We have a release date for the Apple Vision Pro headset - Feb 2nd, USA only, pre-orders start Jan 19th. It'll be available online and in-store, pricing starts at US$3,499 for one with 256GB of storage. If you have shitty eyes like me, you'll need to spend US$99 for "reader" optical inserts or US$149 for "prescription" ones. Apple doesn't say how that process works so I assume you go online, give them your prescription, they ship them to you in a fancy box and they slide or clip in to the headset. As the Vision Pro be available in store, it'll be interesting how Apple lets people try them out, particularly someone with a prescription. If I rock up to an Apple store reasonably wanting to try the A$5,700 device before I buy one, am I just going to be told tough shit because I wear glasses, like 50% of Australians? Not like that's a problem I'll face any time soon, as Apple hasn't given any hints when they'll sell the Vision Pro outside the USA.
Over the break, Hamish McKenzie, Substack's "chief writing officer", famous for being the tech bro who keeps putting his foot in his mouth whenever he's asked a straight forward morality related question, posted the naive as hell view that when it comes to Nazis, "subjecting ideas to open discourse is the best way to strip bad ideas of their power". A laughable view in 2023 akin to phrenology or astrology. As a result, some Substack users threatened to move their paying audiences to competitors (Buttondown & Beehiiv to name a few), which obviously scared Substack as they provided a statement to Platformer that "if and when we become aware of other content that violates our guidelines, we will take appropriate action". That's it? The absolute bare minimum?? Have you seen their Content Guidelines? I don't think Nazi content even falls under that unless the Nazi specifically posts a mass shooting manifesto or something similar. Platformer is spinning this as a win???
You've probably heard about Alaska Airlines flight 1282 that had an entire panel pop off while in the air leading to a scary cabin depressurisation. Nobody was hurt, but as the NTSB was searching around the flight path in Portland for debris, they also found an iPhone, still in airplane mode, still with the screen unlocked, in perfect working order despite a fall of over 4,800m. No cracks, but did have a case and screen protector and it did fall "in a forested area with soft ground cover". Also in feel good news, a 13 year old kid managed to clock the classic NES version of Tetris - apparently the first person to do it! NBC news got the kid in touch with the creator of Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov to congratulate Willis too, who dedicated the achievement to his recently passed father. Legend.
Designed from the inside out, Surface Headphones provide a comfortable, balanced design to help get you in your flow and focus. (Microsoft)
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