app. They also come with a small speaker which can emit a signal noise to guide you to them. Got an iPhone 11 or 12? Then you can use the Precision Finding feature to give you an on-screen guide to where your lost item is hiding. This is a great implementation of the U1 chip that Apple now includes in these devices.
Best of all, everything is designed with privacy in mind, and the battery in AirTags is user-replaceable. A standard coin cell battery will give it new life. Theyâre $29 for one and $99 for a pack of four.
iii. Apple TV
On the one hand, the new Siri Remote looks to be a great step up from the previous version. Itâs a genuinely good iteration, and Iâm going to be getting one when they become available.
On the other hand, the updated Apple TV 4K box still comes in two storage sizesâ32 GB and 64 GBâ and it is still expensive as hellâ$179 and $199, respectively. And there was sadly no mention of any Apple TV sound bar.
When it comes to this product line, I donât get what Appleâs thinking. Price-wise, theyâre being outmatched by nearly every other device on the market. Heck, every modern tv sold these days has all of these streaming apps available for download, even Appleâs TV app. Why buy a second box that can do everything a tv can now?
At these prices, itâs getting harder for even me to find a reason to stick with Apple on this one. You can be certain that anyone who doesnât care as much as I do about an Apple experience sure as hell wonât be dropping upwards of $200 on one.
Apple continues to be moving blindly in this market. Unfortunately, theyâve also started shooting themselves in the foot with the Apple TV.
iv. iMac
The M1 line continues to grow with this striking and colorful update to what is surely Appleâs most popular desktop computer.
It carries the ghost of the previous generationâs design but differentiates itself in enough ways to make it a desirable machine for anyone who wants a great Mac desktop experience. Itâs a shame that thereâs still a chin at the bottom of the display, but I guess we canât have everything.
On the plus side:
Iâve got an M1 Mac mini and display combination that I adore. However, if I were in the market for a new desktop computer, I wouldnât think twice about purchasing one of these in whatever new color strikes my fancy.
They start at an affordable $1,299.
v. iPad Pro
The M1 line continues to grow with this phenomenal update to the iPad Pro.
Iâm feeling a distinct sense of dĂ©jĂ vu here…
Ah yes, the most powerful iPad around becomes even more impressive now that itâs running a desktop-class chip inside. Iâm a little surprised Apple would move in this direction with the iPad Pro. In the past, theyâve liked to have a distinguishing factor between their different product lines. I guess when youâre making your own CPU chips you have the opportunity to throw the rule book out the window.
This begs the question, though: when are pro-level apps going to come to the iPad Pro? If itâs using the same chip that can easily run Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on their other computers, then thereâs no good excuse why their pro tablets canât do the same. My best guess is, as usual with these devices, itâs a software limitation. For a long time now, iPadâs software has been lagging hard behind its hardware.
Itâs time for iPadOS to step up and become the powerful and capable operating system itâs always wanted to be. Iâve got big hopes for this yearâs WWDC. Thereâs an opportunity for Apple to right a lot of wrongs with this device, and they need to nail it this year.
Thereâs also a new and crazy good display in the 12.9â model. Iâm talking Pro Display XDR level good, and all within the .25â depth of this tablet. Thanks to a remarkable array of over 10,000 mini-LEDs, this thing is going to be awe-inspiring. If youâre a professional filmmaker or photographer, this could be a great update for you.1
Also:
If youâve gotten an iPad Pro since the gobsmackingly good 2018 model came out, then this may still be a relatively minor update. If youâve got the money to burn, then go ahead and get one. Who am I to tell you what to do with your bucks? Iâm happy to keep my 12.9â iPad Pro from 2020. Itâs still amazing.
These new models are pretty damn snazzy though. They start at $799 for the 11â and $1,099 for the 12.9â.
vi.
This was an excellent event for Apple. They dropped some products that are not only appealing at the moment but will help dictate where the company is heading.
AirTags show that theyâre interested in continuing to develop a wide range of products that fit a smaller niche. Not everything has to be the freaking iPhone.
The new iMac proves that Appleâs still got a sense of whimsy, while also telling the world that theyâre going to continue being the most enviable computer maker around.
The iPad Pro update shows that thereâs not another tablet maker out there creating more powerful tools than these. They continue to make advancements that are the envy of the entire tablet market.
