Apple, the DOJ, and the DMA

While technology evolves at a breakneck pace, regulatory bodies designed in a bygone era of slow, incremental progress often find themselves in a perpetual game of catch-up. This dynamic is particularly evident in the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) scrutiny of Apple, a company known for its stringent control over its ecosystem. The complaint highlights five examples of “suppress[ing] technologies that would have increased competition among smartphones.” The complaint centers on accusations of the company suppressing technologies that could have increased competition in the smartphone market.

The Department of Justice cites five primary examples:

  • Suppressing Third-party Super Apps: By limiting the capabilities and integration of third-party applications, Apple effectively restricts the potential for all-in-one solutions that could compete with its services.

  • Blocking Cloud-streaming Apps: Apple's App Store policies have been criticized for limiting the functionality of cloud-streaming services, potentially stifling innovation and competition.

  • Preventing Third-party Messaging Apps from Achieving Quality Parity with Apple Messages: This practice allegedly undermines consumer choice by disadvantaging alternative messaging platforms.

  • Artificially Limiting Connectivity of Third-party Smartwatches: By doing so, Apple ensures that its own smartwatch remains the most compatible and feature-rich option for iPhone users.

  • Denying Access to Third-party, Cross-platform Digital Wallets: This restriction potentially limits the financial services ecosystem available to Apple device users, keeping them within Apple's proprietary Wallet app.

These allegations suggest a strategic effort by Apple to maintain its dominance in the smartphone and related markets by hindering competitors' ability to offer viable alternatives to consumers.

A Misguided Comparison to Microsoft's Antitrust Case

The complaint also makes a controversial comparison to the 1998 antitrust case against Microsoft, implying that the ruling against Microsoft paved the way for Apple's success in the smartphone era. This oversimplification overlooks the seismic shifts in technology, particularly the advent of mobile computing and smartphones, areas where Microsoft initially lagged. Apple's rise was less about Microsoft's constraints and more about seizing the opportunities presented by new technologies and consumer demands.

A Constructive Path Forward

The challenges and controversies surrounding the DOJ's approach to regulating Apple underscore a fundamental truth: litigation and investigations alone are not sufficient to foster a healthy, competitive tech ecosystem. What is needed is a clear set of industry expectations, codified into law by Congress, that balances innovation with fair competition. This legislative approach should be informed by a deep understanding of technology, a commitment to consumer welfare, and a nuanced appreciation of the global competitive landscape.

We must strive for a regulatory framework that is as dynamic and innovative as the technology it seeks to govern, ensuring a future where competition thrives, and consumers benefit from a wealth of choices.

Beginning a Spatial Journey

Composing this article from Mt. Hood on Apple Vision Pro

My mind was racing as I assertively tugged on the large glass door of my local Apple Store. Despite arriving ten minutes early to my appointment, a friendly employee welcomed me to a demonstration area. The store was nearly empty, and the early morning light was beaming through the south-facing glass facade onto tables full of Apple hardware. As I was seated, a second employee sat a small tray containing my Apple Vision Pro on the table in front of me. The purpose-built tray satisfyingly cradled the contours of the headset. After learning how to pick it up without smudging the glass front, I gently lowered the headset into place. It was oddly anticlimactic, as if nothing happened. I could see the store just as it was a moment ago. Then I remembered that I had a computer in front of my face. I wasn't seeing the room – I was seeing a real-time representation of the room. The illusion worked!

Over 30 minutes, I littered the store with windows, browsed the web on Mt. Hood, and swam with sharks. At one point, a butterfly gracefully flew in front of me and briefly landed on my outstretched hand. As it did, I thought I felt the gentle tickle of its spindly legs. Of course, I didn't actually feel it. It's all a clever illusion, but it's convincing enough that my brain failed to register a difference. As expected for a first-generation product, there were occasionally small cracks in the illusion, but I left impressed.

The demo was a tightly curated experience that matched the device's strengths. How does Apple Vision Pro feel in actual use? Is it a productivity tool or merely a fancy media consumption device?

