Customer Letter - Apple

Encryption. That’s a word which gets thrown around a lot in todays modern world of smart, connected, “internet of things” devices. Tonight, CEO of Apple Tim Cook has boldly gone ahead and written, “A Message to Our Customers” which now appears on the Apple.com website homepage. In his letter, Tim has arguably hit the nail on the head by openly reiterating Apple’s pro-encryption methods of software and hardware development saying, “We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.”

For years, cryptologists and national security experts have been warning against weakening encryption. Doing so would hurt only the well-meaning and law-abiding citizens who rely on companies like Apple to protect their data. Criminals and bad actors will still encrypt, using tools that are readily available to them.

Here’s the thing: The bad guys will always find a way to get what they want, and we shouldn’t be making it easy for them. There are arguments that suggest encrypted services such as iMessage shouldn’t exist, because criminals can use them to communicate without being tracked. Here’s the thing, if iMessage (or iOS in general) loses its encryption, a criminal can pay a small fee per month for a VPN service which allows them to stay anonymous online anyway. By taking away this encryption, you’d be exposing literally billions of devices full of information to hackers in attempt to catch a few out who are already capable of having an almost-zero digital footprint. The only way to open this data up to the government involves making it easily accessible to hackers, a tradeoff which shouldn’t be considered.

[…] it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.

This begs the question, is it worth giving up the data of millions of innocent individuals for almost no gain? The answer is unequivocally no. You know what would also discourage terrorism? Attaching a microphone to every citizen, have it recording 24/7, and then analysed for information on potential terrorism plans. Is this going to happen in the near future? No. Is this extreme? Yes, and that’s why it won’t happen. Giving up the privacy of millions in the hope of catching a few doesn’t seem like the best tradeoff, particularly when there will always be other ways for these people to hide. Hence there is no guarantee that even by giving up this data, the government will be closer to finding out about and preventing acts of terrorism.

And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.

Tim’s closing line is powerful and speaks the world of truth. There needs to be a line, and a backdoor in iOS certainly crosses it. You don’t promote freedom and safety by exposing personal data. It doesn’t, and can’t, work both ways. Apple currently have established themselves as market leaders in privacy and encryption, leading to a competitive advantage. This sells iPhones and is a big deal to the privacy conscious. It’s great for customers to have choice, and should Apple be forced to decrypt iOS this will begin a slippery slope down a path to a world where all our data is insecurely stored. Apple have always made privacy and security a priority, and it’s great for consumers to have this choice. We need ensure this continues and isn’t disallowed going forward.

I’ll end this post with what, for me, was the Tweet of the night related to Tim’s letter:

To be totally secure, it need to be physically impossible. As long as there’s a human deciding what’s possible & not, there’ll be conflict

— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith)

February 17, 2016

This matter can’t be left to human judgement. It needs to be impossible for Apple, their engineers, and the government to access this data, or else the keys will undoubtedly be abused.

Inside Facebook’s Ambitious Plan to Connect the Whole World

This is a great Wired feature article on Zuckerberg, Facebook and Internet.org, well worth your time to read. There are two ways to look at this - Zuck’s noble intentions of connecting the world via Internet.org are fantastic, but the scaled back version of the Internet provided by the service is worrying. It violates “Net Neutrality,” which many believe to be crucial to the success of the Internet. I’m not going to ramble on here about net neutrality, but if you want a good, pro-Net Neutrality, case against Internet.org, listen to Om Malik’s explanation on last weeks episode of the TWiT podcast. The other way to look at a something like this is a little more frightening, and it’s got to do with the power Facebook gain as they pursue these endeavours. They already have such a large collection of data on so many people, which has been achieved through the provision of a ‘free’, ad-supported social network. A few lines from the Wired article are particularly noteworthy (emphasis mine): 

Wallace thinks local entrepreneurs like Namalale may be the key to making the Internet take off here. He imagines ways he could enlist her to sell small data packages for local carriers, and, in return, Facebook and Isizwe could build more comfortable seating around her chicken stand.