The Apple TV… Well, it needs to find itself. That thing is lost in the weeds.
If they can keep this trajectory going, then 2021 is going to be a great year for Apple. đ
My visit to the DMV today was not the hellish experience for which the place is so well known. Instead, it was both a complete bore and a great cure for the random âshould I get a job at the DMV?â thoughts a person might have.
Ahead of Apple antitrust hearing, Sen. Klobuchar calls AirTag launch âtimelyâ â
This just in: monopolist in the item tracking industry is pitching a fit now that their kingly status is being threatened.
Look, go after Apple, et al. There are some legitimate concerns there. AirTags are not one of them. Tile knew this day was going to come and proceeded to do not a damn thing to make their product more desirable than Appleâs. Furthermore, the Find My app is now open for Appleâs competitors to use.
While youâre at it, Congress people, take a look at the real anti-competitive offenders: the telecoms and internet service providers.
Now that the new iPad Pro has an M1 chip inside it, thereâs no reason for that tablet not to run pro level apps. Right, Apple? Where is Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad?
Itâs going to be a long wait for WWDC this year⊠đ
Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. Santa Ana, CA. December, 2016. đ·đș
âMankâ Wins Top Honor at ASC Awards
Just an incredibly well-deserved win for Erik Messerschmidt. This guy has been blowing me away lately. You can check out a load of shots from the film over at Filmgrab. đ„
UPDATE: He won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, too! Good for him.
Whoa! Thereâs a brand new Godspeed You! Black Emperor album out now! Be still my quaking heart. This is the best news Iâve heard in a long time. And, of course, the songs are as beautiful and glorious as ever.
Happy early birthday to me! đ”
Title Card: How to Steal a Million (1966)
How to Steal a Million was written by Harry Kurnitz and directed by William Wyler. It was released in 1966. It was produced by World Wide Productions and was distributed by Twentieth Century Fox. The main title design was done by Phill Norman.
The film gives us the wonderful pairing of Audrey Hepburn as Nicole Bonnet, the daughter of an art forger, and Peter OâToole as Simon Dermott, a charming burglar. Nicoleâs father is lending a much-lauded Cellini Venus statuette to a local art museum but unknowingly agreed to have this piece inspected for authenticity. Should this happen, his fraud would be found out, ruining his life and work. Following an unsuccessful robbery attempt at Nicoleâs home, Simon agrees to help her steal her fatherâs statue before his livelihood can be put at risk.
I would call myself a pretty unabashed Audrey Hepburn and Peter OâToole fan,1 but my experience with their films is startling in its meager size. Sure, Iâve seen Charade and Venus, but thatâs about as far as it goes. I desperately need to see more of their work. When my wife suggested watching this one, I was intrigued. How could you not be with a title like that? I didnât know how much fun I would have watching this one. Truly, it was a blast. A nice and breezy caper is sure to please anybody who watches it. Throw this duo of actors together, and itâs impossible not to have magic. This film may be the reason why I end up seeing a lot more of their work, and for that, Iâm also grateful for it. đ
Bezos says Amazon should âdo a better job for our employeesâ after union vote â
Bezos is concerned about these glaring and long-standing issues with Amazon only now that heâs leaving the accountable CEO position?
Just more fuel to add to the fire of him basically being a villain.
Iâm always curious to know if people rate movies and tv shows based on their perceived quality of the production or how much they enjoyed what they watched. I donât think those are the same metric. đ„đș
De Inktpot building. Utrecht, Netherlands. June, 2010. đ·đș
Theyâve landed.
The day that Iâm all ready to make an appointment for my driverâs license renewal at the DMV is the day that the website decides not to load? Come on, DMV. Stop living up to your terrible service stereotypes!
I finished watching Sound of Metal yesterday, and itâs still stuck in my head. What a truly remarkable performance by Riz Ahmed (and Paul Raci, too). They deserve all the awards. đ„
Justice League Screenwriter Chris Terrio Is Super Pissed Off â
The more I read about what went on with the making of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, the more Iâve come to understand how misguided Warner Bros. has been about their understanding of the characters in those films.1 Likewise, how inept they have been in crafting coherent stories that are worth telling.
Before Joss Whedon was brought in to rewrite and direct Justice League, Chris Terrio had written the script. It was his words that were being filmed by Zack Snyder and his crew. After Snyderâs exit from the film, the whole thing went off the rails, leaving Terrio behind and feeling frustrated.