An Infinite Canvas

In a previous article, I mentioned that Apple Vision Pro did not appear to have a “killer app” at launch; however, I’m starting to think the killer app may be the VisionOS interface itself. The ability to effortlessly scale work beyond the boundaries of traditional displays is profoundly liberating. Apple Vision Pro frees the user from the constraints of the physical world. An infinite canvas is more than just a spatial characteristic; it's a metaphor for these technologies' seemingly boundless potential. Apple Vision Pro forces us to rethink our relationship with computers fundamentally and breaks new ground in workflow management.

Retina Resolution?

One of my primary concerns was resolution. Can Apple Vision Pro resolve text well enough to read for significant periods? While text doesn't appear quite as razor-sharp as it presents on the 5K Studio Display, it’s more than enough for a strain-free reading experience.

It's too early to determine how successful this product will be, but I can't help but feel that we're at the beginning of another pivotal moment in tech, where we fundamentally rethink its role in our lives. Today’s Vision Pro is a preview – a window into the future. The device is slightly heavy, the battery life isn’t what we’ve become accustomed to with Apple products, and visionOS contains a few irritating bugs. Despite these flaws, Apple Vision Pro offers a unique, visceral experience. My excitement for this product transcends the enthusiasm I felt at the release of the original iPhone. Apple Vision Pro reminds me of the wonder I experienced using my first computer, our IBM Personal System/2, as a child. My, how far we’ve come.

Preparing the Way

AI-generated image of a futuristic VR/AR headset using DALL-E 3.

In Fall 2015, Tim Cook proclaimed, "We believe the future of TV is apps." As it turns out, the future of television wasn't apps. Will the future of computing be spatial? On Friday, February 2nd, we will begin to find out when Apple Vision Pro, the company's first augmented reality headset, goes on sale.

Like most new platforms, Apple Vision Pro does not appear to have a "killer app." The future of Apple's new headset is far from assured. Apple needs third-party developers' cooperation to help secure the success of its new platform; however, the company's introduction of a Core Technology Fee (CTF) in response to the European Union's Digital Markets Act alienated a large swath of the developer community. Many popular streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify appear uninterested in developing a native VisionOS app.

Apple Vision Pro is the first headset that excites me as a user and developer. Despite the uncertainty, I ordered the new device and am actively developing a VisionOS app. Its emphasis on augmenting reality rather than escaping it provides a compelling user story and ultimate flexibility for developing productivity-focused apps.

I'm looking forward to documenting my initial experience this Friday and can't wait to see what we collectively do with it.

2023 - Nostalgia and the Future

A nostalgic moment forever gone. Downtown redevelopment has made this photograph no longer possible.

As each year comes to a close, I find myself swept away to a quiet place of introspection. Holidays are a joyous occasion, a tapestry of tradition and togetherness, but I have always found them to have a thread of melancholy woven into them. Nostalgia is a complex emotion. It transports us to an immutable and inaccessible past – a place we can never truly return to. These moments are slowly erased by fading memories, slipping through the fingers of time like grains of sand.

Holidays are a time when we hear the distant echoes of shared laughter from loved ones no longer with us, serving as a reminder of the transience and fragility of life. Holidays are a paradox of emotion, both a comforting escape to beautiful moments and a yearning for what once was – places we’ve left behind, friendships that have faded, and moments forever gone.

I’m learning to find the unique beauty that lies in the balance of embracing the past while savoring the present and planning to make the future shine brighter. It’s important to acknowledge that the holidays, with their unique blend of joy and nostalgia, offer us a chance to honor the traditions that ground us and create new memories that we will once again look back upon with a yearning sense of nostalgia.

The Score and the Performance

The negative is the score, and the print the performance.
— Ansel Adams

Photography isn’t just about capturing an event – it is a visual communication medium. The concept of photo editing has gained an increasingly negative reputation as digital editing software became powerful and ubiquitous in the last decade. It has now sparked fascination and controversy as we step into a new era of computational photography and AI manipulation. A novice can now do what used to take great skill and time to accomplish in minutes. These technologies can be a force of progress by opening new creative avenues to express ideas, but an overemphasis on them can cause the artistic message to be lost. In extreme scenarios, photography can become digital art, no longer bearing any similarity to the original image.