While I do believe the tech giant is truly trying to do great things for people and make a difference in the world, this becomes about more than just collecting data to advertise to. They’re using their clout to offer people things they can’t won't refuse. At what point does the conflict of interest become too much? Perhaps the whole idea of Internet.org needs to be rethought and pursued by an independent third party with a much stronger consideration for Net Neutrality. 

Apple Music offline

My three month ‘free’ trial of Apple Music began just over a month ago. Since then, I’ve enjoyed all the conveniences of a modern music streaming service… practically all the music I could ever want, smart recommendations and playlists and a hassle-free way to locally store any album I can think of. 

Having heard the Apple Music experience is better if started fresh, I deleted my entire iTunes library (after backing it up for safekeeping, of course) and started by re-downloading all of my previous iTunes Media in the form of Apple Music files. Knowing that I had a vacation trip coming up, I added extra music to my Apple Music library in preparation for the plane flight and for my time at the potential Internet-less resort. Great!

Next step was to download these onto my iPod touch for the trip. This was simple enough, by selecting each artist individually and pressing “Make Available Offline” I was able to get my iPod to download and store locally all 1600 songs now in my Apple Music library. 

Time to go on the trip. I fortunately had Wi-Fi at the airport to use, but spent this time listening to Podcasts instead of Music. Why this is relevant, you’ll realise in a minute. 

Plane takes off, I pull out my iPod to listen when lo and behold this message pops up:

What? Apple Music is telling me to delete these songs I’d downloaded in preparation for the flight, not only that but to turn off iCloud Music Library. It wanted me to wipe my iPod clean of music. I confirmed in my device settings that the music was, in fact, downloaded onto my iPod. That wasn’t the problem. The problem here was that Apple Music wouldn’t let me play music offline. I don’t know what caused the error - I’d been connected to the Internet only moments ago, so Apple know my account is still active. And yet I can’t play my music. Angrily, I restarted my device in the hope of getting it to work. Still nothing. Giving up, I accept Podcast episodes as my only form of audio entertainment for the flight. Frustrating. Turns out, had I listened to any music whatsoever at the airport with an Internet connection, I would’ve been able to listen on the flight. 

No where previously have I heard that Apple Music isn’t available offline. As a new subscriber, this isn’t leaving a very good impression.

Upon landing, I connected to Wi-Fi again and found that I could play all of my music library with no dramas. Investigating this weird situation further I conclude that Apple Music can be listened to offline, but the listening “session” has to be started before you lose connection to the Internet. e.g. If you know you’re going to be offline for a while, start playing a song, pause it, and leave the Music app open. This is a terrible user experience, and I’m not sure what Apple are playing at. Is it a bug? And if it is, how long until Apple fix it? Some luck if you’re out of connection to the Internet for an extended period of time. 

Apple Music as a service is still buggy these many months later, and a far cry from the fruit company of old who used to pride itself on products and services which, “just work.” This situation is simply disappointing. It isn’t a terrible problem, as far as problems go, and it’s very first-world, however I still feel as though it’s worthy of being brought to your attention. Hopefully Apple will do something about it in the future, particularly as, going forward, they attempt to convince me to give them money each and every month for this service. 

Ergonomics

Greatly inspired by this episode of the new podcast Under The Radar with Marco Arment and ‘underscore’ David Smith, computer ergonomics has been on my mind a lot lately, and as I spend more and more time working on one I feel it’s important to ensure I’m doing the right thing by myself by considering the ergonomics of my setup. 

Having worked exclusively off of a 13″ laptop for the last four years, it’s certainly time for some upgrades. Yesterday began the transition, by moving to an old 21.5″ monitor. Unfortunately the screen quality isn’t quite where I’d like it to be, but it’s a nice temporary solution until I purchase a larger, higher resolution monitor. Not having to slouch over to read a tiny screen is a nice, comfortable change. 