In an interview with Anthony Breznican, writing for Vanity Fair (in what appears to be developing into his beat),2 Terrio has some strong feelings about how things went:
The 2017 theatrical cut was an act of vandalism. Zack may be too much of a gentleman to say that, but Iâm not.
Heâs got well-considered opinions to back this up. Heâs not just mindlessly pissed about how things with both films turned out. Seems that Warner Bros. just doesnât understand the necessities of storytelling:
I was proud of the [Batman v Superman] script when I completed it, but it turns out that when you remove the 30 minutes that give the characters motivation for the climax, the film just doesnât work. As we learned from the two versions of Justice League, you canât skip on the character and think the audience will give a shit about the VFX. That stuff was later restored in the extended version.
None of this is surprising to read. Since Justice League came out in 2017, itâs been clear that thereâs a fundamental problem with how Warner Bros. handled the making of the film:
When the movie was taken away, that felt like it was some directive that had come from people who are neither filmmakers nor film-friendlyâthe directive to make the movie under two hours, regardless of what the movie needed to do, and to make the colors brighter, and to have funny sitcom jokes in it.
Contrast that to his approach to Batman v Superman:
I came into it thinking the only way that this could work is as a fever dream or as a revenge tragedy. I thought, How do we create a story in which Bruce Wayne is traumatized by the war of Krypton coming to Earth, and in which he enters into this kind of madness? He becomes Captain Ahab, and he wonât listen to saner voices, like Alfred, for example, who are telling him to just see reason. Heâs a man possessed.
This is clearly someone who understands the motivations and nuances of the characters. He knows what it takes to write a good story. Itâs just a shame that his role will always be subservient to studio heads and money people who think they know better:
These [investor] guys were in charge because they controlled the money at the very top of the pyramid. They were making big decisionsânot the film executives weâre talking about, but Wall Street guys. One guy, who I can only describe as the man who Central Casting sends you when youâre trying to cast Douchebag #1, pulled me aside and started telling me how to write Batman.
Thereâs a lot more that can be quoted in this article, but this is a good primer. Itâs a fascinating interview thatâs worth reading. Iâve always enjoyed Snyderâs vision for these characters. Now, Iâve also come to understand that heâs not the one whoâs been the issue with the films. If they’re not your particular cup o' tea, that’s fine. If you want brighter, more comedic, less serious superhero movies, then watch a Marvel film. However, not all superhero films have to be copies of, say, Iron Man. They can be darker visions like Snyder’s have been. He’s been consistent in his storytelling and love for the characters he’s bringing to the screen. Unfortunately, his work appears to be hamstrung by those working above him.
Itâs a damn shame that Warner Bros. isnât run by people who understand the films theyâre making. đ„
Itâs a truly sad day for the movies. Itâs been announced that the ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres wonât be reopening, and possibly for good. Iâve only been to the glorious Cinerama Dome a few times, but it was always a special experience. đ„
Speaking of AT&T and its acquisition of Time Warner, and therefore also HBO, the whole deal has always disappointed me.
On the one hand, HBO Max has done well for AT&T. It got 4.1 million new signups in its first month of existence, which is nothing to sneeze at. Even more impressive is that itâs accomplished this while demanding $15 a month, making it one of the most expensive streaming services available. By all accounts, itâs a big success for AT&T. No doubt it was helped along by the COVID pandemic; when weâre all stuck at home, it helps to have excellent and fresh programming to consume.
The decision to premiere feature films that otherwise would have been theater exclusives on the service was another boon for them. Sure, it upset many people involved with both the entertainment and theater industries, but their objections were never going to sway business daddy AT&T. Until HBO Max starts losing money, nothing will deter them from their present course.
On the other hand, HBO as we knew it before the acquisition is gone and will likely never return. The blame for that lies entirely on the shoulders of AT&Tâs CEO, John Stankey.1 In an incredibly detailed and well-researched CNBC article, Alex Sherman details the rocky process of this acquisition. The article boils down to this quote from a former HBO executive:
If HBO stood for anything, it was making a product for the customer, not the advertiser. Itâs not as though John is unpleasant. He doesnât throw stuff. He just knows much less about television than he thinks and wonât be debated.