An Artistic Parallel

Drawing a parallel to the concept of rubato in music, where subtle deviations from strict tempo create a more expressive and emotional performance, photographers must exercise a careful balance in their editing decisions. Just as a musician must be mindful not to stretch the tempo too far, photographers should avoid excessive alterations that compromise the authenticity of their work. The key is to use manipulation as a means to enhance, not overshadow, the inherent beauty of the captured moment.

As with any art form, the key lies in the delicate balance between creative freedom and a respectful acknowledgment of the authenticity inherent in the captured moment.

An Example

Discussing nuanced topics in the abstract is often convenient, but a concrete example can often express the thought more clearly. The image on the left (or on top, for mobile readers) is a straight print of a local building. Aside from the lack of color, it’s a literal representation of the light projected through the lens. The second image is my finished print. The darkened sky draws the viewer’s eye toward the advertisement painted on the brick and adds overall contrast, creating a sense of drama in an otherwise mundane subject. A gentle lift of the shadows on the front of the building helps to reveal more painted brick. I did not lift the shadows on the lower side of the building to retain negative space, reinforcing the idea that the subject is not the entire building but the old advertisement. None of these adjustments fundamentally change the image – they merely serve to draw emphasis and guide the viewer’s eye to where I wanted it.

Minimum Viable Apps

There is a paradigm in modern development named Minimum Viable Product (MVP). It is expressed as an application's most essential feature set that can provide users value. A focus on delivering MVP for the initial release aims to avoid unnecessary redesign by quickly gathering user feedback and usage statistics to inform the direction of further development.

With experience, I've learned to lean on a similar philosophy for my development toolchain that I call Minimum Viable Apps. The goal is slightly different, but the principles remain the same. What are the least number of simple apps that allow me to complete this project?

I took nearly the opposite approach to my tools when I began developing software. My laptop was filled with development tools that performed similar tasks in slightly different ways, each containing its own complement of shortcuts and automation to streamline every conceivable task. While these highly customized tools may have enabled me to work slightly faster, my overall productivity was being stolen by the maintenance overhead.

Embracing Minimum Viable Apps aligns with Agile development principles and empowers developers to focus on what truly matters – delivering value to users. Our tools should serve, not hinder us. We must be deliberate in selecting the apps we work with to ensure our tools amplify our abilities.

Retiring with Château Lafite

Some wines are so engaging that they bypass our analytical faculties and express their flavors with emotion – their presence demands contemplation, not necessarily of the wine itself, but of our own journey to the current moment. The bottle of 1986 Château Lafite Rothschild that my mother and I shared to celebrate her retirement is one such wine.

In many ways, this wine was a diametrically opposing force to a previous bottle of '81 Château Leoville Las Cases, responsible for restoring a sort of balance to my oenological universe. Did the the Las-Cases provide the shadow that permitted the transient beauty of the Lafite to shine a bit brighter than it may have otherwise? Was I swept away by my emotions, failing to recognize that the Lafite was simply a mediocre bottle of wine?

Whether disappointing or transcendent, aged wines are always an emotional journey that reveal deeper meaning than the flavors in the bottle. The nose on the '86 Lafite gave off intense aromas of spice, molasses, brown sugar, and leather. Supple and elegant flavors of intense black currant and cedar are perfectly nestled inside a fantastic structure of lively acidity and reserved tannins. Tertiary notes of truffle and mushroom carry through the long finish.

It is because everything must come to an end that everything is so beautiful.
— Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz

Techno-Optimism

Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape and celebrity venture capitalist, recently published what he calls The Techno-Optimist Manifesto. The text advocates for Techno-Optimism, emphasizing the potential of technology and markets to bring about progress and abundance. Andreessen argues against pessimism and negative views of technology, challenging prevalent criticisms of the tech industry. He argues that it has been a driving force behind human progress and should be celebrated rather than feared.

This type of binary thinking is common among technologists, and the text is riddled with these false dilemmas — good or bad, growth or death. It reads like a privileged man attempting to coerce people into believing the very things that help increase his vast wealth. Reality is far more nuanced; technology should be celebrated and feared.

"We believe technology is a lever on the world – the way to make more with less."

