Linked List: August 29, 2019

Thursday, 29 August 2019

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “There are no second acts in American lives”. Brent Simmons and NetNewsWire prove otherwise. Brent is one of my closest friends, so take my perspective with a grain of salt if you wish, but I just love this app. It is fast, small, and remarkably stable. It looks and feels and acts exactly how a modern Mac app should — and at same time it feels and acts exactly like the NetNewsWire of a decade ago. It is scriptable and accessible, of course. And it is free of charge and open source.

I’d write more, but Josh Ginter has written a spot-on review for The Sweet Setup, and he pretty much nails it. He begins with this quote from Shawn Blanc, writing about NetNewsWire 12 years ago:

What makes NetNewsWire so great is that it at once appeals to every level of user.

For the basic user who checks a few feeds once a day, NNW provides a familiar and friendly environment. For an average user who has several dozen feeds to keep up on, NNW is quick and effective. And even the power user, who lives and breathes inside their feed reader, will discover that NNW has the horsepower to feed their need for feeds.

Being usable for everyone from beginners to experts is so hard to do, and is a hallmark of great consumer applications.

Filmmaker Mode (a.k.a. Death to Motion Smoothing) ★

The UHD Alliance, in conjunction with a large number of the best filmmakers working today:

Filmmakers, Hollywood Studios, consumer electronics companies and the UHD Alliance have collaborated to make this next-level home theater viewing experience possible. By disabling all post-processing (e.g. motion smoothing, etc.) and preserving the correct aspect ratios, colors and frame rates, Filmmaker Mode enables your TV to display the movie or television show’s content precisely as it was intended by the filmmaker.

Launch partners include LG, Panasonic, and Vizio. Importantly, the mode is supposed to kick in automatically when cinematic content is detected. Important, because — according to the UHD Alliance — 85 percent of TV owners never change the factory default settings.

Apple Expands Third-Party Repair Program ★

Apple Newsroom:

Apple today announced a new repair program, offering customers additional options for the most common out-of-warranty iPhone repairs. Apple will provide more independent repair businesses — large or small — with the same genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals and diagnostics as its Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs). The program is launching in the US with plans to expand to other countries. […]

There is no cost to join Apple’s independent repair program. To qualify for the new program, businesses need to have an Apple-certified technician who can perform the repairs. The process for certification is simple and free of charge. To learn more and apply, visit https://support.apple.com/irp-program. Qualifying repair businesses will receive Apple-genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals and diagnostics at the same cost as AASPs.

Good news for everyone involved. Jason Snell:

It’s all for the best. Apple retail stores have proven to be spectacularly successful hubs for selling new products, but nobody talks about taking broken stuff to the Apple Store with any enthusiasm. Perhaps Apple should focus even more on what it does best—selling shiny new stuff—and let the rest of the professional repair world help support its customers.

Apple Sends Invitations for September 10 Event ★

Certainly lends a bit more credence to the scuttlebutt that Apple is bringing back their classic six-color logo for at least some products. Although I can’t imagine those products would include the new iPhones or Apple Watches set to be unveiled at this event. If there’s any truth to this, I’d bet on the upcoming new MacBook Pro.