Is Time Warner and HBOâs acquisitions by AT&T good for business, or at least the business of AT&T? Undoubtedly. This opens up a bevy of new revenue opportunities, which will, in turn, make the bottom line of the telecommunication giant look great. However, I donât believe this will improve the quality of the content that’ll appear on HBO Max in the coming years. HBO was doing just fine without AT&Tâs heavy, leading hand before the acquisition. You can expect the familiar HBO quality to get watered down as AT&T spreads the focus to areas that have never mattered to past HBO. In an interview with Jillian Morgan at Realscreen, executive vice-president of original non-fiction and kids programming, Jennifer OâConnell, says:
There is a ton of weight on unscripted⊠Weâre doing dating, weâre doing social experiments, we have competition shows, we have really big competition shows⊠That is an area that, for example, our colleagues at HBO, they are not necessarily in that space so deeply, so itâs very rich, very fertile ground for us to dig into.
Thereâs nothing necessarily wrong with unscripted programming. Itâs enormously popular for a reasonâpeople flock to those shows in droves. However, it was never HBOâs area of interest. AT&T doesnât care about that history. It cares about making money, and thereâs a lot of money to be made in unscripted, non-HBO style content.
If youâre looking for a future replacement for HBO, the service thatâs making the strongest play is Apple TV+. Netflix has become flooded with content thatâs aimed at appealing to the broadest number of viewers. A service like Hulu has an advertising-supported pricing tier, meaning their content is ultimately beholden to other entities. Disney+ has shown that theyâre interested in telling unique stories, but theyâre doing it off the springboard of their massive library of previously made content.
The only service out there thatâs charting a unique course is Apple TV+. Theyâre walking the HBO path of debuting movies and shows that will, over time, grow to be a body of impressive work thatâs all their own. Theyâre going to stumble along the wayâeven HBO was never perfectâbut theyâll catch themselves and improve on their mistakes. Theyâve invested too much money already to just ditch all their hard work. Iâm looking forward to seeing where theyâll go.
It’s just a damn shame about HBO.
UPDATE: From a 9to5Mac article published on April 13, 2021: Apple TV+ features the highest-rated content of any streaming service, study says. Seems like Apple TV+ is already beginning to deliver on my estimation of it being the new HBO.
I probably donât need a Stream Deck, but maybe I should get one? I do enjoy automation, and it sure would make doing tedious computer things easier.
Iâd probably be required to become a Twitch streamer, though. Hmm…
Iâm continuing to watch Mr. Mercedes. Itâs been a fair adaptation, but Iâve also found it to be fairly tame relative to other adaptations of Stephen Kingâs work.
Also, itâs an âAT&T Original.â AT&T owns HBO. Why isnât this show on HBO Max right now? đș
Title Card: The Fall (2006)
The Fall was written by Dan Gilroy, Nico Soultanakis, and Tarsem Singh, and was directed by Tarsem Singh. It was released in 2006. Radical Media and Absolute Entertainment produced the film, while Roadside Attractions distributed it. The title design was done by Stefan G. Bucher and John R. Waters. The main title typography was done by Stefan G. Bucher and 344 Design.
The film stars Lee Pace as a hospitalized stuntman named Roy Walker, who is bedridden in early 20th century Los Angeles. While in the hospital, he meets a young girl recovering from a broken arm named Alexandria, played by Catinca Untaru. He takes a friendly liking to her and spins her a fantastical tale about five mythical heroes. Her youthful imagination allows us to witness Royâs story as he tells it. However, Roy is in a bad way, and between tellings of his story, convinces Alexandria to steal morphine pills from the hospital. He wishes to end his life. Thankfully, that doesnât pan out for Roy, and heâs willed by Alexandria to tell her the full, wonderful story.
This filmâs heart, its story, the beauty of its production design, costume design, and cinematography, are all unlike anything thatâs ever been set to film. The entire title sequence is itself a masterwork of storytelling and filmmaking. It exists in its own microcosm within the film. In it, we see a large group of locomotive workers attempting to lift a horse out of a river beneath a railroad bridge. It does not appear to have any direct connection to the rest of the story. Instead, it sets a time and place, along with a unique mood. Itâs shown in black and white, slow motion, and accompanied by Beethovenâs Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: II. Allegretto. Watching it, we understand that weâre entering a world of hardship and backbreaking work. There will be no modern conveniences. No mobile phones or television or internet. Itâs a tough world where rescuing a horse from a river requires a band of sweaty, yelling men and a freaking train. Color-wise, itâs quite the contrast with the rest of the film, which is shown in brilliantly saturated hues of many colors. This title sequence is a wonder.
