Dan Bricklin @danb@qoto.org

@manton Manton, I agree that all content can be helpful, but I think certain content, if delivered right, could be "worth it today at this hardware price" to many people. I think real-time/live, spatial sports could be that. Many people readily bought $10,000 HD then 4K now 8K TVs for that. The (unfortunately not real-time) examples Apple shows feel viscerally so general-audience compelling. Court/field-side tickets are $$$ and people buy them. Live sports cable packages sell.

Unfortunately, high-res, real-time streaming may not be generally available yet, and the wrangling over the $ split may take time.

Does anybody know more about this????

Wondering: If someone sends me spam that ends up showing in my email list, will Apple on-device AI incorporate stuff there into what it does? Will it end up in my calendar, or in my phone numbers for other parties? Will this be a type of mal-whatever injection vector? Is this like errors in Wikipedia, etc., affecting LLM responses as definitive statements? How will I know it's being used?

Now that it's the next day, I can include that second word in yesterday's NYTimes #Connections game: B-School. The inspiration for the VisiCalc spreadsheet came at Harvard Business School, called by many "The B-School" (like Manhattan is called "The City" by some).

Today's NYTimes #Connections game is very close to my heart. In addition to having the word spreadsheet, another group had one that caught my attention. :)

For those of you who are interested in talks I've given, with VisiCalc history as well as my philosophies about technology evolution, I think the fullest online is from the Business of Software conference in 2010. My talk is: https://businessofsoftware.wistia.com/medias/2zbuz8a6da?embedType=async&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=640 (Transcript, etc.: https://businessofsoftware.org/2011/08/dan-bricklin-at-business-of-software-2010-there-is-always-new-technology-when-should-we-care-how-do-we-take-advantage-of-it-video-transcript/)

I'm very sad to hear of the passing of Gordon Bell, a giant in the history of computers in the last 60 years. From his leading work at Digital Equipment Corporation to the NSF and Microsoft, he has been an inspiration to us all. He was also, from my experience (our paths crossed many times), an enthusiastic, fun, and warm person. On his Microsoft Research Web Site https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/ , he included a photo I took of him on a Segway. Here's a copy. May his memory be a blessing!

Another #aurora photo from Newton, MA USA iPhone 15 Pro handheld. Amazing how sharp the stars are.

Cold Spring Park, Newton, MA USA 10:44pm iPhone 15 Pro.

Note: For those who don't know my full background, I co-founded a company called Slate in the early 1990's that made apps for early "pen computers". I even hold some patents for our work on a spreadsheet with special gestures and handwriting recognition. On the iPad, I personally wrote one of the very early notetaking apps (NoteTakerHD).

Reading some comments, I think I wasn't clear enough about the role of the iPad. I was assuming the pen would normally manipulate things you see elsewhere, not under it. Like a mouse. The iPad could add context, but especially to add electronics and computing power to interact with the pen, and an appropriate surface on which to move the pen.

Thoughts after Apple iPad event with implications for #VisionPro: Today, Apple positioned iPad and VisionPro for professional use, including movie production and sound editing (e.g., FinalCut & Logic Pro on the iPad), and training (VisionPro). They also updated the Apple Pencil. Here's an exciting idea:

An issue to some with Vision Pro has been the lack of strong integration of hand controllers, especially compared to more gaming-centric headsets. For serious use of VisionPro's initial major pro app, Excel, I think it helps to use a physical keyboard and trackpad, which it does support. But that's not rich enough for many more advanced uses.

I think in the not-too-distant future we’ll see the iPad integrated with VisionPro like the Mac started, if not more so. You’ll use an iPad, perhaps with a Magic Keyboard, and the new Apple Pencil Pro for professional-level control. Having both a pencil, with squeeze, twirl, haptic-feedback, hover, etc., along with the current full-motion hand and arm movement in 3D-space, gives you the start of a very rich and precise way of interacting with spatial computing. Moving on the hard iPad surface could be quite superior to waving something in the air or using a joystick. The Mac is not for using a pen, but the iPad is. I’m thinking long-term, not just the current headset. The videos they showed of their pro-apps on iPad, and the VisionPro update which included touting a film director using it to oversee the editing and visual effects for an upcoming film, hinted towards this convergence to me. I wonder if it's true.