Linked List: September 18, 2023

Monday, 18 September 2023

My thanks to Kolide for sponsoring last week at Daring Fireball. In the few short months since ChatGPT debuted, hundreds of AI-powered tools have come on the market. But while AI-based tools have genuinely helpful applications, they also pose profound security risks. Unfortunately, most companies still haven’t come up with policies to manage those risks. In the absence of clear guidance around responsible AI use, employees are blithely handing over sensitive data to untrustworthy tools.

AI-based browser extensions offer the clearest illustration of this phenomenon. The Chrome store is chock-a-block with extensions that (claim to) harness ChatGPT to do all manner of tasks: drafting emails, designing graphics, transcribing meetings, and writing code. But these tools are prone to at least three types of risk: malware, data governance, and prompt injection attacks.

Kolide is taking a two-part approach to governing AI use: allowing you to draft AI policies as a team, and using Kolide to block malicious tools. Visit Kolide’s website to learn more about how Kolide enforces device compliance for companies with Okta.

Today Is Release Day for iOS 17 and Its Sibling OS’s ★

MacOS 14 Sonoma is coming next Tuesday, September 26, but all the other annual new major versions of Apple’s platforms are out today: iOS and iPadOS 17, WatchOS 10 (which really rejiggers the way WatchOS is organized), tvOS 17, and the iOS 17 “firmware” variant for HomePods.

Also, today marks the availability of the new 6 and 12 TB storage tiers for iCloud+. I’m glad to see Apple offer these tiers — it’s long seemed a bit odd that a services-focused company had no tiers above 2 TB. (Disappointingly, none of the iCloud storage tiers have increased in size — the free tier remains a measly 5 GB and the $1/month plan just 50 GB.)

Twitter Competitor T2 Rebrands as ‘Pebble’ ★

Paresh Dave, writing for Wired:

Pebble, a Twitter-style service formerly known as T2, today launched a new approach: Users can skip past its “What’s happening?” nudge and click on a tab labeled Ideas with a lightbulb icon, to view a list of AI-generated posts or replies inspired by their past activity. Publishing one of those suggestions after reviewing it takes a single click.

Gabor Cselle, Pebble’s CEO, says this and generative AI features to come will enable a kinder, safer, and more fun experience. “We want to make sure that you see great content, that you’re posting great content, and that you’re interacting with the community,” he says.

Pebble, heretofore known as T2, had been in a similar place as Bluesky — a would-be direct replacement/alternative to Twitter, but hamstrung for growth by being invite-only. With this name change Pebble is open to all, using a system where Twitter/X users can claim the same handle on Pebble.

I’ve had an account for months, but find myself seldom using it. If Pebble’s status IDs are sequential, there have only been about 270,000 total posts made on the platform to date. There just isn’t much action there, even compared to Bluesky. And there’s really only so much time in the day to check in with multiple very similar social networks. I think there’s room for several Twitter-like services to thrive, but not for half a dozen of them.

But also, the Pebble team made the same decision as Post, another would-be-Twitter-replacement upstart that hasn’t gained traction: they don’t have an app, only a website that you can use like an app on your phone. [Update: Post did launch web-only, but now does have an app.] Has there ever been a successful social network in the last decade that didn’t debut with an app for iOS? Bluesky’s app isn’t great, but it’s better than a PWA, and I wonder how many normal people out there just don’t trust apps that don’t come from the App Store or Google Play. And, putting trust aside, I wonder how many people even know about adding PWAs to their home screens.

It’s very telling, I think, that Meta launched Threads only as a native app for iOS and Android, and even the web app version came over a month later. That big high-profile Threads launch would have been much smaller if they’d launched web-first.

Panos Panay Is Leaving Microsoft, Just Days Ahead of Their Surface Event ★

Panos Panay, on Twitter/X:

After 19 incredible years at Microsoft, I’ve decided to turn the page and write the next chapter. I’m forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the amazing people I had the honor to make products with.

Emma Roth, reporting for The Verge:

Panay’s departure from Microsoft is somewhat abrupt. Just last month, Panay mentioned he was excited to appear at Microsoft’s special event that’s set to take place on Thursday, September 21st, where the company is poised to reveal the latest additions to its Surface lineup and “AI innovation.” However, Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw tells The Verge Panay will not appear at this week’s event.

The timing on this is so awkward, given that the Surface event — that Panay was presumably set to emcee — is just three days from now. Microsoft’s terse statement and Panos’s tone in the tweet make it seem acrimonious, but not scandalous.

And lo, Dina Bass and Matt Day report for Bloomberg:

Amazon.com Inc. is hiring Microsoft Corp.’s product chief to run the division responsible for the voice-activated Alexa assistant and Echo smart speakers, according to people familiar with the situation. Panos Panay, an almost 20-year veteran who led Microsoft’s Windows team and was central to the company’s hardware push with its Surface computers, said Monday he’s leaving the technology giant.

Dave Limp, the longtime Amazon hardware chief, said last month that he would retire before the end of the year.

Jack Wellborn:

I have mixed opinions on Panos Panay.

Same here. Panos without question elevated Microsoft to be a major player in PC hardware, but looking back, I don’t see any of their devices as iconic. From the get-go, I always wondered how hamstrung the Surface was (and remains) by Microsoft’s need to maintain good relations with other PC OEMs.