"Technological innovation in a market system is inherently philanthropic."

While technology can be a great leveler, thus far, the vast majority of technological advancements and economic growth are disproportionately enjoyed by a small segment of the population, leading to increased inequality. This can exacerbate social divisions and leave many people behind. Andreessen touts the idea that most of the benefits go to society, ignoring the reality that we’ve witnessed the pugnacious startups of the last decade become some of the most powerful institutions in the world — often wielding more power than governments. While it is true that society as a whole often benefits from technological advances, that increase in power is not apportioned evenly.

Ultimately, the manifesto fails to make the case that the tech industry doesn't deserve the scrutiny it is facing. Andreessen is angry about the tech backlash over the last several years yet completely fails to address the fact that most of the damage is self-inflicted. Andreessen Horowitz was an early investor in Facebook, a company with the idealistic goal of “connect[ing] every person in the world.” Years later, it would be revealed that Facebook allowed digital consultant Cambridge Analytica to misuse the data of millions of users. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident, and Facebook has been a nearly bottomless pit of scandal over the last decade. Experience should emphasize the need for a more balanced and nuanced approach, taking into account the potential drawbacks and unintended consequences of unchecked technological progress.

Progress is a tightrope act — a deft balance between opposing forces of innovation and accountability that gently bend the future upward for all.

Château Pontet-Canet 2010

It was a year of unusual weather. The 2010 Bordeaux vintage got off to a late start after an especially frigid winter. A wet June gave way to a hot and particularly arid summer, just the right conditions to concentrate the grapes. Cool, damp nights at the start of Fall helped bolster acidity, creating a nicely balanced vintage despite lower yields.

The 2010 Pontet-Canet is a classic Pauillac with a captivating blackcurrant liqueur, rose petals, and violet aroma. It is a brooding crimson in color, thinning slightly toward the edge. The wine is intense and complex while retaining a sense of elegance that prevents it from feeling heavy or tiring. This Bordeaux shows notes of fig, blackberry, cherry, and currant on the palate. The long, satisfying finish brings flavors of leather and tobacco. A tertiary note of earthy mushrooms is faint but unmistakably present.

Offering remarkable depth and complexity, the 2010 vintage of Pontet-Canet might be one of the great wines of this century. I've tasted a good share of Premier Cru Bordeaux, and this wine offers serious competition to the five legendary estates. I look forward to tasting this wine again alongside the 2019 vintage in another decade.

A Lesson of Death and Beauty

I have a love/hate relationship with vintage wine, but the very traits I have come to hate are also the source of my passion. These opposite yet interconnected forces, this frustrating duality, came into focus when a Sommelier recently opened one of my bottles of 1981 vintage Chateau Leoville Las Cases Bordeaux.

This bottle had come to the end of a long journey. Forty-two years ago, the vineyard's grapes were carefully tended to over an entire growing season, hand-picked, sorted, and processed. Some of the hands that picked the grapes likely belong to people who have since passed. These grapes were survivors of the deluge of rain that consumed the first half of October that year. The bottle was cellared for decades in a temperature-controlled environment by multiple owners. There were thousands of opportunities for a mishap, but there it was forty-two years later, sitting on the bar of my favorite local restaurant. Cutting the foil wrapper revealed a white powdery substance overtaking the liquid-soaked cork, an ominous foreshadowing of what would come. The wine exhibited an initial hint of mustiness with a short, funk-laced whisper of cassis. It was the taste of oenological expiration. At an unknown time within the last four decades, the wine had died.

My reaction was not disappointment or irritation but a general sense of loss. This wine was painstakingly crafted by a team of passionate people for the purpose of bringing joy, and it never had the chance to realize this goal. Instead, it served as an austere reminder of time's relentless flow, a poignant lesson not to squander our singular opportunity to bring a measure of joy to those around us, and a warning of the precious immediacy to life. Time is slowly consuming us all, and like this bottle of wine, we have but one chance to leave our mark.

Perhaps this is the very source of my passion for wine. Even many of our happiest moments are laced with a sense of melancholy because we know it can't last forever. The emotional power is drawn from this very duality because it's the contrast of one that provides vibrance for the other – light and shadow, life and death.