Today was part two, where I bought an external keyboard. Seeing as though this upgrade focuses on ergonomics, I went with the Microsoft Comfort Curve 3000. Aside from the horrible name, I really like this thing. The keys slope up in what is supposedly an ergonomic position and, as far as desktop keyboard go, it’s fairly quiet to type on. I’ve only written a few hundred words on it so far and I don’t think it’ll take very long to adapt completely. My biggest gripe is the fact it’s clearly designed for Windows and hence some of the keys are in different positions, or have different functions than on my MacBook Pro’s keyboard. (Side note: I now have a number pad - yay!) 

The keyboard and mouse I’m using are both wired, and of course that called for a USB hub (who says USB is dead?!) It’s a little weird to have a few wires around my desk in 2016, but you’ve got do what you have to. 

So, as I write this my MacBook Pro is sitting next to the external monitor with its screen shut, feeding it with content while the screen is off. It’s weird to even consider that it’s powered on still, let alone I’m operating from it without looking at it. 

Next step… an external monitor (how does this 2K one from Asus look?) and a much better chair to enhance posture. 

Monday - 2:01am

You can take the fact that I’m awake at 2:01am on a Monday and conclude that my week must be off to a terrible start.

Or you may look at the “Stand” activity ring on my Apple Watch and note that I’ve filled out 3/12 hours for the day and realise my week is off to a great start.

My thoughts are more aligned with the latter. 😄

Just going to leave these here. Partly for the record, and partly because I’m proud.

PSA: Optus SIM-only plan - $40/mo for 10GB

Last I checked, it’s not possible to be in love with a carrier or the plans offered by a carrier. However, this deal from Australian telco Optus is almost too good for me to pass up. As soon as current month is over, count on me switching! Well done, Optus - you’ve secured me as a customer for the next 12 months. 

Daily Steps for Apple Watch

Today, Daily Steps for Apple Watch has gone live on the App Store. Version 3.1 is here and its primary focus is an all-new Apple Watch “glance” and “watch app.” This update gives users quick access to their daily step count - on their wrist, making it quicker than ever to stay on top of your daily steps and ensure you take 10,000 per day.

Apple Watch support was fun to play around and implement, and it’s something I’d love to explore more in the future. Watch “complications” seem interesting, and are something I’ll be looking at adding to Daily Steps in the future.

Also in this version: a semi-beta implementation of 3D Touch. Firmly pressing down on the Daily Steps app icon shows your daily steps (iPhone 6s/6s Plus only). I am looking to expand the usefulness and reliability of this feature in future updates, but it’s there now for those who want it.

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You can grab the update to Daily Steps from the App Store here: https://appsto.re/au/N6-8Q.i

November 2015

Twenty five days in and I’m starting to reflect upon the month. Having had only a brief moment to think about November of this year, I realise it’s whizzed past remarkably quickly - certainly in an unordinary way. A lot of that can be attributed to a major routine change which began at the end of October. I feel as though it’s pretty safe to say November of 2015 has been the busiest month of my life and perhaps I could go so far as to say it’s been the best month of my life. If it isn’t the best, it’s way up there. (I have been to Disneyland - albeit not for longer than a week - so perhaps it’s second to that.)

Why am I writing this? I’m not so sure. Perhaps I just want to document how much I’ve enjoyed the month that has nearly past. Maybe I’ve enjoyed it so much I felt compelled to comment on it. Or possibly I’m just going a bit loopy, here at 1:45am as I reflect. Anyway if you made it this far… Thanks for reading and I hope November 2015 was as kind to you as it was to me. Here’s to a more relaxed, but just as enjoyable December!

Piracy, “is as dumb as,” and movies

As someone who’s strongly against the piracy of digital media, I often bring it up in conversation with others. A common thing people tell themselves to feel better about their piracy habits is, “I pay for the Internet bandwidth that downloads that movie, hence technically I’m paying money for it.” Well seeing as though none of the dollars you pay your ISP is distributed back to content creators, that argument is as dumb as saying, “I pay for the petrol to get to the movies, hence actually watching the film shouldn’t cost me another cent.” No one would argue the latter and yet it’s essentially the same logic as the former. Think about that for a moment. And the next time you want to enjoy digital content without paying for it, remember that you’re depriving someone else of income… how would you like it if people devalued your work?