In fact, itâs so remarkable that you must watch it. This title sequence is a compelling short film in its own right. đ
Amazon workers vote against unionizing at Alabama warehouse â
Suhauna Hussain and Jenny Jarvie reporting for Los Angeles Times:
Over half of the 3,215 employees who cast ballots by mail since early February voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which led the effort to unionize employees at the facility in Bessemer, Ala., according to a preliminary tally Friday overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.
What a damn shame. This could have been something positive, not just for the employees at this particular Alabama warehouse and not just for all Amazon employees, but for workers everywhere. Instead, it suggests that itâs okay for the heavy boot of all too powerful corporations to remain on the backs of the people those corporations need the mostâtheir employees.
On the other hand, perhaps the exposure this unionizing effort has gained is still a good step in the right direction.
I wasnât alive when labor unions were at their peak in this country, but I would hazard an educated guess that things were better back then. At the very least, more progress was made than it is now.
The public vote count came after more than a week of the labor board reviewing and certifying each ballot cast behind closed doors, with representatives from both the union and Amazon contesting the eligibility of some ballots. The union said about 500 ballots total had been challenged, largely by Amazon. The union said it intends to challenge the results.
Weâll see what comes of that.
Well, if this doesnât make for a phenomenal day, then I donât know what will. I feel great about doing my part to help us all move past this terrible disease.
Ray Fisher Opens Up About ‘Justice League,’ Joss Whedon and Warners: “I Don’t Believe Some of These People Are Fit for Leadershipâ â
I first made reference to this problem in a previous post. That one dealt more with the thoughts I was having about separating art from the artist, but itâs still a good primer.
On April 6, The Hollywood Reporter released this lengthy story that delves further into the heaps of bullshit that actor Ray Fisher has had to deal with concerning the production and aftermath of Justice League. Itâs a fine read. What I find unpleasant is that Fisher is still engaged with this fight with Warner Bros., and how much heâs having to defend his own grievances and actions. There appears to be a lot of disbelief over his side of the story, as if heâs a person who would willingly risk the ruination of his acting career just to stick it to some film industry execs. And for what? Out of spite? Boredom? Please.
Isnât it far more likely that Fisher is telling the truth, and Warner Bros., Joss Whedon, Jon Berg, and Geoff Johns are now scrambling to cover their asses for fear of public backlash and losing future employment? This story is continuing to develop, but I believe this latter scenario to be the truer one. đ„
Back in late 2016, venerable tech journalist Andy Ihnatko broke the news in a tweet that Sal Soghoian, Appleâs Product Manager of Automation Technologies, left the company when his position was terminated.
In 2017, Apple acquired Workflow, the delightful iOS automation app that punched way above its weight.
Workflow became Shortcuts and was released alongside iOS 12 in September, 2018. It would later become a default app installed on all devices running iOS 13 when that update was released the following year.
The Mac automation app, Automator, has seen no appreciable improvements or updates in a very long time. Indeed, it appears to have been forgotten. In contrast, Shortcuts has seen relatively consistent updates since its release. Automation touches many aspects of iOS now, including within the Home app. In fact, I wouldnât be surprised if Shortcuts and Home run on much of the same underlying code.
This sequence of events leads me to believe that there is a dim future for Automator on the Mac. Since the acquisition of Workflow, Iâve believed that weâll see Shortcuts appear on the Mac one day. Apple downsized its old automation department and has subsequently invested heavily in its Shortcuts team.
In many ways, Automator is a remarkable app, but itâs never been user-friendly in the way that Shortcuts is. For people who donât know much about automation, itâs far too complex and demanding.
Shortcuts, on the other hand, is bright, friendly, and hides its complexity behind action blocks that are easier to figure out. I may not use it as frequently as some people, but when I do the end result is more success and less headaches. If Apple wants non-power user people to get into automation, the answer does not lie in Automator.
I believe Shortcuts is the future of automation on the Mac. I really want to see it on that system. I think it will happen one day. đ
UPDATE: Called it.